Another Thursday

No internet connection all day! 

On the one hand: Grrrr! No internet! 

On the other hand: Yay, no internet! No news on Trump craziness. No news on Covid-19 deaths and destruction. No news about our desperate planet and its desperate people. 

 Yet, the Covid news doesn’t end. Compare this week’s numbers with last week’s: 

July 30 – 17,096,000 worldwide: confirmed infections; 668,590 deaths 

     July 22 – 15,240,000 worldwide confirmed infections; 623,660 deaths 

July 30 - US: 4,451,000 confirmed infections; 151,270 deaths 

     July 22 - US: 3,971,000 confirmed infections; 143,200 deaths 

July 30 - SA: 471,125 confirmed infections; 7,498 deaths 

     July 22 - SA: 395,000 confirmed infections; 5,940 deaths

News blues…

With more than 3,000 Covid-19 infections each day since last weekend, KwaZulu-Natal is emerging as South Africa’s latest epicenter. 

Last Sunday, the number of cases in the province had risen to 60,532, with 3,405 new infections since the previous day. On Monday, the number of cases stood at 65,982, placing KwaZulu-Natal behind the Eastern Cape, Gauteng and the Western Cape in totals, but giving it the highest rate of increase in infections in the country. 

Today, KZN has 71,240 cases. 

***

Iceland has virtually beaten Covid-19 infections. 

The latest statistics show 1,823 recoveries of 1,861 cases with 10 deaths. Iceland never imposed a lockdown. Only a few types of businesses - night clubs and hair salons - were ordered closed. Hardly anyone in Reykjavík wears a mask. And yet, by mid-May…the tracing team had almost no one left to track. During the previous week, in all of Iceland, only two new coronavirus cases had been confirmed. 

The country hadn’t just managed to flatten the curve; it had, it seemed, virtually eliminated it. 

(Consider: Katrín Jakobsdóttir is Iceland’s prime minister 

Jacinda Ardern, New Zealand's prime minister, announced stringent lockdown and quarantine measures and that country fares very well. 

A similarly positive pattern occurred in Denmark, Norway and Finland, all ruled by women, as opposed to Sweden, ruled by a man, where economic considerations trumped health concerns, and ultimately resulted in the highest death toll per capita in Europe. 

Not sexism. Just facts. 

Read, “Countries with female leaders suffer six times fewer COVID-19 deaths.” 

***

Interactive map of infections in the United States 

Healthy futures anyone? 

Focus on Iceland. With low levels of air pollution, stunning green forests, excellent water quality, and effective environmental policies, Iceland is one of the most environmentally friendly countries on the planet. According to PR Newswire, 72 percent of the country’s total energy consumption comes from hydro and geothermal resources. Moreover, Iceland is still reaping the benefits of the Nature Conservation Act (1999), which protects the land from construction, deforestation, and other damage. 

When settled in the 9th century, Iceland had considerable forests which provided fuel for the population… and for the production of charcoal and, by extension, for iron working. Available] forests … almost disappeared in less than 400 years and, along with volcanic eruptions, climate changes, and wind erosion of grassland, caused serious desertification. Centuries of poverty followed when the population squeezed what we could out of peat and other low-grade combustibles. In other words, trees were harvested without foresight, not replaced, and the valuable forest asset was destroyed.

Around 1900, fossil fuels triggered a historical shift with the use of coal and oil in Iceland’s growing fishing fleet. This made possible trawler fishing and large-scale harvesting of productive fishing grounds. Fossil fuels also heated houses.

Fortunately, the country began harnessing hydropower resources to produce electricity to light streets. That worked until the 1970s, when oil prices dramatically climbed. The oil crisis forced Iceland to look at other energy sources. The success of a large project to produce electricity from geothermal steam has been followed by more technically advanced power plants.

Today, wind turbines, reclaimed forests, and hydropower and geothermal energy account for more than 99 per cent Iceland’s sustainable and clean electricity production.

On the other hand, World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), predicts the world is on the brink of reaching temperatures the Paris agreement had hoped to avoid. 

The study predicts that the global temperature is likely to be at least 1°C above pre-industrial levels in each of the coming five years. There is also a 20 percent chance that the Earth’s temperature will exceed 1.5°C in at least a year’s time. 

As the United States under Trump is set to pull out of the Paris accord (see yesterday’s post ) South Africa’s government hopes to

…cushion the blow of the Covid-19 economic crisis [with] a three-month delay in first carbon tax payments. The implementation of the carbon tax, aimed at penalising large emitters of greenhouse gasses, has since been concluded. On March 27, the day the lockdown kicked in, Minister of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries … lowered minimum air pollution standards for sulphur dioxide to reduce emissions by 58 percent.

The move was a compromise, achieved after public consultation [and] took into account the financial situations of big polluters Eskom and Sasol, which were seen as unable to invest in infrastructure that would lower their emissions to standards called for by environmental organisations. Since the beginning of the pandemic, stimulus directed at South Africa’s fossil fuel producers exceeds stimulus directed at clean energy. 

***

 Daily Maverick webinar, “Dirty Tobacco: Spies, lies and mega-profits.” 

For decades, reputable tobacco companies have been complicit in cigarette smuggling. In a tell-all exposé, host Pauli van Wyk talks with Telita Snyckers, SARS insider [South African Revenue Service (US IRS)] about the illegal cigarette trade, why and how listed companies smuggle their own product, and other truths uncovered while writing her latest book, Dirty Tobacco. 

***

The Lincoln Project: Trump Stooge 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch… 

What would I do without online libraries? 

I subscribe to and download e-books from both Berkeley Public Library and San Francisco Public Library. Downloads allow me to read on my cell phone anytime I have Internet access (a bit tricky here). My regular sleep pattern includes awakening at 3:00 a.m. I’ve no heavy physical book or flashlight/torch to hold as I lie in bed and me. Just me, snug in my bed with my cell phone – happy as the proverbial clam. 

After years of reading hard-topic non-fiction, I returned to fiction to escape reality. Well, almost: I read current non-fiction online, as it becomes available. Recently I downloaded, and n the process of reading, the second edition of The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump: 35 Psychiatrists and Mental Health Experts Assess a President, edited by Bandy Lee, M.D., M. Div. 

It’s a disturbing read. 

I pause frequently and read fiction to regenerate my mental constitution before diving back into The Dangerous Case… 

For lovers of books and reading, online libraries are heaven sent. I’m an online library evangelist. Recently, as I purchased my usual weekly seed, nut, and whole grain loaf at the local bakery, I chatted with the store owner. He mentioned he’d not slept well and read a book in bed. 

Did he read e-books, I asked. 

He’d never heard of e-books. 

I grabbed my moment to proselytize and explained how e-books work: one signs up for library membership, logs onto the library website, finds e-books, audio, and video (a filter system allows easy perusal of catalogs) and either downloads or “holds” items. 

Most users process and track downloads through an Amazon account although I suspect there are alternatives to Amazon, too. 

I suggested the bakery owner approach the local library and inquire about their e-book offerings. Prior to finding a local Internet Services Provider, I frequented the local bricks-and-mortar library and used one of three computers there. Like most libraries, a user signs up for a computer and, once online, has 30 minutes of use, including accessing Internet. Not much time, but better than nothing.

“Mendacious from start to finish”

Peter Kuper
(c) 2020 Cagle Cartoons
Click to enlarge.

Many articles about Covid-19 claim that it  “will change the world forever…”
It could, but not without a valiant and concerted effort by well-meaning people working together.

News blues…

Covid-related predictions:

• “…less global and less urban”
• “… change the workplace forever” 
• “…how the world will look after…” 
• “…may forever change the world’s cities…” 
• “…the future of development…” 

Then, reality raises its stubborn head. “Trump has warned of alien DNA, sex with demons…” and you realize that, in fact, anything could happen – including no future.
Think that’s an exaggeration?
See Trump’s response after being called on his warning about alien DNA  (4:48 mins)
If well-meaning people of the world do nothing to shift towards more equality, all people of the world and the world are sunk.
Doing nothing or waiting for “someone” to “do something” is the human default.
What and how to do something effectively are huge questions.
Remember, simply confronting your clueless friends’ whackjob views is doing something….
Need a stimulant for action?

The US will officially exit the Paris accord one day after the 2020 US election and architects of that deal say the stakes could not be higher.
… in 2017 …Donald Trump took to the lectern in the White House Rose Garden to announce the US withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement, the only comprehensive global pact to tackle the spiraling crisis.
Todd Stern… the US’s chief negotiator when the deal was sealed in Paris in 2015… [said] “I found it sickening, it was mendacious from start to finish… I was furious … because here we have this really important thing and here’s this joker who doesn’t understand anything he’s talking about. It was a fraud.”
The terms of the accord mean no country can leave before November this year, so due to a quirk of timing, the US will officially exit the Paris deal on 4 November – [fewer than] 100 days from now and just one day after the 2020 presidential election.

In other words, there’s still time for you to get involved. If you’re in the US, find out who is you local, state, and federal representatives and share your concern.
If you’re not in the US, here are five ways to contact the White House and air your concerns. 
Don’t expect a reply….

Healthy futures anyone?

Costa Rica, a model for sustainability

Like many tropical countries, Costa Rica lost a significant portion of its forests to agriculture in the 20th century. The United States was responsible for most of this damage: they provided massive “aid” loans to cattle farmers in Costa Rica starting in the 1960s … to feed Americans’ growing appetite for meat.
It’s not easy to come back from losing 80 percent of your forests, but Costa Rica is making a valiant effort through its payment for ecosystem services (PES) program. Using revenue from a gas tax, the government is paying small landowners to help reforest the country, with special attention to water resources and areas of high poverty. Their goal is to have 60 percent of the country covered in forests, a significant feat for any country.
This ambition is paying off for Costa Rica’s tourism sector: it now surpasses agriculture as the country’s biggest industry. People all over the world are drawn to Costa Rica’s renowned national parks and plentiful ecolodges.

***

The Lincoln Project:
Memories : It truly is a choice: America? Or Trump?
Meidas Touch:
Trump kills Texas  (1:00 mins)
Now This:
Republican Voters Against Trump Ad Uses Reagan’s Words  (3:00 mins)

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Yesterday I started what looked like a long, potentially ineffectual effort to vote in the November 3 election. I’d contacted the US consulate and received guidance, but it relied on the SA Postal Service. Anyone in SA knows there is no functioning postal service in this country. (See yesterday’s post. )
Today, I’m happy to share that I received a personal call from the consulate agent working with absentee ballots. She outlined the process to follow to ensure my ballot is filled out correctly and will be counted. This includes paying a courier company to courier the paperwork to the consulate in Durban for transport to the US.
Perhaps I should send the bill for the courier service to Donald J Trump?
Nah, he’s known for seldom paying for services.
Along with information, the consulate agent mentioned she was in quarantine as 3 other agents had been diagnosed with Covid. Consequently, consulate operations in Durban are intermittent.
Moreover, both her 30-something son and her 90-year-old father are infected with Covid.
Happily, both appear on the road to recovery – yes, including her father!

***

The tone of today’s post shares my growing concern about the direction of our planet and people. But… I remind myself that seedlings continue to sprout and grow, weaver birds chatter as they seek safe sites for spring nests, and the sun shines warmly.
Yesterday, the sun shone so warmly as I painted rust-proof paint on metal garden fencing that I wore a sun hat and spread glops of sunscreen on my face, neck, and arms.
I’m beginning the long and arduous task of spiffing up this property and preparing it for sale.
This for as long as my mother holds on to her current agreement to live with my nephew and his family in Johannesburg.
I hold thumbs that this remains a plan we can successfully execute.

No news is good news

Usually actively engaged in following news around the world, I hesitate, now, to do so. Too much bad news. Too much bad Trump news….

News blues…

• Trump still pushing hydroxychloroquine as a cure for COVID-19. 
• Trump reportedly never was invited by the Yankees to pitch the first game of the season. He lied. Rather, his aim was to grab the limelight from Dr Anthony Fauci who was invited – and who pitched. 
• Trump finds Twitter’s trending “very unfair” and, he claims, “illegal, too. They look for anything they can find, make it as bad as possible, and blow it up, trying to make it trend,” the president laments. 
• On and on he goes…clowning his way through a pandemic, as the world’s people struggle along a path strewn with up to 10,000 children dying each month from hunger. Covid-19 side effects are pushing the world’s hungry communities over the edge. ... and Trump and his cronies have no coherent strategy against a pandemic. 

Trump grifts, you die! (1:00 min) Meidas Touch

Healthy futures anyone?

In this new segment, I find examples of areas of the world where and people are creating/living sustainably.
Today, Cuba.
The US embargo has kept Cuba frozen in time, its environment pristine, and its people independent and self-sufficient. A brief history:
On March 14, 1958, the United States imposed its first embargo on the sale of arms to Cuba, during the Fulgencio Batista regime.
On October 19, 1960 (almost two years after the Cuban Revolution had led to the deposition of the Batista regime) after Cuba nationalized American-owned Cuban oil refineries without compensation, the U.S. placed an embargo on exports to Cuba except for food and medicine.
On February 7, 1962 the embargo was extended to include almost all exports. The embargo did not prohibit the trade of food and humanitarian supplies.
On December 17, 2014 Presidents Barack Obama and Raúl Castro announced moves to reestablish diplomatic relations and to loosen travel and economic policies. Obama also announced a review of Cuba's status as a terrorist state and an intention to ask Congress to remove the embargo entirely.
On May 29, 2015, according to the U.S. State Department, "Cuba's designation as a state sponsor of terrorism was rescinded. Under the announced changes by the President, there will be an increased ability to transact with Cuban nationals and businesses, including Cuban financial institutions. Additionally, permitted U.S. banks would have been able to open accredited accounts in Cuban banks.
But, along came Donald Trump…
On November 8, 2017, barely a week after Trump was elected, he and his Administration enacted new rules to re-enforce the business and travel restrictions to go into effect on November 9, 2017.
(Read a Wikipedia version of US/Cuba relations and US embargo against Cuba .)
The last laugh? 

A new report published recently places Cuba at the top of developed countries in the world in terms of sustainability. The Sustainable Development Index measures each country’s CO2 emissions aligned with other parameters linked to human development like education and life expectancy. The most recent figures from 2015 reveal Cuba as the most sustainable country on the planet followed by Costa Rica and Sri Lanka.

While the tourist industry has hurt biodiversity in much of the Caribbean, Cuba's relative isolation has left its wildlife untouched. Now, Cuba is a safe haven for rare and intriguing indigenous animals, migrating birds and marine creatures. But as the prospect of the US trade embargo being lifted looms, a surge in tourism is predicted. What will happen to Cuba's ecological riches in the process?
Watch “Cuba: The Accidental Eden, The Jewel of the Caribbean” (PBS 53:02 mins)
Movie promo:

Cuba may have been restricted politically and economically for the past 50 years, but its borders have remained open to wildlife for which Cuba's undeveloped islands are an irresistible draw. While many islands in the Caribbean have poisoned or paved over their ecological riches on land and in the sea in pursuit of a growing tourist industry, Cuba's wild landscapes have remained virtually untouched, creating a safe haven for rare and intriguing indigenous animals, as well as for hundreds of species of migrating birds and marine creatures. Coral reefs have benefited, too. Independent research has shown that Cuba's corals are doing much better than others both in the Caribbean and around the world.

In real terms, Cuba, a sustainable ecosystem, is better off not having Americans traipsing all over the island, making American demands, and influencing that culture with American values. It better for Cuba’s natural environment, too.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

I applied for absentee voting ballot today. What struck me as odd for a US consulate doing business in South Africa was the assumption that I could “drop off [my] sealed ballot at our office for mailing to the US”.
The consulate office is in Durban. I reside in the Midlands. That’s a trip of at least 90 minutes one way by car - and not feasible during Lockdown.
At least they know enough about how things work in South Africa not to assume that I could mail my hardcopy forms or my hardcopy ballot through the SA Postal Service.
For all intents and purposes there is no functioning SA Postal Service in this area.
The local post office teetered for several years (“no ink to print receipts,” “no stamps,” etc.). It shut down altogether about two years ago although it’s hard to say when it actually closed.
Residents were not informed about the closure.
If I wasn’t here with a laptop, an email address, and an Internet connection (albeit, inconsistent), my mother would be sunk.
No longer able to drive, nor walk any distance, she’d have no way to pay her monthly bills. Indeed, she’d not even know her monthly bills were stacking up – until her utilities and services – rates/property tax, water, power, etc. – were turned off.

So, what’s the next step for absentee voting?
Who knows?
Who knows if there’ll even be an election?
We the People know that Trump and his allies are doing their best to prevent eligible Americans from voting.
All the more reason to insist upon my right to vote!

Thinking future

Time warp. Long seconds of disorientation this morning during which I lost track of whether it was morning or evening.
Four months of Lockdown will do that.

News blues…

On the day I emailed the US Consulate in KZN for directions on how to vote absentee, I discovered Michele Obama has launched a national voter registration effort.

Obama said, “We’ve only got 100 days left [before the election on November 3] and we’ve got to direct every ounce of energy we have into making sure everyone understands the importance of their voice and their vote.”
This election “could not be more important for the future of our country….” 

If you’re American living in America and not yet registered, register to vote now.

Healthy futures anyone?

Introducing a new segment on this blog: Healthy futures anyone reviews areas of the world where and people are creating sustainable lives and/or living sustainably.
Yes, many are out-of-the-way places, off the beaten track. But that doesn’t nullify their success.
First up, Nakhchivan, on the Transcaucasian plateau between Armenia, Iran and Turkey.

Nakhchivan has adopted a strict no-pesticide, all-organic food policy. This health-conscious land-to-table ethos ensures that the Balbas breed of sheep you’re eating come from Nakhchivani farms; the fish from Nakhchivani lakes; the wild dill, aniseed terragon and sweet basil from Nakhchivani foothills; the produce from Nakhchivani orchards and even the salt from underground Nakhchivani caves. 

Learn more about Nakhchivan.

Then there’s South Georgia. A far-flung British territory in the South Atlantic Ocean between Argentina and Antarctica offering glaciated peaks, billowing tundra grasses, and millions of happy penguins.

The Lincoln Project
An interview with co-founder Ric Wilson on the huge walk away from GOP that Trump may not survive (10:00 mins)

Trump has been in office for exactly 1,282 days. During that time, he has:
• Ignored a pandemic while 140,000 Americans died from COVID-19. Then he said "we've done a great job"
• Fawned over Putin as Russia paid the Taliban cash for killing American soldiers in Afghanistan
• Utilized a mercenary secret police to go into U.S. cities and attack peaceful protestors
• Lied over 20,000 times — over 15 a day — and has played golf at least 280 times
• Begged at least three different countries to cheat in our elections
• Cozied up to ruthless dictators — saying Kim Jong Un is a friend — while isolating our friends
• Watched helplessly as our economy has gone into a depression that has left 40 million Americans out of work.

Ready to sign up for four more years – 1,460 days – of Donald J Trump and his ilk?
If not, register to vote now. .. and vote on November 3.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Covid-19 has traction among South Africans. KwaZulu Natal has 14.4 percent of the total – 64,061 cases – and creeping up on the Eastern Cape with 73,585 infections.
The good news in this household? I might have stumbled upon a plan for my mother’s ongoing safety, health, and welfare that will conclude with me returning to California, my family, and my houseboat - albeit only in several more months.
To celebrate the forward momentum, I’ve begun efforts toward prepping for the sale of this house.
Having a plan helps orient.
I’m prepared for the plan not to work out, but at least there is a plan….