Mothers Speak about War and Terror

Saturday, April 10, 2021

Vaccine Hesitancy FYI

News blues…

Forget trying to convince Anti-Vaxxers about vaccine efficacy. Rather, focus on 'Hesitant Vaxxers', the group that wants to learn more about the COVID-19 vaccine and its side effects before getting a shot. After all, 'Hesitant Vaxxers' are still open to being convinced.

According to William Schaffner, professor of preventive medicine and infectious disease at Vanderbilt University, hesitant vaxxers want to learn more about the benefits of vaccination, while anti-vaxxers have already made up their minds.
“I’ve learned that you’ll never change the opinion of someone who’s truly against vaccination,” Schaffner said. “The more logic and reason you use, the more they dig in their heels.” Those who are hesitant, on the other hand, “just want to understand vaccines better.”

Read more >>

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April 9, SA had 1,267 new Covid-19 cases recorded in the past 24 hours, and 53 more deaths.
The new infections came from 30,560 tests, at a positivity rate of 4.14%.
April 8: South Africa had secured 51 million doses of vaccines from Johnson & Johnson (J&J) and Pfizer BioNTech in the battle against Covid-19.
According to health minister Zweli Mkhize the country was still on track with its vaccination strategy and the second phase will start on May 17.

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Healthy planet, anyone?

I am not a fan of, nor do I ascribe to, the Bill-Gates-as-Devil-Incarnate conspiracy theory. Bill Gates is an ultrarich guy and, IMHO, displays many of the features of ultrarich guys while also promoting a handful of quasi-progressive ideas and solutions. His climate change ideas are better than those of many ultrarich guys ‘n gals and worse than many truly progressive-though-not-ultrarich guys ‘n gals.
Bill Gates as farmer is, however, a stretch.

… So why did the Land Report dub LINK him “Farmer Bill” this year? The third richest man on the planet doesn’t have a green thumb. Nor does he put in the back-breaking labor humble people do to grow our food and who get far less praise for it. That kind of hard work isn’t what made him rich. Gates’ achievement, according to the report, is that he’s largest private owner of farmland in the US. A 2018 purchase of 14,500 acres of prime eastern Washington farmland – which is traditional Yakama territory – for $171m helped him get that title.
In total, Gates owns approximately 242,000 acres of farmland with assets totaling LINK more than $690m. To put that into perspective, that’s nearly the size of Hong Kong and twice the acreage of the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe…. A white man owns more farmland than my entire Native nation!

Read “Bill Gates is the biggest private owner of farmland in the United States. Why?”

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

I thought the day would never come when serious buyers made a serious offer on the house. I was wrong.
An extended family – grandparents, parents, uncles, aunts, and kids – viewed the house yesterday, loved it, stood around and bounced around their ideas for who would live where, and shared their visions with one another. It was a treat seeing a family work closely together on making decisions with far-reaching implications. That done, they said we could expect to hear from them by Monday and they departed the property.
Fewer than 15 minutes later, the head of the family called to make a good offer: 90 percent cash down, 10 percent bank bond/mortgage.
It’s an offer I can take to my mother and expect her to accept.
I’m dazed.
I’m amazed.
I’m thankful. It happened.
We have an offer on the house.
Now I work towards keeping things on track and moving forward, organize around the document transfer as I ensure the domestic worker and the gardener are retrenched according to labor law … and that the dogs get humane care.
It’s all do-able.
What’s the glittering and waving on the horizon? By golly, it’s my family in California and Texas waving to welcome my return.
Imagine! After almost two years cooling my heals under lockdown, I’ll see them again.

***

If all goes according to plan, I’ll “get outta Dodge” – American for “leaving town” – before South African days get too short and nights get too long. It happens quickly.
Feb 26: sunrise 5:47am; sunset 6:33pm.
March 2: sunrise 5:50am; sunset 6:29pm.
March 9: sunrise 5:55am; sunset 6:21pm.
March 16: sunrise 5:59am; sunset 6:13pm.
March 25: sunrise 6:05am; sunset 6:01pm.
April 1: sunrise 6:09am; sunset 5:54pm.
April 8: sunrise 6:12am; sunset 5:46pm.
April 11: sunrise 6:14am; sunset 5:43pm.

Friday, April 9, 2021

Mercy, mercy me...

News blues…

Setting out to prove there’s a “lack of a scientific basis” and to question the widely held view that there is a clear causal link between simultaneous lockdown-related alcohol bans and the apparent decline in hospital trauma admissions, the South African Liquor Brands Association released results of research it commissioned several months ago.
South African Liquor Brands Association researchers do not believe that the decline of trauma admissions can be causally linked to the different levels of alcohol restrictions. Rather, they argue the theory fails to address alcohol restrictions that coincided with other lockdown restrictions that may also have had an impact on trauma admissions.

Read the article >>
(Editorial comment: Not to be skeptical but… the South African Liquor Brands Association proving alcohol-abuse isn’t to blame?

Hmmm.

Surely, if research is accurate, a different, not-quite-so-self-interested organization should have been commissioned to conduct the research. South Africans, after all, have a less-than-stellar reputation with alcohol. Review results of a population-based survey on alcohol abuse in South Africa.)

***

The Lincoln Project: Another “inside the Beltway” view of Matt Gaetz: Stain (0:55 mins)

Healthy planet, anyone?

“Poison is the wind that blows from the north and south and east” are lyrics from Marvin Gaye’s 1971 single “Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)” (3:16 mins). Gaye wasn’t known as an environmental scientist, but he provides a stark and useful environmental analysis, complete with warnings of overcrowding and climate change.

The song doesn’t explicitly mention race, but its place in Gaye’s What’s Going On album portrays a black Vietnam veteran, coming back to his segregated community and envisioning the hell that people endure.

***

A new report from the Environmental Protection Agency finds that people of color are much more likely to live near polluters and breathe polluted air—even as the agency seeks to roll back regulations on pollution.
This builds on the 2016 report “Racial isolation and exposure to airborne particulate matter and ozone in understudied US populations: Environmental justice applications of downscaled numerical model output”

And, for the first time in four years – the lost years of the Trump era - US EPA again has a website providing the public a gateway to information on climate change and climate solutions.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Now that I’ve decided I must return to California to take care of my own life and responsibilities, the pressure is on. So much to do (try to do) to ensure the smooth operation of business while I’m gone. I face new anxieties and, as usual, little to no support from immediate SA family.
One does one’s best….

***

Latest news of the gardener is not good. He remains hospitalized. His wife reports he’s “asleep” most of the time.

***

Days getting shorter and shorter and nightfall earlier:
Feb 26: sunrise 5:47am; sunset 6:33pm.
March 2: sunrise 5:50am; sunset 6:29pm.
March 9: sunrise 5:55am; sunset 6:21pm.
March 18: sunrise 5:00am; sunset 6:11pm.
April 1: sunrise 6:09am; sunset 5:54pm.
April 2: sunrise 6:09am; sunset 5:53pm.
April 9: sunrise 6:13am; sunset 5:45pm.

Thursday, April 8, 2021

Time flies...

Silly- but truism: Time flies like the wind/Fruit flies like bananas.

My intention was to post more frequently this end-of-Lockdown-Week 54. Alas, life here has been a task fest, one task after another clamoring for attention. Along with lack of Internet connection at my primary abode, posting, like everything associated with getting online, is problematic.
The pandemic, however, marches on,

Below, today’s numbers of infections and deaths compared to 6 months ago:

Worldwide (Map)

April 8, 2021 – 133,132,000 confirmed infections: 2,888,000 deaths

October 8, 2020 – 36,069,000 confirmed infections; 1,055,000 deaths

US (Map)

April 8, 2021 – 30,923,000 confirmed infections: 559,116 deaths

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

SA (Coronavirus portal)

April 8, 2021 – 1,553,610 confirmed infections: 53,111 deaths

October 8 – 685,155 confirmed infections; 17,250 deaths

***

News blues…

On the vaccine front:
The global scramble to produce enough Covid-19 vaccine for 7 billion people is about to get even tougher, as drugmakers and countries ready a second round of shots to combat the growing threat of virus variants.

SA passes 10-million mark for number of Covid-19 tests done as the country recorded 756 new Covid-19 infections on Wednesday, as well as 79 deaths

***

The Lincoln Project: A bit “inside the Beltway” but... Matt Gaetz (1:03mins)

Healthy planet, anyone?

Carbon dioxide levels in atmosphere reach record high. Concentrations are 50% above pre-industrial levels despite dip in emissions during Covid pandemic

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What would a tropical reef look like if it could escape the man-made perils of global heating and overfishing? A new study in the journal Ecology and Evolution suggests it would look like Rowley Shoals, an isolated archipelago of reefs 260km off Australia’s north-west coast.
Read more >>

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

House still not sold. The one purchaser who made an offer has decided that, since we’ve had no “better” offer than his, he can dictate new terms. We’ve a clause that states if any better offer comes along before he is granted a bond/mortgage, we can accept that offer. He has not yet applied for a bond.
The other realtor tells me he’ll bring a “very, very interested” cash client to view on Saturday.

Hold thumbs!
(The issue is not lack on interested buyers, but that interested buyers cannot get a bond/mortgage. I suspect the above purchaser – the dictator – might not get a bond. I admit that, disappointing as it might be in the long term, I’d be happy enough - on behalf of my mother - if his bond application failed.

I do not like dictators or folks who take financial advantage.

Yes, I know that’s the way of the world. It is not, however, my way.

***

The gardener remains in hospital. To date, I’ve heard no solid diagnosis on his condition. Speculation among neighbors? A stroke. Malnourishment. HIV. You name it, he’s got it.
Meanwhile, with the advent of fall/autumn days with rain and cooler weather, khaki and other weeds spread their prolific seeds thither and yon. After 6 weeks of subpar attention to the garden, I found an affordable garden service. It comes with a story:
“Jane” is a mother and local small businesswoman with a take-away (“to go”) shop. Her husband, after two years of incompetent medical care, succumbed to a spider bite. (Yes! Life in SA’s medical system ain’t a walk in the park.) Jane needs extra income and branch into providing gardening services. With her nephew and a couple of other young males contracting with her, she’s building a clientele.
I found Jane through a neighbor and, yesterday, her two-man team arrived – with their own tools, refreshments, and lunch. Jane’s service fee for two workers for one day is equivalent to the gardener’s weekly costs – using our equipment and petrol, plus the gardener’s breakfast and lunch – and I clear prolific water lilies as he’s “scared of snakes.”
Yesterday’s work was interrupted by rain although Jane’s team theoretically stays until the work is finished. (Ours is a big garden and gardening is never done.)
I’m relieved to have one worrisome item off my long list of worrisome items.

***

South African days getting shorter while nightfall happens earlier:
Feb 26: sunrise 5:47am; sunset 6:33pm.
March 2: sunrise 5:50am; sunset 6:29pm.
March 9: sunrise 5:55am; sunset 6:21pm.
March 16: sunrise 5:59am; sunset 6:13pm.
March 22: sunrise 6:03am; sunset 6:05pm.
March 29: sunrise 6:07am; sunset 5:58pm.
April 1: sunrise 6:09am; sunset 5:54pm.
April 8: sunrise 6:12am; sunset 5:46pm.

Sunday, April 4, 2021

Sunday morning, coming down

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

I departed California January 2020 and arrived here for a three-month visit. Fifteen months later and I’m still here.
My primary delay was involuntary: hard lockdown due to pandemic. Then settling my 87-year-old mother into a Care Center, now the delay is trying to sell her house.
December 9, 2020, I accepted the keys to my new home: a small, one-bedroom, new semi-detached home with garden. I could move in anytime.
Four months later, I’ve never slept there. Indeed, to date, the longest chunk of time I’ve ever spent there is five or six daylight hours. I am semi moved in – chairs, sofa, bed frame sans mattress, but no stove, no fridge, no hot water kettle, no coffee maker.
To maintain security and a semblance of normality for the long-term domestic worker, four dogs, and the neighborhood’s troop of marauding vervet monkeys, I sleep at my mother’s house with its 30 steps, 6 bedrooms, 6 bathrooms, separate cottage, three levels of garden - includes a stream with two malfunctioning culverts (one totally block, one so-so blocked) - a double garage, shed and two lean-tos stuffed with miscellany, one small swimming pool with finicky filer, and a garden pond overgrown with invasive pond lilies…
Expense decrees I choose between paying for Internet at my new place and forgo it at my mother’s house. I chose to connect my new home. This means that most mornings I depart my mother’s house for my new home, carrying my laptop, my (failing) iPhone 6, various batteries and cables associated with keeping those items charged, a handwritten list of the day’s tasks, a snack, and whatever tools I need for the day.
With a nine hour time difference between SA and California and a seven hour time difference between SA and Texas, I forgo regular phone calls to the States, too. (By the time I arrive at my new place, only one night owl friend is awake to chat.)

Most days, I visit my mother during the Care Center’s tight lockdown schedule, between 10 and 11 a.m. I also exercise, garden, and, masked and sanitized, maintain sufficient social distance to conduct the business required to sell my mother’s house and property.
I return to my mother’s house early afternoon to relieve the domestic worker, clean the pool, sort through more miscellany, and continue prepping the property for sale.
This is a cumbersome and increasingly burdensome way to live.
California’s hot property market lulled me into believing, naively, that my mother’s house would sell quickly. It’s been six months and, while buyers have expressed interest, we’ve had no offers solid enough to attract the bank bond/mortgage paperwork to complete the deal.
I’ve must return to California to tend to my own life and responsibilities.
For more than a year, I’ve earned no income, but pay a monthly marina fee for my houseboat moored in a sun-drenched slip and collecting algae and invasive water plants. I also pay storage fees, vehicle insurance, and further assorted fees associated with California living.

Maintaining my mental health and a semblance balance is increasingly difficult.
The “little things” threaten to tip me over the edge.
Take my iPhone 6. I’m reliant on – addicted to? – reading library books on my phone’s Kindle app. Alas, Apple, in its infinite push toward profit, not people, decreed that it would no longer support the iPhone 6, originally produced with a poorly designed internal battery.
In the face of the phone’s continuing failure, I’ve limped along with it attached to an external battery – itself recently replaced with a locally sourced external battery.
It’s easy, in my schlepp to and from locations, to leave behind an item.
Yesterday, despite checking and rechecking, I departed my new place without the single most important item - the lightening cable that enables charging the phone so I can read Kindle books when I'm awake at night.
Reading allows me to constructively engage and “park” my mind rather than lie in the dark in bed and fret about the future, my friends and family, my mother, my daughter’s impending visit during a pandemic, and other ongoing day-to-day troubles.
Last night, I worried about how I’d survive a whole night without my iPhone/Kindle security “blankie.”
After tossing and turning for hours in the dark under my mosquito net, I opted for the big pharma rescue: a mild sleeping pill.
Great move!
I slept well. Moreover, I’ve glimpsed into the longings, fear, panic, and sheer emptiness that must accompany anyone addicted to anything. And thank the gods I’m not addicted to anything more dangerous than an iPhone and Kindle app. Nevertheless, not to push my luck, I hopped out of bed early and headed to my new place …and my charger cable/security blankie.

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