Summer's here

News blues

Remember the ivermectin-as-savior-against-Covid craze? During the years 2020 through 2021 that I spent locked down in South Africa, the use of ivermectin as antidote to Covid was widespread. That was the period before vaccines became available, but continued after vaccines were introduced, too. Many people swore – and still swear – by this anti-bacterial medication used to de-worm animals. 

Alas, recently, “the SA Health Products Regulatory Authority (Sahpra) terminated its [ivermectin] controlled access programme with immediate effect after seeing no credible evidence to support a therapeutic role for ivermectin in Covid-19”  >> 

I suspect the pro-ivermectin folks will ignore and disbelieve the “no credible evidence” data and continue to seek out the med. Some will blame Bill Gates… or George Soros… or Dr Fauci … or “pedophiles” … or Democrats … for the lack of evidence. 

Such is the state of the human mind these days.

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On war – and the Culture War

According to Jillian Peterson an associate professor of criminology at Hamline University, and James Densley, a professor of criminal justice at Metro State University, [American] mass shooters overwhelmingly fit a certain profile … which means it’s possible to ID and treat them before they commit violence.

Their findings, published in the 2021 book, The Violence Project: How to Stop a Mass Shooting Epidemic, reveal striking commonalities among the perpetrators of mass shootings and suggest a data-backed, mental health-based approach could identify and address the next mass shooter before he pulls the trigger — if only politicians are willing to actually engage in finding and funding targeted solutions.

If only…. 

The lives and safety of our children and grandchildren depend on "if only...."

Read more >> 

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Photos from 100 days of war in Ukraine >> 

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The Lincoln Project:
Think again  (0:33 mins)
Two Faced Elise  (1:00 mins)

Healthy planet, anyone?

Enjoy murmurations >> 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Summer began in the United States this week. May 31st is both a public holiday – Memorial Day – and recognized as the beginning of summer. Appropriately, the public park next to which my apartment resides, is hosting the first of many gatherings. Today's gathering includes microphones and music although today’s musicians sound like they’re having more fun fooling around than presenting polished voices. I'm enjoying it anyway. Laughing, out of tune singing, more laughing, the sounds of kids running around… 

Ah, welcome summer.

SF Bay Area:
Sunrise: 5:47am
Sunset: 8:27pm

KZN, South Africa:
Sunrise: 6:47am
Sunset: 5:07pm

Mood iodine

Worldwide (Map) 
June 2, 2022 - 531,473,220 confirmed infections; 6,298,100 deaths
June 3, 2021 – 171,746,400 confirmed infections; 3,693,300 deaths
June 5, 2020 - 6,635,004 confirmed infections; 391,180 deaths

US (Map) 
June 2, 2022 - 84,540,520 confirmed infections; 1,008,150 deaths
June 3, 2021 – 33,308,000 confirmed infections; 596,000 deaths
June 5, 2020 - 1,872,660 confirmed infections; 108,220 deaths

SA (Coronavirus portal) 
June 2, 2022 - 3,960,450 confirmed infections; 101,219 deaths
June 3, 2021 – 1,669,300 confirmed infections; 56,610 deaths
June 5, 2020 – 40,792 confirmed infections; 850 deaths

Post from June 3, 2021, “Bliss, sort of” 
Post from June 5, 2020, “Covid-19 lost in the shuffle” 

News blues

America is averaging about 94,000 new cases every day, and hospitalizations have been ticking upward since April, though they remain much lower than previous peaks.
But Covid cases could be undercounted by a factor of 30, an early survey of the surge in New York City indicates. “It would appear official case counts are under-estimating the true burden of infection by about 30-fold, which is a huge surprise,” said Denis Nash, an author of the study and a distinguished professor of epidemiology at the City University of New York School of Public Health.

Read “We’re playing with fire” >> 

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The Lincoln Project: Pay attention  (0:59 mins)

War: incompatible with a healthy planet

Vietnam. US military. Iraq. Veterans. PTSD. And now Ukraine Yet another lesson on the devastation visited upon our planet's environment by war Exploding chemical plants have become a frightening reality for Ukraine’s citizens since Russians invaded their country. This is just “one example of the staggering toll that war is taking on the nation’s environment. Rockets are polluting the soil and groundwater; fires threaten to expel radioactive particles; and warships have reportedly killed dolphins in the Black Sea.”

Read more  >> 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Today, a break in the monotony of my workday routine (bus to work … work, work, work … bus back home… ): I experience my first computer tomography procedure, aka CT scan, the updated version of CAT scan when I accompanied a friend.
The odd part of CT scans? Iodine is pumped via IV into client’s vein to allow the scanner to capture/scan “anything untoward”…. My brain muddled iodine with indigo and I imagined my friend's blood tinged with a lovely shade of blue. Alas, that wasn’t to be as the iodine used in CT scans is colorless.
Riffing off iodine, I remembered and have been listening to Duke Ellington’s “Mood Indigo”. 
All’s well that ends well….

Whadya mean reinfection?

News blues

This Covid graph shows your chances of reinfection within nine months

Aubree Gordon, an epidemiologist at the University of Michigan, …estimated each person would catch Covid again around every three years.
She said: “Barring some intervention that really changes the landscape, we will all get SARS-CoV-2 multiple times in our life.”
This is roughly in line with how often people become reinfected with flu viruses and the seasonal colds which make a reappearance every winter.

Read more >> 

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Efforts to update Covid vaccines can't keep up with changes in the virus. New variants appear to be even more immune-resistant than the original Omicron strain, raising the possibility that even retooled vaccines could be outdated by the time they become available this fall >> 

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On war

Photos from the front lines in Ukraine >> 

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The Lincoln Project:
Donald Trump Visits The NRA  (1:12 mins)
The Republican Army  (1:15 mins)
Last week in the Republican Party - May 31, 2022  (2:02 mins)
Doug Mastriano is Dangerous  (0:58 mins)

Healthy planet, anyone?

The Bramble Cay melomys became the first mammal lost to the climate crisis >> 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Ditto: Bus to work … work, work, work … bus back home. Walk, walk, walk… it’s sunny and breezy out along the bay.
The murder of crows assaults my hearing. But what would I – and the beach, the bay, the environment – do without them? They belong here. Same as I do.

Happy end of May

News blues

Can you reduce your risk of getting long Covid if you are infected? Yes, you can. Here’s how >> 

A new, massive 23andMe survey reveals who may be at the highest risk for long COVID >> 

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The World Health Organization's governing board agreed to form a new committee to help speed up its response to health emergencies like COVID-19 >> 

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On war

A bank of photos of the war in Ukraine >> 

***

The Lincoln Project: Stupid  (0:57 mins)

Healthy planet, anyone?

Conservation can work. Take the wild animals of Europe, for example. Despite the odds against them, they’re making a comeback >> 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Bus to work … work, work, work … bus back home. Walk, walk, walk… it’s cool and breezy out along the bay. Lovely!

Too subtle?

News blues

It’s getting increasingly difficult to find Covid news. The news that is published tends towards repetition, along the lines of numbers of infections up but no reliable data available: “The real COVID surge is (much) bigger than it looks. But don't panic” >>

Occasionally a lone voice, such as the UN’s environment chief warns that nature is sending “us” a message about the connection between the coronavirus pandemic and the ongoing climate crisis:

…humanity was placing too many pressures on the natural world with damaging consequences and warned that failing to take care of the planet meant not taking care of ourselves.
… the Covid-19 outbreak was a “clear warning shot”, given that far more deadly diseases existed in wildlife, and that today’s civilisation was “playing with fire”. They said it was almost always human behaviour that caused diseases to spill over into humans.
To prevent further outbreaks, the experts said, both global heating and the destruction of the natural world for farming, mining and housing have to end, as both drive wildlife into contact with people.

Read more >>

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On war – and “the culture war”

Progressive pranksters Jason Selvig sarcastically thanks NRA president Wayne LaPierre for consistent offering of “thoughts and prayers” to victims and families – and all Americans. Selvig suggests even more thoughts and prayers will stop future massacres that Republican politicians refuse to legislate again. Look and listen >>  (2:18 mins) Perhaps too subtle?

Ukraine – photos from the war zone >> 

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The Lincoln Project: Trump's Texas Speech in 90 Seconds  (1:30 mins)

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

I’ve lived in this island town for more than 20 years and never seen the beach as crowded as it was yesterday. (True, I don’t gather stats on crowd size, so it is possible that, behind my back, larger crowds have gathered….) Yesterday, a dozen parasailers readied equipment on the beach while dozens more sailed in the bay. Kite flyers were out in force, too, taking advantage of the breeze, as families and friends BBQ’ed and socialized along the beach and in the park.
Lovely to see people shucking off the scary experiences of the past 3 years and opting for social enjoyment.

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Heading towards midsummer’s day in the SF Bay Area:
Sunrise: 5:49am
Sunset: 8:24pm

Heading towards midwinter in KZN, South Africa:
Sunrise: 6:45am
Sunset: 5:08pm

Keep the bribes comin’

News blues

For the third year, Americans are greeting the unofficial start of summer shadowed by the specter of the coronavirus amid rising covid-19 cases and hospitalizations across the country.
The United States is recording more than 100,000 infections a day — at least five times higher than this point last year — as it confronts the most transmissible versions of the virus yet.

Read more >> 

COVID-19 is not behind us. The virus has not been eradicated and we're seeing an uptick of cases across the United States. In addition, we recently reached a grim new milestone of over 1 million American deaths that have been related to the virus. With more people getting infected daily, a doctor who has been treating COVID patients throughout the pandemic shares the latest on COVID and places to avoid in an effort to help prevent catching the virus >> 

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The Lincoln Project:
How do Republicans respond to a national tragedy? Run away  (0:20 mins)
Last week in the Republican Party - May 24, 2022 (2:14 mins)

Healthy planet, anyone?

Chestnut tiger butterflies take to the skies at Himeshima Island, Japan.
Photograph: Asahi Shimbun/Getty Images

 Butterflies. A reminder that life exists outside of the burden of grief… and the reality that, when it comes to guns in America, “nothing much will change”).
This planet – even its people - is worth working to change. Major problem?
These days, people do not know how to work together without trying to impose – insist upon - their point of view being “The Truth”. Too many points of view, too much self-promoting insistence and not enough selfless collaboration.

Other countries show gun restrictions can be enacted.

 
The reality is, 1) in the US, too many guns coupled with corrupt political ideology surrounding guns, and 2) corrupt politicians cannot stay in power unless they keep the bribes pouring into their re-election coffers.
For example,

Gun lobby money to members of US Congress

And, below, the US Senators taking the most money from the gun lobby National Rifle Association. In this case, all these senators are Republicans. Democrats take NRA money, too, they're just not as good at it as Republican senators. 

How much is handed to these senators?

Mitt Romney: $13.6 million
Richard Burr $6.8 million
Roy Blunt: $ 4.5 million
Thom Tillis: $4.4 million
Cory Gardner: $3.3 million

From these politicians’ point of view, as long as its “the little guys” being shot – literally, in the case of school children – why bother coming up with workable solutions to these ongoing massacres?
Massacres of the innocents means money coming in.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Perfect weather and four days free of the responsibilities inherent in the formal workplace. Bliss.
My ongoing obsession – driven by a need to avoid physical pain – is ensuring a daily dose of weight-bearing exercise.
At work, I use the stairs rather than the elevator/lift. (Going down 8 floors is easy; going up? Not so much. But I try.)
At home, I walk at least 2 miles each day. 

Yesterday’s revelation: walk, as usual, the mile to the grocery store, but instead of walking back home carrying two bags heavy with groceries, ride the bus.
Except for the half-hour wait for the bus, this plan worked well.
A new idea dawns: since I barely drive my vehicle, why own it? With gas/petrol at a record high – up to $6.50/gallon in my town – why bother owning a vehicle I hardly ever drive? 

After a lifetime of owning a vehicle, could I give it up? 

Hmmm. It’s worth thinking over.

***

The murder of crows continues squawking in the oak trees and park outside my home. 

The squirrels scurry along thee perfectly formed squirrel highway of branches.
Except for children shooting children in school classrooms and no political will to find workable solutions to stop it, all is “well-enough” in the park outside my home.
I’ll try to be satisfied with this, for now.

“Do something!”

News blues - on war!

With Republicans supporting the morally corrupt National Rifle Association and shutting down Congress, Michigan Senator McMorrow, shut out from speaking at her state’s capital, takes to Twitter to challenge all of us >> (5:05 mins)
And, an interview with Senator McMorrow >>  (10:20 mins)

Lawrence O’Donnell news anchor >> 
List of school shooters in the US, their ages and their killing locations

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"How about we treat every young man who wants to buy a gun like every woman who wants to get an abortion - mandatory 48-hr waiting period, parental permission, a note from his doctor proving he understands what he's about to do, a video he has to watch about the effects of gun violence, and an ultrasound wand up the ass (just because). Let's close down all but one gun shop in every state and make him travel hundreds of miles, take time off work, and stay overnight in a strange town to get a gun. Make him walk through a gauntlet of people holding photos of loved ones who were shot to death, people who call him a murderer and beg him not to buy a gun.
(I do not know who wrote this, but vote this person into Congress! Hell, why stop there, put her on the Supreme Court!)