Thursday, June 9, 2022

Phish food

Worldwide (Map
June 9, 2022 - 534,061,700 confirmed infections; 6,306,200 deaths
June 10, 2021 – 174,500,000 confirmed infections; 3,759,200 deaths
December 31, 2020 – 82,656000 confirmed infections; 1,8040100 deaths

US (Map
June 9, 2022 - 85,324,615 confirmed infections; 1,010,800 deaths
June 10, 2021 – 174,500,000 confirmed infections; 3,759,200 deaths
December 31, 2020 – 19,737,200 confirmed infections; 342,260 deaths

SA (Coronavirus portal
June 9, 2022 - 3,971,000 confirmed infections; 101,397 deaths
June 10, 2021 – 1,713,000 confirmed infections; 57,320 deaths
December 31, 2020 – 1,039,165 confirmed infections; 28,035 deaths

Posts from:
June 10, 2021, “Renewings” 
December 31, 2020, “TGIO” 
Day 77, June 11, 2020, “Embers, ashes, and flames” 

News blues

Subvariants spread while the administration takes away $10 billion from existing pandemic funding, half of which will go to finance updated vaccines — when those become available — and the other half will pay for treatments, including the Pfizer drug Paxlovid.
Read more >> 
***
In South Africa, Gauteng has the majority of the new Covid cases (32%) followed by the Western Cape (23%), Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal (11% each), Free State (7%), Mpumalanga, (5%), Northern Cape and North West (4% each), and Limpopo (3%).
There were 85 new hospital admissions in the past 24 hours, bringing to 2,285 the number of people now admitted in hospitals with Covid-19.
Read more >> 
***
Covid infections continue, but humans pay less attention to the data. Institutions such as Johns Hopkins University & Medicine’s Coronavirus Resource Center continue to provide expert insight. Learn more from a recent Q&A, “The Future of the Pandemic Initiative” 
***
Monkeypox is of increasing concern – more than 1,000 cases outside of Africa , but what is it? (1:40 mins)
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday that new genetic sequencing data indicate there are at least two distinct monkeypox outbreaks underway outside Africa — a surprise finding that one official said suggests international spread is wider, and has been occurring for longer than has been previously realized.
Three of 10 viruses the CDC has sequenced from recent U.S. monkeypox cases — two from 2021 and eight from 2022 — are different from the viruses that have been sequenced by several countries involved in the large outbreak that is spreading in and from Europe.
A pox on monkeypox! Read more >> 

On war – and the Culture War

Photos and news from Ukraine battle fronts >> 
***
According to US Congress’s House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) and Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas), if “everyone had just prayed more, 19 children and two teachers might not have been massacred by a gunman in a Uvalde, Texas, elementary school last month.” 
Yes, “thoughts and prayers continue”… >> 
***
The Lincoln Project:
It’s not a joke  (0:20 mins)
Make up your mind (1:15 mins)
Mark Meadows unlocked  (1:30 mins)
Last week in the Republican Party - June 7, 2022  (2:22 mins)

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…


Sometimes ice cream is the only antidote to the craziness “out there”. 
My fav? Phish food.

Tuesday, June 7, 2022

Covid schmovid

News blues

Move over, Covid pandemic… for war, crazy politicians, guns, shootings, massacres, more crazy politicians, looming famine, outrageous inequality, scorched earth tactics….
We’re living in a world gone mad, falling apart at the seams, heading towards calamity.
***

On war

“Russian … using scorched-earth tactics” >> 
***
The Lincoln Project: Retire  (0:55 mins)

Healthy planet, anyone?

Recent posts have mentioned the murders of noisy crows in the park near my home. (“Squawk-fest”  and “Keep the bribes comin’" ). Turns out crows have a very legitimate reason for squawking: they’re baby-sitting
Talking about birds, check out these Australian budgies  and English parakeets.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Linda, a woman I met by chance last Sunday, revived my flagging respect for American womanhood. That sounds pompous – or worse – but, in general, I find American woman not prepared (as opposed to unprepared) to carry large rocks around a garden.
I was out walking when I spotted Linda, not a young woman, placing rocks the size of watermelons, one by one, around the building’s entryway lighting system.
We chatted and I commented on her hard work. She explained that she’d dug the rocks out of a back section of her apartment building, piled them in the wheelbarrow, and pushed the heavy load to the front of the building with the aim of beautifying the entryway.
Amazing.
I commented on how unusual it was to see an American woman doing such hands-on work. (It’s the kind of thing I do – love to do – in South Africa. Here, my apartment dwelling lifestyle disallows such gardening.) Linda explained that she’d once been married to a Ukrainian gardener and they’d worked happily in the gardening business until he’d died. (Gardening hadn’t killed him, cancer had. Alas.) During that time of her life, she’d learned about – and how to use – her physical strength.
Linda. A gal to admire.
***
SF Bay Area:
Sunrise: 5:47am
Sunset: 8:29pm

KZN, South Africa:
Sunrise: 6:49am
Sunset: 5:07pm

Saturday, June 4, 2022

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. 

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.
***

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 >> 
***
Photos from 100 days of war in Ukraine >> 
***
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

Thursday, June 2, 2022

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” >> 
***
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….

Wednesday, June 1, 2022

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 >> 
***
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 >> 
***

On war

Photos from the front lines in Ukraine >> 
***
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.

Tuesday, May 31, 2022

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 >> 
***
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 >> 
***

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!

Monday, May 30, 2022

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 >>
***

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 >> 
***
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.
***
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