Uncharted territory

The death of shame (2:54 mins)

News blues…

• Covid trends in South Africa  (4:57 mins)
• Hundreds of National Guard members and 38 Capitol police officers test positive for COVID after protecting Capitol from threats   

***

Right wing conspiracy theory and propaganda continues: 

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) attracted attention last week when he said in a floor speech that former President Donald Trump “bears responsibility” for the deadly Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. But since then, he has seemed to walk back his criticism.
On Thursday, he told reporters that he didn’t actually believe Trump had “provoked” the mob of his supporters.
In an interview airing Sunday on Gray Television’s “Full Court Press With Greta Van Susteren,” McCarthy insisted he wasn’t changing his tune. “No, I have not changed in that,” he said.
He stood by his assertion that Trump does bear some responsibility for what happened. But, he added, so does every other person around the country. “I also think everybody across this country has some responsibility,” he said.
McCarthy then started pointing to Democrats who opposed Trump, Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), people who are rude on social media and law enforcement authorities who didn’t prepare for the attack as some of the people who were somehow responsible.

With this kind of claptrap emanating from Congress, what, you many wonder, is the long-term prognosis for the American Experiment in Democracy?
Not good.

On the other hand, we see new ways of thinking among American youth. We the People need to listen to youthful voices speaking for a more equitable future for all. 

***

An inevitable outcome of America’s gun-crazy culture? A Republican member of tries to carry a gun onto the House floor:  (4:58 mins)

***

Steve Schmidt, co-founder The Lincoln Project, Congressman “Rand Paul has “soiled his oath”  (5:30 mins)

Healthy planet, anyone?

Clothes washing linked to ‘pervasive’ plastic pollution in the Arctic 

© Red crabs on Christmas Island climb
a bridge designed for their protection. 
Photograph: Chris Bray Photography/Swell Lodge

How creating wildlife crossings can help reindeer, bears – and even crabs 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

My new posting schedule is awkward but necessary as I segue into my new life and new home with my new wireless connection – and visiting my mother each day.
She’s dying.
It is … well, expected, but outlandish…
How can my mother die?
Preposterous. But true.

My mother’s dominance over my “family of origin” ensured the trickle down of her predominant ideology: “everything-is-fine”; don’t make waves – unless you’re angry, then make tsunamis; resistance to an action or idea means “you’re just jealous”; females, lesser beings than males, are inherently untrustworthy; positive reinforcement is unnecessary, indeed, “spoils” a child….
This meant touching, hugging, and expressing affection has not been part of my relationship with my mother although she and my brother always meet and depart with a kiss.
Given this history, I was apprehensive about visiting her in the Care Center each day.
Thinking she’d like Kipling’s classic, The Jungle Book I downloaded it onto my cell phone to read to her.
She’d nodded agreement about this plan, and I began. Five minutes later, she mumbled question about why I was reading about a wolf family: did I think she was a child?
I put the story aside.
I scanned through her CDs and found Nat King Cole. It wouldn’t play. I found Bing Crosby. That wouldn’t play either. Dean Martin’s 40 favorite hits played, and she indicated she enjoyed hearing it.
Huh. Maybe she and I could find common ground in simple enjoyments.
I showed her pictures of her grand- and great-grandchildren, told her my brother was “fine,” reported on the dogs and their wellbeing… Teatime rolled around and I urged sips of liquid through a syringe; antipathy to drinking water leads to her dehydration, but she can’t sit upright to drink from a cup. Her musculature is kaput.
My first try led her to choke and I had to shout to the staff for help.
On departing, I stroked my mother’s head, patted her hands and thigh, told her I’d be back tomorrow.
Arriving home, I messaged my brother and his kids: gran is in bad shape, please, please send photos and anecdotes I can share with her.
Today, I’ll lie next to her on her bed and share what they sent.
I’m in uncharted territory.
It’s heartbreaking.

***

The gardener called me late yesterday to report he’d not be at work on Monday as he’s “very sick. I don’t know what’s wrong,” he said.
He works for a neighboring friend on a Wednesday and she reported he wasn’t well that day.
He’s a family man with a wife and two young children and an all-round good guy. Send him your best vibes, prayers, and wishes….

Payback

News blues…

Don’t worry, be happy?

Health minister Dr Zweli Mkhize said on Friday night that there was “promising evidence” that the Covid-19 second wave was on the decline. 
Mkhize said on Friday that 11,761 new cases were confirmed in the past 24 hours — but this was at a positivity rate of 19%, significantly lower than the positivity rate from the height of the second wave of infections over the past month.

For skeptical South Africans sick of the corruption and lies at the heart of the troubles in this country, I suggest a more apt phrase: “Show me the money!”

***

In the US, the incoming administration usually begins to enact its “agenda” within the first 100 days, aka “the honeymoon period.” After that, the gloves come off and opposition begins in earnest. 

Joe Biden’s “honeymoon” period lasted less than 12 hours. So much for “unity”.
Corruption and lies show up in the US system, too. Republican efforts to coldcock the honeymoon period include:

• Thanks to Trumpian lack of goodwill, indeed, malice, Biden’s coronavirus team “don’t’ know what they don’t’ know”  about Trump’s Covid plan.
• Just two weeks after the Capitol riot inspired by their own voter fraud lies Republicans are mad Joe Biden isn’t uniting the nation around the GOP agenda. “The new president’s policies are dividing the nation.” 
• Then there’s Republican “kiss my ass” response to the Federal mask mandate 
• And the “goofy”: delay in power sharing 
• Donald Trump and his wrecking crew created the 1776 Commission  to promote “patriotic education” and counter the New York Times’ controversial “1619 Project”. The former was, according to historians, “a hack job” reflecting a “clumsy partisan intent” Now, it is itself history – gone, disappeared, vamoosed. Thanks, Joe Biden.
• Trump’s legacy includes a Republican Party prepared to punish formerly respected Republicans for stepping out of line.

***

A rose by any other name?
Is the phrase “domestic violent extremism” the new term evolving to avoid the politics of “domestic terrorism” yet capitalize on cultural disdain for “domestic violence”? 

***

The Lincoln Project: You had it all, Josh  (0:55 mins)

Healthy planet, anyone?

A million young people urge governments to prioritize climate crisis. …
Coalition quietly adds fossil fuel industry leaders to emissions reduction panel 
Shark tourism and conservation off the coast of South Africa – a photo essay 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Yesterday, permitted into the Care Center for the first time since my mother’s fall and subsequent surgery, I was shocked at what I found.
Instead of my proud 87-year-old mother, an ancient, drooling gnome-like figure squirmed in a Lazi-boy armchair. Her head lolled on her chest as I tried to squirt tea into her mouth using a syringe. Nor could I understand the few mumbled words she uttered.
When I met her one open eye, however, I saw my mother inside that physical wreck. She appeared trapped in a useless body, unable to escape.
I’m not easily shocked, but….
I went to the matron for answers. It was, after all, the matron – not my mother’s doctor – who alerted me to something “off” about my mother’s condition. We talked. I sought names of doctors I could ask for second opinions, and then I set to work.
It’s not easy to find busy doctors who will agree to same-day appointments. One well-respected doctor had no open appointments until March 24. I emailed her “… MY MOTHER WILL BE DEAD BY MARCH 24….” Perhaps that phrase stimulated her admin to return my call? We agreed that doctor would work with the doctor I solicited for a second opinion to review my mother’s prescription drugs of the last several months. It’s my (non-medical) opinion that her regular doctor’s back-and-forth decisions on prescription precipitated her decline.
I met the new doctor before he examined my mother and spoke to him afterwards. He concurred that she’s in a deep depression. He plans to liaise with other doctors and come up with a regime that will suit my mother’s condition.
Meanwhile, I have permission to enter the Covid-conscious, locked down Care Center every day to visit my mother.
Thinking about how best to use that time: read to her (something easy and fun? Jungle book?). Sing to her? Tell her stories of earlier, happier days? I’ll carry photos there too.
If my mother doesn’t revive her interest in living, she will quickly die.
A lifetime in the School of Hard Knocks has toughened me up, but the next weeks will test everything I think I know about who I think I am.

New connections

Make Americans Feel Great Again! (MAFGA?)
“Goodbye Donald Trump”  (1:35 mins, more than 2.5 million views so far!)

Wow! True American Amanda Gorman, National Youth Poet League – reads her wonderful poem at Biden/Harris inauguration. (5:50 mins) and interviews with CNN’s Anderson Cooper…  (10:51 mins)
Amanda’s mantra that she recites to herself anytime she’s about to perform in public:
     I’m the daughter to black writers
     We’re descended from freedom fighters
     Who broke their chains
     And changed the world.
     They call me.

And let’s remember the costs-to-date of reaching this still-far-off Promised Land  (1:32 mins)

News blues…

Reality check in South Africa.
(c) Zapiro

Reality check in US:

• Biden gets a cold dose of ‘unity’ 
• Republicans bludgeon Biden's big stimulus plans 
• Schumer, McConnell at loggerheads over U.S. Senate power sharing 
• Republicans Celebrate Democracy After Lying About Fraud, Voting To Overturn Election  
• Kevin McCarthy Says Trump Didn’t Incite That Mob, Actually 

Ah, unity schumity – who needs it anyway? 

The good news? Chief Medical Adviser Anthony Fauci's in charge....  

***

The Lincoln Project:
Moving day  (1:09 mins)
Dawn  (2:15 mins)
Morning in America  (0:55 mins)
Trump’s Legacy (1:54 mins)
Meidas Touch: Goodbye, Donnie  (1:04 mins)

Healthy planet, anyone?

From Keystone XL to Paris Agreement, Joe Biden signals a shift away from fossil fuels:

On his first day in the White House, Biden took a series of executive actions that put an exclamation point on his commitment to address climate change. Biden immediately moved to rejoin the Paris Agreement on climate change, revoke a permit that former President Donald Trump granted to the controversial Keystone XL pipeline and place a temporary moratorium on oil and gas leasing in the Arctic.
…"The era of supporting fossil fuels, even as a temporary bridge to a clean future, is over," said Bob McNally, president of consulting firm Rapidan Energy Group. "The United States has shifted from all-of-the-above to accelerated decarbonization."

Well, let’s hope Bob McNally is correct. Actually “shifting” from fossil fuels to “decarbonization” won’t be easy. For one thing, change is hard for human. Moreover, what to do with all the toxics in your increasingly popular, considered “renewable” basic battery? Toxics include acid, lead, nickel, lithium, cadmium, alkaline, mercury and nickel metal hydride ... leaking and contaminating soil and water along with accumulating in wildlife and humans. Plus, the expense… 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

My new Internet connection at my new place went into effect today.
Initially, the install was scheduled for 12:30pm. At 9:30am, the installer called to ask for an earlier install. I agreed; that freed up my afternoon.
My online connections become more complicated for the foreseeable future. I will finish up service from one (expensive) ISP and start service (way cheaper and 4 times as much data) in my new location. But I’ll be without wireless at my mother’s house – and that means without phone connection – for weeks. Can I resist buying more data from the expensive ISP? Enquiring minds wanna know….
I’m anxious about losing phone connection and easy access, but looking forward

***

As January draws to a close, my optimism rises. Not only is Trump et al off the airwaves 24/7, I’m closer to the conclusion of the 3-month sole mandate on my mother’s property.
A sole mandate is a contract to protect realtors’ interest: any commission deriving from a sale, whether or not the realtor showed the property, goes to the realtor.
No sole mandate means any realtor can show/sell the place and receive the commission. Or no realtor required to sell a property; seller/buyer can work directly with conveyancer/title company.
IMHO, the realtors serving this property have been the opposite of pro-active. In 3 months, not a single person has shown interest in even looking at the property.
True, the pandemic dampens enthusiasm and jobs and money are scarce.
Also true, I’m more familiar with California/San Francisco Bay Area real estate where, from the moment a reasonably priced property appears on the market, it garners requests to view. Bidding wars are the norm between competing buyers and properties frequently sell far above the asking price.
Throttling back expectations for the SA has been difficult.
The sooner I sell this property, the sooner my mother gets the money in her bank, the sooner I can return to California to see my family and friends… and my houseboat.

The vulgarian has left the building

Exit the vulgar grifter. Welcome, an opportunity for We the People to get it together to fight – and beat – a pandemic showing little let up:

Trump departed a city under militarized fortification meant to prevent a repeat of the riot he incited earlier this month.
For his opponents, Trump's departure amounts to a blissful lifting of a four-year pall on American life and the end to a tortured stretch of misconduct and indignities. Even many of Trump's onetime supporters are sighing with relief that the White House, and the psychology of its occupant, may no longer rest at the center of the national conversation.
He leaves office with more than 400,000 Americans dead from a virus he chose to downplay or ignore.

Worldwide (Map) 
January 21 – 96,830,000 confirmed infections’ 2,074,000 deaths
December 17 – 73,557,500 confirmed infections; 1,637,100 deaths
November 19 – 56,188,000 confirmed infections; 1,348,600 deaths

US (Map)
January 21 – 24,450,000 confirmed infections’ 406,100 deaths
December 17 – 16,724,775 confirmed infections; 303,900 deaths
November 19 – 11,525,600 confirmed infections; 250,485 deaths

SA (Coronavirus portal)
January 21 – 1,370,000 confirmed infections’ 38,900 deaths
December 17 – 873,680 confirmed infections; 23,665 deaths
November 19 – 757,145 confirmed infections; 20,556 deaths

News blues…

"This is more work than in my previous life," [Donald Trump} told Reuters 100 days into the job [four years ago]. "I thought it would be easier." 

I echo the sentiments of New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof who writes,

I thought about saying something more about Trump… about the final count from The Washington Post of 30,573 false or misleading statements as president (an average of 21 a day). About his financial challenges. About his legal risks. About his isolation, unable to get even his own vice president to Joint Base Andrews for his farewell.
But Trump has messed with us enough. Yes, we need accountability, and we’ll get it with civil and criminal investigations, and with the Senate impeachment trial. But let’s focus on healing, which means no longer letting Trump set the agenda. He’s off Twitter, thank God, and I want some time not thinking of him and instead letting Biden wrestle with our national problems — including healing the country.

Amen, brother!

***

As he promised, President Joe Biden spent the first day of his term walking back Donald Trump’s legacy and establishing a new order through a flurry of executive actions. Close to top of the list: 100 day mask mandates in all Federal executive actions ... addressing climate change… cancelling the permit on Keystone XL pipeline …
In total, he signed 17,  more than half of which reversed a Trump-era policy.
Read the full list >> 

Boring never looked so good!

 
Alas, conspiracy theorist, seditionists, and whackidoodles dazed and confused 

***

The Lincoln Project: An email from my favorite former-Republican and co-founder of The Lincoln Project, Steve Schmidt:

The President’s success is America’s success.

"I am rooting hard for you." 

                                                        — George H.W. Bush to Bill Clinton

In a bygone era of American politics before coups and QAnon, we had a rich tradition of honoring democracy and the peaceful transfer of power with nonpartisan hope, optimism, and decorum.
Sitting presidents, regardless of party and of their own electoral result, passed the baton to their successor by rallying support, offering encouragement, and leaving a piece of advice or two.
It was obvious to men like Barack Obama, George Bush Jr. and Sr., Bill Clinton, and dozens before them that partisanship was ultimately performative, and the urgency and importance of strong leadership in the White House superseded ground-floor politicking.
For the country to be successful, the president must be successful, and vice versa.
How far we have fallen.
It was obvious from day one that the Trump presidency would lack convention or tradition.
It was clear Trump felt no fidelity to democracy—that he could not sense the gravity of his office, or of his power, or of his place in history.
Needless to say, those observations held steady.
Today, Trump left office mired in disgrace. He never once congratulated his successor, let alone acknowledge the result of the election.
The closest he came to conceding was reading a statement committing to a “peaceful” transfer of power long after the Capitol had been overrun by domestic terrorists.
Today, Trump leaves with the majority of the country against him—against his brashness and narcissism, antipathy and racism.
America is moving on from Trump.
Good riddance.
Today, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris will set a new tone for our nation’s discourse.
They’ll reassert a standard to be expected of public servants in this country.
They’ll stand up for American ideas and ideals, and repudiate those who espouse hatred and ignorance.
We may not agree on every policy outcome or key decision point.
That’s OK.
Respectful disagreement is the very thread through which democracy is woven.
But Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have a reverence and deference to our Constitution and democratic norms, in absentia through the Trump presidency.
Mr. President and Madam Vice President, we’re rooting hard for you.
Your victories are our country’s victories.
Make us proud.
— Steve

PS: Donald Trump may have left Washington—but we [The Lincoln Project] aren't going anywhere. All those who sought to overturn our free and fair election in the Sedition Caucus, including Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley, must pay a price for betraying our country and defying their oath. Stay tuned!

Healthy planet, anyone?

In keeping with the light-heartedness around the world as the Trumpster takes his sordid place in history, note the message on vehicle:

“Dried rhino poacher testicles cure AIDS – ACT NOW!”

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Sore throat update: still sore, but slightly less sore. Overnight discomfort present but manageable. I’m on the mend.
A recipe to soothe sore throats – and reduces the fear that accompanies sore throat sufferers during a pandemic:
In one bowl, combine:
     2 scoops of vanilla ice cream (faux ice cream works too)
     2 tablespoons mint syrup (recipe below)
     2 tablespoons grapefruit flavored rum (pink gin works too)
     I comfortable spot to sit/lounge(armchair, air mattress, bed…)
     Carry bowl and spoon to comfortable spot, settle, and dig in! 

Mint syrup recipe (easy to make and excellent for mojitos)
     Half cup of sugar
     Half cup of water
     Boil together until sugar is dissolved/
     Add 2 large handfuls of fresh, washed mint leaves and simmer for 5 minutes.
     Cool.
     Drain mint leaves from syrup, pour liquid into jar/container, store in fridge until needed.

Experimenting with the ice cream remedy for sore throats means a dwindling supply of grapefruit-flavored rum.
Surprise! The local TOPS (liquor store) was shut – and had been for weeks.
I’d forgotten a Lockdown Level 3 mandate:

Alcohol sales from retail outlets and onsite consumption are banned. The prohibition on the public consumption of alcohol remains. 

Ah, well… win some, lose some….

Gotta pace myself. 
Hmmm, maybe pink gin will work almost as well....

Pardon-athon?

We know who he'll pardon first. 
But who else is on his list?
Enquiring minds wanna know....

News blues…

The Donald’s ship has sailed – and the rats, his so-called “allies”, can’t abandon him fast enough.
The odd thing about Trump? Despite perfecting the Art of Usury – including using people for his own ends - his pathological arrogant narcissism never understood that users beget users. A list of “allies” who’ve abandoned the Trumpster so far:

• GOP Leaders Cordially Decline Trump's Going Away Party  (3:55 mins)
• After 4 years of sycophancy, “Moscow Mitch” now says, “The mob was fed lies.” 
• Pence, McConnell, and McCarthy are skipping Trump's departure ceremony 
• Republican support for convicting Trump in Senate growing 
• Ah, well, who needs ‘em? Trump’s arranging his own send-off at Joint Base Andrews at 8am on Wednesday. Naturally, Trump wants a military-style send-off with a band and a flyover.
• He and his family, from wife to kids and grandkids, no longer welcome in New York, are off to Florida. 

With four hundred Americans dead from Covid-19 and a country in shambles, “Good luck, Florida!”

***

The Lincoln Project:

In less than 24 hours, Joe Biden will be President. Kamala Harris will be Vice President.
And Donald Trump will be a disgraced ex-President, failed businessman, and a Twitter-less private citizen.
We are in the final hours of the worst presidency of our lifetimes, and one of the most destructive in our country’s history.
For the first time in four years, the sitting president won’t be a national security landmine, a walking emoluments clause violation, or a nepotist pimp dealing spoils and favors to loyalists and the highest bidders.
We will soon have a president who listens to scientists instead of conspiracy theorists, experts instead of provocateurs, and trusted legal minds instead of pillow salesmen.
Our new president will consider the human toll of the raging pandemic before his political posturing.
Our new president will defend the values of liberal democracy, instead of abandoning our allies and cozying up to autocrats and oppressors.
Our new president will work for all Americans—not just himself and the privileged few.
Reaching this day was years in the making. November’s election did not occur in a vacuum.
It took every other patriot in this coalition to fight for democracy and deliver Joe Biden’s victory.
It took millions of Americans standing up for what is right versus what is so clearly wrong.
This is our time.
And this is our new president.

As glad as I am that the Trumps are going, the cynic in me wonders how long the current adoration of Biden as Savior will continue.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

My things-to-do before-I-can-depart-SA list just got one item more complicated. Before I can purchase a return ticket and depart, not only must I sell a house – my mother’s - and find homes for three dogs – ditto, my mother’s – figure out if I should rent my own new home, and set up a routine that tries to ensure my mother’s well-being in the Care Center, I must also follow Embassy-level directions before I can re-enter California.
As per the US Embassy in SA:

Health Alert: Requirement for Proof of Negative COVID-19 Test or Recovery from COVID-19 for All Air Passengers Arriving in the United States
Location: The Republic of South Africa
Event: Starting January 26, 2021, all air travelers to the United States, including U.S citizens, are required to provide a negative COVID-19 test or proof of recovery to enter the United States.
On January 12, 2021, CDC issued an Order requiring all air passengers arriving to the US from a foreign country to get tested no more than 3 days before their flight departs and to provide proof of the negative result or documentation of having recovered from COVID-19 to the airline before boarding the flight. This Order will go into effect on January 26, 2021. Actions to take: 

• Visit the CDC’s webpage for more details on this requirement: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/testing-international-air-travelers.html
• Visit the Embassy’s COVID information page, https://za.usembassy.gov/covid-19-information-2/, for additional information on COVID in South Africa.

Talking about Covid, my sore throat is still sore, but slightly less sore than this time (5:45am) yesterday. Pain and discomfort is worse overnight and, happily, last night’s discomfort was marginally less than the previous night’s.
Restored health on the horizon?
Amen!

5G. Golly gee!

KwaZulu Natal is many things… including a mishmash of misinformation and hysteria amongst those who believe that 5G towers are spreading coronavirus, that vaccines will “infect” their blood with “demons,” and that a combo of 5G, coronavirus, vaccines, electricity transmission lines, etc. herald the imminent apocalypse… 
The targeted “bad guys” at the center of many conspiracies circulating in South Africa? 

Bill Gates and Anthony Fauci. George Soros, too, although he’s more demonized in the US than he is in South Africa.
Interestingly, few South Africans recognize Mark Zuckerberg, his name, his social media platforms, or his outsized role in social media. This, despite WhatsApp - and Facebook - being social media platforms of choice for “everyone” in SA with a mobile phone .
Conspiracy theories swirl more than ever as news circulates about users having to opt into WhatsApp’s updated privacy rules by 6 February  
As increasingly bizarre conspiracy theories multiple exponentially, Telegram is promoted as the alterative social media platform. In the US, however, Telegram (along with Gab, CloutHub, and MeWe) are described (by “normal” people) as “a haven for MAGA extremists and far-right message boards such as 8kun (formerly 8chan)).
Positioned with one foot in California and one foot in KZN offers a fascinating peek into human complexities, conspiracy theories and all.

News blues…

Eish! Hasn’t he left yet?

(Above) This week’s New Yorker magazine says it all.

Next week’s prescient New Yorker cover.  

***

As Donald Trump prepares to scuttle out of Washington, DC, he’s said to be selling pardons, for up to $2 million each. 
Hey, Donald, haven’t you heard? “You’re fired!”

***

The Lincoln Project: The Liar's Guide to Mendacious Hypocrisy  (2:06 mins)

Healthy planet, anyone?

Will Neptune’s balls save us?

Underwater seagrass in coastal areas appear to trap plastic pollution in natural bundles of fibre known as “Neptune balls”, researchers have found. 
With no help from humans, the swaying plants – anchored to shallow seabeds – may collect nearly 900m plastic items in the Mediterranean alone every year, [according to a study] in the journal Scientific Reports.

My concern about miracle cures, whether Neptune’s balls or any other?
Humans tend to decide “someone else” is taking care of the planet's plastics problem and nothing more effort is required of them.
Friends, that’s far from true.
Much of the plastic dropped in recycling bins isn't being recycled. 

In 2014, 22 percent of PET plastic collected for recycling was exported out of the United States. Plastic production surged from 15 million tons in 1964 to 311 tons in 2014 — an increase of more than 2,000 percent. 

According to the EPA, of the 267.8 million tons of municipal solid waste generated by Americans in 2017, only 94.2 million tons were recycled or composted. Sixty-six percent of discarded paper and cardboard was recycled, 27 percent of glass, and 8 percent of plastics were recycled. 

Recycle, recycle, recycle and learn if plastic is recycled productively in your neighborhood. 

Your efforts, small or large, are vital. 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Heron Pond is one of four small lakes spaced, ladder-like, in a shallow valley near my section of my soon-to-be-new home. Over the weekend, while circumambulating Heron Pond, I learned anyone can fish for bass in any of the small lakes – Heron, Stork, Robin, and Duck.
Traditionally, fishing has not been my choice of pastime. I have accompanied a friend into California’s Sierra foothills to fly fish trout. LINK He practices catch-and-release so I wasn’t faced with the dilemma of watching a pretty trout lose the struggle for breathe on a riverbank.
While he fished, I explored tide pools, scrambled over rocks, and admired rock formations.
The idea of sitting on the bank of Heron or other pond appeals. I’d probably not bait the hook (what if a bass bites?), but holding a fishing rod/pole would provide cover for sitting near and staring into water.
Or I could watch for fish eagles These amazing predators frequent these ponds. I watched two circle overhead and one dive to the pond surface. 

Vegetation blocked my view of whether her/his dive was productive.
Next time, I’ll carry a camera

***

Sore throat update: My infected throat is neither noticeably better nor worse. I continue to steam and gargle salt water. I took advice from the doctor’s office to use a throat spray and to try a different over-the-counter lozenge or syrup.
While I’m willing to go with medical advice, to date my flesh is unwilling to comply.

“Free again, free again…”

I’ve been in South Africa for almost one year – 8 months beyond what I’d planned. One luxury I’ve granted myself during this time is an Internet connection. While I love the location of this house - semi-rural in a valley with wonderful vegetation and tall trees - I pay a premium for the Internet connection.
As of next Thursday, I’ll move to a connection one third the price for four times the data. 

It’ll be awkward and disruptive and my posting schedule will change, but I’m looking forward to no longer being exploited by an ISP that considers me a source of endless Yankee dollas.
I’ve managed, despite load shedding and ISP troubles, to post every day since the beginning of Covid and Lockdown and I intend to maintain that discipline.
Thank you for reading this blog and, after Thursday, please be patient as we segue to a modified schedule. Daily posts will continue albeit slightly later in the day.

News blues…

Since the recent attempted coup/insurrection/siege of the Capitol, will America and Americans have another round of soul searching around race and xenophobia?

For African Americans, Wednesday’s siege of the U.S. Capitol by a mob bent on keeping President Donald Trump in office despite his election loss in November offered fresh evidence that the double standard and the racism … remain firmly in place. 

The Lincoln Project: Which side  (0:55 mins)

Healthy planet, anyone?

A Black Lives Matter rally
in Brisbane in June after the death of
George Floyd in the US.
'In a just world, no one should
have to fight for oxygen,’
writes author Jennifer Mills . 
Photo: James D Morgan/Getty Images 

The question of who breathes, and who suffocates, is a question of who deserves to live. It’s a question that will only become more urgent as the climate crisis develops.
Read, Trouble breathing: 'We all breathe the same air, but we don't breathe equally' >> 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Eskom, South Africa’s electrical supply commission parastatal, regularly displays its budgetary and executive/managerial shortcomings.
Load shedding – shutting down the country’s power grid to cope with diminished supply – is an ‘in your face’ display of shortcomings, but the devil, as they say, is in the details.
Once upon a time, Eskom offered industry and residents the cheapest electricity in the world. 

Yes, politically and socially those were the “bad old days” of apartheid: labor was abundant, cheap, and exploitative. 

And yes, since electricity was so cheap, it was the power source of choice (for those who could afford installation). Natural gas was available, but more expensive therefore less desirable than electricity.
These days, for purposes of load shedding, Eskom’s supply grid is segmented into named and numbered neighborhoods that endure load shedding together. Our neighborhood, “same-village name_A-14”, is across the freeway from “same-village name_B-14”.
About a month ago“same-village name_A-14” – our neighborhood – endured several days without power due to theft of electrical cable from a transformer on our street. 

A week after that, we endured another day without power because a drunk driver crashed into and damaged the same transformer.
This weekend, a portion of “same-village name_A-14” endured 19 hours without electricity while our house, endured 2.5 hours of scheduled load shedding.
Nineteen hours is a long time without power, more so if you’re an elderly, alone, shut-in with ill health that includes diabetes. My neighbor and friend could not cook her solitary hot meal, could not bath, could only worry as she watched her stash of frozen food slowly thaw.
She and her dog ate processed meat and bread.
I dared not reach out to her since I suffered a sore throat, potentially a Covid indicator.
Naturally, social media was rife with rumor and conjecture about why power was off only in sections of the same grid.
Eskom was silent.
Hour 20, power returned – and a reason for the outage. Somehow, physical cable for “same-village name_A-14” and “same-village name_B-14” had been confused and mis-connected at a local transformer.
That is, residents endured 19 hours without power along with the regular load-shedding schedule due to a faulty transformer connection,.
Did I mention that Eskom now has among the most expensive electricity in Africa?

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Sore throat update: I’ve now had a sore throat for longer than Eskom supplied continuous power: from Friday night to Monday morning. 

It’s worse overnight. 

Still no other overt signs it’s evolving into a more dire illness.