Countdown, 1

This strange and challenging year comes to a close with strange and challenging events…. Do We the People of the world have the will, the know-how, and the selflessness to steer a different direction for our mutual survival?
That is the question....

News blues…

South Africa surpasses milestone of 1 million cases of Covid infections. 
The world surpasses 80 million infections.
The US surpasses 19 million infections, almost double the infection numbers of India, the country with the next highest rate at 10 million.

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• The president of the United State has, over his term, siphoned off more than US $10.5 million into his personal business.  
• As of Dec. 27, 2020 the same president of the United State has played golf 306 times since becoming President.  This, after chastising Obama for golfing far fewer times over two terms in office. 
• The same president of the United States has overtly ignored a raging pandemic, and potential mitigation measures. As of today

…there have been nearly 19 million recorded COVID-19 cases in the U.S. and more than 331,000 deaths nationwide.
December marked the deadliest month in the United States since the coronavirus pandemic began, with more than 63,000 COVID-19 deaths recorded nationwide during the month so far. 
April held the previous monthly record for the highest number of COVID-19 deaths, with at least 55,000 reported. The U.S. saw a steep incline in coronavirus cases, hospitalizations and deaths in the spring, followed by a sharp decrease over the summer. Those numbers began to increase again in the fall and have continued to surge into the winter.

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© Meidas Touch

The Trump administration highlights the weakness of the American political bureaucracy. 

For now, the systems is holding (the dismissal of Trump’s claims of election fraud) but it is teetering. 

Trump has shown how to successfully manipulate a system whose “checks and balances” are designed to forestall such manipulations. 

With Joe Biden, the “go along to get along guy,” there is no reason to assume the next administration will do anything to check the flagrant abuses of Trump and his enablers.
The US system may be designed for checks and balances, but it depends solely on the combined and concerted will of Congress to ensure the system works. 

There’s no reason at all to expect the will of the current Congress to implement consequences and strengthen democracy.

On the positive side, at least humor remains. Thank you, Meidas Touch.

  

Healthy planet, anyone?

Hopeful directions:

The Air Company, based in New York, makes vodka from two ingredients: carbon dioxide and water. Each bottle that’s produced takes carbon dioxide out of the air. It has been chosen as one of the finalists in the $20m NRG COSIA Carbon XPRIZE, which aims to incentivise innovation in the field of carbon capture, utilisation and storage.

More news of hopeful directions >> 
On the other hand, “'It's as if we've learned nothing': alarm over Amazon road project.” 
Our planet is in desperate need of common sense, logic, and a change of direction. 

We’re running out of time….

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

It was too hot yesterday for outside activities. Turns out if was also too hot for inside activities. For several hours in the afternoon, Eskom failed to supply electricity. Eskom’s designed-to-inform app failed to inform, too.

Short and sweet Sunday

News blues…

Yes, SA's new coronavirus variant - 501Y.V2 – is rapidly displacing others; yes, data suggests it is highly transmissible; yes, according to experts it is “the dominant lineage of the second wave,”; yes, it likely transmits more easily; yes, younger people are more infected and [sicker] with it than any other variants. And, yes, hospitals are struggling and oxygen is in short supply. The latest SA news  …
What else do we need to know to convince us take all necessary precautions? Stay home. Wear a mask when away from home and keep your distance from others. It may not be enough, but think of it as not just you you’re protecting, it’s our entire community….

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Meanwhile, even some conspiracy theorists, skeptics, and just plain nutty Americans are getting on the vaccine bandwagon.

Ever since the race to develop a coronavirus vaccine began last spring, upbeat announcements were stalked by ominous polls: No matter how encouraging the news, growing numbers of people said they would refuse to get the shot. The time frame was dangerously accelerated, many people warned. The vaccine was a scam from Big Pharma, others said. A political ploy by the Trump administration, many Democrats charged. The internet pulsed with apocalyptic predictions from longtime vaccine opponents, who decried the new shot as the epitome of every concern they’d ever put forth. But over the past few weeks, as the vaccine went from a hypothetical to a reality, something happened. Fresh surveys show attitudes shifting and a clear majority of Americans now eager to get vaccinated. 

In polls by Gallup, the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Pew Research Center, the portion of people saying they are now likely or certain to take the vaccine has grown from about 50% this summer to more than 60%, and in one poll 73% — a figure that approaches what some public health experts say would be sufficient for herd immunity. 

Perhaps the spell of Trump, Trump-fever, is breaking? At last.

Healthy planet, anyone?

• Discovery of 'cryptic species' shows Earth is even more biologically diverse 
• How humans and small gardens help wildlife 
• Nature photos of the year 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

We’re moving from the rainy season to the swelter season. Today will be 34C/94F with 82 percent humidity. 

After decades in the San Francisco Bay Area, I sometimes wonder about my ability to handle weeks of KZN summer.

Holiday madness, 3

© National Geographic. 

Mother and daughter came up with a way to hug each other for the first time in two months. They hung a clothesline and pinned a drop cloth to it in the yard in Wantagh, New York. Then they embraced through the plastic.
“In spite of everything that we’re facing, we still look for ways to connect….”

News blues…

South Africa’s health minister criticises the travel bans, saying there is 'no evidence' new SA variant is more dangerous. 
Given the reluctance humans show, each day, for adhering to safety measures and preventing the rapid spread of Covid, I wonder why the health minister equivocates? A surging pandemic with a new, potentially more transmissible variant, is not the time to allow humans wiggle room, Minister Mkhize. Clamp down!

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Are concerns regarding South Africa’s new coronavirus variant justified? 

Healthy planet, anyone?

Sensational! Volcanos for the holidays.
Hawaii: Kilauea Eruption Day Four - Rising Lava Lake Update (Dec. 24, 2020)  (3:50 mins)
Italy: Eruption of Mount Etna – in Italian, no subtitles but spectacular views. (Dec 23, 2020)  (2:30 mins)
Japan: Sakurajima Eruption Accompanied by Lightnings (Dec 22, 2020) (3:10 mins)

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Lithium the new coal?
We human display an unerring knack for getting it wrong. Even as we prefer to pretend the opposite, we know the disaster our passion for coal and oil has foisted on our small planet. Yet, here we are, chasing another disastrous passion. This time, lithium:

Lithium is a key active material in the rechargeable batteries that run electric cars. It is found in rock and clay deposits as a solid mineral, as well as dissolved in brine. It is popular with battery manufacturers because, as the least dense metal, it stores a lot of energy for its weight.
Electrifying transport has become a top priority in the move to a lower-carbon future. In Europe, car travel accounts for around 12% of all the continent’s carbon emissions. To keep in line with the Paris agreement, emissions from cars and vans will need to drop by more than a third (37.5%) by 2030. The EU has set an ambitious goal of reducing overall greenhouse gas emissions by 55% by the same date. To that end, Brussels and individual member states are pouring millions of euros into incentivising car owners to switch to electric. Some countries are going even further, proposing to ban sales of diesel and petrol vehicles in the near future (as early as 2025 in the case of Norway). If all goes to plan, European electric vehicle ownership could jump from around 2m today to 40m by 2030.

Read “The curse of ‘white oil’: electric vehicles dirty secret >> 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

My plan for re-introducing my reclusive mother to her fellow Care Center residents flopped. I’d purchased enough mince pies – a raisin, sultana fruit tartlet – for all of A Wing’s residents’ morning tea. I’d expected folks to gather, as usual, in the lounge. I planned to offer the treats and suggest folks drop in and visit my mother who is struggling to adjust to her new environment.
Alas, of the residents remaining in the Center (many left to spend the day with family) all took tea and mince pie in their rooms. No re-introduction was possible.
Perhaps just as well. My mother fell asleep before tea. She slept until after lunch. I took The Dog for a walk, waited, then departed. I returned to visit and conduct another dog walk later that afternoon.

Holiday madness, 2

Week 40
Day 274 Friday, December 25 - Holiday madness, 2

© Zapiro.com

Humor to save our sanity…

Happy holidays! Enjoy the humor/humour:

Don Caron: SIGH IN THE NIGHT - A Parody of Silent Night (2:42 mins) 

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This virus that’s known as Corona
Has spread from New York to Pomona
So to keep myself healthy
But not become wealthy
I’ll just stay in my house all alona

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• Which Christmas film was 30 years ahead of its time?
  Home Alone
• Did you hear that production was down at Santa’s workshop?
  Many of his workers have had to elf isolate!
• Why didn’t Mary and Joseph make it to Bethlehem?
  All Virgin flights were cancelled.
• Why are Santa’s reindeer allowed to travel on Christmas Eve?
  They have herd immunity.
• Why did the pirates have to go into lockdown?
  Because the “Arrrr!” rate had risen.
• Why couldn’t Mary and Joseph join their work conference call?
  Because there was no Zoom at the inn.
• What do the Trumps do for Christmas dinner?
  They put on a super spread. 

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Meidas Touch: You're a Mean One, Mr. Mitch! (1:33 mins) 

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