Earth Day

Mission Blue calls for ocean-loving volunteers
to dive into the Great Reef Census 

 “The world is blue, if you look at it from space that image alone should inspire us to think that we too are sea creatures.” Dr Sylvia Earle, Mission Blue 

 Mission Blue: Igniting public support for a global network of marine protected areas... 

***

And...  back to Covid… today’s Covid-19 stats compared to six months ago...

Worldwide (Map) 
April 22, 2021 – 143,503,705 confirmed infections; 3,056,000 deaths
November 26, 2020 – 60,334,000 confirmed infections; 1,420,500 deaths

US (Map) 
April 22, 2021 – 31,862,100 confirmed infections; 569,500 deaths
November 26, 2020 – 12,771,000 confirmed infections; 262,145 deaths

SA (Tracker) 
April 22, 2021 – 1,568,500 confirmed infections; 53,900 deaths
November 26, 2020 – 775,510 confirmed infections; 21,2010 deaths

Down memory lane with a post from one year ago - April 23, 2020: Try it; what have you got to lose? 

Tracking Covid-19:

• Tracking Covid-19 vaccinations worldwide 
• South African experts to follow for up-to-date and accurate Covid information… 

News blues

Forty top world leaders gather online for the first big climate confab since 2019. From an American point of view, five key policies and political dynamics to watch:
    1. New U.S. emissions target
    2. China and the U.S.
    3. Brazil
    4. Big Money Pledges
    5. Intellectual property rights
Read the article >> 

***

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said during a news briefing in Geneva on Monday that, for eight consecutive weeks, Covid-19 infections are rising at an alarming rate and that more than 5.2 million new cases of Covid-19 were recorded last week - the most in a single week since the pandemic began. Tedros warned that the pace of the pandemic is accelerating, even as some countries tout their own improved vaccination programs. 

***

India: According to a CNN tally of figures from the Indian Ministry of Health, India reported 295,041 cases of coronavirus and 2,023 deaths Wednesday, its highest rise in cases and highest death increase recorded in a single day since the beginning of the pandemic.

Healthcare and other essential services across India are close to collapse as a second coronavirus wave that started in mid-March tears through the country with devastating speed.
Graveyards are running out of space, hospitals are turning away patients, and desperate families are pleading for help on social media for beds and medicine.
"The volume is humongous," said Jalil Parkar, a senior pulmonary consultant at the Lilavati Hospital in Mumbai, which had to convert its lobby into an additional Covid ward. "It's just like a tsunami."
"Things are out of control," said Ramanan Laxminarayan, director of the Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics and Policy in New Delhi.
"There's no oxygen. A hospital bed is hard to find. It's impossible to get a test. You have to wait over a week. And pretty much every system that could break down in the health care system has broken down….” 

***

Iraq has just topped 1 million Covid-19 cases for the first time after setting the highest single-day record with 8,696 new cases announced on Wednesday, according to the daily health ministry report.
The ministry also recorded at least 38 Covid-19 related deaths on Wednesday, bringing the country’s total recorded death toll to 15,098.
There are currently 109,447 Covid-19 patients hospitalized across the county, with 517 cases in ICUs.
Iraq started its Covid-19 vaccine rollout on March 27, with 300,000 people having been vaccinated since — less than 1% of the nation’s total population of 40,150,000.
The Iraqi government eased lockdown restrictions last month, saying the country faced serious economic challenges.

***

Brazil: The coronavirus has killed an estimated 1,300 babies in Brazil since the beginning of the pandemic, even though there's overwhelming evidence that Covid-19 rarely kills young children.
While data from the Health Ministry suggest that over 800 children under age 9 have died of Covid-19, including about 500 babies, experts say the real death toll is higher because cases are underreported because of a lack of widespread coronavirus testing, according to the BBC, which first reported the story. 

***

The Lincoln Project:
An Idea Called America  (0:55 mins)
Truthless (0:55 mins)

Healthy planet, anyone?

(c) Our World in Data’s Biodiversity

A diverse range of mammals once roamed the planet. Since the rise of humans, wild mammal biomass has declined by 85%. Our history with them has been a zero-sum game: we either hunted them or destroyed their habitats with the expansion of agricultural lands.
But, for the first time in human history, we have the opportunity to turn this into a net-sum game: we can produce enough food from a smaller land area, making it possible for them to flourish again. Our World in Data’s Biodiversity research  looks at the long-term decline of wild mammals.

***

Environmental Documentary "Current Sea" explores the illegal fishing trade (trawling) in Cambodia and the individuals who risk it all to intervene. The film follows the story of ocean activist and Kep Archipelago Hope Spot Champion Paul Ferber, and investigative journalist, Matt Blomberg, in their dangerous efforts to create a marine conservation area and combat the relentless tide of illegal fishing.
Coming soon… meanwhile, watch the promo clip. 
The film can be watched in hundreds of countries via Amazon Prime/Amazon,  iTunes and Google Play and is subtitled in 8 languages.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

It is wonderful to host my daughter here, albeit for too short a time (she departs on Wednesday next week).
She helps me understand how stressed – and angry – I am these days, and how short is my fuse. (Anger, frustration, and isolation are – I guess – hallmarks of life under Covid for a re-pat (repatriating) with a “troubled” extended family….)

My daughter does not pooh-pooh, under-estimate, or undermine how much I’ve tried to ameliorate the difficulties my mother faces nor under-estimate how much resistance I face. What a treat!
She’s great company and has a good sense of humor.
In my daughter’s company, whole half-hours, even hours, pass when I don’t think of the 1.5 years spent away from my California home, 1.5 years lost income, 1.5 years of not seeing family and friends….
Moreover, my daughter is fascinated by tasks I never thought anyone (besides me) would have to complete. For example, now that that Chana – Chinese designed and built pick-up truck – is repaired, my daughter intends to help me load that vehicle with metal items and drive them to the scrap yard. She’s also looking forward to driving a load of unusable items – aka “junk” - to the local dump, or “landfill” as it is known around here. Landfills a la South Africa are often located in former lovely valleys commandeered to filled to the brim and higher with rubbish. Landfills are frequented by “rag pickers,” self-employed workers who glean what they can from the debris, clean, repair, and sell it. The rag-picking life is tough, but people here are happy to have the work and the opportunity to make a small living at trolling through the castoffs of other, more materially advantaged people.

***

We went zip lining in the Karkloof canopy:

A view of the Karkloof from a high platform in the canopy.
(click to enlarge)

The zip line mystery: who will appear through the virgin foliage?
(click to enlarge)

 

Poster of the different indigenous trees found in the Karkloof canopy.
(click to enlarge and read)

We also saw a solitary Samango monkey. Alas, my Canon camera choose that moment to disobey my finger pressure on the shutter. Alas, I took no photo of the rare primate, but Google to the rescue

Here I am, zip lining onto a platform.

***

Getting even darker here…
Feb 26: sunrise 5:47am; sunset 6:33pm.
March 2: sunrise 5:50am; sunset 6:29pm.
March 29: sunrise 6:07am; sunset 5:58pm.
April 1: sunrise 6:09am; sunset 5:54pm.
April 14: sunrise 6:14am; sunset 5:43pm.
April 22: sunrise 6:22am; sunset 5:32pm.

Living life

Something new: No news is good news Monday.
Tracking Covid-19, however, remains with us:

• Tracking Covid-19 vaccinations worldwide 
• South African experts to follow for up-to-date and accurate Covid information… 

***

The Lincoln Project:

• Hawley Complicit  (0:34 mins)
• Hawley vs. Himself  (0:55 mins)
• Rally Recap  (1:15 mins)
• It Never Ended  (3:10 mins)

Healthy planet, anyone?

Plastic bags … always with us. 

UK’s ‘bag for a week’ habit is no green alternative – rather, it has created more problems for the environment. Supermarket ‘bags for life’ must cost more to cut plastic use, urge campaigners. 

The US is responsible for around 327 billion bags ending up in the sea every year. Single use plastic is responsible for killing over 100,000 marine animals a year. Plastic bags contribute to these deaths by entangling wildlife and being mistaken for food by larger animals such as whales and turtles.

More facts on plastic bags:

• More than 1 million plastic bags end up in the trash every minute. 
• 100,000 marine animals are killed by plastic bags.
• Up to one trillion plastic bags are used worldwide each year – that’s 160,000 a second.
• If you linked them end to end they would circle the globe 4,200 times.
• Around 10% of those will end up in our oceans.
• Less than 1 in 7 plastic bags are recycled.
• The US is responsible for around 327 billion bags that end up in the seas.
• A plastic bag is used on average for 15 minutes.
• It can take anything between 20-1000 years for a plastic bag to break up.
Articles on plastic bags:

• Trying to Recycle That Plastic Bag? The Odds Are Nine to One It’s Not Happening 
• If you know your recycling, you probably already know that most communities don’t accept plastic bags in their curbside bins. And if you recycle like a pro, you may know that plastic bag recycling is a thing you can do at most local grocery stores or superstores.
  But here’s where it gets confusing. Does that mean just the bags from that store? Or can you recycle more? Most drop-off bag collections accept polyethylene film. This includes high-density polyethylene (HDPE or #2 plastic) and low-density polyethylene (#4 plastic or LDPE). It’s great if your bags have markings on them, but since most do not, it’s good to know some general guidelines. 
• Are South Africa’s shopping bags really being recycled? 

***

Photo essay: ‘Forests are not renewable’: the felling of Sweden’s ancient trees.  Forests cover 70% of the country, but many argue the Swedish model of replacing old-growth forests with monoculture plantations is bad for biodiversity.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

The Midlands Meander  is:

…a region in beautiful KwaZulu Natal that stretches from just beyond Mooi River in the north, Hilton in the south, Karkloof in the east and the foothills of the Drakensberg in the west.
… An easy one-hour drive from Durban and four and a half hours on the N3 highway from Johannesburg, there is much to explore and do in the Midlands. For all that is on offer, life is lived at a gentler pace, we take time to chat to strangers in the trading store and we grow our own vegetables.

We dropped in on The Midlands Meander site known as the Piggly Wiggly – an outdoorsy combo of restaurants, wine cellar, ice cream parlor, candle shop, live snake show, and small train for kids. Bought a bottle of wine, Shiraz.
Continued on …to Nottingham Road – a village known locally as “Notties”. Takeaway: there’s no there there. Well, there’s more of a there there in Notties than there is in, say, Curry’s Post. Anyone (like me) looking for an actual center of town in Curry’s Post won’t find a center, or even a grandiose post. Rather, there are hundreds of posts… supporting electric fences but no actual Curry’s Post. But I digress.
On our way home, we visited the Mandela Capture Site . My overwhelming feeling was sadness - so many lives wasted – and anger – such hope and expectations for a better life for the majority dashed. Rather than selfless leaders, South Africans got Jacob Zuma. 

***

Getting darker each day
Feb 26: sunrise 5:47am; sunset 6:33pm.
March 2: sunrise 5:50am; sunset 6:29pm.
March 9: sunrise 5:55am; sunset 6:21pm.
March 16: sunrise 5:59am; sunset 6:13pm.
March 22: sunrise 6:03am; sunset 6:05pm.
April 1: sunrise 6:09am; sunset 5:54pm.
April 2: sunrise 6:09am; sunset 5:53pm.
April 8: sunrise 6:12am; sunset 5:46pm.
April 19: sunrise 6:20am; sunset 5:35pm.

Dead at 38

News blues…

Global Death Toll From COVID-19 Tops 3 Million amid repeated setbacks in the worldwide vaccination campaign and a deepening crisis in places such as Brazil, India and France.

The number of lives lost, as compiled by Johns Hopkins University, is about equal to the population of Kyiv, Ukraine; Caracas, Venezuela; or metropolitan Lisbon, Portugal. It is bigger than Chicago (2.7 million) and equivalent to Philadelphia and Dallas combined.
And the true number is believed to be significantly higher because of possible government concealment and the many cases overlooked in the early stages of the outbreak that began in Wuhan, China, at the end of 2019. 

On the vaccine front, Albert Bourla, CEO of the pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, says it’s “likely” those vaccinated with the company’s COVID-19 inoculation will need a third shot sometime within 12 months after getting the initial two doses and will potentially need a new shot every year thereafter. This, because COVID-19 resembles the flu more than it does a virus like polio.

“A likely scenario is that there will be likely a need for a third dose, somewhere between six and 12 months, and then from there, there will be an annual revaccination, but all of that needs to be confirmed,” Bourla said during the event. He added: “There are vaccines like polio where one dose is enough, and there are vaccines like flu that you need every year.”
More than 102 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine have been distributed in the U.S. thus far, and more than 38 million people have been fully vaccinated.

Read the article >>

***

• Tracking Covid-19 vaccinations worldwide 
• South African experts to follow for up-to-date and accurate Covid information… 

***

The Lincoln Project:

• Proud Boys (0:52 mins)
• 100 Days (0:25 mins)
• Officer Brian Sicknick  (0:25 mins)

Healthy planet, anyone?

Following a visit to Shanghai by US climate envoy John Kerry, former US secretary of state, the US and China have “committed to cooperating” on the pressing issue of climate change.

The statement from Kerry and China’s special envoy for climate change Xie Zhenhua, “The United States and China are committed to cooperating with each other and with other countries to tackle the climate crisis, which must be addressed with the seriousness and urgency that it demands.”
The joint statement  listed multiple avenues of cooperation between the US and China, the world’s top two economies that together account for nearly half of the greenhouse gas emissions responsible for climate change. It stressed “enhancing their respective actions and cooperating in multilateral processes, including the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement”.
The nations also agreed to discuss specific “concrete” emission reduction actions including energy storage, carbon capture and hydrogen, and agreed to take action to maximise financing for developing countries to switch to low-carbon energy sources. 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Temperatures have plummeted. Local folks are digging out winter wear as a cold spell rolls over the area.
Folks from California, however, find the weather balmy. My daughter basks in what locals call “cold”: “this is a perfect temperature, she says.
Moreover, the local monkey troop that has been conspicuously absent over the last days, appeared yesterday and put on a show for the visitor from California, hooting and hollerin’ and leaping and balancing along the overhead cable. 

Thank you for the show, monkeys.

***

The appalling news? The gardener, sick for weeks with no conclusive diagnosis, taken 3 weeks ago by ambulance to hospital where he has, apparently, had multiple episodes of un- and semi-consciousness, died 5:00am yesterday morning.
No information forthcoming on what killed the 38-year-old, previously healthy man.
South Africa’s state-run hospitals? You check in but you don’t check out….

***

My small garden is almost sufficiently protected by hedge that grazing zebra, impala, and warthogs avoid it. Nevertheless, one adult male zebra wandered in then stretched its long neck over assorted potted succulents to gnash through several branches of blue chalk stick succulent before I spotted and discouraged the animal.

Blue chalk stick succulent

Gourmet zebra sampling blue chalk stick succulent.

I’d been warned that, in the winter, wild animals might eat my garden plants – particularly tubers and bulbs. That this zebra went for the blue chalk stick succulent makes me wary of winter…. What else don’t I know about the culinary habits of domesticated zebras? And impala? And Warthogs?

***

Out with the old, in with the new?
Another interested house buyer in the wings, this one an entity representing a home for under-privileged children. They find the house to be perfect for their needs, plus they “prayed to the Lord” to show them a space that includes enough room to create a children’s work shop area, a stream, and enough garden space for children to play. My mom’s house offers all that.
Now I must “pray to the Lord” that He supplies charity of thought to the banker with decision-making-power to grant a bond (mortgage).
Other buyers will view the house over the weekend.
My philosophy these days?
Been there, done that; show me the bond!

***

Getting darker each day
Feb 26: sunrise 5:47am; sunset 6:33pm.
March 14: sunrise 5:58am; sunset 6:15pm.
March 21: sunrise 6:02am; sunset 6:07pm.
April 1: sunrise 6:09am; sunset 5:54pm.
April 8: sunrise 6:12am; sunset 5:46pm.
April 18: sunrise 6:19am; sunset 5:36pm.

Ups and downs

© Nneka Okorocha
View more art on Covid-19 vaccine hesitancy and disinformation 

Worldwide (Map) 

April 15, 2021 – 138,278,420 confirmed infections; 2,973,058 deaths
November 12, 2020 – 52,070,000 confirmed infections; 1,274,000 deaths

US (Map) 
April 15, 2021 – 31,421,361 confirmed infections; 564,402 deaths
November 12, 2020 – 10,258,100 confirmed infections; 239,700 deaths

SA (Coronavirus portal) 
April 15, 2021 – 1,560.000 confirmed infections; 53,500 deaths
November 12, 2020 – 740,255 confirmed infections; 19,951 deaths

***

• Tracking Covid-19 vaccinations worldwide 
• South African experts to follow for up-to-date and accurate Covid information… 

News blues…

• Another vaccine setback: Johnson & Johnson:
  South Africa suspends rollout of Johnson & Johnson Covid vaccine 
  

Over the next few days, the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority, the South African Medical Research Council and the Department of Health will decide how to proceed with South Africa’s vaccination roll-out after use of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine was suspended, pending an investigation into six cases of blood clots reported in the United States. Read the article >> 

• End the J&J Pause: the J&J vaccine is not a tainted cantaloupe. Our regulators are not fools. But they have a peculiar sense of responsibility that leads them to adopt a fraidy-cat level of caution. 
• 3 Different Futures for the Johnson & Johnson Vaccine. A pause is just that—a pause—in which health officials can reevaluate the data at hand. 

Healthy planet, anyone?

“… without pollinators there’s no ecosystem at all…”
Australia’s bushfires were devastating for bee populations. But steady rain and community efforts are seeing the return of the pollinators.
Read the article >> 

'No one explained': fracking brings pollution, not wealth, to Navajo land Navajo Nation members received ‘a pittance’ for access to their land. Then came the spills and fires.
Read “No one explained…” >> 

***

As South African officials try to convince South Africans that nuclear energy will “save us”, a reality check: no country in the world, even the most organized, knows how to manage the toxic legacy bequeathed by energy once said to be “too cheap to monitor”. Japan is way more organized than South Africa – a country that mismanages it’s coal-based energy production and delivery. Imagine SA with nuke plants. Groan.

Japan will release more than 1 million tonnes of contaminated water from the destroyed Fukushima nuclear station into the sea, the government said on Tuesday, a move opposed by neighbours including South Korea and its own fishing industry. 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Taking the bad with the good: a lesson.
Last week I gleefully reported a successful sale of my mother’s house. This week? Not so much. The buyers changed their minds – and we’re back to square one.
But this week started off with a trip to Shaka International Airport to pick up my daughter.
But this week started off with a trip to Shaka International Airport to pick up my daughter. Since she arrived late in the day, we chose to spend the night in Durban rather than run the gauntlet of death that SA’s N3.
Sunrise was glorious.

***

Days are getting shorter here:
Feb 26: sunrise 5:47am; sunset 6:33pm.
March 2: sunrise 5:50am; sunset 6:29pm.
March 16: sunrise 5:59am; sunset 6:13pm.
March 25: sunrise 6:05am; sunset 6:01pm.
April 1: sunrise 6:09am; sunset 5:54pm.
April 15: sunrise 6:18am; sunset 5:39pm.

Vaccine Hesitancy FYI

© Rich Black
View more art on Covid-19 vaccine hesitancy and disinformation 

News blues…

Forget trying to convince Anti-Vaxxers about vaccine efficacy. Rather, focus on 'Hesitant Vaxxers', the group that wants to learn more about the COVID-19 vaccine and its side effects before getting a shot. After all, 'Hesitant Vaxxers' are still open to being convinced.

According to William Schaffner, professor of preventive medicine and infectious disease at Vanderbilt University, hesitant vaxxers want to learn more about the benefits of vaccination, while anti-vaxxers have already made up their minds.
“I’ve learned that you’ll never change the opinion of someone who’s truly against vaccination,” Schaffner said. “The more logic and reason you use, the more they dig in their heels.” Those who are hesitant, on the other hand, “just want to understand vaccines better.”

Read more >> 

***

April 9, SA had 1,267 new Covid-19 cases recorded in the past 24 hours, and 53 more deaths.
The new infections came from 30,560 tests, at a positivity rate of 4.14%.
April 8: South Africa had secured 51 million doses of vaccines from Johnson & Johnson (J&J) and Pfizer BioNTech in the battle against Covid-19.
According to health minister Zweli Mkhize the country was still on track with its vaccination strategy and the second phase will start on May 17.

***

• Tracking Covid-19 vaccinations worldwide 
• South African experts to follow for up-to-date and accurate Covid information… 

Healthy planet, anyone?

I am not a fan of, nor do I ascribe to, the Bill-Gates-as-Devil-Incarnate conspiracy theory. Bill Gates is an ultrarich guy and, IMHO, displays many of the features of ultrarich guys while also promoting a handful of quasi-progressive ideas and solutions. His climate change ideas are better than those of many ultrarich guys ‘n gals and worse than many truly progressive-though-not-ultrarich guys ‘n gals.
Bill Gates as farmer is, however, a stretch.

… So why did the Land Report dub LINK him “Farmer Bill” this year? The third richest man on the planet doesn’t have a green thumb. Nor does he put in the back-breaking labor humble people do to grow our food and who get far less praise for it. That kind of hard work isn’t what made him rich. Gates’ achievement, according to the report, is that he’s largest private owner of farmland in the US. A 2018 purchase of 14,500 acres of prime eastern Washington farmland – which is traditional Yakama territory – for $171m helped him get that title.
In total, Gates owns approximately 242,000 acres of farmland with assets totaling LINK more than $690m. To put that into perspective, that’s nearly the size of Hong Kong and twice the acreage of the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe…. A white man owns more farmland than my entire Native nation!

Read “Bill Gates is the biggest private owner of farmland in the United States. Why?” 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

I thought the day would never come when serious buyers made a serious offer on the house. I was wrong.
An extended family – grandparents, parents, uncles, aunts, and kids – viewed the house yesterday, loved it, stood around and bounced around their ideas for who would live where, and shared their visions with one another. It was a treat seeing a family work closely together on making decisions with far-reaching implications. That done, they said we could expect to hear from them by Monday and they departed the property.
Fewer than 15 minutes later, the head of the family called to make a good offer: 90 percent cash down, 10 percent bank bond/mortgage.
It’s an offer I can take to my mother and expect her to accept.
I’m dazed.
I’m amazed.
I’m thankful. It happened.
We have an offer on the house.
Now I work towards keeping things on track and moving forward, organize around the document transfer as I ensure the domestic worker and the gardener are retrenched according to labor law … and that the dogs get humane care.
It’s all do-able.
What’s the glittering and waving on the horizon? By golly, it’s my family in California and Texas waving to welcome my return.
Imagine! After almost two years cooling my heals under lockdown, I’ll see them again.

***

If all goes according to plan, I’ll “get outta Dodge” – American for “leaving town” – before South African days get too short and nights get too long. It happens quickly.
Feb 26: sunrise 5:47am; sunset 6:33pm.
March 2: sunrise 5:50am; sunset 6:29pm.
March 9: sunrise 5:55am; sunset 6:21pm.
March 16: sunrise 5:59am; sunset 6:13pm.
March 25: sunrise 6:05am; sunset 6:01pm.
April 1: sunrise 6:09am; sunset 5:54pm.
April 8: sunrise 6:12am; sunset 5:46pm.
April 11: sunrise 6:14am; sunset 5:43pm.

Mercy, mercy me...

News blues…

Setting out to prove there’s a “lack of a scientific basis” and to question the widely held view that there is a clear causal link between simultaneous lockdown-related alcohol bans and the apparent decline in hospital trauma admissions, the South African Liquor Brands Association released results of research it commissioned several months ago.
South African Liquor Brands Association researchers do not believe that the decline of trauma admissions can be causally linked to the different levels of alcohol restrictions. Rather, they argue the theory fails to address alcohol restrictions that coincided with other lockdown restrictions that may also have had an impact on trauma admissions.

Read the article >> 
(Editorial comment: Not to be skeptical but… the South African Liquor Brands Association proving alcohol-abuse isn’t to blame? 

Hmmm. 

Surely, if research is accurate, a different, not-quite-so-self-interested organization should have been commissioned to conduct the research. South Africans, after all, have a less-than-stellar reputation with alcohol. Review results of a population-based survey on alcohol abuse in South Africa.)

***

• Tracking Covid-19 vaccinations worldwide 
• South African experts to follow for up-to-date and accurate Covid information… 

***

The Lincoln Project: Another “inside the Beltway” view of Matt Gaetz: Stain  (0:55 mins)

Healthy planet, anyone?

“Poison is the wind that blows from the north and south and east” are lyrics from Marvin Gaye’s 1971 single “Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)”  (3:16 mins). Gaye wasn’t known as an environmental scientist, but he provides a stark and useful environmental analysis, complete with warnings of overcrowding and climate change. 

The song doesn’t explicitly mention race, but its place in Gaye’s What’s Going On album portrays a black Vietnam veteran, coming back to his segregated community and envisioning the hell that people endure.

***

A new report from the Environmental Protection Agency finds that people of color are much more likely to live near polluters and breathe polluted air—even as the agency seeks to roll back regulations on pollution. 
This builds on the 2016 report “Racial isolation and exposure to airborne particulate matter and ozone in understudied US populations: Environmental justice applications of downscaled numerical model output” 

And, for the first time in four years – the lost years of the Trump era - US EPA again has a website providing the public a gateway to information on climate change and climate solutions. 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Now that I’ve decided I must return to California to take care of my own life and responsibilities, the pressure is on. So much to do (try to do) to ensure the smooth operation of business while I’m gone. I face new anxieties and, as usual, little to no support from immediate SA family.
One does one’s best….

***

Latest news of the gardener is not good. He remains hospitalized. His wife reports he’s “asleep” most of the time.

***

Days getting shorter and shorter and nightfall earlier:
Feb 26: sunrise 5:47am; sunset 6:33pm.
March 2: sunrise 5:50am; sunset 6:29pm.
March 9: sunrise 5:55am; sunset 6:21pm.
March 18: sunrise 5:00am; sunset 6:11pm.
April 1: sunrise 6:09am; sunset 5:54pm.
April 2: sunrise 6:09am; sunset 5:53pm.
April 9: sunrise 6:13am; sunset 5:45pm.

Time flies...

Silly- but truism: Time flies like the wind/Fruit flies like bananas. 

My intention was to post more frequently this end-of-Lockdown-Week 54. Alas, life here has been a task fest, one task after another clamoring for attention. Along with lack of Internet connection at my primary abode, posting, like everything associated with getting online, is problematic.
The pandemic, however, marches on, 

Below, today’s numbers of infections and deaths compared to 6 months ago:

Worldwide (Map) 

April 8, 2021 – 133,132,000 confirmed infections: 2,888,000 deaths 

October 8, 2020 – 36,069,000 confirmed infections; 1,055,000 deaths 

US (Map) 

April 8, 2021 – 30,923,000 confirmed infections: 559,116 deaths 

October 8 – 7,550,000 confirmed infections; 212,000 deaths 

SA (Coronavirus portal) 

April 8, 2021 – 1,553,610 confirmed infections: 53,111 deaths 

October 8 – 685,155 confirmed infections; 17,250 deaths

***

• Tracking Covid-19 vaccinations worldwide 
• South African experts to follow for up-to-date and accurate Covid information… 

News blues…

On the vaccine front:
The global scramble to produce enough Covid-19 vaccine for 7 billion people is about to get even tougher, as drugmakers and countries ready a second round of shots to combat the growing threat of virus variants. 

SA passes 10-million mark for number of Covid-19 tests done  as the country recorded 756 new Covid-19 infections on Wednesday, as well as 79 deaths 

***

The Lincoln Project: A bit “inside the Beltway” but...  Matt Gaetz (1:03mins)

Healthy planet, anyone?

Carbon dioxide levels in atmosphere reach record high. Concentrations are 50% above pre-industrial levels despite dip in emissions during Covid pandemic 

***

What would a tropical reef look like if it could escape the man-made perils of global heating and overfishing? A new study in the journal Ecology and Evolution suggests it would look like Rowley Shoals, an isolated archipelago of reefs 260km off Australia’s north-west coast.
Read more >> 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

House still not sold. The one purchaser who made an offer has decided that, since we’ve had no “better” offer than his, he can dictate new terms. We’ve a clause that states if any better offer comes along before he is granted a bond/mortgage, we can accept that offer. He has not yet applied for a bond.
The other realtor tells me he’ll bring a “very, very interested” cash client to view on Saturday. 

Hold thumbs!
(The issue is not lack on interested buyers, but that interested buyers cannot get a bond/mortgage. I suspect the above purchaser – the dictator – might not get a bond. I admit that, disappointing as it might be in the long term, I’d be happy enough - on behalf of my mother - if his bond application failed.

I do not like dictators or folks who take financial advantage. 

Yes, I know that’s the way of the world. It is not, however, my way.

***

The gardener remains in hospital. To date, I’ve heard no solid diagnosis on his condition. Speculation among neighbors? A stroke. Malnourishment. HIV. You name it, he’s got it.
Meanwhile, with the advent of fall/autumn days with rain and cooler weather, khaki and other weeds spread their prolific seeds thither and yon. After 6 weeks of subpar attention to the garden, I found an affordable garden service. It comes with a story:
“Jane” is a mother and local small businesswoman with a take-away (“to go”) shop. Her husband, after two years of incompetent medical care, succumbed to a spider bite. (Yes! Life in SA’s medical system ain’t a walk in the park.) Jane needs extra income and branch into providing gardening services. With her nephew and a couple of other young males contracting with her, she’s building a clientele.
I found Jane through a neighbor and, yesterday, her two-man team arrived – with their own tools, refreshments, and lunch. Jane’s service fee for two workers for one day is equivalent to the gardener’s weekly costs – using our equipment and petrol, plus the gardener’s breakfast and lunch – and I clear prolific water lilies as he’s “scared of snakes.”
Yesterday’s work was interrupted by rain although Jane’s team theoretically stays until the work is finished. (Ours is a big garden and gardening is never done.)
I’m relieved to have one worrisome item off my long list of worrisome items.

***

South African days getting shorter while nightfall happens earlier:
Feb 26: sunrise 5:47am; sunset 6:33pm.
March 2: sunrise 5:50am; sunset 6:29pm.
March 9: sunrise 5:55am; sunset 6:21pm.
March 16: sunrise 5:59am; sunset 6:13pm.
March 22: sunrise 6:03am; sunset 6:05pm.
March 29: sunrise 6:07am; sunset 5:58pm.
April 1: sunrise 6:09am; sunset 5:54pm.
April 8: sunrise 6:12am; sunset 5:46pm.