Eyewitness testimony

News blues

The following obviously is not Covid news. It’s a change from Covid news yet, while it addresses eyewitness testimony on UFOs, it can be taken in a wider context that is applicable to Covid, particularly Covid kitchen table vaccine “testimony”.
The quote comes from the e-book, “Letters from an Astrophysicist”, by Neil deGrasse Tyson.
Think about it.
Sobering.

… eyewitness testimony is, by far, the weakest form of evidence that a person can present in support of a claim. In spite of its high value in the court of law, in the “court” of science, eyewitness testimony is essentially useless. Psychologists have known for quite some time how ineffective the human senses are as data taking devices. Note that the pedigree of the observer is irrelevant here—as long as he or she is human, the fallibility of observation is manifest. Note further that claims of a “cover-up” or “conspiracy” is the battle cry of people who want to believe, in the face of insufficient data to fully support their claims. Another well-known shortcoming of the human mind is what psychologists and philosophers call “argument from ignorance.” The NASA cases … come closest to category (4) above, since we have video of strange phenomena—video that we take to be generally reliable, reminding us again of what the “U” in UFO stands for. Once you confess to not knowing what you are looking at, no logical line of reasoning allows you to then declare that you know what you are looking at. And that includes assertions that the flying shapes “must be” intelligent, technologically advanced aliens from distant planets secretly observing the behavior of Earthlings. You simply bear insufficient evidence to make that jump, however tempting it may be. A similar argument from ignorance comes from the Big Bang. When I am asked what was around before the Big Bang, I say, “We do not yet know.”

***

On war… and the culture war
With Opinions like the following what politician needs publicity? 

A scathing opinion on UK’s current PM by John Crace: “Half-witted, reckless Librium Liz may be even worse than May and Johnson”  >> 
Curios if Crace had ever opined on Donald J Trump, former (current but ‘cheated’?) president, I consult Dr Google and discover:
Trump's stream of subconsciousness becomes a torrent in car-crash interview >> 

and
Yes, it's me, President Trump, visiting some third-world hellhole >> 
Ah, yes. Classic Crace. He does not disappoint.

***

The Lincoln Project:
Regret  (1:00 mins)
Ginnie Smile (0:19 mins)
D J Trump – Wilmington remix (0:45 mins)

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Zapiro.com

Why, with Eskom just one of South Africa's myriad catastrophic failures looking for solutions would anyone want to take on “running” South Africa, other than continue the deadly “running into the ground”?
Well, there is a not nice but honest answer.
Money. Lots of money, directly into a politician’s pocket.
Here’s Pew Research ’s view in 2016 >> 
And, today
“Biggest Voting Block in South Africa’s ANC Backs Ex-Health Minister to Lead Party” (Mkhize faces disqualification if charged [of corruption] before conference >>  

Then Health Minister Mkize, you may recall, was "put on special leave… after allegations his department irregularly awarded COVID-19-related contracts to a communications company controlled by his former associates.” 
In other words, the ANC proposes a way-more-intelligent-than-Zuma but also corrupt official as the next president of SA.
Corruption, all the way down. 

Way to go, ANC!

***

Circling back to Eskom, above pic from my iPhone shows one of many similar examples of what South Africans are served up by Eskom’s app, EskomSepush, each day these days.
Darkness, literal and metaphoric, all the way down.

***

SF Bay Area:
Sunrise: 7:04am
Sunset: 6:53pm

KZN, South Africa:
Sunrise: 5:39am
Sunset: 6:00pm

Booster downer

Worldwide (Map) 
September 29, 2022 - 616,767,290 confirmed infections; 6,542,430 deaths
September 30, 2021 - 233,414,450 infections; 4,776,885 deaths
October 1, 2020 – 33,881,275 confirmed infections: 1,012,980 deaths

US (Map) 
September 29, 2022 - 96,252,475 confirmed infections; 1,058,525 deaths
September 30, 2021 - 43,361,700 infections; 7.808,100 deaths
October 1, 2020 – 7,233,199 confirmed infections: 206,940 deaths

SA (Coronavirus portal) 
September 29, 2022 - 4,018,102 confirmed infections; 102,169 deaths
September 30, 2021 - 2,898,900 infections; 87,420 deaths
October 1. 2020 – 674,340 confirmed infections: 16,735 deaths

Post from:
September 30, 2021, “Tested” 
October 1, 2020, “Going woolly” 

News blues

Do the new bivalent COVID boosters come with more side effects?
Chicago's top doctor answered that question during a Facebook Live Tuesday - and her answer was no. [In fact, she suggests, it may even be the opposite.]
"We're generally hearing fewer side effects because people who are getting bivalent boosters are people who have had prior vaccines," she said. "Of course, some people have even had COVID."
She said the reasoning behind that is because vaccines are intended to teach an immune response so the more doses of the vaccine you get, especially combined with infection, the quicker your body can respond.

Read more >> 

Hmmm, I respectfully disagree with Chicago’s top doc. Five shots on, and for the first time, I had noticeable side effects beyond sensitivity at the injection site. Indeed, my side effects – about 36 hours’ worth - more closely resembled flu than “the opposite” of no side effects. All five of my shots have been from the same manufacturer, Pfizer.
My point here? No one can, nor should, predict how someone else might react to anything, including vaccinations. And get your booster anyway. From what I glean from those struck with Covid and from ever-present Dr Google, a dose of Covid could be a lot worse than a booster against Covid… plus one runs the risk and rigors associated with Long Covid. Who needs that? 

Get the shot - of vaccine, not ivermectin, nor hydroxychloroquine, nor breastmilk of newt, nor any other kitchen table “cure”…

***

On war… and escaping war
Russian men flee Russia and war >>  (2:50 mins)
Putin trying to salvage his “special operation” … by conscription of Russian men >>  (26:00 mins)

[Note: this blog is read by a handful of Russians in Russia... hence I share these news broadcasts for interested Russians to access news unlikely to be shown in Russia.]
 

***

The Lincoln Project:
Making America Fascist  (0:38 mins)
Kevin’s plan  (0:59 mins)
Tide  (0:58 mins)
Blake Masters  (0:58 mins)
Tucker calls Putin  (0:58 mins)
Last week in the Republican Party - September 27, 2022  (2:18 mins) -->

Healthy planet, anyone?

Lions, and tigers, and bears – making a comeback?

... By the first half of the 20th century, many of Europe’s mammals had been reduced to just a fraction of their historical levels. Millennia of hunting, exploitation, and habitat loss had forced them into decline. Many had been wiped out completely.
But many mammal populations have seen a dramatic increase over the last 50 years.
A coalition of conservation organizations – including the Zoological Society of London; Birdlife International; and Rewilding Europe – periodically publish reports on how animal populations across Europe are changing. In their latest report they looked at the change in populations of 24 mammal species, and one reptile species – the Loggerhead turtle. The results are shown in the chart.
Eurasian badger populations achieved an average increase of 100% – a doubling. Eurasian otters tripled, on average. For red deer this was an increase of 331%.
The Eurasian beaver has made the most remarkable recovery. It’s estimated to have increased 167-fold, on average. There were likely only a few thousand beavers left in Europe in first half of the 20th century. Today there are more than 1.2 million.
The European bison has achieved a similar level of comeback.
In the 2013 mammal comeback report, one species – the Iberian lynx – had shrinking populations. But, there is good news: after decades of decline, it has been making a remarkable recovery. So much so that the IUCN moved it from Critically Endangered to Endangered on the Red List in 2015. Its average population sizes are now bigger than they were in 1987.
There are more than 250 European mammal species, so the ones that we covered here represent just 10% of the continent’s mammals.

Read more >>  

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

This time next week, Mary will be offering up her arm for another dose of chemotherapy. In the meantime, we enjoy our daily walks together.
During yesterday’s walk, I photographed some of my favorite things: rocks and stones…

Textures provided by late afternoon low tide.
iPhone photo: (c) Susan Galleymore

Some kind of conglomerate with serpentine.
This rock, one of many acting as rip rap demarkating tidal from pedestian zones,
were trucked onto the beach some decades ago when the area was landfilled. 
iPhone photo: (c) Susan Galleymore

Close up.
iPhone photo: (c) Susan Galleymore

And birds… this Great Blue Heron frequently avails him- or herself of snacks generously provided by the condo fishpond.

 

***

SF Bay Area:
Sunrise: 7:03am
Sunset: 6:54pm

KZN, South Africa:
Sunrise: 5:38am
Sunset: 5:59pm

The Big C

News blues

Data from the [UK] National Health Service showed that after falling for nearly two months, the seven-day average of new [Covid] cases in England and Wales rose 13% for the week ending September 17 over the week before. The seven-day average of hospitalizations was up 17% in the week ending September 19 compared with the week prior.
The data aligns with what models have predicted would happen in both the UK and the US.
“They predicted that we’d get a June to July peak and then there’d be a month where nothing happened in August and then it would flatten in in August and September and then start again in October. So it’s exactly matching what the modelers have been predicting,” Spector said.
In the US, some models have predicted that Covid-19 cases will begin to rise again in October and continue to increase into the winter. Experts are hopeful that because most of the population now has some underlying immunity to the coronavirus, this wave would be less deadly than we’ve seen in previous winters.

Read more >> 

More data (to mess with your mind?). Zoe Health provides and gathers data in UK and US.

Take a look >> 

***

The "Big C" - Cancer … and the “war” on cancer
Focus on cancer since Prez Biden announced his Cancer Moonshot. .. and since my bestie Mary was found to have been contaminated with asbestos and now suffers from mesothelioma.

Dr Sanja Gupta presents “good” news – cancer survival rates increase >>  (2:32 mins). No word, however, on the overall increases in cancer and the sorts of cancers survivors are surviving. My focus? Cancers causes by exposure to environmental toxins. Mesothelioma never goes away but keeps recurring. It's a matter of time and new location. 

More on this in future posts.

Healthy planet, anyone?

The National Toxicology Program (NTP) has identified the chemical substances listed below as known human carcinogens in the NTP's 15th Report on Carcinogens. Simply because a substance has been designated as a carcinogen, however, does not mean that the substance will necessarily cause cancer. Many factors influence whether a person exposed to a carcinogen will develop cancer, including the amount and duration of the exposure and the individual’s genetic background.
Learn more about Environmental Carcinogens and Cancer Risk. 
One long list of cancer-causing substances - not the definitive list by any means (the list actually grows day by day) - but it's a start and one must start somewhere, no?
• Aflatoxins
• Aristolochic Acids
• Arsenic
• Asbestos
• Benzene
• Benzidine
• Beryllium
• 1,3-Butadiene
• Cadmium
• Coal Tar and Coal-Tar Pitch
• Coke-Oven Emissions
• Crystalline Silica (respirable size)
• Erionite
• Ethylene Oxide
• Formaldehyde
• Hexavalent Chromium Compounds
• Indoor Emissions from the Household Combustion of Coal
• Mineral Oils: Untreated and Mildly Treated
• Nickel Compounds
• Radon
• Secondhand Tobacco Smoke (Environmental Tobacco Smoke)
• Soot
• Strong Inorganic Acid Mists Containing Sulfuric Acid
• Thorium
• Trichloroethylene
• Vinyl Chloride
• Wood Dust

Want to know more about any of the above toxins, link to Learn more about Environmental Carcinogens and Cancer Risk >>

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Yesterday morning, Mary and I took the latest booster. In terms of side effects, Mary is doing better than I am. By late yesterday afternoon, I'd noticed a pain in my right jaw and neck. By bedtime, pain had moved down the right side of my neck and neck movement to the right was constrained. 

By this morning, muscle pain and stiffness has continued and become “tighter” – that is, muscles are both and sore. Pain in the left upper arm muscles - site of the shot - accompany these side effects, as do aching eye sockets, and “general malaise” although no fever. 

These are the worst side effects I’ve experience through five vaccinations.

 No Covid, though – that counts for something … doesn’t it?

***

Weather has changed, cooler now
SF Bay Area:
Sunrise: 7:02am
Sunset: 6:58pm

KZN, South Africa:
Sunrise: 5:42am
Sunset: 5:58pm

To bee and butterfly...

News blues

When is the pandemic “over”? In the early days of 2020, we envisioned it ending with the novel coronavirus going away entirely. When this became impossible, we hoped instead for elimination: If enough people got vaccinated, herd immunity might largely stop the virus from spreading. When this too became impossible, we accepted that the virus would still circulate but imagined that it could become, optimistically, like one of the four coronaviruses that cause common colds or, pessimistically, like something more severe, akin to the flu.
Instead, COVID has settled into something far worse than the flu.

Read more >> 

***

On war and the culture war
Let’s hear it for critical thinking and more with astrophysicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson  (16:46 mins)

***

The Lincoln Project:
With age come wisdom (1:40 mins)
Was it worth it, JD? (0:23 mins)
Flip flop Lindsey  (0:17 mins)
Last week in the Republican Party - September 20, 2022  (2:08 mins)

Healthy planet, anyone?

Small and successful start to support butterflies and bees in UK and Europe. (Now to convince the US….)

Butterflies and bees are getting their own transport network as “bee bus stops” start to pop up around UK cities and across Europe. Humble bus shelter roofs are being turned into riots of colour, with the number of miniature gardens – full of pollinator-friendly flora such as wild strawberries, poppies and pansies – set to increase by 50% in the UK by the end of this year.

Read more >> 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Mary gets stronger each day since her first chemo session. Moreover, she’s expressing her need to take time alone to sit on and enjoy sunset on the beach. The sunsets this time of year are glorious. I know she chants the vajra guru mantra while out there. (I chant it when I’m out there, too.)

***

SF Bay Area:
Sunrise: 6:59am
Sunset: 7:02pm

KZN, South Africa:
Sunrise: 5:46am
Sunset: 5:56pm

Equinox 2022

Worldwide (Map) 
September 22, 2022 – 613,793,710 confirmed infections; 6,532,674 deaths
September 22, 2021 – 229,708,120 confirmed infections; 4,712,053 deaths 

September 24, 2020 – 31,780,000 confirmed infections; 975,100 deaths

US (Map) 
September 22, 2022 - 95,909,800 confirmed infections; 1,055,451 deaths
September 22, 2021 – 42, 425,400 confirmed infections; 678.815 deaths
September 24, 2020 – 6,935,000 confirmed infections; 201,880 deaths

SA (Coronavirus portal) 
September 22, 2022 - 4,016,157 confirmed infections; 102,146 deaths
September 22, 2021 – 2,886,335 confirmed infections; 86,376 deaths
September 24, 2020 – 665,190 confirmed infections; 16,206 deaths

Post from:
September 22, 2021 “Falling behind” 
September 24, 2020 “Sundowners” 

News blues

And… the Covid confusion continues: “Biden Revisits His Interview Answer Declaring 'The Pandemic Is Over'  >> 

***

On war and the culture war
Russians fleeing Russia  as security forces detain more than 1,300 people at protests denouncing mobilization  across 38 Russian cities after Putin orders Russia’s first military draft since the second world war. >> 

***

The Lincoln Project:
Ohio Emergency Alert (0:23 mins)
How a democracy falls  (1:23 mins)
A new Dark Age  (1:17 mins)
Salutes at Doug Mastriano's Rally  (0:37 mins)
Elections matter  (1:24 mins)

Healthy planet, anyone?

© Gary Larsen, The far side 

Marshall Islands Prime Minister Kausea Natano is racing to save his tiny island nation from drowning by raising it 13 to 16 feet (4 to 5 meters) above sea level through land reclamation.

While experts issue warnings about the eventual uninhabitability of the Marshall Islands, President David Kabua must reconcile the inequity of a seawall built to protect one house that is now flooding another one next door.
That is the reality of climate change: Some people get to talk about it from afar, while others must live it every day.
Natano and Kabua tried to show that reality on Wednesday on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly. Together they launched the Rising Nations Initiative, a global partnership aimed to preserve the sovereignty, heritage and rights of Pacific atoll island nations whose very existence have been threatened by climate change.
Natano described how rising sea levels have impacted everything from the soil that his people rely on to plant crops, to the homes, roads and power lines that get washed away. The cost of eking out a living, he said, eventually becomes too much to bear, causing families to leave and the nation itself to disappear.
“This is how a Pacific atoll dies,” Natano said. “This is how our islands will cease to exist.”

Read more >> 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

A friend came over to visit and, unbeknownst to me and Mary, cooked up jalapeños – super-duper hot and spicy Mexican chilies.

In a different room sat Mary, breathing through compromised lungs due to cancer, surgery, and chemo. 

She began coughing. 

I began coughing. 

I stepped out of the room to ascertain the direction of pungent air and, eyes watering, fell into fevered coughing. My friend appeared unaffected and nonplussed: why the fuss?
In no uncertain terms I made clear to him that he’d created an emergency for Mary then I placed a fan in her room, shut the door, and left him to clear the air.
I’ve never witnessed anyone as desensitized to chilis as this friend. He holds a bottle of Sriracha sauce in his hand when he eats and dollops at least half a teaspoonful of the incendiary liquid on each fork- or spoonful before swallowing.
Apparently, he’s been eating super-spicy sauces since he was a teenager. The only effect I discern? He commandeers the bathroom more than anyone else I’ve ever known, woman or man.

***

Mary video conferenced with her oncologist yesterday and described her reactions to her first chemo session. According to the oncologist, the symptoms she experienced – nausea and fatigued – and their duration, indicate what she can expect from future sessions. That cheered up Mary. Yes, those 4 to 5 days were tough, but after the conversation with the oncologist she stopped talking about her impending death and began talking about which meds would best alleviate symptoms.
Progress. (It’s difficult to hear your bestie insist on preferring to die than live with a future peppered with chemo and/or radiation and/or immunotherapy.)

***

Happy Fall/Autumn or Spring Equinox!
SF Bay Area:
Sunrise: 6:57am
Sunset: 7:05pm

KZN, South Africa:
Sunrise: 5:49am
Sunset: 5:55pm

Begone, single use plastics!

News blues

Yesterday, Prez Biden said, “The pandemic is over… We still have a problem with COVID. We're still doing a lot of work on it. But the pandemic is over. If you notice, no one's wearing masks. Everybody seems to be in pretty good shape, and so I think it's changing…”
Hmmm, shades of Donald Trump? 

Luckily, We the People have straight talking Dr Anthony Fauci to a reality check Biden’s wishful thinking:

It is unlikely the U.S. will eradicate the coronavirus and a “suspicious” new variant, BA 2.75.2, is on the horizon, President Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser, Anthony Fauci, said Monday during a fireside chat with the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
“We are not where we need to be if we are going to quote ‘live with the virus’ because we know we are not going to eradicate it,” Fauci said. “The next question we ask: ‘Are we going to be able to eliminate it from our country or from most of the world?’ and the answer is unlikely, because it is highly transmissible and the immunity that’s induced by vaccine or infection is also transient.”

Read more >> 

***

The Lincoln Project:
Rally of darkness  (1:02 mins)
Rick Reacts: Contract with America  (1:50 mins)

Healthy planet, anyone?

Add your name to shut down single use plastics, at least in the US

Earlier this year, Oceana  joined 180 other organizations in calling on the Biden administration's General Services Administration (GSA) — the agency responsible for the federal government's purchasing policies — to prohibit federal agencies from buying single-use plastics. And now, the Biden administration is moving forward to examine ways to reduce single-use plastics.
We have an opportunity to make a real difference on the amount of plastic the United States purchases and uses, and we need your voice!
Right now, the federal government is accepting public comment on the use of single-use plastic products in the U.S. government.
Stand with Oceana and countless others to tell the federal government it's time to stop purchasing and using single-use plastic.

Add your name >> 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Post-chemo day 5
Mary reports “feeling better, diminished nausea though continued fatigue and hints of tinnitus.” (According to Dr Internet, “the chemotherapy drug cisplatin may cause ringing or other sounds in the ears, [aka tinnitus]. It may improve gradually after treatment ends but sometimes it can be permanent.)
A growing concern is that fatigue and weakness prevent Mary’s twice daily walks along the beach – 2 to 3 miles per day on good days. Lack of exercise exacerbates Mary’s old spine and hip injuries, the x-rays of which led to uncovering the epithelioid pleural mesothelioma squatting comfortably in her left lung.

***

SF Bay Area:
Sunrise: 6:56am
Sunset: 7:08pm

KZN, South Africa:
Sunrise: 5:51am
Sunset: 5:54pm

It’s over, thank the gods (not!)

News blues

President Biden said in a 60 Minutes interview Sunday  that the COVID-19 pandemic is a thing of the past.
"The pandemic is over," he said. "We still have a problem with COVID. We're still doing a lot of work on it. But the pandemic is over. If you notice, no one's wearing masks. Everybody seems to be in pretty good shape, and so I think it's changing, and I think [the Detroit auto show resuming after three years] is a perfect example of it."
His remarks came as Biden's own administration seeks an additional $22.4 billion from Congress to keep funding the fight against COVID, and as the United States continues to see hundreds of related deaths every day.

“If you notice, no one's wearing masks.” That ain’t right. People in my town, including me, wear masks. But, if the Prez says it’s over, then I guess it’s over. Covid is dead, long live Covid!
Read more >> 

***

The Lincoln Project:
Martha’s Vineyard attorney  (1:12 mins) (Background story >> ) 
Kari Lake mimics Trump  (0:11 mins)
Last week in the Republican Party - September 13, 2022  (2:08 mins)

Healthy planet, anyone?

Dave Whamond | © 2022 Cagle Cartoons

Déjà vu all over again? Quelle horreur! “…big oil admits ‘gaslighting’ public over green aims…”

Criticism in the US of the oil industry’s obfuscation over the climate crisis is intensifying after internal documents showed companies attempted to distance themselves from agreed climate goals, admitted “gaslighting” the public over purported efforts to go green, and even wished critical activists be infested by bedbugs.

Read more >> 

That ‘big oil’, ‘big pharma’, ‘big plastic’, Amazon, etc., obfuscate the truth in the name of profit and power should be a surprise to no one.
I wrote this article back in 2011 under the pseudonym Supa Strika  (explained in the piece) and I was a Janey-come-lately to the reality of ‘oil company gaslighting’.
Back then, one of my roles was to research and write a competitive analysis of the big oil companies – ExxonMobile, BP, Shell, Chevron – to learn (and better?) their greenwashing efforts. Naturally, we did not call it greenwashing.
Another cliché: the more things change, the more they stay the same.
Alas.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Day 3 after Mary’s first (of 4) chemo sessions. She did well on Friday but Saturday was not a good day: nausea throughout the day. This, despite the acupuncture session. We agree she’ll continue with acupuncture. I’m thinking a session or two of massage might be in order, too. She’s very tense in neck and shoulders, no doubt stress related.
Mary insisted on continuing with her exercise regimen as closely as possible and we walked along the beach and under the park’s trees. It was hard work for her. Nevertheless, she did it and I’m proud of her.

She reports feeling slightly better today, some nausea but feeling weak, especially in her legs. 

We'll try for a walk later, depending on her ability.  

***

Bay Area residents were warned for days about an impending rainstorm with “up to 1.5 inches of rain”… What did we get? Very little. Not enough rain to make mud of the dry holes dotting lawns and grass.
Yes, rain fell north and south of the Bay but nothing significant for us.
SF Bay Area:
Sunrise: 6:55am
Sunset: 7:10pm

KZN, South Africa:
Sunrise: 5:52am
Sunset: 5:54pm