“Cognitively there!”

(c) The Late Show
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Five words that prove the president of the United States is “cognitively there”: person, woman, man, camera, TV.  (2:40 mins)

News blues...

President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, addressed the nation, shared facts and figures regarding economic costs of the pandemic on the country, and promised to tighten the consequences of corruption.

US Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez brilliantly addresses foul comments directed at her by Rep. Ted Yoho on the steps of the US Congress.
In 9:35 succinct minutes Ocasio-Cortez clearly speaks on behalf of all women who’ve been accosted by powerful men with attitudes of impunity.
Yoho ain’t gonna easily squirm out of this! 

News anchor/presenter Ari Melber on the history of Trump promotion of Law and Order as a political strategy – and echoes Richard Nixon’s strategy. (10:00 mins)

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Coronavirus is decimating safari tourism – an industry worth almost $30 billion a year and employs almost four million people. This is also leading to an increase in poaching.

Experts and rangers on the ground say they are seeing a surge in poaching as thousands of unemployed people dependent on the industry turn to wild animals for food. They also fear an upsurge in more organised poaching of endangered species.

Overall, South Africa’s tourism sector may have already lost an estimated R54.2 billion in output in just three months as Covid-19 travel and leisure restrictions batter the industry.

Furthermore… the sector now faces a potential 75 percent revenue reduction in 2020, putting a further R149.7 billion in output, 438 000 jobs and R80.2 billion in foreign receipts at risk.

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Going bats?
A global research consortium, including the Max Planck Institute, stated:

For the first time, the raw genetic material that codes for bats’ unique adaptations and superpowers such as the ability to fly, to use sound to move effortlessly in complete darkness, to survive and tolerate deadly diseases, to resist ageing and cancer has been fully revealed, and published.”
Read “Groundbreaking study adds insights into why bats are flying laboratories that advance medical understanding.” 

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Let’s hear it for science, public health, and vaccines!

For most of human history billions of children died from infectious diseases. Recurring epidemics of influenza, measles, cholera, diphtheria, the bubonic plague, and smallpox killed large parts of the adult population, too. The Black Death killed half of Europe’s population in just a few years. Today, infectious diseases are the cause of fewer than 1-in-6 deaths.

Read “Our history is a battle against the microbes: we lost terribly before science, public health, and vaccines allowed us to protect ourselves.” 

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Remember those five words that prove you're "cognitively there"?
Sarah Cooper: How to person woman man camera tv… (1:25 mins)

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

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Dump fire!
Pietermaritzburg firefighters battled to contain the inferno at the New England Road landfill site as arsonists kept lighting new fires around the dump. …

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a fireman said their solution of dumping sand on the fire and then water was set aside by city officials who visited the site on Tuesday.
“We are the experts when it comes to fire-fighting. We had a quick solution of dumping the heaps of sand, already at the site, over the fire and then dousing it with water, but we were told they [city officials] would make decisions about how the fire would be put out because they are in charge and we must just do what they say,” said the disgruntled fireman.
The initial fire, they said, would have been contained within a few hours had their advice been taken. “Now it’s going to take us at least a week or more to put out. Putting it out with water is going to do nothing.
“We honestly feel that this landfill site and the fires are part of something bigger. Unfortunately we are the pawns in this game as we have to risk our lives going out there all the time,” said the fireman.
Another fireman said being at the site was like “being in hell”. 

A petition is circulation force the closure of the Msunduzi Municipality New England Road landfill site.

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The power struggle at this house is about worsen.
I worked with the security team to thwart my mother’s domestic worker’s refusal to disclose the whereabouts of her son. (Background) The security team picked him up soon after his mother handed him his latest allotment of her cash.
He was served with the court order, officially explained how he can defend himself, and alerted about implications of further harassment. He signed the document.
However, both domestic workers have side-stepped complyig with filling out this household’s coronavirus tracing document. Everyone here, including me, agreed to document 1) all trips off the property and 2) all contacts with whom we interacted while in public.
So far, neither worker has recorded outside contacts.
I'll formally ask them - again - to comply.
The pressure ratchets up if neither mentions contact with the son.
My 87-year-old mother is my priority. Her fragile health will not withstand a Covid-19 infection.