Catch our collective breath

© M. Wuerker

Ten days before Donald Trump is out of the White House and the US has a chance to regain a semblance of balance. Given The Donald’s penchant for the unexpected, the outlandish, and for inciting violence, let’s catch our collective breath and focus on something more easily understood: Covid-19.

News blues…

California:
Health authorities reported Saturday a record one-day total of 695 coronavirus deaths as many hospitals strain under unprecedented caseloads.
California’s death toll since the start of the pandemic rose to 29,233, according to the state Department of Public Health’s website. 
Meanwhile, hospitalizations are nearly 22,000, and state models project the number could reach 30,000 by Feb 1.
South Africa:
My Covid-alert app reported, early this morning, more than 21,000 infections over a 24-hour period in South Africa. On the positive side, Irish health officials believe three cases of another new variant found in South Africa had been contained after…

confirming the first cases of the more infectious variant found in South Africa on Friday in people who had travelled to Ireland from South Africa over the Christmas holidays.
[Irish health] officials … said on Saturday they believe three cases of another new variant found in South Africa had been contained. 

***

Now This | Trump Supporter Calls C-SPAN in Tears Over President's Lies (2:02 mins)

Healthy planet, anyone?

Despite a 7% fall in fossil fuel burning due to coronavirus lockdowns, heat-trapping carbon dioxide continued to build up in the atmosphere, also setting a new record. The average surface temperature across the planet in 2020 was 1.25C higher than in the pre-industrial period of 1850-1900, dangerously close to the 1.5C target set by the world’s nations to avoid the worst impacts.

Read “Climate crisis: 2020 was joint hottest year ever recorded” >> 

***

Photo essay – a reminder of who and what else depends on a health planet 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Last year's potato crop -
before monkeys....

Lifestyle of the potato: While I understand how to prepare potato “eyes” for planting, I’ve never planted potatoes. All potato plants that grow in this KZN garden are volunteers. (Also true of tomatoes, varieties of squash, onions, and strawberries in this garden. I’ve given up on harvesting tomatoes as they suffer from assorted blights, viruses, and bugs soon as the fruit appears.)
This year, monkeys have been particularly destructive, pulling up plants and biting, once, into a fruit before discarding it and picking and biting into another.
Potatoes may appear prosaic and they’re cheap and abundant in grocery stores, but fresh, plump, garden-grown potatoes offer a certain .. je ne sais quoi. 

Alas, this year, the few I harvested were asymmetrical and knobby with a more-dense-than-usual texture, and full of “eyes.” (Eyes develop into more potato plants.) 

 I cooked and ate them anyway.
I intend to grow potatoes in my new garden, along with basil, chard, parsley, onions, cilantro/coriander, and strawberries.
My new neighbors advise that monkeys do not frequent that neighborhood, but warthogs do. Warthogs offer the additional hassle of being diurnal, that is they forage both day and night.
Something to look forward to – at least until the novelty of warthogs in my garden wears off.

***

The garden pond’s runaway exotic lilies are blooming. They’re a lovely yellow (indigenous lilies are purple) and, as exotics, have few natural predators. By this time of year, they quickly overrun the pond and must be removed.
The gardener hates entering the pond – “inyoka” – snakes, he claims – so I don waders and gloves to extract lilies. I place piles of lily debris on the banks and the gardener strews them along a path. Theoretically, the layer of dry lilies discourages weeds and creates a walkway in the lower section of the garden.
As for snakes in the pond, in three years I’ve seen one, a Common Brown River snake. Scary, but non-venomous. 

Fact? Or Fake?

Breaking news: Mexico declares it WILL pay for the wall. 

Canada wants a wall, too. 

(That’s a joke! These days, hard to tell fact from fake.)

News blues…

US president MIA as more than 4,000 Americans dead in one day from Covid-19. Additionally, my Covid-alert app reported, early this morning, a 24-hour increase in infections of more than 22,000 South Africans. 

We’re in the thick of things, folks. Wear your mask, wash your hands, and stay home….

***

Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican, arch-Trump supporter, Trump golf companion,  and chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee faced furious Trumpies at a DC airport Surrounded by a cadre of security guards, Trumpies followed Graham down the hallway, calling out “traitor” and “you know it was rigged!”  (0:58 mins)

***

More fact? Or more fake?

Reports of a highly contagious new variant in the United States ... are based on speculative statements made by Dr. Deborah Birx and are inaccurate, according to several government officials. 
The erroneous report originated at a recent meeting where Dr. Birx, a member of the White House coronavirus task force, presented graphs of the escalating cases in the country. She suggested to other members of the task force that a new, more transmissible variant originating in the U.S. might explain the surge, as another variant did in Britain.
Her hypothesis made it into a weekly report sent to state governors. “This fall/winter surge has been at nearly twice the rate of rise of cases as the spring and summer surges. This acceleration suggests there may be a USA variant that has evolved here, in addition to the UK variant that is already spreading in our communities and may be 50% more transmissible,” the report read. “Aggressive mitigation must be used to match a more aggressive virus.”
Dismayed, officials at the C.D.C. tried to have the speculative statements removed, but were unsuccessful, according to three people familiar with the events.
C.D.C. officials did not agree with her assessment and asked to remove it but were told no, according to one frustrated C.D.C. official, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation.
Dr. Birx could not immediately be reached for comment.

Yesterday, I was forwarded a long, highly inaccurate text from “Robert F. Kennedy, Jr,” that began, “To all my patients…” The screed combined many of the usual conspiracy theories – Fauci and Gates responsible for experimental vaccine technology to “take away ‘our’ freedoms,” vaccine interferes with human DNA, “genetic manipulation” that cannot be “undone,” etc….
I responded with, “Ag nee, man… please do not forward this to potentially gullible people ….”
The person who had forwarded it to me responded, “I thought it might be wrong, but….”
It’s the “but” that intrigues. In this day and age, why forward anything you preface with a “but”? 

***

Understatement of the moment? This reporter finds it “troubling” that the US president has been sidelined by his cabinet who “flatly refuses to follow [his] orders”… Also “troubling,” Nancy Pelosi has been “assured” that Donald Trump “does not have access to the nuclear codes”  (4:28 mins) 

***

Now This | Tensions Rise in the House During Post-Riot Debate  (6:02 mins)

Healthy planet, anyone?

Currently, “healthy planet” is an oxymoron. Back tomorrow?

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

After much rain in the past weeks, the stream in the lower garden is overflowing. I donned my gumboots to explore and noticed water level at the top of culverts designed to drain water. 

One culvert on the other, public side of the road is completely blocked, the other almost completely block with mud and debris. 

This is yet another, ongoing maintenance issue. 
On 10 April, 2019 I’d approached the local provincial authority and presented the following letter, with photographs:

Dear NPA Representative,
A small stream runs along the edge of my property. The stream enters two culverts under the public road (soon after the tar road becomes a sand). These culverts are blocked with silt and debris and are filling in fast. I suspect that this year’s coming rainy season may completely block the culverts and cause flooding.
I respectfully request that these two culverts are cleared of silt and debris as soon as possible to prevent flooding and property damage to all properties along the stream. I’ve enclosed two photos taken in January 2019 that show the degree of silt and debris buildup. Thank you for seeing to this potential nuisance. 

Within days, a grader arrived to scoop out debris. The driver of the grader soon explained that the grader scoop couldn’t reach the debris therefore there was little he could do to alleviate the blockage. Instead, he dumped more mud and debris into the stream. Then he and his grader departed. 

On 7 January, 2021, I hand delivered another letter to same local provincial administration office, indeed the same provincial administration officer:

Dear NPA Representative,
Back in April 2019 I alerted your office that the culverts near [our property] was blocked.
A driver on a bulldozer was sent to clear the blockage. Unfortunately, the bulldozer actually further blocked the culvert with debris.
Today, January 7, 2021, our garden is flooding as the culvert can no longer cope with the amount of water coming down the stream.
Our side of the culvert is free of debris. The public side of the culvert is almost completely block. I know as I looked at it yesterday. I believe a crew of workers must work by hand to clear the culvert. It cannot be cleared by bulldozer but it must be cleared SOON.
Compare the photos below tot those I took in 2019 and you’ll see how much the situation has deteriorated.
Thanks for your prompt attention to this potential nuisance and your help in getting at least ONE OF THE CULVERTS CLEARED.

Since pictures are worth 1,000 words, I presented the following:

2 culverts on 10 April 2019.

2 culverts on 7 January 2021.

Backed up water cannot flow through culverts, 7 January 2021.

Stream overflow, 7 January 2021. 

The flooded area made worse since Eskom chopped down trees and failed to remove the debris. (For background, read, “Meanwhile, back at the ranch” post of 18 August 2020.)  

The NPA officer I talked to 7 January explained that their work crews were “still on holiday” and won’t return until at least 16 January (I hope he meant 2021, and not 2022 or 2023.) 

Mosquitos are ecstatic with excess water as it offers further opportunities to breed. (Perhaps parent mosquitos hand out maps to direct blood-thirsty young to an endless supply of American blood.)  

Fallout!

Rioters clash with police 
as they try to enter the Capitol on Jan. 6.
(c) Pacific Press via Getty Images.

News blues…

In the face of a global pandemic that has killed close to 87 million people, Dr Fauci reviews the challenges to deliver vaccine in the US, the world's hardest hit nation.  (8:00 mins).

The US is also in political turmoil.
Five are dead and at least 50 security officers confirmed injured in the attempted insurrection. Some Republicans continue their denial of root causes. Nevertheless, heads are beginning to roll.

The egregious denialists:

• “GOP congressman blames 'ANTIFA fascists in backwards MAGA hats' after Trump supporters storm the Capitol” 

Republican Congressman Mo Brooks of Alabama falsely claimed that supporters of President Donald Trump who stormed the Capitol building on Wednesday were actually left-wing protesters… ANTIFA fascists in backwards MAGA hats.

• And, Texas AG promotes the theory that Capitol violence was false flag staged by 'bus load of Antifa thugs' 

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton promoted a tweet from far-right Investors Business Daily writer Paul Sperry, claiming that a "former FBI agent" has confirmed the violent attack on the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters was a "false flag" engineered by a "bus load of Antifa thugs."

• Yet more “false flag” blaming of Antifa and progressive groups.  (20:00 mins)
• Meanwhile, Capitol police chief resigns 
• Trump cabinet members and staff resign  ... and the fallout continues with further resignations in the White House  (7:20 mins)
• Manufacturers Call on Armed Thugs to Cease Violence at Capitol  
• Some of America's top businesspeople are threatening to cut off funding to those who egged on the insurrection. 

***

After their post-election slump, a re-energized Lincoln Project:

Yesterday’s insurrection was horrifying—but not surprising.
Our seat of government—our shared halls of democracy—was invaded, occupied, and vandalized for the first time since the War of 1812.
For a moment, American democracy fell to an insurrection incited by the President of the United States.
Worst of all—this was predictable. What we witnessed yesterday was abhorrent, but it should have surprised nobody who has paid attention to the last few years, or months, or days.
This did not occur in a vacuum. Violent insurrections don’t appear out of thin air.
Every Trump Republican is culpable—but none more so than the seditionists (six in the Senate, over 100 in the House) who, even after the Capitol was invaded and then secured, continued to attempt to disenfranchise millions of Americans by opposing the counting of legitimate Electoral College votes.

The Senate Sedition Caucus: 

Ted Cruz (TX) 

Josh Hawley (MO) 

Cindy Hyde-Smith (MS) 

John Kennedy (LA) 

Roger Marshall (KS) 

Tommy Tuberville (AL) 

We have sounded the alarms over the dangers of Trump’s demagoguery and populism for years.
We knew that every time one of his lies was parroted by a sycophantic enabler, the base of delusion and deceit grew.
Yesterday was the completely inevitable outcome of this demagoguery and deceit.
For some, yesterday was a wake-up call—that there is a price to pay for toying with, and undermining, the U.S. Constitution.
For us—it was an affirmation of everything we stand for.
Trump Republicans must pay a price.
Seditionists must pay a price.
Enemies of our country, foreign and domestic, must pay a price.
We won’t back down. 

***

Now This | Sen. Elizabeth Warren: Trump is a 'Lying Coward'  (4:40 mins)

Healthy planet, anyone?

The impact of the coronavirus on nature 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

It’s tough trying to maintain someone else’s property and preparing it for sale. There have been no views of the property in 2.5 months – not too surprising. This is, after all, the “festive season” during which potential properties purchasers don’t buy. Moreover, the pandemic depresses the economy and potential buyers watch their budgets.
For a short while, I fancied myself “pool gal” – as it appeared I’d solved the ongoing issue of the swimming pool filter’s apparent malfunctions.
The filtering systems appeared to work well for several days. I collected fallen leaves and debris from the water as well as removed handfuls of frog eggs. I cleared the filter baskets and discharged dirty water. Nevertheless, alas, while the pump sounds like its doing it’s filtering, water is not circulating through the filter.
I’m stumped.
I will not request a consult from the “pool guy” – I hired. After all, it took 3 months for him to show up last time and, when he did, he was dismissive, rude, and overcharged. Yet, based on experiences to date, I quaver at having to find someone else to carry out the needed work.
There’s also the basic stupidity I display with some of these maintenance chores. For example, after the CCTV system stopped working (it coincided with Eskom’s visit to butcher tall trees in the garden) I hired a security system consultant to figure out why the system wasn’t working. He did. The electrical plug wasn’t correctly inserted into the outlet. 
Such missteps convince me that my “lifestyle” choices are correct: dwell in a small, low maintenance home (in California I live – or lived – in a houseboat) and concentrate on living in the moment. For example, discover the lifestyles of bugs, birds, and birds. In other words, as far as possible, enjoy life’s free moments free of the burdens of maintenance.

Over-the-top whackidoodle-itude!

© A pro-Trump mob breaks
into the U.S. Capitol.
Win McNamee/Getty Images

Watch (mask-free) far-right Trumpies storm US Capital building and enter Congress! (4:50 mins)
One unarmed woman, so far unidentified, was shot and killed, her alleged shooter “a senior U.S. Capitol Police officer.” 

Meanwhile, Covid-19 marches on….

Worldwide (Map) 
January 6 – 87,157,000 confirmed infections; 1,882,100 deaths 

December 3 – 64,469,710 confirmed infections; 1,492,100 deaths
November 5 – 48,136,225 confirmed infections; 1,225,915 deaths

US (Map)  
January 6 – 21,294,100 confirmed infections; 361,100 deaths 

December 3 – 13,920,000 confirmed infections; 273,370 deaths
November 5 – 9,487,470 confirmed infections; 237,730 deaths

SA (Coronavirus portal) 
January 6 – 1,150,000 confirmed infections; 1,30,525 deaths 

December 3 – 796,475 confirmed infections; 21,710 deaths
November 5 – 730,500 confirmed infections; 19,585 deaths

News blues…

KZN in Covid trouble (3:49 mins)

***

I ran into a caregiver in the grocery store and, as we caught up on news since our last meeting, she said she would not take any coronavirus vaccine offered in South Africa. This, because “it takes years to ensure vaccines are effective. This coronavirus vaccine has no history.”
She’s not alone in this point of view.

Only 53% of South Africans would want to take a coronavirus vaccine if it was available, an Ipsos/World Economic Forum survey has found. Two causes of this low percentage are worries about potential side-effects, and people being against vaccines in general….
…in December 2020, just 53% of South Africans said they totally agreed that if a vaccine was available, they would take it. By comparison, in October, 68% of South Africans surveyed said they would take the vaccine. In August, the number stood at 64%.
According to the survey, with multiple answers allowed, reasons for people not wanting to take a vaccine were worries about potential side effects (65%), not being sure it was effective (24%), there not being enough of a risk of contracting Covid-19 (17%), against vaccines in the first place (23%), don’t have time for it (5%), and other reasons (18%). Five hundred South Africans who were more urban, educated and/or more affluent than the general population were sampled for the survey.

Read the Ipsos/World Economic Forum report >> 

In the US, the results of a survey of 2,730 consenting US adults, aged 18 years and older, with a response rate of 39% and a …

… sample weighted to be demographically representative of the US population, [suggested that] overall, 61.4% (95% CI, 60.0%-63.0%) of respondents indicated they would likely get a COVID-19 vaccine. Republicans and Independents were, however, significantly less likely to get vaccinated than Democrats (Republicans, 44.3% [95% CI, 41.7%-46.8%]; Independents, 58.4% [95% CI, 55.5%-61.1%]; Democrats, 76.6% [95% CI, 74.7%-78.5%]), and Black respondents were significantly less likely than non-Black respondents to get vaccinated (43.6% [95% CI, 39.2%-48.2%] vs 63.7% [95% CI, 62.3%-65.2%]).

Read “US Public Attitudes Toward COVID-19 Vaccine Mandates" >> 

***

After a very close race, two Democrats were elected in the US state of Georgia. This puts the US Congress and it’s ability to legislate in a different position to what it has been for the past four years – and where it was during the Obama presidency. With the US Senate now evenly distributed between Democrats and Republicans – 50/50 – Vice president-elect Kamala Harris becomes a tie-breaker, if needed. .
One hopes that all the bills “Moscow” Mitch McConnell has refused to bring to the floor will resurface.
One hopes better days are ahead.
The Lincoln Project celebrates the results of Georgia’s election:

We did it, again.
Georgia once again rejected the politics of racism and bigotry.
Georgia said ‘no more’ to gross abuses of office and Trump loyalism.
Rev. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff will soon be sworn in, bringing the U.S. Senate to a 50-50 partisan split—the slimmest of Democratic majorities, with Vice President Harris casting any tie-breaking votes.
50-50 is no blank check. Every individual Senator in the majority will have extraordinary power over what passes the upper chamber.
But reaching this point—McConnell out of power, and two of Trump’s most sycophantic enablers removed from office—is as critical for crushing Trumpism as it is for Joe Biden’s ability to lead and heal this nation.
It goes without saying—our work is far from over.
Today, we expect over 100 Republican House members and at least a dozen Republican Senators to back the latest and most shameless attempt to overturn the will of the American people.
By objecting to the certification of Electoral College members, Republican seditionists will assert that it is up to Congress, not We the People, to determine who the next President of the United States will be.
Every member of the Sedition Caucus will be named.
We will ensure that their remaining time in office is as politically painful as possible.
The votes they take today to subvert the Constitution and the will of the people will follow them around for the rest of their miserable lives.
We guarantee it.
People, revel in the joy and excitement of these two monumental wins.

Healthy planet, anyone?

Every year, between October and December, 8–10 million straw-coloured fruit bats descend on the park to feast on an abundance of fruit. From west Africa, over the forests of the Congo basin and on to Zambia, the bats migrate thousands of kilometres over savanna and open land, dispersing seeds into deforested areas, and reforesting and regenerating landscapes on their journey. Scientists are still trying to fathom why these fruit bats, or “flying foxes”, gather at Kasanka in numbers not seen anywhere else. Each night they leave their evergreen swamp fig roosts to fly up to 55 miles (90km) in search of wild berries and fruit….
[But]
…With the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, the bats have faced a new threat from humans seeking to attack them. “These bats are being persecuted because of ongoing publicity about their role as virus hosts. Their importance completely outweighs the potential threat,” says Dechmann, adding that their role in transmitting viruses such as Covid-19 directly to humans has not been scientifically proved.

Read “Why the world's biggest mammal migration is crucial for Africa – a photo essay” >> 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Eskom resumes load shedding. Our schedule is generous: electricity scheduled to go off between 22:00/10pm and 5:00/5am. I awoke at 12:50am and it was off. Awoke again at 3:50am and it was back on. Go figure.

***

Yesterday, I shared misgiving about the precarious health situation I face if Covid finds a path into my lungs/body. Consequently, I began paying more attention to recognizing symptoms. This video helps. It is short and to the point.  (1:31 mins).

Reality checks

As second wave Covid shuts down countries (UK) and counties (San Francisco Bay Area) we the (smart) people hunker down.
Since going out and about could be fatal, it’s tempting simply to shut down, navel gaze, and become engrossed in one’s own small world.
Instead of feeding feelings of guilt, I searched online for other pandemic bloggers. See below - Healthy planet, anyone? - for bloggers working to ensure others’ health and safety during horrific times.

News blues…

The big day has arrived for Georgia and the US. The outcome could not be more important to how president-elect Joe Biden is able to steer the US away from evolving Republican madness. 

If Georgians - traditionally a "red state", that is strongly Republican - elect the two corrupt Republican candidates to Congress, the US is – in my opinion – essentially stalled. Senate majority leader Mitch McConnel (“Moscow Mitch”) can, and will, thwart any essential forward momentum proposed by Democrats.
Trump, meanwhile, continues to whine about “election fraud” while “working tirelessly” to improve his golf swing while ignoring the reality of the pandemic. 

***

The Lincoln Project Traitor  (1:06 mins)

Healthy planet, anyone?

Pandemic-related blogs and vlogs:

• The fun, friendly, garden wildlife-focused Lockdown Diaries of a Wildlife Cameraman – Warwick Sloss  (3 episodes so far). 
• Médecins Sans Frontières/ Doctors Without Borders (MSF):
  Staff blogs  | Fighting an epidemic in a pandemic  | Patient blogs  

***

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

With a deadly pandemic raging, I faced the reality of my precarious position as “sout pilitjie” (Afrikaans for “salt penis” refers to those straddling Africa and Europe so that the penis hangs in the ocean).
I’m set up not to survive medically in SA. 

To summarize: 1) I remain in SA, first, because of forced by the lockdown travel ban then because lockdown forced me to recognize my mother’s situation and its fallout was no longer tenable, 2) while here, I have no close, personal support system nor, more importantly, no medical support system, 3) I have no health insurance here (my CA insurance isn’t valid in SA and my travel insurance ran out months ago), 3) I have little practical knowledge about how to recognize if I – or anyone, including our domestic worker – contracts Covid. (The domestic worker has access to national health care plan, albeit iffy, under current pandemic conditions), and 4) I have no idea what to do or how to care for myself - or her - if needed.
Yesterday, I reached out to the medical professionals I’ve met while setting up a long-term plan for my mother’s care. They advised that, 1) “treating your symptoms should be your focus,” 2) if I contracted Covid and my health allowed it, I should “tell your doctor or pharmacist your symptoms and they will advise on appropriate medication and if a scrip is required”, 3) order pharmaceuticals and food online for delivery, 4) hire the care giver I’d hired for weekly visits to my mother; we know and like one another and she’s experienced at helping homebound Covid sufferers.
I also “consulted” the Internet and discovered “Practical strategies if you test positive for COVID-19 (or are in contact with someone who tests positive)”  (38:00 mins) It’s long and more technical than I require, but it offers useful, current, information. (Many YouTube clips on selfcare for Covid, but are more than two months old while Covid morphs week-by-week.)

***

I’d not heard “all year” from my son and his family in the Harris/Galveston County area of Texas, south of Houston. Both he and his wife are health care providers so on the front lines. Finally, he texted that their area is “getting swamped.” The Moderna vaccine reached them, however, and both have been vaccinated.

***

After weeks staying at the house, our domestic worker will take today off. She will purchase fencing for her own home “in the village.”
This endeavor requires vigilance against exposure to Covid while 1) taking taxis to the store to purchase fencing, then from the store to the urban taxi rank, then at least one more taxi for the 30 to 40 minute drive to the village about 40 kms away. She’ll spend most of the day in village (some socializing expected as she’s not been home for nine months), then she’ll return here via two or three more taxis.
I know she’ll be vigilant. I pray she’s more vigilant than the new highly contagious strain of coronavirus.

Mayhem …

Five days into the new year and chaos and mayhem reign.

News blues…

The other pandemic: the surge in fake news:

• ANC ward councillor Sfiso Mngadi has admitted recording a voicenote in which he shared multiple Covid-19, vaccine and 5G conspiracy theories. 
  “As leaders of eThekwini [Durban] we need to take action against this disease. It is not Covid. We are getting this thing from 5G towers, [some] installed during this period in preparation of the second wave.
  “Maybe we as councillors need to call a special council meeting, take a decision that all 5G towers must be disconnected in eThekwini.
  [and…]
  “White people were vaccinated about five months ago. There was a truck that distributed the vaccine in boxes and white people from all over the province, including places like Ixopo and Vryheid, went there to receive these boxes. It was given to white people only.” 
• Take note: SA government has no plans to take SA into a hard lockdown.
  Rumours circulating on social media suggesting the national coronavirus command council (NCCC), in response to the rising numbers of Covid-19 infections, will meet to discuss a stricter lockdown have been dismissed by government.
  “That is fake news,” said presidency spokesperson Nonceba Mhlauli. 
• Trump claims US rising coronavirus death toll as ‘fake news’  (1:48 mins)

Healthy planet, anyone?

What kind of future
are we handing our children
and our children’s children?
© Pat Byrnes, PoliticalCartoons.com

Covid devastates SA’s wildlife tourism industry. KZN especially hard hit.

The economy shed 2.2m jobs in the second quarter of 2020.
The huge tourist industry – which employs around one in every 20 workers and provides just under 3% of GDP – has been devastated.
Once the December holiday season meant tens of thousands of foreign visitors spending hundreds, even thousands, of dollars every day. Now, with the rate of new infections in the country soaring as authorities struggle to check a second wave, no one expects the tourists to come back soon.

Read “South African game reserves forced to cull animals as Covid halts tourism” Tourist lodges run out of cash to feed and care for the animals on their land and thousands of villagers lose their jobs.

***

On a lighter note, comedy wildlife photography finalists of 2020 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

I’m one small step closer to making my new home a home. It feels satisfying.
I met with two vendors, each bringing me one step closer to making my new home a lived-in home. Moreover, I’d given both vendors a window of time in which I’d be available: between 12:30pm and 1:45pm.
Atypical-in-my-experience, both vendors arrived soon after 12:30pm, the second arriving as I bid goodbye to the first.
The fencing guy – Gary - will install a gate to allow easier access to my front garden. I’d like the gate installed in a way that, when I’m sitting on my patio enjoying a “sundowner” (colonial sunset cocktail), I view more garden and less gate. 

I’d have preferred no gate and no fence, but neighbors report that zebra, impala, Duiker, and warthog will step onto my patio to eat plants growing in the inner garden.
The second vendor – “Woofs” - tested my home for a wireless installation. Amazingly, the former renter never used the Internet. That’s atypical. A quick view of the list of secure connections indicates many neighbors access the Internet. 
Next steps for my wireless connection: review the installation quote, sign the contract, pay, and “within a week” I’ll be listed as a secure connection, too.
Alas, both vendors stated they’d email me quotes “tonight” (last night), but so far nothing has arrived.
I’m not in a hurry as the earliest I’ll move is mid- to late February.
I plan to return to California “sometime in March” but who knows?

***

Prognosis on my mother’s health is not good. Anesthetic from surgery still has the upper hand in her system and she’s sleeping a lot. After a meeting with the matron yesterday, I was granted permission to visit (despite tight lockdown in the facility).

I’ve not seen my mother for more than a week. I didn’t see her yesterday either: she was asleep.
I plan to schedule a Zoom call with her Friday and encourage distant family members to participate.

“Call it Covid”

We begin the first work week of 2021 with not-good stats.

News blues…

The number of Covid-19 cases in SA is now at 1,100,748, afte3r 11,859 new cases. The death toll sits at 29577, after 402 new fatalities.
This, as KZN;s daily rate of infection edges toward 6,000.

***

MSNBC data.

These astonishing numbers as the lame duck US president continues to obsess about losing the election and becomes more whacky by the day as his whims are ignored.

[Trump] attacked the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for having a “ridiculous method” for counting the number of infections and deaths. 
“When in doubt, call it Covid,’” Trump tweeted, appearing to suggest that was the CDC’s stance on recording pandemic-related statistics. “Fake News!”
But some public health experts say the number of COVID-19 cases is actually likely underreported since many people infected with the virus may be asymptomatic or show only mild symptoms and not seek treatment.

Lordy, isn’t it time this lame duck flew off to a different swamp?
The lame duck is still more obsessed with overturning election results than he is with the infection devastating the U.S. Audio excerpts from a phone call during which he tries to bully Republicans to go along with his version of election fraud…. 

Healthy planet, anyone?

New Year’s day protest in
Howick West against Eskom’s 
spotty delivery of electricity. 

Electricity in my neighborhood went off due to a drunk driver crashing into a transformer. Other parts of KZN, though, reported outages, too – many of which were “business as usual” Eskom outages not scheduled in the EskomSe Push app. From Howick West (pictured) through Hillcrest (Valley of 1,000 Hills, near Durban) outages were the norm.
Background on SA’s energy crisis:

The South African Energy Crisis is an ongoing period when South Africa experiences widespread rolling blackouts as supply falls behind demand, threatening to destabilize the national grid. It began in the later months of 2007 and continues to this day. The government owned national power utility and primary power generator, Eskom, and various parliamentarians attributed these rolling-blackouts to insufficient generation capacity. With a reserve margin estimated at 8% or below, such "load shedding" is implemented whenever generating units are taken offline for maintenance, repairs or re-fueling (in the case of nuclear units). According to Eskom and government officials, the solution requires the construction of additional power stations and generators.
Read more >> 

FYI: World Bank data on electricity supply of countries around the world. 

***

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

I’m always interested in what’s happening in the world. So much so that, curious, I departed SA as a young woman to explore the world. (As required by then-SA's patriarchal gov’t, my father had to sign a waiver allowing me to leave the country as I was under 21 years old.)
Cultures and intra-and intercultural communication intrigues me (my BA is in intercultural communication.) Lots more to share about this, but for now, an interesting item of to go/take away food found in local grocery store: Pizza Tikka Chicken.
Who’da thunk Italian cuisine could meld with Indian cuisine?
The dough is not up to basic standards but the flavors works!
If pizzas can meld interculturally, so can people. 

No?

***

Jessica The Dog has settled back into her home. Despite advancing age and arthritis, she’s game to chase monkeys (they taunt her by staying just out of reach) and roly-poly on the lawn. 

She appears to have decided I’m her vice-pack-leader since THE pack leader – my mother – is out of sight. This is a new role, not one I relish.
I avoid the responsibility pets impose on my life. My last pet, a decade ago, was a cat left with me by my daughter. Cats are more my speed: independent, self-absorbed, curious (like me?).
Dogs require regular doses of affirmations – “what a good, dog,” “who’s a fine girl?” etc., ad nauseum - and are underfoot (Jessica, glued to my hip, recently caused me to trip while pulling on my shoes).
What’s going to happen to Jessica – and Pixie and Ozzie – when this house is sold?
A friend is interested in adopting Jessica. She already has 3 dogs and lives in a small house with small garden. I’m concerned about elderly Jessica fitting into that scene. 

One the other hand, my mother’s desire is that I “put down” (euthanize) the dogs. After that, I’m expected to combine their cremains with hers- and her cremains collection - when she passes. 

Not a joke.
My mother stores 8 or 9 boxes of cremains – boxes made of fine wood with brass latches – in her small room at the Care Center. The boxes are set out like other old ladies set out photographs of family.
My job is to ensure all cremains are mixed together and deposited at the property where my mother spent ssix decades of her life.
One problem – other than the request’s macabre nature?
The property belongs to a corporation and, while the land is fallow – I’d be trespassing if I crept onto it to deposit a large bag of cremains.