Woo woo*

Oh dear, as in the US, conspiracy theories and theorists are alive and well in South Africa - and just as lavishly flavored with soupçons of extreme Christian evangelisms.
As Lockdown extends, I’ve noticed a Christian friend tipping more towards evangelical conspiracy theories. Yesterday, she reported experiencing dreams and visions – “very disturbing but exciting as well” - and updated me on how:

“Fauci and Gates want everyone microchipped when given the vaccine. That means we have lost our freedom… according to Revelations it’s the sign of a one world government and the start of a 7-year Tribulation before the coming of Christ….”

I Googled “Tribulation” and discovered at least three controversial periods of Tribulation. It’s complicated, certainly more complicated than I can absorb in one sitting. (You try….  )
My friend also directed me to an interview with a guy who explained how “the world’s governments worked together” to create Covid-19 from the two earlier iterations of coronavirus, SARS and MERS. 

My friend is a good and decent person so, perhaps ill-advisedly, I responded that I wished the “world’s governments” could successfully work together on anything. 

* woo woo: A person readily accepting supernatural, paranormal, occult, or pseudoscientific phenomena, or emotion-based beliefs and explanations.

More whackjobery*

California Pastor John MacArthur …defended his decision to hold in-person services despite the state-mandated closure of churches, saying his congregation is “protesting lies and deception for the sake of the truth.”

[He explained] his church decided to reopen just two weeks after Gov. Gavin Newsom indefinitely closed churches [because] “We are the original protesters. We go back 500 years [and] we are still protesting lies and deception for the sake of the truth.”
“…it is a First Amendment right. This is the United States of America and… we stand on that amendment…The second thing that makes this so sensible is that in California … you have a 99.99 percent chance to survive COVID.”

"99.99" percent may have been true back then, but it is no longer true. LA Times data analysis at the end of June  … found that 5.7 percent of coronavirus test results in California over the preceding seven days came back positive, a rate not seen since early May. A week ago, the rate was 4.7%, a rate that had been largely stable for June until just Sunday, when there was a dramatic shift in the numbers.

Pastor Greg Locke of Tennessee is willing to go to jail to defend his right not to wear a mask during the coronavirus pandemic and has been telling his church members to do the same. 

I’m so sick of this mask brigade nonsense. Bunch of Nazis. We don’t require masks at our church…. We probably had 450 people crammed into a tent this weekend. Two people in the whole place had a mask. If they want to wear a mask, that is great, I’m not going to mandate it. As a matter of fact, I discourage it because I think it’s utter nonsense.”
Locke produces viral videos. [A recent] video … triggered after a confrontation with a male staffer at an unidentified store over his [Locke’s] refusal to wear a mask, has already been watched by more than six million people.
“I’m pretty spittin’ mad about a bunch of nonsense. Did you know that there’s nothing in the American culture and nothing in the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ that has separated the body more than these stupid things right here? We call them safety precautions. No, what these are, these are gags, ladies and gentlemen … These have become idols … used to divide the Church. They don’t do anything whatsoever. They are the dumbest thing to have ever been created by humanity. They are scientifically proven to do Jack sprat! But I’ll tell you, religiously what they’ve done, they’ve divided the body of the Lord Jesus Christ. These things are so dumb.” 

Evangelist Franklin Graham – son of Billy - warned of “all-out socialism” if Americans do not vote for leaders who “love this country, defend the Constitution, & support law & order.”

He pointed to the “chaos erupting in cities controlled by liberal, socialist-leaning leadership” as a harbinger of things to come … if “this kind of leadership wins in local, state & national elections… [it] would lead to the demise of our nation as we know it. Socialism is dangerous, and we have a party and many politicians who are flirting with all-out socialism. I would encourage every person who loves this country to pray & to turn out by the millions to vote…. America’s new enemies are “progressives” and “godless secularism.”  

*Whackjobery: term promoted by Steve Schmidt of The Lincoln Project to denote virulent Trump supporters who’ve given up common sense in favor of Trumpism.

News blues…

South Africa passes half a million Covid infections as “the government struggles to retain public trust amid allegations of widespread corruption, arbitrary decisions on restrictions and administrative incompetence.” 

…“The lockdown succeeded in delaying the spread of the virus by more than two months, preventing a sudden and uncontrolled increase in infections in late March,” the South African president, Cyril Ramaphosa, said….
As restrictions have eased, infections have risen quickly, with some observers questioning decisions to allow the crowded minibuses that provide most public transport to operate and to permit religious services. A ban on smoking and drinking has also been controversial. In recent days, several prominent officials from the ruling African National Congress, including Ramaphosa’s spokesperson, have been suspended or forced to step down temporarily following graft allegations. More than a hundred contracts for procurement of protective equipment and other vital supplies are under investigation in Gauteng province, the economic heart of South Africa, and its worst-hit area.

***

Apple fire in Banning, California.
Photo: Josh Edelson/AFP/Getty Images
Click to enlarge. 

Thousands of people were under evacuation orders  after a wildfire in mountains east of Los Angeles exploded in size as crews battled the flames in triple-digit heat. The fire, dubbed the Apple Fire by local firefighters 

… consumed more than 23sq miles (about 60sq km) of dry brush and timber, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. …The blaze began as two adjacent fires reported Friday evening in Cherry Valley, an unincorporated area near the city of Beaumont about 85 miles (137km) east of downtown Los Angeles.

*** 

Covid-19 affects the California firefighter’s life and work. 

Healthy futures anyone? 

Focus on Switzerland. According to the 2018 Environmental Performance Index*, Switzerland ranks number one in the world for its achievements in sustainability and environmental conservation with a 2018 overall EPI score of 87.42, environmental health score of 93.57, and ecosystem vitality score is 83.32.

Switzerland protects its natural lakes, forests and mountains and the health of the environment on a global scale. It boasts a secure economy, a high standard of living and an impressive emphasis on education… [and it has preserved its] water quality since the 1960s, especially its wastewater treatment… (97 percent of the Swiss population was connected to a sewage treatment plant [with] approximately 900 wastewater treatment plants across Switzerland0. It leads in waste management with a recycling rate of 53 percent.

How sustainable is Switzerland? Implementing the 2030 Agenda from a civil society perspective 

*Environmental Performance Index is a ranking system used to compare the world’s countries based on their efforts to preserve and protect the earth’s environment. This index also measures how close countries are to meeting their established environmental policy objectives. The 2018 Environmental Performance Index is the most up to date index and has scored 180 countries on their environmental performance using the latest set of data available, as well as data from the past decade. In addition to receiving an environmental performance index score, countries also receive an environmental health and ecosystem vitality score. The environmental health score is based on the quality of the country’s air and water, while the ecosystem vitality score primarily indicates the condition of a country’s ecosystem and the animal species that live within these ecosystems. Some of the performance indicators used to score these countries are household air quality, air pollution, drinking water quality, wastewater treatment, species protection, marine protected areas and CO2 emissions. The scores achieved by each country are translated into rankings that can be used as an opportunity for countries to engage in friendly competition as they try to improve their rank. The Environmental Performance Index also gives countries a more granular view of the areas in which they need to improve.
Sustainable Development Index (SDI) measures the ecological efficiency of human development, recognizing that development must be achieved within planetary boundaries. It was created to update the Human Development Index (HDI) for the ecological realities of the Anthropocene. The SDI starts with each nation’s human development score (life expectancy, education and income) and divides it by their ecological overshoot: the extent to which consumption-based CO2 emissions and material footprint exceed per-capita shares of planetary boundaries. Countries that achieve relatively high human development while remaining within or near planetary boundaries rise to the top.
Currently, Cuba tops the SDI, followed by Costa Rica (2) and Sri Lanka (3). South Africa’s SDI is 57. USA’ SDI is 160. Total countries on the SDI: 164. See the map and the SDI. 

The Lincoln Project:  Moms  (1:27 mins) 

 A South African proverb used during the struggle against apartheid: 

“You touch a woman, you touch a rock.” Or, "Wathinta abafazi, wathinta imbhokodo." 

Updated for 2020: “You touch a mom, you touch a rock.”

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

I like marshmallows. I seldom eat them, but when I do I enjoy them under the illusion they were made with egg whites – a saving grace that made them not a total junk food.
This winter in South Africa, I’ve indulged in eating more sugary items than at any other time in my life (as an adult!) - including marshmallows. 

Today, as I worked on my laptop, I noticed the pink dancing marshmallow illustrated on the empty bag next to me. I read the ingredients list: glucose syrup, sugar, water, gelatine (bovine), dextrose, stabilizer, flavouring, coloring, and “may contain” sulphites.
Sugar and salt; nary a whiff of egg white. And “bovine” gelatine? Cow fat?
Illusion became disillusion. 

Last week, a watched film on the use and abuse of children working to grow and process cocoa trees and beans – think chocolate. Ah, the hidden costs and unbearable reality of that delicious treat.
Upside of the pandemic: Like thousands of others, I’ve time on my hands. It’s leading to deeper recognition about the need to take ever more responsibility for the welfare of the planet and its people.
Woo woo conspiracy theories and theorists demand “freedom”?
How about implementing existing freedoms to expanding one’s own small view to include a wide view of the world’s unvarnished realities?

Testing... testing...

Four-plus months into Lockdown and six-plus months into what was planned as three months to oversee my mother’s affairs, I’m humming and oldie but goodie:

“On a Sunday morning sidewalk/wishing lord that I was stoned/for there’s something ‘bout a Sunday/makes a body feel alone…” (See below for more.)

And my tales of woe are just a microcosm.
The macrocosm? “Who the hell knows what’s going on? It’s just insanity.” 

News blues…

The federal government, under Trump’s direction, has botched testing.

…Experts are warning that the U.S. testing system is on the brink of collapse. “We are at a very bad moment here … We are about to lose visibility on this monster and it’s going to rampage through our whole country. This is a massive emergency.”

This must-read Vanity Fair article by Katherine Eban, “How Jared Kushner’s Secret Testing Plan Went Poof Into Thin Air”, lays a foundation to understand how We the People arrived at this tenuous place.  

***

Trump’s Tweet baselessly claims
mail-in voting is a vehicle for voter fraud.
Click to enlarge. 

"Why would Trump even suggest putting off the vote? Unless he plans to occupy the White House illegally, a postponed election wouldn’t keep him in office. In fact, it could well usher in an unelected President Joe Biden. That sounds strange, but it’s where the rules would take us if there were no election — if those rules were followed, which is a significant “if.” Here’s how it would work. 

Additionally, even Republican conservative legal expert and Federalist Society’s Steven Calabresi calls the president’s threats to delay the election “fascistic – and grounds for impeachment.” 

The influential conservative law professor supported President Donald Trump in 2016 and spoke out against his impeachment said the president’s latest tweet about delaying the election is grounds for his removal. Steven Calabresi wrote in his New York Times opinion article  that Trump “should be removed unless he relents” on his suggestion to delay the November election…. “Until recently, I had taken as political hyperbole the Democrats’ assertion that President Trump is a fascist,” Calabresi wrote. “But this latest tweet is fascistic and is itself grounds for the president’s immediate impeachment again by the House of Representatives and his removal from office by the Senate.”
Calabresi also called for any lawmakers who support Trump’s fight to delay the election to “never be elected to Congress again.”

***

Tick tock on TikTok? - because “Sarah Cooper is being mean to me! I don’t like it when girls are mean to me!” Critics [including this one are] convinced Trump wants TikTok banned because Sarah Cooper is driving him (even more) nuts. 

Healthy futures anyone?

Sunday timeout to appreciate wonderful creatures of our planet. They, we, the planet requires giant efforts to bring back a semblance of sustainable balance. Search for the community that is right for you and get to work…. 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

“On a Sunday morning sidewalk/wishing lord that I was stoned/for there’s something ‘bout a Sunday/makes a body feel alone/and there’s nothing short of dying/half as lonesome as the sound/on the sleepy city sidewalk/Sunday morning coming down…”
On this Sunday morning, I’m aligned with Kris Kristofferson (remember him? An historical figure these days.) “Sunday morning coming down”  (4:30 mins – scroll to 1:40 for the refrain.) 

I’m out of my depth in the situation I find myself. Having no experience of a mothering mother, I’m at a loss trying to understand the person biologically my parent. All this is complicated by the huge changes she faces: advanced age and fragile physicality, the consequence of past decisions, living as a “boss” in the same life for 60 years, and never having to face the challenges and complexities of the “real” world. Plus, seven pampered dogs. Two resentful and frightened domestic workers who see the writing on the wall: their longtime “boss” cannot continue “as is” so they’ll be retired. 

They’ll retire with sufficient funds to ensure they do not have to work again, but change is frightening. 

Fear projects outward, onto an object. 

Too bad for me that, in the microcosm,  I’m the object.
Too bad for the planet that, in the macrocosm, We the People - and planet - are Trump's object.

Seeing the light?

It’s taken a long time, but I knew, sooner or later, a majority of Americans would break through the fog of Trumpism. But, the toll, the toll…. 

News blues… 

Rats abandoning ship as Sen. Mitch McConnell suggests the Republican Senators… 

do whatever it takes to salvage their campaigns ahead of what could be a devastating election for the Republican party. McConnell has become so concerned over Republicans losing control of the Senate that he has signaled to vulnerable GOP senators in tough races that they could distance themselves from the President if they feel it is necessary…. [This] forces them to walk a tightrope. 
"These vulnerable senators can't afford to explicitly repudiate Trump," said one senior Republican on Capitol Hill. "They just need to show they are independent on issues important in their states." 

Residents vote to rip off President Trump Name from New York City Building  (4:15 mins) 

Trump’s Self-Inflicted Wound: Losing Swing Voters As He Plays to His Base  The president’s support among bedrock Republicans is almost certainly not enough to win him a second term in the White House, as even some G.O.P. leaders concede.

*** 

To poach, or not to poach? In May, news reported a …

wildlife catastrophe unfolding in Africa with closure of safari tourism (an industry worth almost $30 billion a year and employing almost four million people) due to the coronavirus pandemic, decimating the industry, and leading to an increase in poaching. Experts and rangers on the ground say they are seeing a surge in poaching as thousands of unemployed people dependent on the industry turn to wild animals for food. They also fear an upsurge in more organised poaching of endangered species. 

August 1, news reports South African rhino poaching halves in six months thanks to Covid-19 lockdown 

South Africa has for years battled a scourge of rhino poaching fueled by insatiable demand for their horns in Asia - China and Vietnam - where the horn is coveted as a traditional medicine, an aphrodisiac or a status symbol. 

During the first six months of the year, 166 rhino were poached in South Africa, compared with 316 in the first half of 2019. That’s a drop of 53 percent in the first six months of 2020 as restrictions and disruption to international flights hinder poachers.

I’m confused. Animals other than rhinos are still being poached? 

Healthy futures anyone?

Taken-for-granted items in your pantry: “The 'deadly food' we all eat” - BBC REEL  (3:25 mins) 

***

The Lincoln Project :

Wake up  (6 mins) 

We will vote  (1:00 min) 

A must see ad: Nationalist Geographic  (0:55 mins) 

Sarah Cooper: How to tick tock  (0:13 mins) 

 Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

 I was scheduled to return to California on May 21, but the pandemic and subsequent lockdown put an end to commercial flights. Overly bureaucratized repatriation flights were occasionally available, but high-tailing it out of SA and abandoning my fragile, 87-year-old mother didn’t feel like a viable option. Moreover, repat flight reservations and routes were confusing. If I could get to Johannesburg (required a permit for the 6-hour trip by car), a flight would dump me in, say Istanbul or Doha – cost in the vicinity of US$2,500.00 (ZAR41,250). I’d still have to find a flight to New York – then the world’s Covid-19 epicenter – or Chicago, followed by a domestic flight to San Francisco. 

I was smart to stay put. 

Today, travelers who opted for repat flights find themselves in a quandary: Americans stranded abroad as the coronavirus spread took a lifeline offered by the State Department: We'll fly you home, but you have to pay us back. 

… the main method of payment for State-chartered repatriation flights was promissory notes, without anything more than an estimate of how much it might cost. Most of the people repatriated, especially in the beginning of the department's efforts, were handed blank documents which they had to sign before they got on the plane, promising to pay back the government when billed. 

Some Americans had to use passports as collateral for loans — but months later, they're still waiting for a bill, so their passports are invalid. Others signed promissory notes agreeing to pay an eventual bill they're still waiting for, and dreading a price tag that for a family of four could weigh in at $10,000. 

Since the pandemic began, State has flown home about 100,000 U.S. citizens from nearly 150 countries, at a cost to the agency of $196 million, which it must collect from passengers. Of that sum, about $8 million comes from direct loans secured with a passport. 

Hmmm, sounds like health care in America. 

Health care has never been easily available or affordable in America. President Obama tried to address that. 

Along came Trump. In the middle of a pandemic, he has been battering at the Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare. 

Who does that? 

And why? 

My guess? 

Then president Obama – for years accused by then-birther Trump of not being eligible for the presidency as not born in America – made fun of notoriously thin-skinned The Donald at the White House Correspondents dinner back in 2011. 

This clip is a bit “inside the beltway” for non-Americans but worth watching: Barack Obama mocks Trump at the White House correspondents' dinner.  (3:57) 

Ah, the good ole days! I miss Obama. Smart. Funny. Intelligent. Elegant. Happily married family man.

Decent Americans are out there still, plenty of them/us. Step up, you guys. We the People need you!

“Not Trumpistan”

Déjà vu all over again: end of the month and end on the week without internet.

After full-throated moaning about being hours behind the latest news, one accepts the temporary absence and finds something else to do. A refreshing break….

 (c) Illustration by Victor Juhasz
for Rolling Stone
Click to enlarge

News blues…

Donald J Trump Tweets his idea of delaying the election: 

With Universal Mail-In Voting (not Absentee Voting, which is good), 2020 will be the most INACCURATE & FRAUDULENT Election in history. It will be a great embarrassment to the USA. Delay the Election until people can properly, securely and safely vote???

Masters of under-statement – and Trump allies - respond:

• Lindsey Graham, "I don't think that's a particularly good idea."
• Majority Whip Sen. John Thune: "I think that's probably a statement that gets some press attention, but I doubt it gets any serious traction.”
• Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell: "I think we've had elections every November since about 1788, and I expect that will be the case again this year," he said. 
• Republican Sen. Thom Tillis: "The election is going to happen in November period."
• Republican Sen. Ted Cruz:  "Election fraud is a serious problem we need to stop it and fight it, but no the election should not be delayed."
• GOP Sen. Marco Rubio: "I wish he hadn't said that, but it's not going to change: We are going to have an election in November and people should have confidence in it."
• Senate Finance Committee chairman Chuck Grassley: "All I can say is that, it doesn't matter what one individual in this country says. We still are a country based on the rule of law. And we must follow the law until either the Constitution is changed or until the law is changed."
• Republican Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming: "No, we're not going to delay the election… We're going to have the election completed and voting completed by Election Day."
• GOP Rep. Dusty Johnson of South Dakota: "Moving Election Day would seriously jeopardize the legitimacy of the election. Federal, state and local officials need to continue to work hard to ensure that Americans can vote safely whether by voting early or on November 3." 

Trying to change direction when he’s under fire is Trump’s go to MO (modus operandi). It’s worked well for him in the past, but there are signs the public – including Republicans – are onto his strategy. 

• Now This: The Rock Slams Trump with Scathing Video Message  (8:00 mins)
• Trump's narcissism and lack of empathy have Dan reconsidering his party status after 60 years. (1:02 mins)
• Why This Longtime Republican Rejects Trump (4:00 mins)
• Lifelong Republican give a blistering critique of Trump and the GOP  (4:13 mins)
• Trump Vote A Monumental Mistake.  (2:20 mins)
• Trump Voter: "Every day he breaks my heart as an American in a new way" (4:12 mins) 
• Jim is a gun-owning USMC vet who voted Trump in 2016 but will be voting Joe in 2020  (4:45 mins)
• Linda, a lifelong Republican from a military family, won’t vote for Trump this fall. (3:25 mins)
• Marie (Connecticut)  (2:40 mins)

The Lincoln Project:

Steve Schmidt interview, “This is the United States of America, not Trumpistan.” Watch: ‘This Is An Autocratic Moment.”  (3:19)

Memories 2  (0:57 mins) 

Meidas Touch:

Nobody likes Trump  (0:37 mins)

Rolling Stone’s “The Plot Against America: The GOP’s Plan to Suppress the Vote and Sabotage the Election.” Blocking ballots, intimidating voters, spreading misinformation — undermining democracy is at the heart of Trump’s 2020 campaign :

Healthy futures anyone?

An effort to educate and support peoples' effort toward sustainable living.

Terms and definitions: The Sustainable Development Index (SDI)

… measures the ecological efficiency of human development, recognizing that development must be achieved within planetary boundaries. It was created to update the Human Development Index (HDI) for the ecological realities of the Anthropocene. 

The SDI starts with each nation’s human development score (life expectancy, education and income) and divides it by their ecological overshoot: the extent to which consumption-based CO2 emissions and material footprint exceed per-capita shares of planetary boundaries. Countries that achieve relatively high human development while remaining within or near planetary boundaries rise to the top. 

See SDI results for 2015, the most recent year of complete data. While some countries score reasonably well, none reach over 0.9. South Africa is 57 on a list of 164 countries while US is 160.

Sustainable development goals – SDGs – also known as the Global Goals, 

…adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015 as a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity by 2030.

The 17 SDGs are integrated  — that is, recognize that action in one area will affect outcomes in others, and that development must balance social, economic and environmental sustainability…. Everyone is needed to reach these ambitious targets. The creativity, knowhow, technology, and financial resources from all of society is necessary to achieve the SDGs in every context. 

Focus on Norway.  Norway ranks high on SDI in terms of global implementation of the SDGs. 

From the school curriculum to the initiatives for recycling and the cross-industry struggle to keep the air, the seas and nature as free from pollution as possible, every aspect of life is imbued with a need to go greener. 10 Ways Norway Is Contributing to an Environmentally Friendly Planet  

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

South Africans talk of “the CCMA” as the bugaboo of South African employers, particularly employers with long-term employees. Since one of my mother’s two long-term domestic workers is spreading false rumors that I am “going to throw her out of her job and into the street”, I researched CCMA. 

The website was no help in unpacking the acronym, but Google defined it as, “Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA). 

CCMA is “a dispute resolution body established in terms of the Labour Relations Act, 66 of 1995 ….” 

If a dispute exists (none exists here, far as I’m concerned) dispute resolution is a good thing. Isn’t it? 

Apparently, CCMA has the reputation for bias – toward employees and against employers. 

I believe in fairness and recognition of all parties to obtain justice. 

Should be interesting as the saga continues….

Another Thursday

No internet connection all day! 

On the one hand: Grrrr! No internet! 

On the other hand: Yay, no internet! No news on Trump craziness. No news on Covid-19 deaths and destruction. No news about our desperate planet and its desperate people. 

 Yet, the Covid news doesn’t end. Compare this week’s numbers with last week’s: 

July 30 – 17,096,000 worldwide: confirmed infections; 668,590 deaths 

     July 22 – 15,240,000 worldwide confirmed infections; 623,660 deaths 

July 30 - US: 4,451,000 confirmed infections; 151,270 deaths 

     July 22 - US: 3,971,000 confirmed infections; 143,200 deaths 

July 30 - SA: 471,125 confirmed infections; 7,498 deaths 

     July 22 - SA: 395,000 confirmed infections; 5,940 deaths

News blues…

With more than 3,000 Covid-19 infections each day since last weekend, KwaZulu-Natal is emerging as South Africa’s latest epicenter. 

Last Sunday, the number of cases in the province had risen to 60,532, with 3,405 new infections since the previous day. On Monday, the number of cases stood at 65,982, placing KwaZulu-Natal behind the Eastern Cape, Gauteng and the Western Cape in totals, but giving it the highest rate of increase in infections in the country. 

Today, KZN has 71,240 cases. 

***

Iceland has virtually beaten Covid-19 infections. 

The latest statistics show 1,823 recoveries of 1,861 cases with 10 deaths. Iceland never imposed a lockdown. Only a few types of businesses - night clubs and hair salons - were ordered closed. Hardly anyone in Reykjavík wears a mask. And yet, by mid-May…the tracing team had almost no one left to track. During the previous week, in all of Iceland, only two new coronavirus cases had been confirmed. 

The country hadn’t just managed to flatten the curve; it had, it seemed, virtually eliminated it. 

(Consider: Katrín Jakobsdóttir is Iceland’s prime minister 

Jacinda Ardern, New Zealand's prime minister, announced stringent lockdown and quarantine measures and that country fares very well. 

A similarly positive pattern occurred in Denmark, Norway and Finland, all ruled by women, as opposed to Sweden, ruled by a man, where economic considerations trumped health concerns, and ultimately resulted in the highest death toll per capita in Europe. 

Not sexism. Just facts. 

Read, “Countries with female leaders suffer six times fewer COVID-19 deaths.” 

***

Interactive map of infections in the United States 

Healthy futures anyone? 

Focus on Iceland. With low levels of air pollution, stunning green forests, excellent water quality, and effective environmental policies, Iceland is one of the most environmentally friendly countries on the planet. According to PR Newswire, 72 percent of the country’s total energy consumption comes from hydro and geothermal resources. Moreover, Iceland is still reaping the benefits of the Nature Conservation Act (1999), which protects the land from construction, deforestation, and other damage. 

When settled in the 9th century, Iceland had considerable forests which provided fuel for the population… and for the production of charcoal and, by extension, for iron working. Available] forests … almost disappeared in less than 400 years and, along with volcanic eruptions, climate changes, and wind erosion of grassland, caused serious desertification. Centuries of poverty followed when the population squeezed what we could out of peat and other low-grade combustibles. In other words, trees were harvested without foresight, not replaced, and the valuable forest asset was destroyed.

Around 1900, fossil fuels triggered a historical shift with the use of coal and oil in Iceland’s growing fishing fleet. This made possible trawler fishing and large-scale harvesting of productive fishing grounds. Fossil fuels also heated houses.

Fortunately, the country began harnessing hydropower resources to produce electricity to light streets. That worked until the 1970s, when oil prices dramatically climbed. The oil crisis forced Iceland to look at other energy sources. The success of a large project to produce electricity from geothermal steam has been followed by more technically advanced power plants.

Today, wind turbines, reclaimed forests, and hydropower and geothermal energy account for more than 99 per cent Iceland’s sustainable and clean electricity production.

On the other hand, World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), predicts the world is on the brink of reaching temperatures the Paris agreement had hoped to avoid. 

The study predicts that the global temperature is likely to be at least 1°C above pre-industrial levels in each of the coming five years. There is also a 20 percent chance that the Earth’s temperature will exceed 1.5°C in at least a year’s time. 

As the United States under Trump is set to pull out of the Paris accord (see yesterday’s post ) South Africa’s government hopes to

…cushion the blow of the Covid-19 economic crisis [with] a three-month delay in first carbon tax payments. The implementation of the carbon tax, aimed at penalising large emitters of greenhouse gasses, has since been concluded. On March 27, the day the lockdown kicked in, Minister of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries … lowered minimum air pollution standards for sulphur dioxide to reduce emissions by 58 percent.

The move was a compromise, achieved after public consultation [and] took into account the financial situations of big polluters Eskom and Sasol, which were seen as unable to invest in infrastructure that would lower their emissions to standards called for by environmental organisations. Since the beginning of the pandemic, stimulus directed at South Africa’s fossil fuel producers exceeds stimulus directed at clean energy. 

***

 Daily Maverick webinar, “Dirty Tobacco: Spies, lies and mega-profits.” 

For decades, reputable tobacco companies have been complicit in cigarette smuggling. In a tell-all exposé, host Pauli van Wyk talks with Telita Snyckers, SARS insider [South African Revenue Service (US IRS)] about the illegal cigarette trade, why and how listed companies smuggle their own product, and other truths uncovered while writing her latest book, Dirty Tobacco. 

***

The Lincoln Project: Trump Stooge 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch… 

What would I do without online libraries? 

I subscribe to and download e-books from both Berkeley Public Library and San Francisco Public Library. Downloads allow me to read on my cell phone anytime I have Internet access (a bit tricky here). My regular sleep pattern includes awakening at 3:00 a.m. I’ve no heavy physical book or flashlight/torch to hold as I lie in bed and me. Just me, snug in my bed with my cell phone – happy as the proverbial clam. 

After years of reading hard-topic non-fiction, I returned to fiction to escape reality. Well, almost: I read current non-fiction online, as it becomes available. Recently I downloaded, and n the process of reading, the second edition of The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump: 35 Psychiatrists and Mental Health Experts Assess a President, edited by Bandy Lee, M.D., M. Div. 

It’s a disturbing read. 

I pause frequently and read fiction to regenerate my mental constitution before diving back into The Dangerous Case… 

For lovers of books and reading, online libraries are heaven sent. I’m an online library evangelist. Recently, as I purchased my usual weekly seed, nut, and whole grain loaf at the local bakery, I chatted with the store owner. He mentioned he’d not slept well and read a book in bed. 

Did he read e-books, I asked. 

He’d never heard of e-books. 

I grabbed my moment to proselytize and explained how e-books work: one signs up for library membership, logs onto the library website, finds e-books, audio, and video (a filter system allows easy perusal of catalogs) and either downloads or “holds” items. 

Most users process and track downloads through an Amazon account although I suspect there are alternatives to Amazon, too. 

I suggested the bakery owner approach the local library and inquire about their e-book offerings. Prior to finding a local Internet Services Provider, I frequented the local bricks-and-mortar library and used one of three computers there. Like most libraries, a user signs up for a computer and, once online, has 30 minutes of use, including accessing Internet. Not much time, but better than nothing.

“Mendacious from start to finish”

Peter Kuper
(c) 2020 Cagle Cartoons
Click to enlarge.

Many articles about Covid-19 claim that it  “will change the world forever…”
It could, but not without a valiant and concerted effort by well-meaning people working together.

News blues…

Covid-related predictions:

• “…less global and less urban”
• “… change the workplace forever” 
• “…how the world will look after…” 
• “…may forever change the world’s cities…” 
• “…the future of development…” 

Then, reality raises its stubborn head. “Trump has warned of alien DNA, sex with demons…” and you realize that, in fact, anything could happen – including no future.
Think that’s an exaggeration?
See Trump’s response after being called on his warning about alien DNA  (4:48 mins)
If well-meaning people of the world do nothing to shift towards more equality, all people of the world and the world are sunk.
Doing nothing or waiting for “someone” to “do something” is the human default.
What and how to do something effectively are huge questions.
Remember, simply confronting your clueless friends’ whackjob views is doing something….
Need a stimulant for action?

The US will officially exit the Paris accord one day after the 2020 US election and architects of that deal say the stakes could not be higher.
… in 2017 …Donald Trump took to the lectern in the White House Rose Garden to announce the US withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement, the only comprehensive global pact to tackle the spiraling crisis.
Todd Stern… the US’s chief negotiator when the deal was sealed in Paris in 2015… [said] “I found it sickening, it was mendacious from start to finish… I was furious … because here we have this really important thing and here’s this joker who doesn’t understand anything he’s talking about. It was a fraud.”
The terms of the accord mean no country can leave before November this year, so due to a quirk of timing, the US will officially exit the Paris deal on 4 November – [fewer than] 100 days from now and just one day after the 2020 presidential election.

In other words, there’s still time for you to get involved. If you’re in the US, find out who is you local, state, and federal representatives and share your concern.
If you’re not in the US, here are five ways to contact the White House and air your concerns. 
Don’t expect a reply….

Healthy futures anyone?

Costa Rica, a model for sustainability

Like many tropical countries, Costa Rica lost a significant portion of its forests to agriculture in the 20th century. The United States was responsible for most of this damage: they provided massive “aid” loans to cattle farmers in Costa Rica starting in the 1960s … to feed Americans’ growing appetite for meat.
It’s not easy to come back from losing 80 percent of your forests, but Costa Rica is making a valiant effort through its payment for ecosystem services (PES) program. Using revenue from a gas tax, the government is paying small landowners to help reforest the country, with special attention to water resources and areas of high poverty. Their goal is to have 60 percent of the country covered in forests, a significant feat for any country.
This ambition is paying off for Costa Rica’s tourism sector: it now surpasses agriculture as the country’s biggest industry. People all over the world are drawn to Costa Rica’s renowned national parks and plentiful ecolodges.

***

The Lincoln Project:
Memories : It truly is a choice: America? Or Trump?
Meidas Touch:
Trump kills Texas  (1:00 mins)
Now This:
Republican Voters Against Trump Ad Uses Reagan’s Words  (3:00 mins)

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Yesterday I started what looked like a long, potentially ineffectual effort to vote in the November 3 election. I’d contacted the US consulate and received guidance, but it relied on the SA Postal Service. Anyone in SA knows there is no functioning postal service in this country. (See yesterday’s post. )
Today, I’m happy to share that I received a personal call from the consulate agent working with absentee ballots. She outlined the process to follow to ensure my ballot is filled out correctly and will be counted. This includes paying a courier company to courier the paperwork to the consulate in Durban for transport to the US.
Perhaps I should send the bill for the courier service to Donald J Trump?
Nah, he’s known for seldom paying for services.
Along with information, the consulate agent mentioned she was in quarantine as 3 other agents had been diagnosed with Covid. Consequently, consulate operations in Durban are intermittent.
Moreover, both her 30-something son and her 90-year-old father are infected with Covid.
Happily, both appear on the road to recovery – yes, including her father!

***

The tone of today’s post shares my growing concern about the direction of our planet and people. But… I remind myself that seedlings continue to sprout and grow, weaver birds chatter as they seek safe sites for spring nests, and the sun shines warmly.
Yesterday, the sun shone so warmly as I painted rust-proof paint on metal garden fencing that I wore a sun hat and spread glops of sunscreen on my face, neck, and arms.
I’m beginning the long and arduous task of spiffing up this property and preparing it for sale.
This for as long as my mother holds on to her current agreement to live with my nephew and his family in Johannesburg.
I hold thumbs that this remains a plan we can successfully execute.

No news is good news

Usually actively engaged in following news around the world, I hesitate, now, to do so. Too much bad news. Too much bad Trump news….

News blues…

• Trump still pushing hydroxychloroquine as a cure for COVID-19. 
• Trump reportedly never was invited by the Yankees to pitch the first game of the season. He lied. Rather, his aim was to grab the limelight from Dr Anthony Fauci who was invited – and who pitched. 
• Trump finds Twitter’s trending “very unfair” and, he claims, “illegal, too. They look for anything they can find, make it as bad as possible, and blow it up, trying to make it trend,” the president laments. 
• On and on he goes…clowning his way through a pandemic, as the world’s people struggle along a path strewn with up to 10,000 children dying each month from hunger. Covid-19 side effects are pushing the world’s hungry communities over the edge. ... and Trump and his cronies have no coherent strategy against a pandemic. 

Trump grifts, you die! (1:00 min) Meidas Touch

Healthy futures anyone?

In this new segment, I find examples of areas of the world where and people are creating/living sustainably.
Today, Cuba.
The US embargo has kept Cuba frozen in time, its environment pristine, and its people independent and self-sufficient. A brief history:
On March 14, 1958, the United States imposed its first embargo on the sale of arms to Cuba, during the Fulgencio Batista regime.
On October 19, 1960 (almost two years after the Cuban Revolution had led to the deposition of the Batista regime) after Cuba nationalized American-owned Cuban oil refineries without compensation, the U.S. placed an embargo on exports to Cuba except for food and medicine.
On February 7, 1962 the embargo was extended to include almost all exports. The embargo did not prohibit the trade of food and humanitarian supplies.
On December 17, 2014 Presidents Barack Obama and Raúl Castro announced moves to reestablish diplomatic relations and to loosen travel and economic policies. Obama also announced a review of Cuba's status as a terrorist state and an intention to ask Congress to remove the embargo entirely.
On May 29, 2015, according to the U.S. State Department, "Cuba's designation as a state sponsor of terrorism was rescinded. Under the announced changes by the President, there will be an increased ability to transact with Cuban nationals and businesses, including Cuban financial institutions. Additionally, permitted U.S. banks would have been able to open accredited accounts in Cuban banks.
But, along came Donald Trump…
On November 8, 2017, barely a week after Trump was elected, he and his Administration enacted new rules to re-enforce the business and travel restrictions to go into effect on November 9, 2017.
(Read a Wikipedia version of US/Cuba relations and US embargo against Cuba .)
The last laugh? 

A new report published recently places Cuba at the top of developed countries in the world in terms of sustainability. The Sustainable Development Index measures each country’s CO2 emissions aligned with other parameters linked to human development like education and life expectancy. The most recent figures from 2015 reveal Cuba as the most sustainable country on the planet followed by Costa Rica and Sri Lanka.

While the tourist industry has hurt biodiversity in much of the Caribbean, Cuba's relative isolation has left its wildlife untouched. Now, Cuba is a safe haven for rare and intriguing indigenous animals, migrating birds and marine creatures. But as the prospect of the US trade embargo being lifted looms, a surge in tourism is predicted. What will happen to Cuba's ecological riches in the process?
Watch “Cuba: The Accidental Eden, The Jewel of the Caribbean” (PBS 53:02 mins)
Movie promo:

Cuba may have been restricted politically and economically for the past 50 years, but its borders have remained open to wildlife for which Cuba's undeveloped islands are an irresistible draw. While many islands in the Caribbean have poisoned or paved over their ecological riches on land and in the sea in pursuit of a growing tourist industry, Cuba's wild landscapes have remained virtually untouched, creating a safe haven for rare and intriguing indigenous animals, as well as for hundreds of species of migrating birds and marine creatures. Coral reefs have benefited, too. Independent research has shown that Cuba's corals are doing much better than others both in the Caribbean and around the world.

In real terms, Cuba, a sustainable ecosystem, is better off not having Americans traipsing all over the island, making American demands, and influencing that culture with American values. It better for Cuba’s natural environment, too.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

I applied for absentee voting ballot today. What struck me as odd for a US consulate doing business in South Africa was the assumption that I could “drop off [my] sealed ballot at our office for mailing to the US”.
The consulate office is in Durban. I reside in the Midlands. That’s a trip of at least 90 minutes one way by car - and not feasible during Lockdown.
At least they know enough about how things work in South Africa not to assume that I could mail my hardcopy forms or my hardcopy ballot through the SA Postal Service.
For all intents and purposes there is no functioning SA Postal Service in this area.
The local post office teetered for several years (“no ink to print receipts,” “no stamps,” etc.). It shut down altogether about two years ago although it’s hard to say when it actually closed.
Residents were not informed about the closure.
If I wasn’t here with a laptop, an email address, and an Internet connection (albeit, inconsistent), my mother would be sunk.
No longer able to drive, nor walk any distance, she’d have no way to pay her monthly bills. Indeed, she’d not even know her monthly bills were stacking up – until her utilities and services – rates/property tax, water, power, etc. – were turned off.

So, what’s the next step for absentee voting?
Who knows?
Who knows if there’ll even be an election?
We the People know that Trump and his allies are doing their best to prevent eligible Americans from voting.
All the more reason to insist upon my right to vote!