“Shoulda known better”

© Huffington Post/Huffpost 

“…new polling showed that nearly two-thirds of likely U.S. voters believe the lame-duck incumbent [president] is directly to blame for the deadly violence.” 
That leaves as many as 37 percent either believing he’s not to blame or, worse, having “no opinion.”
Here, diehard Trumpies impenetrable belief about Trump and the election.  (4:43 mins)

News blues…

Further reason to be optimistic about the withdrawal of people of integrity from the drug of Republicanism:
Former Secretary of State, General Colin Powell said of Republicans, “they should have known better” (5:44 mins)
More Republicans – likely seeing the writing on the wall for their political careers – trend in the direction of supporting Trump’s impeachment. 

***

The Lincoln Project

The President is a traitor and an ongoing threat to American democracy.
Republicans who disagree must be fundamentally dishonest, unserious, or anti-American.
Let’s state it in plain English: the President of the United States, after falsely declaring an election was stolen from him, sicced an armed, violent mob on the Capitol during a joint session with the Vice President present.
This was no Constitutional assembly. These terrorists were not petitioning for a redress of grievances.
This was an attempted coup d'état against the United States government, orchestrated by President Trump, and abetted by the Sedition Caucus.
We still have many more questions than answers about this assault on our democracy—who impeded the National Guard from entering the District, and why? What was Trump’s true intent? What were the ultimate goals of the insurrectionists seen with firearms, zip ties, and nooses?
It seems that the more we learn about January 6, 2021, the more shocking and appalling it becomes. We were just seconds, and just inches away, from a total decapitation of the Federal Government.
First, second, and third in the line of presidential succession—Vice President Pence, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and President pro tempore Chuck Grassley—were all present, and were all targets of the terrorists.
We will learn much more in the days to come. But first, it is paramount for our national security, and to reaffirm the peaceful transfer of power, that we depose President Trump as soon as possible.
Reporting on Mike Pence’s thinking indicates the 25th Amendment will not be used—so impeachment for inciting an insurrection is the next best route.
As calls for removing Trump quickly spread through Washington, many Republicans—themselves largely in the Sedition Caucus—have rejected the idea for the sake of “unity.”
To them, I ask, what better way to unify the country than a bipartisan impeachment and removal of a treasonous demagogue? Rather—what is unifying about allowing crimes against our very Constitution to continue to go unpunished?
We cannot set a precedent in this country that a failed coup attempt is excusable conduct for the President.
Congress must act on the House’s impeachment articles expeditiously. Every minute the President remains in office is a minute too long for our Republic.
It’s time to remove Trump from the seat of our government. And it’s time for the Sedition Caucus to pay for crimes against our country.

Healthy planet, anyone?

A coalition of more than 50 countries has committed to protect almost a third of the planet by 2030 to halt the destruction of the natural world and slow extinctions of wildlife.
The High Ambition Coalition (HAC) for Nature and People, which includes the UK and countries from six continents, made the pledge to protect at least 30% of the planet’s land and oceans before the One Planet summit in Paris…. 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

The sun shines and it’s time to begin moving “stuff” to my new place.
I’ll not physically move there until this house is sold – at least another 60 days – but there’ll be less stuff cluttering the house when potential buyers view. At least that’s my thinking.

***

I’m more concerned than ever about my mother’s state of physical and mental well-being under tight lockdown at the Care Center. I’ve not seen her since she fell and broke her leg, 28 December. Lockdown presents little chance of seeing her.
Today, I intend to deliver a cell phone that will allow her to receive and listen to WhatsApp audio recordings. Only issue? She’ll need to figure out how to activate the files. That’s a challenge she didn’t rise to before her move to the Care Center. I hope her isolation from family stimulates her to attempt it again – and succeed this time.

Topsy Turvy

What becomes more obvious about our topsy turvy world is the intricate layers of ideology that weave around the reality of close to 91 million humans infected with, and close to 2 million deaths from Covid-19. 

There are the "no such thing as Covid" crowd, the anti-maskers, the "they're taking away our freedom" crowd, the Trump-ubes-alles crowd, the anti-vaxxers.... the list goes on. 

One of the my more disorienting but positive facets is optimism about a handful of Republicans who are breaking with the Republican Party line. .
The Lincoln Project , co-founded by former Republicans, quickly emerged as opting, not for business-as-usual Republican ideology, but for truth over lies, human decency over power-grabs, democracy over fascism, and integrity over Trumpism. The Project used a typically American way of making its points: humor and irony.

News blues…

Muscleman, actor, fellow immigrant, and former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger recently shared a heart-felt message following this week's attack on the US Capitol. More than 4.5 million viewers have watched this honest and revealing 7:36 minute clip.
What is Arnie referring to? This…  (10:47 mins)

***

On the frontlines of Covid: How do you persuade 67% of South Africa to receive two doses of a non-compulsory Covid-19 vaccine – when almost half the country, according to a recent poll, says they won’t take it?  
Ramaphosa tries to convince the skeptics ...

Healthy planet, anyone?

Birds’ eye view – these birds of a very colorful feather will blow your mind 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

The Rain, rain, and more rain.
The culvert is still blocked. The garden floods further. The mosquito population explodes. 
Yesterday, the gardener and I explored the blocked culvert.
My goal was to convince him that he and a friend of his choosing could manually dig out the culvert. His goal? Avoid taking on the job.
Our first discovery: someone had dumped a large load of garden waste – bagsful of mowed grass clippings and dozens of pruned tree limbs – along the stream bank. Clumsily, we made our way over that illegal dump to one of the culverts (the other is so completely blocked that trees have taken root in the debris).
With the streambed almost completely submerged beneath debris, water in and around the culvert is stagnant.
Clearing even one culvert will be a far larger job than I’d thought during my recent exploration. 
The NPA officers and service crews are due back at work next Monday.
I’ll be there with more letter and more photographs and more advice and more encouragement to urge officials to attend to the blocked culverts. 

I’ll also approach my neighbor with wetlands to add his voice to my request for service.
If only there was a mosquito abatement program in this area. Or even a department of health interested in addressing mosquito-borne diseases. 

Alas, Covid usurps attention from minor issues such as flooding and mosquitos.

Covid closing in…

News blues…

KZN now has the second highest rate of Covid infections in the country, surpassed only by densely population urbanized Gauteng province.
Meanwhile, the post-holiday surge is on in the US 

***

As the world watches the US fracture into further factions, an ABC News/Ipsos poll indicates how few Americans are coherent in their view of The Donald.

The majority (56%) say Trump should be removed from office, while just 43% believe he should not be removed. 

“Just 43%”? That’s an amazingly high percentage of Americans believing the US can afford to keep him in office.
These numbers do not bode well for the next few weeks, never mind the future of democracy in that country.

Healthy planet, anyone?

For nearly three months I lived in virtual confinement with the occasional visit to the corner shop being my only respite – my only chance to see people …
The only thing that pulled me out of my doldrums was nature: from my small terrace, watching the daily flights of various birds of prey, including black and griffon vultures, lifted me no end. As did a male spotless starling, whose home territory included a television aerial on a nearby rooftop. I watched him claim his coveted song post, singing his heart out, attracting several females, mating with one of them and eventually bringing his family back to the aerial where it all began. There was something very satisfying about seeing nature unfold in daily episodes.

Read “Amid the gloom of lockdown, I have taken solace in nature”  >>

***

It is "doubtful" that the Amazon forest could remain resilient into the future given the layers of threats facing it. 

A new report for Environment: Science and Policy for Sustainable Development  concluded that the Amazon rainforest will collapse and largely become a dry, shrubby plain by 2064. Development, deforestation and the climate crisis are to blame….

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Closing in: One upside of “being American/a visitor” to KZN? 

Not having a wide circle or acquaintances and friends offers a smaller probability of exposure to Covid.
I stay in touch with the acquaintances and friends I do have via phone and WhatsApp audio messaging. Many of them, embedded in communities, report surging infections among their acquaintances and friends.
One alarming story tells of residents of a retirement community leaving the facility to spend three days with family over the festive season. One person returned with Covid. Now the entire facility – up to 20 people, all elderly - are infected.
While total lockdown in the care center in which my mother resides means neither I nor any of her family may visit, at least my mother will not be exposed to Covid. Her current state of health, post-surgery after a fall, would never allow her to fight off the infection if exposed.
I continue to pursue ways in which we can contact my mother despite lockdown preventing face-to-face visits.
Last week’s first Zoom call was cancelled due to my mother’s ill health. We’ll try another video call on Wednesday.
After the failed Zoom call, I sent my mother an audio recording via a staff member’s cell phone. That worked well enough that I’ve decided to return the cell phone that I’d purchased for my mother and that she’d given up on, saying it was “too hard to use.”
I hope she’ll find hearing and/or seeing family on her own cell phone enticing enough to overcome her antipathy of cell phones.

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.

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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).