Waiting to exhale?

Am I holding my breath or am I waiting to exhale?
The next few days are key to what kind of world we – all sentient beings - wll live in after January 20, 2021.
Why is this US presidential election such a nail-biter?
Poll data on the US election suggests a “close” or “competitive” election.
How can there be any question about Donald Trump remaining in the White House?
As it is, it’s beyond comprehension that he’s still there. The possibility of him remaining there boggles the mind.
Trump has sharply focused the weakness of the American republic’s system of democracy: there is no behavior from the person acting as president that is unacceptable. It’s an anything goes system…

News blues…

Every morning, a SMS (“txt”) informs me of SA’s daily increase Covid infection and death rates. Three weeks ago, the trend was heading downwards, some days numbers indicated under 1,000 new cases per day. Now, alas, daily cases, here as in the rest of the world, continue to surge.

SA recorded 2,056 new cases of Covid-19 in the past 24 hours, health minister Dr Zweli Mkhize said.
This means there have now been 721,770 recorded cases of the illness across the country.
There were also 53 Covid-19 related deaths recorded in the past 24 hours, taking the national death toll to 19,164…. Of the new deaths, 15 occurred in the past 24 to 48 hours. 

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George W. Bush said in 2005: "A pandemic is a lot like a forest fire … If caught early it might be extinguished with limited damage. If allowed to smolder, undetected, it can grow to an inferno that can spread quickly beyond our ability to control it." 

The president recognized that an outbreak was a different kind of disaster than the ones the federal government had been designed to address.
"To respond to a pandemic, we need medical personnel and adequate supplies of equipment," Bush said. "In a pandemic, everything from syringes to hospital beds, respirators masks and protective equipment would be in short supply."
Bush told the gathered scientists [including Dr Fauci] that they would need to develop a vaccine in record time.
"If a pandemic strikes, our country must have a surge capacity in place that will allow us to bring a new vaccine on line quickly and manufacture enough to immunize every American against the pandemic strain," he said.
Bush set out to spend $7 billion building out his plan. His cabinet secretaries urged their staffs to take preparations seriously. The government launched a website, www.pandemicflu.gov, that is still in use today. But as time passed, it became increasingly difficult to justify the continued funding, staffing and attention, Bossert said.
"You need to have annual budget commitment. You need to have institutions that can survive any one administration. And you need to have leadership experience," Bossert said. "All three of those can be effected by our wonderful and unique form of government in which you transfer power every four years."

Indeed.
Donald Trump’s response to the work continued by President Obama toward addressing a pandemic?
Throwing out all the preceding work.

Obama’s White House National Security Council left the Trump administration a detailed document on how to respond to a pandemic. The document … is called the Playbook for Early Response to High-Consequence Emerging Infectious Disease Threats and Biological Incidents.
“We literally left them a 69-page Pandemic Playbook… that they ignored,” Ronald Klain, a campaign adviser to Democratic candidate Joe Biden and the former Obama administration Ebola response coordinator, wrote on Twitter. 

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The Lincoln Project:
Mom  (0:55 mins)
Don’t mess with Texas  (1:20 mins)
Meidas Touch: Alumni against Trump (1:20 mins)

Healthy futures, anyone?

Air travel dominates a frequent traveller’s individual contribution to climate change. Yet aviation overall accounts for only 2.5% of global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. This is because there are large inequalities in how much people fly – many do not, or cannot afford to, fly at all [best estimates put this figure at around 80% of the world population].
The second is how aviation emissions are attributed to countries. CO2 emissions from domestic flights are counted in a country’s emission accounts. International flights are not – instead they are counted as their own category: ‘bunker fuels’. The fact that they don’t count towards the emissions of any country means there are few incentives for countries to reduce them.
…Note that unlike the most common greenhouse gases – carbon dioxide, methane or nitrous oxide – non-CO2 forcings from aviation are not included in the Paris Agreement. This means they could be easily overlooked – especially since international aviation is not counted within any country’s emissions inventories or targets.
How much of a role does aviation play in global emissions and climate change? Here are key numbers …. 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

South Africa, dubbed "the protest capital of the world" with one of the highest rates of public protests in the world, is experiencing another round.
Alas, it’s unclear what’s stimulating this week’s protests. Lockdown means staying home rather than dashing out with mic and recorder. Alas, news outlets currently are not covering the activity.
On Monday, local municipality employees gathered outside municipality offices to protest working conditions and pay.
Local social media shared this photo after protesters blocked the narrow bridge over the uMgeni River that is the village’s main traffic artery. Again, no indication about protesters’ concerns.
Since then, protests appear to have blossomed over the country. A recent email from the US Embassy in SA states:

Demonstration Alert:  U.S. Embassy Pretoria, South Africa (October 29, 2020) 
Event: The U.S. Embassy is aware of a demonstration scheduled for Friday, October 30th, between 9:00 am and 12:00 pm at the U.S. Embassy in Pretoria.
The Embassy would like to remind U.S. citizens that even demonstrations intended to be peaceful can turn confrontational and escalate into violence.   The Embassy would like to recommend avoiding the areas of demonstrations and exercise caution if in the vicinity of any large gatherings or protests. 
Actions to Take:

• Avoid the area of the demonstrations.
• Keep a low profile. 
• Exercise caution if unexpectedly in the vicinity of large gatherings or protests. 
• Monitor local media for updates. 

A good day to stay home, mix compost, admire bird calls, and keep monkeys away from strawberries ripening in the garden.

October numbers

Worldwide (Map)  
October 29 – 44,402,000 xx confirmed infections; 1,173,270 deaths
September 24 – 31,780,000 confirmed infections; 975,100 deaths

US (Map) 
October 29 – 8,856,000 confirmed infections; 227,675 deaths
September 24 – 6,935,000 confirmed infections; 201,880 deaths

SA (Tracker) 
October 29 – 719,715 confirmed infections; 19,111 deaths
September 24 – 665,190 confirmed infections; 16,206 deaths

News blues…

US Covid cases at all time high – and “the worst is yet to come”   (5:45 mins)

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When 511 Epidemiologists Expect to Fly, Hug and Do 18 Other Everyday Activities Again 

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In the last four days, the Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape, three of the country’s Covid-19 hotspots have shown a spike in new cases leading warnings of a possible second wave. 

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Political ads reaching a crescendo with 5 more days to actual election day.
The Lincoln Project:
Biden’s Moment  (1:40 mins)
Covey Spreader  (2:45 mins)
Pizza  (0:50 mins)
Don Winslow Films: America needs Michigan  (2:03 mins)

Pebble  (0:25 mins) 

Now This: Laid off auto workers confront Trump Jr  (4:40 mins)
Meidas Touch:
Sicko Trump  (2:20 mins)
Believe in Biden  (0:25 mins)

Healthy futures, anyone?

“Cultural arrogance” best describes corporate attitudes to humans’ environment and history. Capitalism's attitude to the natural environment? It’s a potential treasure trove to plunder when convenient or the price is right. Sacred? Who cares? Mere antiquated notions and superstition.

Trees: In a deal last year, Aboriginal landowners negotiated with the Victorian government to save around a dozen of 250 "culturally significant" trees from destruction.
Protesters have long camped at the site in Victoria to defend culturally significant trees, including some where local Djab Wurrung women have traditionally gone to give birth.
But state authorities cut down the Djab Wurrung "directions tree….” 
Officials defended the felling, saying the tree was not on a protection list.
Earth: The Juukan Gorge caves, in Australia’s Pilbara region, were destroyed last Sunday as Rio Tinto expanded an iron ore project….  
Many prehistoric artefacts have been found at the remote heritage site.
"We are sorry for the distress we have caused," said Chris Salisbury, the firm's iron ore chief executive. "We pay our respects to the Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura People (PKKP – the traditional owners of the site).
“Extractive industries:” Global extraction of natural resources has increased with the onset of the process of capitalist industrialization, growing at an astounding rate in the past 50 years. Global extraction of primary materials more than tripled to 92 billion tonnes in 2017 from 27 billion tonnes in 1970, an annual average growth of 2.6 percent , according to a 2019 report conducted by the United Nations Environment Programme-hosted International Resource Panel (IRP). 

Only a decade or two ago it was widely thought that tropical forests and intact natural environments teeming with exotic wildlife threatened humans by harbouring the viruses and pathogens that lead to new diseases in humans such as Ebola, HIV and dengue.
But a number of researchers today think that it is actually humanity’s destruction of biodiversity that creates the conditions for new viruses and diseases such as Covid-19…– with profound health and economic impacts in rich and poor countries alike. In fact, a new discipline, planetary health, is emerging that focuses on the increasingly visible connections between the wellbeing of humans, other living things and entire ecosystems.
Is it possible, then, that it was human activity, such as road building, mining, hunting and logging, that triggered the Ebola epidemics in Mayibout 2 and elsewhere in the 1990s and that is unleashing new terrors today?
“We invade tropical forests and other wild landscapes, which harbour so many species of animals and plants – and within those creatures, so many unknown viruses,” David Quammen, author of Spillover: Animal Infections and the Next Pandemic, recently wrote in the New York Times. “We cut the trees; we kill the animals or cage them and send them to markets. We disrupt ecosystems, and we shake viruses loose from their natural hosts. When that happens, they need a new host. Often, we are it.” 

Want to raise your voice against such plunder and shortsightedness? Consider signing the Global Deal for Nature petition:

Thriving nature is essential to life on Earth. The food we eat, the water we drink, the air we breathe, are all pillars of human survival that depend on a series of delicately balanced interactions within the natural world.
But these systems are being thrown dangerously off balance by an onslaught of human activities. From pesticides on our fields, to plastics choking our oceans, to bulldozers in our forests, all over the planet the natural world is under assault.
This crisis has now reached a scale that threatens everything. Species extinction is running at 1000 times the natural rate, and scientists warn that two-thirds of wild animal populations could be gone in our lifetimes. As with climate change, there is now growing concern that dangerous tipping points could be triggered, causing the collapse of key ecosystems and threatening human survival.
Like what you read? Sign the petition…. 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

The unidentified critters spotted near the pond yesterday  are ivondo (Zulu), or cane rat, of the genus Thryonomys (from the Greek word thryon meaning a "rush" or "reeda rodent”). Found throughout Africa south of the Sahara, the animal – about 720mm/28 inches long - is “related closer to the porcupine than to veld rats.” .
In KZN crops and agriculture, ivondo are considered a pest. Many Zulus consider them culinary candidates.
The ivondo family in our garden appear to have moved in and focus on snacking on vegetation growing between the pond and the stream.

Consequences

More than ten months into the pandemic. Infection and death rates continue to increase around the world. A consequence of the lack of comprehensive and effective leadership? 

This coronavirus scourge has the upper hand. There’s no firm end in sight.

News blues…

President Cyril Ramaphosa debunks lockdown rumours  (4:12 mins)

***

Veterans for Responsible Leadership:& The Lincoln Project Brave women  (1:25 mins)
The Lincoln Project:
Crossroads  (1:00 min)
Fairytale  (0:55 mins)
Last Call  (0:55 mins)
Meidas Touch:
Save America  (1:05 mins)
The (not so) Radical Left  (0:58 mins)

Healthy futures, anyone?

Climate change is shifting the habitat of endangered species, including the lemur…. 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Three unidentified critters appeared near the pond late yesterday afternoon. What are they?
So far, no one I’ve asked knows.
Their presence is an indicator of what can happen when the natural world is encouraged to re-establish.
After moving onto this property, my mother believed the safety of her 15 dogs required she erect fences. Alas, fences impeded wild critters – African clawless otters, for example - from entering the pond to snack, as was their custom.
A consequence of erecting fences?
No more otters in this section of the stream and pond.
The presence of dogs also discouraged wild ducks and geese from feeding on pond vegetation. Lack of wild ducks and geese feeding in the pond encouraged overgrowth of invasive plants, such as pond lilies….
What one decides to alter in the natural world has consequences.
The good news? One can “undo” past mistakes. It takes time for the natural world to re-establish, and what re-establishes will come back altered, but it can be done.
Ultimately, erecting fences has consequences….

"In lieu of flowers..."

Georgia May died last month. Her obituary (left) states, “In lieu of flowers, Georgia preferred that you do not vote for Trump”.  

News blues…

Covid-19: South Africa “Not a second wave, but a resurgence of the first wave…” 

Dr Aslam Dasoo  (5:20 mins)

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President Cyril Ramaphosa will address the nation this week on the potential for imposing stricter lockdown restrictions unless there is a decline in coronavirus infections across the country. 

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US Senate Republicans voted Monday night to confirm Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court, tilting the balance of the court to a 6-3 conservative majority for years to come. 

The conservative legal movement has achieved its wildest dreams. Trump has now made three appointments to the Supreme Court, the most of any president since Ronald Reagan. The court now has a rock-solid 6-3 conservative majority. All six conservatives have been closely vetted by conservative legal movement leaders in an effort to prevent future ideological deviations. Most important, there are now enough conservatives on the court that even if one broke from orthodoxy, it wouldn’t matter.
Conservative activists are now free to press forward with the agenda they’ve pushed since the Reagan era: criminalize abortion, ban racial preference in school admissions and elsewhere, cripple the federal regulatory state, roll back voting rights, civil rights and campaign finance laws and grant greater and greater powers to corporations. Whether voters support it or not.
“A lot of what we’ve done over the last four years will be undone sooner or later by the next election,” McConnell taunted about Barrett’s confirmation on Sunday. “They won’t be able to do much about this for a long time to come.”  

***

Meidas Touch:
Listen up, America  (0:55 mins)
Traffic stop  (0:55 mins) <

Healthy futures, anyone?

Changes of behavior encouraged:

“Zombie batteries” are causing hundreds of fires a year at waste and recycling sites, industry experts have warned. They are urging people to ensure dead batteries are not thrown away in household rubbish or recycling. Batteries discarded with general waste are likely to be crushed or punctured during collection and processing … … Some types, particularly lithium-ion and nickel-metal hydride batteries, can ignite or explode when damaged and set fire to other materials. In some cases, this leads to incidents requiring dozens of firefighters and the evacuation of residents, potentially putting lives at risk….
Lithium-ion batteries are typically found in laptops, tablets, mobile phones, Bluetooth devices, shavers, electric toothbrushes, power tools and e-cigarettes. They are increasingly prevalent in devices … meaning the problem is likely to get worse unless people change their behaviour. 

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Among the many reasons for humans to change our behavior … these critters and this land and water… 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Back at the ranch, “…the beat goes on….” 

Rain ... happy plants… happy pond… happy tadpoles and happier kingfishers…