Second wave?

Lockdown Alert Level 2 began at 1 minute after midnight. Smokers and imbibers of alcohol are back in business!

News blues…

New Zealand, Italy, Spain, UK, the US – all experiencing second waves of Covid-19 infections. Can South Africa be far behind?

The South African Medical Association says a second wave of COVID-19 should be expected… to take place within the next 8-12 weeks.
While the association has welcomed the easing of the lockdown, it is warning that the fight against the coronavirus is far from over.

***

At last, the conversation begins in the US about deeply investigating – and charging, as necessary – abuses against the US Constitution by the current president and his enablers.
A Presidential Crimes Commission, aka a Trump Crimes Commission.  (15:16 mins)
Congressman Swalwell calls for inquiry and, if required, prosecution of wrong-doing in Trump administration. Republican Glen Kirschner explains.  
And, today’s update  (7:35 mins)

The Lincoln Project – comprised of former Republicans – states:

Tonight, at the Democratic National Convention, we'll witness a piece of history. A prominent voice crossing party lines to put country over party. [Republican] Governor John Kasich was the last man standing in the 2016 GOP primary. Now he's backing former Vice President Biden.
When we set out nine months ago to rally Republicans to the Constitution and against Donald Trump, we weren’t sure how big a movement we would find, or who would answer the call.
We have become a true force in this campaign.
What Governor Kasich is doing tonight is rare and historic. That’s because we’re at a historic crossroads, where we must choose: America or Trump?
Across America, there are millions of Republicans like Governor Kasich, patriotic voters choosing America over Trump. We’re proud to count many of them among our supporters.
Just last week, we launched an eight-state campaign to convince reluctant Trump voters that the cost of four more years would be too high.
Our goal? Persuade 3-5% of Republicans to switch their votes to Joe Biden — from the suburbs, to deep red rural counties — and make sure Joe Biden wins by such a wide margin, no one ever tries Trumpism again.

I never imagined I’d promote Republican values. Indeed, I’m not promoting Republican values, rather I’m giving credit where credit is due. I’m amazed – even proud of - Republicans speaking out against what they perceive as a betrayal of their values by the Trumpies.
Might this start a trend where the US becomes less polarized?
Might Americans speak out against the betrayal of American values, no matter their political affiliation?
Here’s hopin’
1306 days of Trump done, 78 days to the election… 

Insist on your right to vote via mail-in ballots, then go vote, Americans!

***

California’s extreme temperatures trigger power outages “as the state’s power grid became overwhelmed by energy demands.”

A Stage 3 emergency alert was declared … by the California Independent System Operator, which runs the state’s power grid. The agency has not declared a statewide emergency of this kind since 2001. More than 300,000 customers in both Northern and Southern California were without power….
Temperatures for some parts of the state are expected to reach [indeed, are already reaching] into the triple digits….
Across the country, some 150 million people are set to experience temperatures hotter than 90 degrees over the next week, and 50 million of those forecast to experience temperatures over 100 degrees.
More than 80 million people were under heat alerts Friday from the Central and Southern Plains as well as for nearly the entire West Coast. The myriad heat alerts covering the map included heat advisories, excessive heat watches and excessive heat warnings all issued by the National Weather Service.

Meanwhile, “Eskom implored South Africans to reduce their energy use…and implemented stage 2 load shedding following plant breakdowns. 

 Power outages. Load shedding. A rose by any other name….
US terminology for power outages/load shedding:
“Rolling blackout”: a defined period during which power may or may not go off.
“Public safety shutdown”: a specific time during which power will go off to ensure power lines do not ignite wildfires.

*** 

The Lincoln Project: Dad  (2:25 mins)
Meet Mother  (2:15 mins)
Divorce Trump  (0:55 mins)
Trump the Internet: Trump Bible Study - The Prodigal Son  (9:25 mins)
From Rosa to Kamala  (1:55 mins)
Randy Rainbow: “Kamala”  (3:40 mins)

Healthy futures, anyone?

One of our planet’s amazing creatures: the Lyre Bird.  (2:57 mins)
Imagine life on this planet without its astonishing variety and diversity. Then, find a community of people with whom you can work to ensure the continuation of that astonishing variety and diversity. Get to work on healthy futures….

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

The opening of liquor stores has the alcohol imbibers of the country a-twitter. At 10:00am this morning, one hour after liquor stores reopened, my mother called the local store for a delivery of her favorite wine. The manager informed her, “We’re sold out!” 

I happened to be in a different shopping mall and thought to purchase a couple of bottles of her favorite wine. One look at the long queue (“the line”) - 20 people, socially distanced - dissuaded me.

*** 

Eskom (SA’s national electricity provider) sent a tree trimming crew to this neighborhood yesterday to buzz-cut growing trees. All day long, the neighborhood endured hours of high-pitched buzzing.

Click to enlarge. 

Alas, the trimming crew revealed itself as more of a butchering crew. This photo (left) shows one formerly beautiful swamp cypress - branches and crown demolished.

What remains are heaps of shorn branches detached from trunk and left to the vagaries of August’s winds. 

Photo, below left, shows a different Eskom's team's tree trimming abilities from five years ago. 

Lobsided, but the tree maintains its crown and continues growing. 

Is it too much to ask that Eskom run their tree trimming crews through basic training on pruning? Or, are my standards simply too high? 

Click to enlarge. 

***

I’ve been in near-hibernation mode due to one hundred forty-five days of Lockdown, more than ten weeks of winter, and gobs of socio-cultural stress.
Unlike Trump’s version of Covid-19, my stress will not “magically go away,” but Level 2 brings with it the possibility of action.
Today, finally - after a delay of four months – I plan to visit the person who manages the place that might offer a comfortable, caring environment for my elderly mother and one dog.

Forward momentum?

Correction: Lockdown Level 2 begins 00:01 Tuesday, not Sunday or Monday. I’m not the only one confused. Newspapers also acknowledged and clarified the confusion. Tuesday seems an odd time to transition. The latest pandemic stats are worrisome, too.

On Sunday, 3,692 new Covid-19 cases were reported. [South Africa] has now recorded 587,345 confirmed cases since the coronavirus hit South African shores in March.
Gauteng continues to be the epicentre of the virus, with 199,635 confirmed cases. KwaZulu-Natal has now the second highest number of positive cases at 105,383, followed by the Western Cape with 102,449 cases.

News blues…

Trumpian logic: slash medical care during a global pandemic even as the US leads the world in infection rates.

Pentagon officials working on Defense Secretary Mark Esper's cost-cutting review of the department have proposed slashing military health care by $2.2 billion, a reduction that some defense officials say could effectively gut the Pentagon’s health care system during a nationwide pandemic…[and] imperil the health care of … roughly 9.5 million active-duty personnel, military retirees and their dependents …as the nation grapples with Covid-19. 

Hmmm, why not cut back on the manufacture, production, testing, and use of military equipment and toxic arms and armaments? The US spends by far more than any other country on earth on its military.
The DoD’s fiscal year 2020 budget is approximately $721.5 billion ($721,531,000,000) - approximately $712.6 billion discretionary and $8.9 billion in mandatory spending. But no. Can’t cut back on weapons, only on personnel costs.

***

Desperate men reach for desperate measures...or, more Trumpian logic:

During an interview on Fox News, Trump said that if USPS does not receive the additional $25 billion funding request that Democrats included in the ongoing stimulus negotiations, then he believes the Post Office won't be able to handle the influx of mail-in ballots in the upcoming election.
"They want three and a half billion dollars for something that'll turn out to be fraudulent, that's election money basically. They want three and a half billion dollars for the mail-in votes. Universal mail-in ballots. They want $25 billion, billion, for the Post Office. Now they need that money in order to make the Post Office work so it can take all of these millions and millions of ballots.”

Americans rear up and push back against Trump and his cronies:

Protesters filled the streets outside the head of the U.S. Postal Service's home in Northwest Washington, D.C., on Saturday, some carrying signs that read "Don't mess with the USPS" and "Don't stamp out our democracy." The demonstrators blew airhorns and banged pots as a few of them walked to the front door of Postmaster General Louis DeJoy's building and pinned fake ballots to his front door, as protesters accused him and the White House of working together to undermine main-in ballots and the election.
"Hey hey, Louis DeJoy, the Postal Service is not your toy!" the protesters chanted. It was not known if he was home.
… DeJoy, a Trump ally who has served as postmaster general since May, reshuffled much of the experienced senior leadership in USPS's organizational chart when he took control of the agency, and he has introduced a number of policy changes that appear to have slowed the delivery of mail. … DeJoy has also overseen the decommissioning of 671 of the agency's letter sorting machines, which can individually sort 35,000 pieces of mail per hour.

Healthy future’s anyone?

See all 18 photos 

The demise of the MV Wakashio leads to the demise of Maurtius’ Blue Bay Marine Park reserve, environmentally protected marine ecosystems, pristine waters, tourist beaches, and mangrove plantations.

It's unclear how much oil was removed before Saturday. Earlier this week, the operator, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, said about 1,180 metric tons of oil had leaked from fuel tanks - with about 460 tons manually recovered from the sea and coast. The ship was carrying about 3,800 tons of Very Low Sulphur Fuel Oil and 200 tons of diesel oil…  
The Panama-flagged tanker was carrying more than 4,000 tonnes of heavy oil, lubricants and diesel from China to Brazil. Between 800 and 1,200 tonnes was thought to have leaked into the sea, with the rest being pumped out by salvage experts.
“In view of the rough sea condition, the salvage company … has informed us that it cannot carry on with the pumping of the remaining oil,” the Mauritius National Crisis Committee said in a statement.
Scientists say the full impact of the spill is still unclear, but the oil has already reached exceptional zones of marine life…[as well as]… a unique coastal wetland recognised for the diversity of its coral and fish species, as well as for the endangered green turtle [causing] … “a massive poisonous shock to the system,” said Adam Moolna, an environmental scientist from Mauritius. “This oil will have cascading effects across the webs of life.”
…Thousands of volunteers, many smeared from head to toe in black sludge, ignored official instructions to stay away and strung together miles of improvised floating barriers made of straw in a desperate attempt to hold back the oily tide.
“We have had to fully equip our front-line staff … Many persons have been wading into the oil spilled waters with only thongs and wearing shorts and it is extremely dangerous. A couple of hours exposed to fumes can cause headaches, nose and eye burns and even dizziness,” said Jean Hugues Gardenne, of the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation.
…Tourism generated 63bn rupees ($1.6bn) for the Mauritian economy last year. The industry had already been badly hit by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Mauritius shut its borders on 19 March and has had only 344 cases of Covid-19, of which 332 have recovered and 10 have died. The country is still closed to international air travel. In May, the central bank said that in the past two months alone, the nation had lost 12bn rupees in foreign exchange due to the fall in tourism. 

***

The Lincoln Project: Complacent  (0:55 mins)
Astonishing that, within 12 hours of publishing, Lincoln Project ads generate more than half a million views. Bad news for Trump; great news for We, the People.
Meidas Touch: Are You Better Off? | Airing Nationwide on Fox News  (0:55 mins)

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

The weather is cold and dreary and predicted to drop below freezing the next two nights. Nevertheless, guarded optimism as the country drops to Alert Level 2.
Action is possible.
I’m back on track to find a safe, welcoming – and acceptable to my mother – retirement community that provides caring oversight…and that permits her to keep at least one dog.
Prior to Lockdown – 144 days ago - I’d contacted representatives of an Ambers property. Then, alas, plans went on hold.
Covid-19 was the ostensible reason although my mother, after agreeing with the plan, changed her mind, nixed the new plan, came up with another, then nixed that one, too.
Since then, we’ve bobbed in the waters of uncertainty, indecision, and negativity.
But a new day dawns.
I’m hopeful that I can visit that Ambers property, and other similar properties, this week.
Forward momentum feels good!

Reckoning

Level 2 as of midnight tonight! 

News blues…

President Ramaphosa updates South Africans (28:00 mins) and declares a “new phase” in response: Extend national state of disaster until Sept 15 but move to Level 2.
Alert Level 2 protocols:

• Remove restrictions on the resumption of economic activity albeit with necessary and appropriate conditions
• Interprovincial travel ban lifted
• Hospitality reopens with approved protocols
• Restaurants, bars, taverns reopen with approved protocols
• Lift restrictions on the sale of cigarettes
• Alcohol use subject to conditions: up to 10 pm in public; for sale Mon – Thur 9 am to 5p for use at home
• Lift restrictions for family and friend – small gatherings
• Continue social distancing and protect the vulnerable continue

Protocols that remain in place:

• International travel remains restricted
• No gatherings of more than 50 people, including funerals and religious
• Curfew from 10 pm to 4 am
• Stay at home, work at home if possible

Continue to:

• Wear masks
• Protect the elderly and those with underlying conditions
• Social distancing
• Proper ventilation
• Limit travel to necessary trips only
• Avoid social gatherings
• Wash and sanitize hands
• Behave responsibly – act as if you could infect others

Keep in mind that New Zealand, a model of well-managed response to Covid-19, reinstituted lockdown in Auckland due to a second wave of infections.

On Sunday, New Zealand reported 13 new confirmed cases of the coronavirus for the last 24 hours, as the country’s first outbreak in months continued to grow.
All but one of the new cases were from community transmission and appeared to be linked to a cluster in Auckland where the most recent outbreak started, said Ashley Bloomfield, the New Zealand director general of health. The 13th was a traveller who returned from abroad and was in managed quarantine. It brings the number of active cases in New Zealand to 69. Since the start of the year the country had recorded 1,271 cases.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Despite international travel remaining restricted, this morning, for the first time in 144 days, I fantasized about la dolce vita aboard my houseboat. Many things to work out here before I can resume the liveaboard life, but it beckons, and I can see myself back in California.

*** 

Alas, in California, news came of a favorite pet cat passing away peacefully. RIP, Tommy, Mr T, The Tomalizer, Catiwompuss. The 90-year-old mother of a friend passed away the same day, almost the same time. Perhaps they’re together in the place the succors good souls? 

***

Local weather here has gone from hot 27 C (81 F) with gusting winds, accompanied by fire warnings, to 11 C (42 F) with predictions of 1 C and -1 C (31 - 30 F) overnight this week. Continued predictions for sorely needed rain that never comes.

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….