An extraordinary journey to....our HOMES

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“An infected mind is a far more dangerous pestilence than any plague- one only threatens your life, the other destroys your character.” – Marcus Aurelius (1800 years ago)

2021 is truly underway and no doubt the hopes of millions of people around the globe that this would be a better year, are vanishing fairly quickly. The Covid-19 “buzz” is now all about rampant second waves, a new Covid-19 variant born in South Africa “nogal” and stricter lockdowns for many, many countries. Fascinating how South Africa was fingered with gifting the World with this new variant. How on earth did the scientific boffins determine precisely which country this new strain came from? So, the picture is generally one of doom and gloom although there is a brightly shining star out there. Vaccinations are underway in many countries and there is huge optimism that this process will ultimately contain the Covid-19 beast although the sheer scale and logistical challenges of vaccinating enormous populations is proving to be daunting.

One of the ways to approach the uncertainty, fear and chaos underpinning this pandemic is to try and get one’s head around what our post Covid-19 world will look like, keeping in mind that it will not revert to the old “business as usual” place we were all so familiar and comfortable with. In no particular order, a not so good place to start is with politicians. Boy, do they love a crisis! Around the world, Governments have discovered that they have all sorts of emergency powers which they can ram down the throats of their populace, often paying scant attention to their own Constitutions. Once Covid-19 is consigned to the scrap heap many of these idiotic politicians will be itching to exercise those powers again by pouncing on any health-related threat, to act. WFH (working from home) seems to have now developed a momentum of its own although a simple word down the passage between colleagues has now been replaced with a lengthy email copied (mostly unnecessarily) to the entire office. Keeps the troops busy! The other conundrum is “going out for lunch” has now been replaced with lunging towards the refrigerator. Not good for the waistline! There’s no 9 to 5 delineation. Somehow there is an expectation that you should be available 24/7 just in case that moron from Pyongyang calls. Zoom calls are the order of the day and the saving grace here is that your colleagues do not have to endure your bad breath or the pathetic sight of a severe hang over. That coffee mug can be filled with anything, scotch included. The world of retail shopping malls has been gouged beyond belief. Online shopping and courier deliveries are the new norm although there are still many folks who like seeing, touching and deciding on that item they want to purchase. Instead, the courier delivery arrives at often seriously inconvenient times, one has to use the tool box to open the container layered with reinforced tape, and then little Styrofoam pellets litter the floor. To cap it all, it could be the wrong item or colour or size. Any little runny nose or mild ache or pain will automatically trigger the knee jerk need to self-quarantine. So, after a rough week end, waking up under the weather on a Monday morning will test the theory that hang overs may be catchy! Bad news for Generation X as they will find it impossible to get ageing parents into nursing homes. They are regarded as death traps and our kids will just have to get used to us bullets drooling in front of the TV at their homes. Going to the bank wearing a mask will need to be carefully managed if one wants to avoid being apprehended or worse, being shot, because of a resemblance on the CCTV camera to a well-known bank robber.

Gareth Cliff, known to many, wrote a fascinating article pointing out that none of us, including the many self-indulgent politicians and scientists, can control a virus and poses the question; “so what can we do?” I have added my text to his broad ideas to avoid any plagiarism accusations! 1. Get oneself into better physical shape. Focus on strengthening your immune system so that you don’t crap yourself every time someone close by sneezes. No place to hide now and try and get to the end of 2021 in better shape than where you are currently. 2. Eliminate drama. Work out who you want to see more of and those you’d like to be around less. After all, we all operate in smaller bubbles than before. Discard the negative snotty noses and only include positive people in the bubble. Who brings optimism into your life? 3. Develop a routine so that you discover and preserve your daily purpose. Wake up early, water the garden, go for a walk and list the things you need to do each day. Guaranteed you will feel pretty worthless and miserable if you meander through any day without purpose. Find a hobby, learn something new and do not wallow in self-pity. Get your hands dirty, help others. 4. Stop looking for a saviour. Let’s face it, trust in politicians, scientists and the daily bombardment of mostly bad news has hit rock bottom. This little “toxic threesome” has always been garbage and it’s silly to believe all one hears or sees on TV or social media, or that politicians know what they are doing, or that science is a ready solution (it is mostly hypotheses and processes). And don’t get on the band wagon stating that the world now desperately needs “leadership.” We’re on our own. No leader on the planet has stood above the rest in this pandemic. In his words; “elected leaders are just primates who won a popularity contest.” Improve your family. Many parents have discovered in 2020, after spending an inordinate amount of time with their kids, that they are little horrors and no surprise, they are not very good parents. Fix this! Help the kids become better adults, improve relationships and take responsibility. 6. Don’t believe everything you read. We live in a smouldering, rotting swamp of fake news. A statement on any social media platform does not make it true. Use judgement, think it through, test logic and common sense before hitting the forward button or making an utterance. 7. Money is all made up. Many people globally have lost jobs, businesses, assets and are in a financially stressed state. What have Governments done? Turned on the printing presses as if there is no tomorrow. But, there always is and future generations will pay for the folly of these actions. If its’ so damned easy to “create” money, why do we pay taxes? It’s a great time to clean up our personal balance sheets. There is a whole lot of stuff we simply do not need! 8. Do not give up. Many of us are angry with the abusive behaviour of the “authorities” which have infringed our freedoms, but it’s pointless getting banged up about things we cannot change. Instead do the sensible, positive things in your arc of control and become independent of the systems that have failed us. There is uncertainty ahead. Take control and do the things that will ensure a better future for yourself.

What of the virus at this moment in time? As at 20^th January the WHO numbers are as follows (SA numbers in brackets); World 94,96 million confirmed cases (1,36 million), World 2,05 million deaths (38,288 deaths), World percent deaths of confirmed cases; 2,1 percent (2,8 percent). What is surprising is the table showing which countries have the highest infection rates. Ireland tops the board with 10,100 cases per million people. So, what went wrong there? Firstly, in early December the Prime Minister relaxed curbs in place to allow people to enjoy a more meaningful Christmas. All sorts of eateries and pubs were opened with restrictions in place. Families were allowed to gather and travel from different parts of the country. Secondly, with few restrictions on travel with the UK, the new, more contagious virus variant moved into Ireland and spread rapidly. The Irish Government moved into high gear and imposed one of the world’s strictest lockdowns on Christmas Eve with an indication it would last three months during which time vaccinations will be given to the most vulnerable in their population.

Here, in sunny South Africa, we lurch from crisis to crisis. Many countries around the world have ordered vaccines and they are being rolled out. Not so simple for us! Leaked information from J&J indicates that they approached our “authorities” six months ago to get the process of securing and taking delivery of vaccines underway. What did we do? Simple answer, nothing! Now there is a maniacal stampede and quite pathetic Government spin being put on vaccine procurement by the “authorities” who, not surprisingly, contradict each other daily. Ramapromisa somehow has the audacity to tell the nation that 40 million vaccines have been ordered and are on their way. An outright fabrication of the truth and it is appalling that he is simply allowed to get away with this lie. If truth be told, none of these so called “authorities” has a clue on the true status of this vaccine debacle. Expect this to go to the highest courts in the land. Peter Bruce, a seriously good journalist, wrote a scathing article in Business Day last week. In his own words; Because of the ANC's fatal lack of self esteem and self confidence, we are negotiating only with the Serum Institute of India. The government has decided only it can do these complex negotiations and its default has been to phone the Indians rather than the Americans or British, who are actually developing these vaccines. With some trepidation I set out to save the country and called Moderna in Boston. I spoke to Patrick Bergstedt, Moderna's senior VP for commercial vaccines. That would make him the actual person you call to place an order. I asked him " If we placed an order today from the SA Government wanting to order vaccines, would you talk to them? Of course I would." I then asked :"If we place an order for, say , 40 million doses, when could we expect them?" He said: "By middle 2021." It is hard to adequately express the scale of state failure on vaccines. I promised Begstedt that I'd guard his number with my life but I would be very tempted to give it to Adrian Gore (and only him) if he approves." Then, in the midst of this pandemic, we have ESKOM switching the lights on and off. It beggars belief that this should happen when the economy is on its knees and we have two new power stations (neither of which is operating at anything near full capacity despite taking twice as long as they should have to build and being three times over budget). How do those in authority never have to answer for these monumental failures? Also, ESKOM was one of the worlds top 5 power utilities pre 1994 in terms of efficiency and the strength of its balance sheet. Today, a mess with debt of close to R450 billion. Two of our top, independent energy experts are predicting that the true state of ESKOM is significantly worse than being portrayed and 2021 will see load shedding on a scale not experienced to date. More on that to follow.

"Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys.” – P.J.O’Rourke

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Photos

Covid-19
This photo of Muizenberg Beach appeared in an article in Bloomberg entitled "SA's skewed priorities". Funerals of 49 attendees allowed, taxis filled to capacity, unrestricted shopping malls but NO ONE allowed on a beach. Insane!!!

Covid-19
A vaccine plan as clear as mud. What is the definition of treason?

Covid-19
Yah, well, no, fine. We have a plan but we don't have a clue what it is!!

Covid-19
Ireland in the lead but not a race any country wants to be winning.