Superfly

Black flies matter.
During the debate, a fly sat
on Pence’s head for 2 minutes. 

Black flies matter. 

In his recent New York Times column, Frank Bruni admits, “Mike Pence’s Debate Performance Bugged Me Out: He’s numb to pests large and small”:

We need to talk about that fly.
It was a fly, wasn’t it? If not, it was a bug doing an ace interpretation of a fly, and about two-thirds of the way through the debate in Salt Lake City on Wednesday night, it took up residence in Vice President Mike Pence’s hair, a smudge of black against a shock of white, where it lingered for a few minutes before undoubtedly realizing that there was warmer, more demonstrably human real estate to be had.
Off it flew, and on Pence droned. He never exhibited any awareness — not the subtlest glance upward, not the slightest flinch or twitch — that his head had been colonized. I first found this strange and then realized it was everything. Pence’s years of obsequiousness to Donald Trump had beaten all sensitivity and capacity for revulsion out of him.  Read the humorous column.  (By the way, after the debate, Pence’s wife Karen - aka "Mother" -  appeared on stage without a mask, ignoring guidelines both campaigns had agreed to observe.)

Wags called the fly a “national treasure,” an “American hero,” and suggested “even the fly knows he’s trash.”
“Late Show” host Stephen Colbert joked that Pence was “so full of crap, he’s attracting flies.” He added, “All jokes aside, thoughts and prayers to that fly’s family. It’s got to quarantine for two weeks now” (referencing the coronavirus outbreak in the White House). “We’ve gotta get that fly to Walter Reed.” Colbert also noted how long the fly remained on Pence’s head, “Two minutes… meaning that fly has a longer attention span than the president of the United States.”
Trevor Noah tweeted: Pence apologizing to Mother right now for getting to 3rd base with the fly.
Stephen King: that fly knows….
Eric Holder: Who will play the kamikaze fly on SNL?
Ah, humor, the saving grace during these bizarre times.

News blues…

After the Commission on Presidential Debates decided next week’s debate between Trump and Biden would be held remotely, the President of the United States, with sagging poll numbers, said, “I’m not going to waste my time on a virtual debate - that's not what debating is all about, you sit behind a computer and do a debate -- it's ridiculous. And then they cut you off whenever they want."
And, there’s the rub: being cut off. He is the guy to cut off others, not the guy to be cut off….
Trump’s campaign manager Bill Stepien - positive for COVID-19 - called the virtual format a “sad excuse to bail out Joe Biden,” adding that Trump – also positive for COVID-19 – would “do a rally instead.”

***

Dr Rick Bright shares an important point of view regarding Trump’s attitude to coronavirus, science… and ponders Trump and his administration’s resistance to common sense and health protocols. 

***

South Africa publishes a new interactive dashboard that details all transactions related to PPE procurement. This after tenders currently being investigated worth over five billion rand (US$299 million) were awarded for cloth masks, surgical masks, face shields, medical gowns, aprons, scrubs, overalls, gloves, sanitisers, and other products.
A good example of shutting the barn door after animals have skedaddled?

***

With a tweet, Trump nixed what had been an ongoing haggle about the amount of and who would benefit from the coronavirus spending bill – aka the Stimulus Package/Bill. “I have instructed my representatives to stop negotiating until after the election when, immediately after I win, we will pass a major Stimulus Bill that focuses on hardworking Americans and Small Business.”
The day after that tweet, he reinstated the haggling, saying on Fox, “I shut down talks two days ago because they weren’t working out. Now they are starting to work out.”
They’re not “starting to work out.” It’s more likely The Donald noticed the stock market dip and his poll numbers drop even further in response to his tweet. (Colbert’s take on this move – and other Trumpisms - 12:34 mins)
Maybe it’s time someone not truth-averse reviews Trump's Covid med package?

***

The Lincoln Project:
Gasping for Air  (0:55 mins)
Regeneron  (0:40 mins)
Don Winslow Films: Trump is patient zero  (1:39 mins)

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Success! Our small, very hard working team of three, under the guidance of a detail-oriented painter (a woman), succeeded in squeezing four days work into two days. I’m thrilled with our progress. 

Over the weekend, I will continue, alone, to finish: primp the trim, clean gutters of paint splotches… then clean brushes, put away painting gear, and photograph the results. 

Photographs will go realtors to market the house.
Only unknown?
Will my mother revert to her original agreement to sell the house? Or will she balk again before agreeing again before reverting again?
Enquiring minds wanna know….

Debatable

After watching the recent American political debate, I suggest a bland recipe: plop representatives of two opposing views into one bowl, toss in a bunch of facts, semi-facts, obfuscations (aka lies), modify and reframe dollops of recent historical facts and evidence, add a soupçon of moderation. Mix. Pour. Bake. Walk away from the toxic mix, sit in the warm sun until your troubles drop away, feel the wonder of your life, an important part of all life.
Then, vote!

Worldwide (Map) 
October 8 – 36,069,000 confirmed infections; 1,055,000 deaths
October 1 – 33,881,275 confirmed infections: 1,012,980 deaths 

US (Map)

October 8 – 7,550,000 confirmed infections; 212,000 deaths

October 1 - 7,233,200 confirmed infections; 206,940 deaths

  

SA (Coronavirus portal) 
October 8 – 685,155 confirmed infections; 17,250 deaths
October 1 – 674,340 confirmed infections: 16,735 deaths 

 
This week sees 19 countries having lower rates of Covid infections than the US White House. As of yesterday, October 7, according to a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) memo, “Thirty-four White House staffers and ‘other contacts’ have been infected with the coronavirus in recent days.”  

News blues…

WHO official says 10 percent of the world may have been infected by Covid-19: 

There are more than 35.5 million confirmed Covid-19 cases globally, according to the widely-used Johns Hopkins University dashboard, but World Health Organization and other experts say that is almost certainly an enormous undercount. Over the summer, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said cases in the US had likely been undercounted by at least 90%.
With a global population of about 7.7 billion people, Ryan's estimate would mean about 770 million have been infected - but most have not been diagnosed or counted.

***

After departing the National Institutes of Health, where he was working on a program to expand national COVID-19 testing capacity, Dr. Rick Bright wrote a blistering op-ed in the Washington Post: “I couldn’t sit idly and watch people die from Trump’s chaotic, politicized pandemic response, so I resigned,”

 “From the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak, the administration’s failure to respond with a coordinated strategy only heightened the danger… Nine months into the pandemic, the United States continues to grapple with failed White House leadership.”
Rick Bright said the administration’s “hostility to the truth” has caused tens of thousands of preventable deaths.  

***

For the first time ever in its 208-year history, the New England Journal of Medicine issued an editorial about an election:

Lambasting the Trump administration’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic [the editorial, signed by all its editors, calls] on Americans to vote President Donald Trump out of office next month. 
November’s election will have life-or-death consequences for people across the country regardless of party alignment, the journal’s editorial board said.
“Reasonable people will certainly disagree about the many political positions taken by candidates,” the journal’s editors wrote. “But truth is neither liberal nor conservative. When it comes to the response to the largest public health crisis of our time, our current political leaders have demonstrated that they are dangerously incompetent. We should not abet them and enable the deaths of thousands more Americans by allowing them to keep their jobs.”

I repeat, vote!

***

The Lincoln Project: Hospital  (0:55 mins)

Healthy futures, anyone?

The Earth is changing faster than at any point in modern history as a result of human-caused global heating. 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

After decades of independence living in a different country, far from my mother and family of origin, it is disorienting to live intimately with another person’s chronic ambivalence. I’m caught between settling my dangerously mood-changing mother into a (formerly thoroughly agreed upon) new life while simultaneously expecting willy nilly changes of direction that upend agreed-upon plans.
Do I simply plow ahead with the original plan – sell the house and furnishings – while waiting for her next handwritten list that completely changes the course of events?
Or do I give up and return to my own life?
If the latter, what happens to my essentially alone, 87-year-old mother?
An enquiring mind wants to know…

Who’s nose is this nose?

Talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face: Donald Trump – facing an uphill election – abruptly scrapped stimulus talks and punted on economic relief for millions of suffering Americans until after Election Day .
This is another example of The Donald Think: not voting for me? I’ll show you! I’ll take away any tax-based support you’re entitled to receive. See how you suckers and losers like them apples!

***

The Lincoln Project:
Hospital  (0:55 mins)
Covita  (1:25 mins)
Adultery  (1:00 mins)

Healthy futures, anyone?

Companies Are Making Major Climate Pledges. Here’s What They Really Mean. Decoding corporate climate change targets ― from net-zero emissions to going carbon negative. 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

No rain today meant a day packed with painting. Prettying up the exterior of the house has been my goal for more than two weeks and, today, we almost accomplished it. We’ll finish up tomorrow. After that, I’ll take photographs, send them to the realtors, and – voilà – the house will be on the market.
Then, the waiting.
Apparently, after a seller accepts an offer to purchase, it takes another 3 to 4 months to complete the sale. Not sure I can stick around long enough to see this through. (My life in California has been on hold for almost nine months.)
I’m hopeful that someone will make an offer for local real estate agencies are experiencing among their best sales months ever. That is, it’s a great time to buy. Not such a good time to sell.

Barmy? Or bunkum?

“Barmy” is an old-style English term meaning slightly crazy or very foolish. It’s fitting for our times: The Septua-Octogenarian Era. 

Americans were dragged into this era when 77-year-old Joe Biden opened his campaign for president with the “No Malarkey” bus tour. (Malarkey: insincere or foolish talk, bunkum.). That term – and tour - quickly went by the wayside: too dated for contemporary voters. 
Nevertheless, barmy, bunkum, and malarkey – call ‘em what you will - are ubiquitous. Take a peek:

News blues…

• ‘This is insanity’: Walter Reed physician among critics of Donald Trump drive-by visit. [The 74-year-old Covid-infected] President briefly left hospital for surprise drive past supporters with at least two others in vehicle .
• Trump, Still Infectious, Is Back At The White House — Without A Mask. The president went barefaced despite his physician saying he was still contagious. 
• White House press secretary and two aides have tested positive for coronavirus.

On the sane side of things, however, a fight-back based upon love and humor:
Gay Men Hijack ‘Proud Boys’ Hashtag In Powerful Social Media Campaign.These new-version Proud Boys are “standing bi,” quipped one wag. 

***

The Lincoln Project pushes to raise more funds to oust Trump and neutralize Trumpism:

Texas’ 38 electoral votes is the second largest prize on the map—and an absolute must-win for Trump.
We are the only movement that has proven we can effectively take Trump’s voters away from him.
If Texas flips to Biden, this election is over. Republicans will have squandered any ability to compete in a national election, all in the pursuit of unchecked power and loyalty to the worst president in our nation’s history.
Donald Trump's worst election nightmare is Republicans defecting from him. That is happening because we’re pushing deeper and deeper into GOP territory. Our best chance of crushing Trumpism for good is to deliver a humiliating and resounding defeat—with states like Texas in our coalition.

Our fight  (0:55 mins)

Healthy futures, anyone?

Political malarkey continues, but so do barmy practices that endanger every living entity on our vulnerable planet:

At least 14m tonnes of plastic pieces less than 5mm wide are likely sitting at the bottom of the world’s oceans, according to an estimate based on new research.  Analysis of ocean sediments from as deep as 3km suggests there could be more than 30 times as much plastic at the bottom of the world’s ocean than there is floating at the surface.
Australia’s government science agency, CSIRO, gathered and analysed cores of the ocean floor taken at six remote sites about 300km off the country’s southern coast in the Great Australian Bight.
Researchers looked at 51 samples and found that after excluding the weight of the water, each gram of sediment contained an average of 1.26 microplastic pieces.
Microplastics are 5mm or less in diameter and are mostly the result of larger plastic items breaking apart into ever smaller pieces.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Seemingly overnight, I turned into my 87-year-old mother’s epitome of “disgusting,” “selling her furniture from under her,” etc., etc.
My head is still spinning from the abrupt about-face.
As said the matron of the facility in which my mother appeared happy until last Thursday, “You [meaning my mother] have gone through a number of major traumas: putting down your elderly dogs, leaving your home, moving into a strange place, selling your house…. Any of these alone is traumatic. Altogether they can easily overwhelm anyone.”
Too true.
Only problem? My mother believes she immune to trauma.
Me, on the other hand? I’m exhausted. This barmy bunkum and malarkey is also traumatizing. And I know I’m not immune.