It’s baaaack!

Birtherism is back. Trump’s lies about Barack Obama’s place of birth (“not in the US”) are being recycled for Democratic vice-presidential pick, Kamala Harris. 
Oh, so, so tired of Donald Trump.
Former National Republican Convention chairperson Michael Steele says, “America, I’ve talked to you about being punked, if you’re gonna get punked on this [birtherism] again, then you deserve what you get. [Going for birtherism again] says a hellava lot more about you than it does about Donald Trump. Kill it now. Not another story about it….”

News blues…

© Really American 

The Lincoln Project: Unprecedented  (0:55 mins)
Meidas Touch: Bye Hannity  (:55 mins)
Really American: Rescue Our Votes  (1:40 mins)
Republican Voters Against Trump: Here's Some Unique Texas Profanities for Trump  (2:30 mins)

Healthy futures anyone?

One of the pleasures of an “alternative lifestyle” – a houseboat on the San Joaquin River in the Sacramento Delta – is the seasonal wildlife. 

A favorite winter pleasure is sipping coffee as morning sunshine brightens the river and splashes through panorama windows into the cabin. Add the occasional sighting of sea lions and river otters gliding through the channel, and life doesn’t get much better…
Otter news improves day-by-day:

River otters were hunted for their fur in California until 1961. Despite the end of hunting, otters all but disappeared from the San Francisco Bay Area and southward, and polluted waters were thought to share in the blame. However, in the last decade, river otters have made a celebrated rebound, particularly in the North Bay, and have been spotted everywhere from Napa to San Jose. That they returned of their own accord without any reintroduction is a likely sign that restoration efforts have improved the health of creeks and streams. The Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta is considered a hub for river otters. 
Sea otters return to the bay’s estuaries, too.
… San Francisco Bay, California’s largest estuary, could support about 6,000 [sea] otters, more than double the current population. …Scientists also believe that sea otters could be conservation allies, with their potential to help restore other polluted estuaries in California. “…we may need them in estuaries but estuaries may also need sea otters.” … 

Welcome home, otters of all stripes…

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Feeling psychologically exhausted, worn down by bureaucrat-itis…
South Africa’s defunct post office service manages, occasionally, willy nilly, to squeeze a piece of mail into a residential post box.
Yesterday, after months of no postal delivery at all, my mother received in her post box two religious tracts, a seven-month-late bill from the power company, and an on-time bill from the municipal water company.
Since late January, 2020 I’ve tried, unsuccessfully, to receive my mother’s water bill via email. Emailing bills can be done, albeit apparently not by the municipal water company. I receive other municipal bills by email: property tax (“rates”), Eskom, natural gas, phone bill (before cancelling due to no phone service for three months)…. 

Sure, it takes what feels like eons talking on the phone with services representatives, but it can be done and I've succeeded in doing it.
Alas, the elusive water bill.
Until yesterday’s unexpected arrival in the post box, I’ve not seen a water bill in six months.
During the interim, I’ve tried contacting the water department and I’ve paid an estimated amount via online eft each month.
One issue: the phone number on the bill is indecipherable as it is printed in white ink upon a black and white silhouette of a garden.
The more legible email address customercare@umdm.gov.za – also white ink on black and white background - provides no customer care.
I emailed that address back on 15 March asking for a statement of the last 6 months’ payments.
Response?
Nada. Zero. Zilch.
Yesterday’s hardcopy bill threatened to “disconnect supply” if we don’t pay.
I paid half of the unusually high amount and emailed again, asking, again, for a statement of the last 6 months’ payments.
Last night that email bounced back, ironically from postmaster@umdm.gov.za (doesn’t that domain name, “@umdm.gov.za", imply the bounce back happened at the municipality level?). The message: 

Delivery has failed to these recipients or groups: customercare@umdm.gov.za
Your message wasn't delivered. Despite repeated attempts to deliver your message, the recipient's email system refused to accept a connection from your email system.
Contact the recipient by some other means (by phone, for example) and ask them to tell their email admin that it appears that their email system is refusing connections from your email server. Give them the error details shown below. It's likely that the recipient's email admin is the only one who can fix this problem.
For Email Admins
No connection could be made because the target computer actively refused it. This usually results from trying to connect to a service that is inactive on the remote host - that is, one with no server application running.

Exhausting.
The thought of contacting “the recipient by some other means (by phone, for example)”, finding a legible and working phone number, jumping through the various hoops to reach and talk to a knowledgeable human, to follow through on how to resolve the issue….
Perhaps my assumptions about service a la South Africa must be tempered with reality a la South Africa, but… 

Oh, how I long to be back in my houseboat, spying on birds … and otters….

Bedeviling details

7-day rolling averages, analyzed by the Washington Post state: “Yesterday 1,499 Americans died from the novel coronavirus, the highest number since mid-May… 1,000 Americans each day have succumbed to COVID-19 for the last 17 days.”  

More than half a million Covid deaths worldwide, 22-plus-percent American,, thats 4 percent of the global population.

But oh, never mind that....

“It is,” our philosopher prez says, “what it is.”

Let’s focus on what’s immediately important: Trump’s “beautiful hair.” 

News blues… 

We "still have work to do but the situation is all under control".

Japanese-owned oil tanker MV Wakashio struck a coral reef on July 25 spilling an estimated 1,1300 metric tons of oil into the Indian Ocean off Mauritius.
…Oceanographer Vassen Kauppaymuthoo previously warned of the damage if the vessel was to break apart. ”The damage we are seeing now is nothing compared to what may happen when the Wakashio will break. The whole east coast, from Blue Bay to Grand Gaube, will be affected.” 

Subsequently, "almost all" the fuel  oil .. has been pumped out and... 

…transferred to shore by helicopter and to another ship owned by the same Japanese firm, Nagashiki Shipping. …  

France has sent a military aircraft with pollution-control equipment from its nearby island of Réunion, while Japan has sent a six-member team to assist the French efforts. The Mauritius coast guard and several police units are also at the site in the south-east of the island. 

Not to be cynical, but “the situation is all under control" – sounds Trumpian.
Perhaps the oil will, “like a miracle, just disappear.” 

*** 

The Lincoln Project: Kamala  (0:55 mins)
Meidas Touch: Prosecute Trump: Kamala Harris Makes the Case Against Trump (1:00)
Really American: Trump Kills USPS  (:40 mins)

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Load shedding is back. Power went off for 2.5 hours in the morning and 2.5 hours last night.
Today, the app states our neighborhood is at “Stage 2 – since 28 minutes ago.” Power remained on.
The same screen displayed: “Not load shedding right now!”
It’s hard to know which side is up.
One might think that, with bureaucratic bungling normalized, one would acclimate.
Alas, not so.   

Slogging

Pandemic’s latest toll. A month of numbers:
Worldwide

August 13 – 20,621,000  confirmed infections; 749,400 deaths
August 6 – 18,753,000 confirmed infections; 706,800 deaths
July 9 - 12,041,500 confirmed infections; 549,470 deaths

US
August 13 - 5,198,000 confirmed infections; 166,050 deaths
August 6 –  4,824,000 confirmed infections; 158,250 deaths
July 9 – 3,054,800 infections; 132,300 deaths

South Africa
August 13 – 569,000 confirmed infections 11,010 deaths
August 6 – 529,900 confirmed infections; 9,298 deaths
July 9 - 224,665 infections; 3,602 deaths

News blues…

CO2 levels in the atmosphere
8 August 2020: 413.17 ppm
This time last year: 410.35 ppm
10 years ago: 399.71 ppm
Pre-industrial base: 280
Safe level: 350
Atmospheric CO2 reading from Mauna Loa, Hawaii (part per million). Source: NOAA-ESRL.

The draconian coronavirus lockdowns across the world have led to sharp drops in carbon emissions, but this will have “negligible” impact on the climate crisis, with global heating cut by just 0.01C by 2030, a study has found.  But the analysis also shows that putting the huge sums of post-Covid-19 government funding into a green recovery and shunning fossil fuels will give the world a good chance of keeping the rise in global temperatures below 1.5C. …we are now at a “make or break” moment in keeping under the limit – as compared with pre-industrial levels – agreed by the world’s governments to avoid the worst effects of global heating.
The research is primarily based on … data [that] gives near-real-time information on travel and work patterns and therefore gives an idea of the level of emissions. The data covered 123 countries that together are responsible for 99% of fossil fuel emissions. The researchers found that global CO2 emissions dropped by more than 25% in April 2020, and nitrogen oxides (NOx) by 30%.
These falls show that rapid changes in people’s behaviour can make big differences to emissions in the short term, but the scientists said such lockdowns are impossible to maintain. Therefore, economy-wide changes are needed for a transformation to a zero-emissions economy, such as greening transport, buildings and industry with renewable energy, hydrogen or by capturing and burying CO2.

***

Covid-19 launched a mortality category, “excess deaths.” Our World in Data  defines this as

… miscounting deaths from the under-reporting of Covid-19-related deaths and other health conditions left untreated….[or] as actual deaths from all causes, minus ‘normal’ deaths.
US CDC  calculates potentially excess deaths … by subtracting the expected number of deaths from the observed number of deaths. The expected number refers to the number of deaths that we would see if that state’s death rate was equal to the best-performing states.
South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) weekly report  revealed the difference between the country’s confirmed Covid-19 deaths and the number of excess natural deaths. From the first week of March to July 21, the country recorded 22,279 excess natural deaths: 6,620 excess deaths in Gauteng, 6,411 in the Eastern Cape, 4,133 in the Western Cape and 2,632 in KwaZulu-Natal [with] 752 reported in the Free State, 627 in Mpumalanga, 566 in the North West, 527 in Limpopo, and 164 in the Northern Cape.

People paying attention to pandemic numbers – confirmed infections and deaths - understand that confirmed and published numbers represent only a small percentage of actual infections and deaths.
Listening carefully to public figures and politicians discuss confirmed Covid deaths and “excess deaths” one might hear references to “stigma” and “social stigma”  afforded those afflicted.
Such stigma can have fatal consequences.
In South Africa’s hard hit, overcrowded townships and informal settlements, social stigma associated with coronavirus can lead to the infected hiding and/or denying their status and/or not seeking medical help. This, as disclosing one’s status can incur attack and endanger the life of the infected – and the lives of the infected person’s family….

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

I’ve embarked on the veggie garden hiding project and located three areas in the garden monkeys might not explore. Problem is, one of the household’s 7 dogs likely will detect the sweet smell of compost – explore, and dig up seedlings.

***

A day to mask up and venture out of the security gates to forage for groceries, (guarded) social contact, and a change of scenery.

Still swinging

After decades living in America, I know American politics as a pendulum, swinging from one extreme to the other. There’s little balance upon which people can depend. (I’m not the first to use this metaphor. ) 

The Trump years have only widened the arc of the swing – and highlighted underlying layers of racism, sexism, socio-economic disparities….
How we’ll do it, I don’t know, but We the People must extricate ourselves from the trauma of Trump.

Joe Biden picked Kamala Harris for vice-president. As a Californian and San Francisco Bay Area resident, I’m less enthused than many about Kamala Harris. She comes with baggage. 

But it means the pendulum will swing in the other direction – albeit not too far. Progressive change is not in the cards, but picking up the pieces and re-establishing government after Trump’s devastation? That’s vital. 

News blues… 

New Zealand family tests positive for Covid-19 after 102 days without locally transmitted coronavirus cases

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said four cases had been detected in a single family in Auckland from an unknown source. Ardern said she understood the disappointment of New Zealanders who believed the virus had been quashed after a strict seven-week lockdown earlier this year.
"It was perhaps easy to feel New Zealand was out of the woods, my request is not to feel dispirited or disheartened. Of all the countries in the world, New Zealand has gone the longest without a resurgence - but because of that we always knew we had to plan, and we've done that." 

***

Is relaxation of lockdown regulations in South Africa’s near future?

The National Coronavirus Command Council met...[and] President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to address the nation no later than Saturday, when the state of disaster he declared in March is due to expire.
Even as SA passed the grim milestone of 10,000 deaths [overnight] … there are strong signs that the Western Cape, Gauteng and the Eastern Cape have seen their surge. They warned, however, that KwaZulu-Natal has yet to reach its peak. Professor Salim Abdool Karim, head of health minister Zweli Mkhize's advisory committee on the outbreak… is "very worried" about his home province.
Health Minister Mkhize …warned of the possibility of a second wave… and urged South Africans to stay on guard. "Whilst we are cautiously optimistic, it is still too early for us to make definite conclusions regarding the observed decline. We need to continue to track all these indicators and ensure that our testing capacity reflects a realistic picture of our epidemiological status." 

***

Coronavirus testing, a la California.

Two types of tests are available to determine whether a person currently is infected with the coronavirus: molecular tests, such as so-called “RT-PCR tests,” which detect the virus’s genetic material, and antigen tests, which detect specific proteins on the surface of the virus. (Another test, known as the antibody or serological, test, shows whether a person has been infected in the past.) This chart, prepared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, outlines the differences:

Click to enlarge. 

As the chart (left) indicates, antigen tests yield results more quickly than molecular tests. But, according to the FDA, they “have a higher chance of missing an active infection.” As the Mayo Clinic explained,

A positive antigen test result is considered very accurate, but there's an increased chance of false negative results – meaning it's possible to be infected with the virus but have negative antigen test results. So antigen tests aren't as sensitive as molecular tests are. Depending on the situation, the doctor may recommend a molecular test to confirm a negative antigen test result.
The risk of misleading results has led public-health agencies to discourage the use of antigen tests in a non-medical setting. Accordingly, both the Association of Public Health Laboratories and the California Department of Public Health warn against using such tests to screen asymptomatic persons, like those who would go to a community testing site. (The two organizations also recommend against using such tests to screen healthcare workers, first responders, and other essential workers.)

***

The Lincoln Project: Moving day  (0:55)
Interview with Steve Schmidt of Lincoln Project on difference between Mike Pence and Kamala Harris  (5:25 mins)
Meidas Touch: The Rule of Law or Trump (1:00)

Healthy futures, anyone?

Focus on coral. 

© The Conversation 

“Cities of the sea” is how Dr. Sylvia Earle of Mission Blue describes coral: bustling neighborhoods of settled residents, familiar faces, multiple generations….
Smithsonian’s Ocean organization uses the same metaphor and educates...

Corals are related to sea anemones, and they all share the same simple structure, the polyp. The polyp is like a tin can open at just one end: the open end has a mouth surrounded by a ring of tentacles. The tentacles have stinging cells, called nematocysts, that allow the coral polyp to capture small organisms that swim too close. Inside the body of the polyp are digestive and reproductive tissues. Corals differ from sea anemones in their production of a mineral skeleton.
Corals do not have to only rely on themselves for their defenses because mutualisms (beneficial relationships) abound on coral reefs. The partnership between corals and their zooxanthellae is one of many examples of symbiosis, where different species live together and help each other. Some coral colonies have crabs and shrimps that live within their branches and defend their home against coral predators with their pincers. Parrotfish, in their quest to find seaweed, will often bite off chunks of coral and will later poop out the digested remains as sand. One kind of goby chews up a particularly nasty seaweed, and even benefits by becoming more poisonous itself.

Coral reefs support over 25% of marine life by providing food, shelter and a place for fish and other organisms to reproduce and raise young. Today, ocean warming driven by climate change is stressing reefs worldwide.
Rising ocean temperatures cause bleaching events – episodes in which corals expel the algae that live inside them and provide the corals with most of their food, as well as their vibrant colors. When corals lose their algae, they become less resistant to stressors such as disease and eventually may die.
Hundreds of organizations worldwide are working to restore damaged coral reefs by growing thousands of small coral fragments in nurseries, which may be onshore in laboratories or in the ocean near degraded reefs. 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Stymied by monkeys’ wanton destruction of germinating pea and bean seedlings in the veggie garden, I heeded friends’ advice to disguise veggies by distributing them among garden plants.
Yesterday, I began preparing veggie beds – and incorporated abundant pond weed.
Perks of pond weed. Despite the winter hibernation, pond weed continues to grow, albeit slowly.
Over summer and fall/autumn, I’d composted abundant pond weed. It doesn’t break down quickly, but it helps retain moisture in the soil.
I reached into the pond and harvested piles of winter pond weed and padded the bottom layer of the new veggie patches.
Next week – after the predicted cold snap – I will transplant pea, bean, beet, and zucchini seedings.
I never occurred to me, a month ago, when I began germinating seeds in the recycled deep freeze I use as a cold frame/greenhouse, that monkeys would imperil seedlings. Older and wiser now, I wish I’d had the foresight to plant many more seeds.
It takes only one monkey only one second to destroy weeks of seedling care.