Heedless

The numbers, this week and last week:

• June 19 - worldwide: 8,489,000 confirmed infections; 454,0007 deaths
  - June 12 - worldwide: 7,514,500 infections; 421,460 deaths
• June 19 - US: 2,191,100 confirmed infections; 118,435 deaths
  - June 12 - US: 2,043,500 infections; 114,000 deaths
• June 19 - SA: 83,890 confirmed infections; 1,737 deaths
  - June 12 - SA: 58,568 infections; 1285 deaths

March 29, 1968, Memphis Tennessee. 

US National Guard troops block off 

Beale Street as civil rights marchers 

pass by during the third consecutive 

march led by the group in as many days. 

© Bettman Archive/Getty Images.

Click to enlarge.

Juneteenth – a combination of the words "June" and "19th" – is the primary holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the United States.
The date is tied to a speech given by Union Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger, in 1895, in Galveston, Texas. In "General Order No. 3, Gordon declared that, owing to the Emancipation Proclamation issued by President Abraham Lincoln more than two years earlier, "all slaves are free."
The order did not end slavery overnight in Texas, just as Lincoln's earlier proclamation had not ended its practice in other Confederate states. But a few years later, formerly enslaved people of Texas, particularly in the area around Galveston, began to celebrate Juneteenth as the day of slavery's abolition.
Alternatively known as Freedom Day, Jubilee Day, and Cel-Liberation Day, is often marked by parades and public ceremonies.

News blues…

A recent post mentioned an amorphous, white supremacist, far-right anti-government movement called Boogaloo and its adherents, Boogaloo Boys/Bois.
In our current world of extreme prejudice and whackjobery, the word “boogaloo” is shorthand for stimulating a second American civil war. The name may reference a 1984 film, Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo, glamorizing armed conflict with authorities and law enforcement. (Ironically, in the 1960s, boogaloo was a genre of music and dance popular in the US - a fusion of popular Latin, African American rhythm and blues and soul.)
Boogaloo (the xenophobic group) has been deeply involved with disinformation activities following the lockdowns related to COVID-19.
Now, Boogaloo Boys have been specifically mentioned in charging documents filed against 32-year-old Steven Carrillo in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
US Air Force Sergeant Carrillo, a leader of an elite security force from a nearby military base, was charged with killing other security force members. He ambushed Santa Cruz deputies and threw pipe bombs at police on June 6, killing Sgt. Damon Gutzwiller and wounding four other officers. He has also been federally charged with the murder of federal security officer Pat Underwood, killed in a drive-by shooting on May 29 in Oakland. (An area close to where I work when in California.)

Whackjobery: it’s bottomless

Disinformation is the emergent weapon of choice of dis-informers, aka conspiracy theorists (aka “bullsh*t Berties”).
The current crop of dis-informers takes it cues from the president of the United States.
We’re not talking the usual kind of agit-prop put out by politicians and political parties. We’re talking nasty sh*t designed to dog whistle the easily swayed and the dangerous.
Latest pro-Trump gambit? Facebook ads displaying a red inverted triangle with text asking Facebook users to sign a petition against antifa, a loosely organized anti-fascist movement. (See post “Change in political and economic power.”)
In a tweet on Thursday, the Anti-Defamation League’s CEO, Jonathan Greenblatt, said of the symbol:

“The Nazis used red triangles to identify their political victims in concentration camps. Using it to attack political opponents is highly offensive.” The Facebook ads were run on pages belonging to Trump and Vice President Mike Pence, and also appeared in ads and organic posts on the “Team Trump” page.

I fear this is the beginning of an even more virulent disinformation campaign by an increasingly desperate Trump team. Essentially, he asking, “Boogaloo anyone?”

***

Despite a political worldview far from Republicanism, I promote the work of The Lincoln Project , a self-described Republican group focused on ousting Trump and Trumpism.
How is The Lincoln Project different from run-of-the-mill agit-prop generators?
Jennifer Horn, co-founder of the project, explains.
The Lincoln Project responds to Trump’s first rally since the start of the pandemic. It’s to be held tomorrow in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The ad, “Tulsa.” 

***

Chickens, home, roosting, etc.
On the eve of Trump’s first re-election campaign rally since the start of the pandemic, Oklahoma Republican Sen. James Lankford, warned wanna-be attendees at high risk from the coronavirus:

“… if you have comorbidities, if you are older, or you have other health issues, don’t come. …Watch it on TV.
Lankford stopped short of joining public health experts who have condemned the Trump campaign’s decision to host the event indoors at the 19,000-capacity BOK Center, saying the president is “always welcome” to come to the state.
Lockdown measures aimed at slowing the spread of the coronavirus were eased in Oklahoma weeks ago and a fresh surge in infections was expected, Lankford said. He said the rise in cases wasn’t accompanied by an increase in hospitalizations or deaths.
People seeking tickets to Trump’s rally had to acknowledge a waiver on the Trump campaign website that they won’t sue organizers if they contract the coronavirus at the event.
The Trump campaign said it will hand out face masks and hand sanitizer to attendees. The president himself flouts Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines by refusing to wear a mask in public.
Lankford said wearing a mask would be “an individual decision” for rally attendees.
“The hard part about it, and I’ve tried to explain this to other folks, when you’re at a large gathering like that, as you know, it’s hard to be able to hear sometimes,” he said. “So there’s going to be times, they’re gonna pull masks on and off. That’s why I really encourage people, if you have other health issues, I discourage you from coming to the event. But a lot of folks are coming, and the state is very excited about receiving the president.”

What to say?
Perhaps take a lesson from Arizona’s pro-Trump Republican sheriff, Mark Lamb? Back in April, Lamb refused to continue enforcing Arizona’s coronavirus lockdown order.
This week, he announced he’d tested positive for Covid-18 during a visit to the White House where he’d been invited to join President Donald Trump at a campaign event.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

My vehicle’s 2020 license was due for renewal by the end of April. The deadline has been extended, but my past experiences at the department leads me towards pro-action. Accordingly, I’ve dropped by the municipal offices and enquired about renewal.
First, I was told the office would open for business the following week.
The following week the gate was shut, and the security guards advised, “Come back next week.”
The following week, the gate was closed and, since then, remains closed.

Meanwhile, the saga of cancelling my mother’s Telkom telephone account continues. (See post, “Boiling frogs”)
I’ve cancelled the account online – as per Telkom voice instructions. Nevertheless, my mother continues to receive bills. Calling Telkom directly frustrates as I’m directed to “use the app” – except the app is an malfunctioning endless loop. I’ve repeatedly cancelled online, also as directed. I suspect cancelling her Telkom account will become another burr under my saddle of SA bureaucracy. It reminds me of a joke:

A man dies and goes to hell.
There, he discovers each country has its own version of hell.
He decides to go with the least painful version.
At the door to German Hell, he is told: "First they put you in an electric chair for an hour. Then they lay you on a bed of nails for another hour. Then the German devil comes in and whips you for the rest of the day."
Not liking the sound of that, he visits American Hell, Russian Hell, Norwegian Hell, and many other countries versions of hell. All are gruesome.
At the door to South African Hell, however, a long line of people waits to enter.
Amazed, he asks, "What do they do in this Hell?"
A woman tells him, "First they put you in an electric chair for an hour. Then they lay you on a bed of nails for another hour. Then the South African devil comes in and whips you for the rest of the day."
"But that's the same as other countries. Why are so many people waiting for that?"
“Ah,” she smiles, "Because of load-shedding, the electric chair does not work. The nails were paid for but never supplied, so the bed is comfortable. And the South African devil was a civil servant, so he comes into work, signs his time sheet, then goes back home to run his own business.

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He speaks!

President Cyril Ramaphosa came out of hiding last night and presented a pandemic update.  (35:18 mins)
Along with clarifications and updates on continuing Alert Level 3, Ramaphosa addressed the epidemic of violence against women in this country. He recognized – by name – at least two dozen women and children recently murdered by the men in their lives.
Over the last weeks, I’ve grumbled about the dearth of Ramaphosa updates.
When he does update the nation, however, he consistently does a good job, certainly far superior to those of Trump, in terms of topic, tone, substance, focus, and, yes, in absence of lies and “other” bashing.
Staying with Trump for a moment who, mercifully, has refrained from personally presenting any of his lie-laden updates. This, largely because he’s pretending the pandemic is over, done, finished and klaar.
Indeed, both Trump and toady VP Mike Pence posit that, if “we” didn’t test, “we” wouldn’t have an increase in cases.
Pence – after disbanding the coronavirus taskforce – now praises “all 50 states for beginning to reopen in a “safe and responsible manner,” while both he and Trump accuse the media of “fear mongering” and being in “hysteria mode.”
(To quote Joe Biden: “malarkey!” Numbers of cases are spiking, particulary in states that followd Trump's advice on reopening.)

Anyway… good to hear from Ramaphosa who presented infection numbers, rates of increase, forthcoming challenges, and, yes, hope.
Let's hope he makes his next update sooner rather than later.

News blues…

Apparently South Africa is refloating a plan for more nuclear energy after the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) issued a Request for Information (RFI) “to enable it to assess nuclear technologies.”
Why?
Why spend any more money on an energy source that presents such challenges, particularly to a low-tech country?
Why not spend the money on renewable energy rather than a energy source whose by-product and waste present insurmountable problems even to high-tech countries?
Take the US, for example, that has more than 90,000 metric tons of nuclear waste requiring disposal plus, ditto, for another 80,000 metric tons of waste produced by its commercial power industry.
US Government Accountability Office (GAO) states, “highly radioactive waste is currently stored at sites in 35 states because no repository has been developed for the permanent disposal of this waste.” (Read GAO’s issue summary and the map of current disposal sites.)
Imagine relatiely small South Africa seeking permanent disposal sites for incredibly toxic waste.
Moreover, back in 2016, South Africa’s proposed nuclear build program was estimated to cost at least ZAR3 trillion. It was “estimated South Africa will have to borrow R1.2 trillion for the deal. Think of it: ZAR1 trillion would build 100 million RDP houses - with running water, sewage systems, etc.
Why, when the world knows so much about the problems of nuclear energy - financial and environmental costs, contamination, disposal, etc. - would any country, let alone low-tech South Africa, grow a nuclear industry?

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Weather here today is out of the California winter playbook: cold, rainy, and overcast.
No neighborhood walk.
Just hunkering down - and repeating to myself: “this, too, shall pass!”

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Only connect

“Study the science of art. Study the art of science… Realize that everything connects to everything else.”

- Leonardo da Vinci

…seeing the interconnectedness of diverse aspects of the world went out of fashion after the Renaissance, when Western thinkers largely adopted a more atomistic, analytical approach to science and philosophy pioneered by scientists such as Galileo and philosophers such as René Descartes and Thomas Hobbes [who viewed] the world in terms of individualised foundations or building blocks, which could be best understood through analysis rather than integration. The new approach was: if you want to know how things work, take them apart and examine the pieces.” 

We humans can take things apart. It’s examining them – or not – and putting the pieces back together with coherence that challenges us.

News blues…

Poisoned vultures
in Mozambique.
Photo: Andre Botha/AP
Click to enlarge.

At least 87 critically endangered birds died in Mozambique after eating poison planted by poachers in the carcass of an elephant.
[In India]… from 1992 to 2007, [the] most common three vulture species declined by between 97% and 99.9%... only once the vultures had gone did people realise the crucial job they had been doing in clearing up the corpses of domestic and wild animals. Rotting carcasses contaminated water supplies, while rats and feral dogs multiplied, leading to a huge increase in the risk of disease for humans.
…a decade [later]… the key cause [of vultures’ deaths] was confirmed… feeding on animal carcasses containing diclofenac, an anti-inflammatory drug routinely given to domestic cattle but poisonous to birds.
… a similar story is unfolding in Africa … home to 11 of the world’s 16 old world vulture species. … From Kenya to Ethiopia, Botswana and South Africa, these birds have been a reassuring and seemingly permanent presence wherever big game animals roam. But now there are signs that Africa’s vulture populations are also plummeting at an alarming rate.
…while deliberate poisoning by poachers does occur, other cases are unintentional. “Pastoralists and rural farmers try to protect their livestock from wild dogs, jackals, lions and hyenas by poisoning predators, and vultures are the unfortunate collateral damage.”
“Another fundamental problem is the rapid economic growth and accompanying consumption and construction of infrastructure,” he says. Power lines and wind turbines are a particular problem if safe design principles are ignored. Vultures – due to their large size – are especially vulnerable to colliding with them, or being electrocuted when perching.
…“Vultures play a vital role within human ecosystems that most people are unaware of, and so they don’t class their conservation as important. We only have to look to Asia as an example of what could happen in the face of continued vulture declines in Africa.”

Making connections

…scientists have referred to the diversity of life on Earth as “biological diversity”, or just “biodiversity”….[defined] as operating at three levels: the diversity of genes within any particular species; the diversity of species in a given place; and the diversity of habitat types such as forests, coral reefs, and so on. But … [a] fourth level has been almost entirely overlooked: cultural diversity.
Culture is knowledge and skills that flow socially from individual to individual and generation to generation. It’s not in genes. Socially learned skills, traditions and dialects that answer the question of “how we live here” are crucial to helping many populations survive – or recover. Crucially, culturally learned skills vary from place to place. In the human family many cultures, underappreciated, have been lost. Culture in the other-than-human world has been almost entirely missed.
… in many species, survival skills must be learned from elders who learned from their elders. Until now, culture has remained a largely hidden, unrecognised layer of wild lives. Yet for many species culture is both crucial and fragile. Long before a population declines to numbers low enough to seem threatened with extinction, their special cultural knowledge, earned and passed down over long generations, begins disappearing. Recovery of lost populations then becomes much more difficult than bringing in a few individuals and turning them loose.
…Cultural survival skills erode as habitats shrink. Maintaining genetic diversity is not enough. We’ve become accustomed to a perilous satisfaction with precariously minimal populations that not only risk genetic viability of populations but almost guarantee losing local cultural knowledge by which populations have lived and survived.
…What’s at stake is: ways of knowing how to be in the world. Culture isn’t just a boutique concern. Cultural knowledge is what allows many populations to survive. Keeping the knowledge of how to live in a habitat can be almost as important to the persistence of a species as keeping the habitat; both are needed. Cultural diversity itself is a source of resilience and adaptability to change. And change is accelerating.

***

Daily Maverick Webinar Exclusive, “Influence: From South Africa ‘94 to Trump ‘20, how elections are manipulated & monetised across the world.”

In 1993, Western strategic communications specialists were brought in to help political parties prepare for South Africa's first democratic election. Their work in part paved the way for the development of a lucrative and far-reaching new business model: the commodification of democracy, through the manipulation of election campaigns.

Join Influence directors Richard Poplak and Diana Neille in conversation with Nigel Oakes on what went on behind the scenes of the '94 election; how it helped establish a host of new weaponised communications tools for geopolitical processes in the 21st century, and what we can expect in the lead-up to the 2020 election in the United States.

Nigel Oakes is a British behavioural thought leader and defence scientist, whose ideas have laid the foundation for many significant developments in both military influence and population analysis. He is the former CEO of SCL Group, which was the holding company for Cambridge Analytica, and is the current Chairman of the Behavioural Dynamics Institute. Oakes was one of the consultants who helped prepare for the 1994 elections.

I urge you to watch this webinar.
Nigel Oakes describes himself as “amoral” – and, indeed, that’s his excuse for doing things that would be better undone.
After the webinar, read Christopher Wylie’s book, Mindf*ck: Cambridge Analytica and the Plot to Break America. (Get the kindle edition at your local library or buy at Amazon  )

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Time to hibernate.
Little overnight frost last night and none predicted tonight.
The garden looks gray, burned, and exhausted.
I’ll prune frost-burned plants later in the season. For now, what remains of the damaged plants – blackened and shriveled buds, leaves, and limbs - provide shelter for undamaged plants.

Uniform gray, burned, and exhausted plants and gardens in evidence throughout the neighborhood during my (mercifully uneventful) daily walk.
Overcast weather was cold enough that, despite wearing a heavy faux-sheepskin jacket and thick pants, I did not overheat.
Dogs barked. I barked back. Dogs barked more. I passed by. Next household’s dog barked…

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Hirsute yet?

How’s your hair these days?
Mine is longer than usual, not styled, and driving me bonkers.
Seeking solace, I asked a friend how fares his hair.
“Not good.” he said. “I figured that, since I trim my own beard, I’d trim my own hair. How tough could it be?”
With his thick, curly hair, it was tougher than he imagined.
“Now I know why 19th Century US Cavalry soldiers have the dos they do,” he said. “I look like one of them: short sides, long bangs brushed back from my forehead, long tresses down my back.” (Translation: “Bangs” in US = “fringe” in South Africa.)

Click to enlarge.

Click to enlarge.

News anchor Anderson Cooper tried trimming his own already-short hair. It turned into a hack job … and a news item. 

News blues…

Confirmed cases of Covid-19 infections are surging in South Africa. Today’s total, 73,533, saw an increase of 3,495 cases in the last 24 hours. This repeats an emerging pattern of increase over the past week.

“Public health officials see the peak coming in July or August. Most of the increase is coming from just three of the country's eight provinces: Gauteng, the Eastern Cape and the Western Cape. Right now, Cape Town appears to be the continent's current epicenter.”

Yet…

“as the Africa CDC works with countries to increase testing capacity and hotspots in urban centers emerge, WHO officials say there is little evidence yet of an exponential surge in severe cases, or a surge in deaths across much of the continent. They have said much of the continent will see a 'smoldering' outbreak. 

Yet…

Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said, “in coming days, the country would see a rise in infections, more people would be hospitalised, and many would lose their lives.”

Getting an accurate picture of what’s what with Covid in South Africa is, well, hair-raising.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

As days get colder, I notice a desire to hibernate.
Each morning I pull off the covers I laid on plants the night before to protect them from frost.
I sit outside in a sunny spot to eat breakfast and acclimate to the coming day.
Sometimes I enjoy a cup of tea with my mother.
Sometimes I drive into the village and run errands.
Sometimes I scoop swamp cypress needles from the pond.
Sometimes I walk around the neighborhood for exercise.
Today, I visited with an elderly friend who has been unwell.
All the while, I’m aware that I’d like to hibernate, not simply stay in bed but sleep, deeply, soundly … until winter is over.

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Many are cold, some are frozen

Yesterday, Johns Hopkins reported a surge of confirmed infections in the US: 19,532 new cases.
South Africa reports surging cases of new infections, too: 4,302 cases overnight; 70,038 confirmed infections, today.

Daily Maverick webinar’s, “The Inside Track: 100 Days of Covid-19” offers sobering insights into South Africa’s near future.
In the 100 days since the public was notified of the first case of Covid-19 in South Africa, our health, the way we work, what we eat (or don’t) and how we live have changed dramatically.
Daily Maverick Associate Editor Ferial Haffajee in conversation with DM Citizen Editor Mark Heywood and Professor Glenda Gray, physician, scientist and activist, reflect on the state of the pandemic and what’s to come.
Takeaways:

• Low testing numbers mask (ahem) a hidden epidemic.
• South Africa is the now 8th on the world list of countries with the highest numbers of new cases/day.
• Contact tracing is inefficient: “We don’t have the capacity for fast tracking turnaround.”
• South Africa’s school feeding program nourishes 9 million South African children. Closing it down interrupted the program and prevented 9 million children from enjoying one square meal/day.
• Hunger and lack of resources is real in South Africa – AND ALSO in countries around the world. There’s a human rights epidemic simultaneous with the pandemic.
• Challenges for the next 100 days: we’re entering the surge phase of the pandemic. Brace for a medical onslaught. Health care workers vulnerabilities – lack of PPE, beds, ICUs, equipment; overwork and physical, psychological, emotional health stress – mean patients will be vulnerable, too.

Near future/next 100 days will be challenging. Volunteer to help in your neighborhoods, feed people, dig deep to share and appreciate our humanity.

***

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

The search for a local source of chicken giblets for my mother’s dogs continues… (backstory - a saga of giblets).
I’ve scouted several local vendors and discovered 1) the pandemic and Lockdown has driven one popular local butchery out of business, 2) chicken necks are available; chicken giblets are not, 3) the entrance to the one village butchery that likely carries giblets shares space with a taxi rank. People, masked and unmasked, mill around the butchery entrance – and I’m not pushing my way through crowds and risking infection to purchase food for seven spoiled and obese dogs.

***

I can manage demands coronavirus makes on my worldview. It’s tougher to adjust to a more banal change: weather.
Each morning for the past week, a half inch/1+ cm layer of frost has covered the lawns and plants.
As a San Francisco Bay Area resident, I’m unused to frost. The Bay Area’s Mediterranean climate delivers wet winters with temperatures averaging 12°C/53°F, dropping overnight to 3°C/38°F. One or two nights/year temps might drop to freezing.
As a houseboat resident in the Sacramento Delta - elevation 79 feet/24 meters – temperatures range from a summer high of 38°C/102°F, with winter lows about the same as the Bay Area. (Freezing temperatures can damage outboard motors, so liveaboards and mariners pay attention).
Since I departed South Africa, decades ago, I’ve avoided spending winter here. Until Lockdown, I never spent a winter at my current elevation: 1050 m/3,444 feet.
Yesterday noon, the bird bath hosted a platter-sized layer of ice. It was thick enough that, astonished, I carried it inside to show my mother, then placed it in a plant pot to melt in the warm sunshine.
This morning, the same bird bath was frozen solid with a 2-inch-thick layer.
Sections of the garden pond were covered in ice, too.
I hear from local residents that this is an usually cold period for this time of year.

Perhap that explains whty garden plants suffer, too. Before and after photos show some of the damage.

Befrore - buds appearing
Click to enlarge.

After - buds dead
Click to enlarge.

Before - flowering aloe
Click to enlarge.

After - flowers dead
Click to enlarge.

 (The good news? As I scooped swamp cypress needles from the pond, I spotted one goldfish. That’s one more goldfish than I’ve seen in a week.)

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Unknown unknowns

On this day of rest, I paraphrase Bush Administration's former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld’s immortal words at a 2002 news briefing. Rumsfeld addressed the lack of evidence about the government of Iraq supplying WMD to terrorists:

..there are known knowns; things we know we know…there are known unknowns…we know there are some things we do not know…[and the] unknown unknowns—the ones we don't know we don't know.

A now known known:  we could have/should have known that those known unknowns and the known knowns would turn out in a way we could have guessed!

The pandemic continues to rage. 

Trump golfs and campaigns while numbers of infections and deaths rise around the US. 

Bolsonaro jet skis while Brazilians sicken. 

Fauci fumes at the lack of White House response. 

Ramaphosa, well, he's disappeared. South Africa is now 8th on the list of countries with the greatest numbers of new infections.

News blues…

Nicholas Kristoff, in this week’s New York Times column, explores an issue I raised earlier this week regarding women leaders’ success handling the pandemic.
I mentioned PMs of New Zealand and Iceland (Jacinda Ardern and Katrín Jakobsdóttir, respectively). Kristoff delves deeper and asks, “Why are the rates of coronavirus deaths far lower in many female-led countries?”

Are female leaders better at fighting a pandemic?
I compiled death rates from the coronavirus for 21 countries around the world, 13 led by men and eight by women. The male-led countries suffered an average of 214 coronavirus-related deaths per million inhabitants. Those led by women lost only one-fifth as many, 36 per million.
If the United States had the coronavirus death rate of the average female-led country, 102,000 American lives would have been saved out of the 114,000 lost.
“Countries led by women do seem to be particularly successful in fighting the coronavirus,” noted Anne W. Rimoin, an epidemiologist at U.C.L.A. “New Zealand, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Norway have done so well perhaps due to the leadership and management styles attributed to their female leaders.”
… [certainly] there have been plenty of wretched female leaders over the years. Indeed, according to [my] research …female leaders around the world haven’t been clearly better than male counterparts even at improving girls’ education or reducing maternal mortality.
… It’s not that the leaders who best managed the virus were all women. But those who bungled the response were all men, and mostly a particular type: authoritarian, vainglorious and blustering. Think of Boris Johnson in Britain, Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Iran and Donald Trump in the United States.
Virtually every country that has experienced coronavirus mortality at a rate of more than 150 per million inhabitants is male-led.

What to say?

***

Only in America. Access to decent health care is a political hot potato in the US. Obama’s Affordable Care Act (“Obamacare”) addressed the shortfall in health care insurance for about 40 million Americans. Donald Trump promised to improve on ACA but instead slowly erodes it.
Imagine the surprise of a Seattle resident recovered from Covid-19 when he got a bill from the hospital for $1,122,501.04 / ZAR 19,144, 311.77.

Flor, 70, shared the 181-page document with The Seattle Times, which noted that he has insurance and Medicare coverage and so may only have to pay a relatively small amount of the whopping total.
He may not have to pay anything at all due to steps taken by Congress to protect Americans with private insurance or no insurance from being charged for seeking testing and treatment for COVID-19…. Yet Flor’s bill, technically an “explanation of benefits,” is a stark example of the sky-high cost of health care in the U.S. that has come under increased criticism during the coronavirus pandemic. America spends more per person on health care than any other high-income country, due in part to its reliance on for-profit companies.

I wonder if Flor is mollified by the uncertainty that “He may not have to pay anything?”

Despite Lockdown, South Africa’s Covid-19 current rate of increase  - 2,500 to 3,500 confirmed infections/day - place me at risk of contracting the virus.
My travel insurance expired the day after I was scheduled to travel, May 19.
With health care in South Africa far more affordable (if not always available or high quality) than health care in the US, I'd expect my (personal) overall out-of-pocket costs of a Covid-19 infection in South Africa would be less than US$1,122,501.04/ ZAR 19,144, 311.77.
But, who knows? I would have to pay something but how much?
An alarming sort-of-known unknown.

***

A dab of humor…
Sara Cooper’s How to - Trump voice overs:

• How to lobster 
• How to water 
• How to bible 

Oh, oh, Lindsey Graham speaks – and Trump ain’t gonna like it:

• Graham on Trump and Joe Biden 
• Graham on Joe Biden 

And, then, there’s Devin Nunes, his mom, his cow, and his failing lawsuit.
(I find Nunes a, well, strange … cowboy … in Congress. If you don't know Nunes, and not laying my prejudices on you, here’s the vanilla Wikipedia version of his bio.)

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

I worked on the cement sculpture mix experiment enough yesterday to know that the recipe won’t work for my sculpture projects. The other recipe I researched - advertised as “cement that works like clay” – requires more ingredients than I want to purchase (Portland cement, metakaolin, fine fiber flakes, etc.). From my current perspective, I’m unlikely to venture down that path.
It’s back to the drawing board….

***

Cold, cold, cold…. Another layer of frost outside. Yesterday’s layer frost burned and blackened – several large plants.
I repeated the experiment of covering several outside succulents overnight. I can’t say I notice significant difference in their response to frost. Overnight temperatures will drop below freezing for the next several nights so more observation coming up.

***

While scooping swamp cypress needles from the pond, I discovered just how cold is the water, even at midday. No wonder goldfish are scarce. I hope they have found a sufficiently warm niche to survive the worst of the winter.

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See photos  Spying on Garden Creatures 

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“… ugly Anarchists must be stooped”

Click to enlarge

Ah, now, does that man on the left look like a leader you’d trust with your life?

President Donald Trump has warned repeatedly that antifa, a favorite bogeyman, is behind the violence during recent waves of protest … scant evidence supports Trump’s claims, [on the other hand] adherents of the far-right [loosely organized] movement known as Boogaloo have shown up at various protests sparked by the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, attempting to use the demonstrations to further their own cause and in some cases carrying rifles. 

Trump Tweeted about unarmed protesters, “These ugly Anarchists must be stooped [sic] IMMEDIATELY. MOVE FAST!”
He says nothing about “stooping” Boogaloo or any of the other burgeoning white nationalist groups in the US.
The mayor of Seattle’s advice to Trump? “Make us all safe. Go back to your bunker!”

News blues…

The book of Trump’s former US National Security Advisor is due to publish next week. Remember John Bolton? The man who refused to stand up and speak the truth when it counted – during Trump’s impeachment?
He plans to profit from that role?
I’ll not purchase his book.
Media outlets will summarize the salient points and, if I’m curious beyond that, I’ll get the Kindle edition from the library. I’ll not spend a penny to prop up Bolton’s version of public service.

***

The Donald, a tone-deaf guy immune to positive change, has chosen a trajectory guaranteed to toss him out of the White House, if – a big if - the election process unfolds without interference.
He continues to push unAmerican activities. More Americans push back.
Meidas Touch produced a supercut with excellent advice: “End this Ugly Presidency.”

***

What’s the connection between food and pandemic? What’s the difference between virus and bacteria? Where lies further dangers from both? Writer Sigal Samuel unpacks these topics….

Some experts have hypothesized that the novel coronavirus made the jump from animals to humans in China’s wet markets, just like SARS before it. Unsurprisingly, many people are furious that the markets, which were closed in the immediate wake of the outbreak in China, have already reopened. It’s easy to point the finger at these “foreign” places and blame them for generating pandemics. But doing that ignores one crucial fact: The way people eat all around the world — including in the US — is a major risk factor for pandemics, too.
That’s because we eat a ton of meat, and the vast majority of it comes from factory farms. In these huge industrialized facilities that supply more than 90 percent of meat globally — and around 99 percent of America’s meat — animals are tightly packed together and live under harsh and unsanitary conditions.
When we talk about the risk of pandemics, we’re actually talking about two different types of outbreaks. The first is a viral pandemic; examples include the 1918 influenza pandemic and Covid-19. The second is a bacterial pandemic; the prime example is the bubonic plague, the “Black Death” that wracked Europe in the Middle Ages.
…scientists believe the novel coronavirus originated in wild bats, not factory farms. But it has awakened us all to the crushing effect a pandemic can have on our lives. Now that we’ve come face to face with this reality, the question is: Do we have the political and cultural will to do something major — changing the way we eat — to sharply decrease the likelihood of the next pandemic?
Read the full article, “The meat we eat is a pandemic risk, too.” 

***

Daily Maverick webinar, “The Fight Against Misinformation Part 2: Unmasking Malevolent Networks.”  Hosted by Marianne Thamm with Jean le Roux and William Bird.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Click to enlarge.

Sign at the entry of the plant nursery where (wearing my mask correctly) I purchased Palm Peat, a material in my upcoming cement sculpture mix experiment.
Palm peat, aka “coir,” is a multi-faceted material. Besides its most common role as growing medium for seedlings and its role as potential ingredient in sculpture mix, it is also an ingredient in composting toilets.
I’m fourteen thousand miles from my houseboat where half a dozen “coir bricks” – and a composting toilet - await my return.

***

Temperatures dropped below freezing last night. This morning, three hours after sunrise, frost still carpets the lawns and gardens.

***

Swamp cypress, taxodium distichum, is not, as I thought, native to South Africa but to the southeastern United States.
The wetland section of this garden has four tall and mature swamp cypress. Gorgeous trees – with one drawback: in the winter, the trees shed gorgeous russet-red lacy needles that drift and clog the pond. Each day I scoop out and recycle piles of needles.
As I scoop, I cajole, “c’mon, trees, hurry up and shed already!”
I also cajole goldfish, “where are you, guys? Haven’t seen you for more than a week. Show yourselves! Let me know you’re still swimming….”

***

Yet another repat flight:

Event:  The South African Ministry of Health has confirmed 58,568 cases of COVID-19 within its borders.
Announcing June 18 Ethiopian Airlines Flight
We have been notified of a special commercial repatriation flight operated by Ethiopian Airlines to Chicago, United States on Thursday, June 18.
Flight information:
• Potential passengers must book their tickets directly with Ethiopian Airlines.
• The flight will depart from Johannesburg and then Cape Town on Thursday, June 18 before proceeding to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and onward to Chicago O’Hare International Airport, United States.
• Passengers will be responsible for travel to their final destination in the United States from Chicago O’Hare.
• This flight is open to U.S. citizens, Lawful Permanent Residents, and visa holders who have received DHA approval to depart South Africa.
• Passengers will be responsible for finding transportation to the required assembly point, which will be communicated by Ethiopian Airways prior to the flight departure.
• Travel permission letters for U.S. citizens and green card holders are not required unless you will be crossing provinces to arrive at the assembly point. If you must cross a provincial border to join this repatriation flight, please write to SAEvacuation@state.gov requesting a travel letter. Include your name, passport or greencard number, current address, and flight confirmation.
• For any questions regarding availability, cost, baggage allowance, or other flight details, please contact Ethiopian Airlines directly at JNBTrade@ethiopianairlines.com.

Etc., etc., etc….
I’m staying here.

***

Click to enlarge.

What do you see in the photo (left)?

I snapped this master of disguise near the pond.
Can you see it?

Read   Week 1 |   Week 2   |  Week 3  |  Week 4 |  Week 5  | Week 6  |  Week 7  |  Week 8  |  Week 9  |  Week 10   |   Week 11  |   Week 12

See photos  Spying on Garden Creatures 

Watch  Videos of Garden Creatures