Category: annoying people

More on that thing

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The that thing in question being loadshedding. Rolling blackouts. Power cuts. And I’m sorry to go on about it because I know that it’s really not a thing that South African residents need to hear any more about, and it’s probably not a thing thing that is of huge interest to those overseas.

Yet.

But it is completely dominating our lives at the moment, and it occurred to me, as my inner voice breathed a huge sigh of relief that our planned 12 hours of electrical darkness was reduced to “just” 8 yesterday, that I’m clearly suffering from some kind of Stockholm Syndrome. I think that it’s important not to do that. In a semi developed country such as SA, we shouldn’t have to accept 8 hours of no power every day and just be able to turn the other cheek, smile and say “Well, at least it wasn’t 12!”.
We shouldn’t be normalising loadshedding. We should be angry about it.

The courier guy who just came to our door (alerting me to his presence at the gate by a whistle, because the doorbell isn’t working, because we have no electricity, because of loadshedding), was certainly angry:

No, man. I’m so moeg of it. And then your electrical items like your fridge and your TV get fucked up because of it.

There’s nothing quite like an expletive in a Cape Coloured accent to really drive the message home.

That said, there needs to be some balance and understanding as well (whatever your accent). Because the constant anger and stress will do our collective health no good whatsoever, and it won’t make a jot of difference to the situation.

THERE IS NO QUICK FIX. We’ve missed our opportunity to to do that over the last 14+ years.

Meanwhile, our government is doing very little to remedy the problems – some are even exacerbating them – although there was this absolute gem from serial disaster merchant and wannabe ANC leader, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma:

Well, no shit, Sherlock. Thanks for that valuable insight, just 14 years in the making.
What a woman, trying desperately hard to be relevant ahead of the December ANC conference.
So much soundbite. So little action.

Still, even given all the nonsense I have described, those individuals who go out of their way to USE MORE electricity (when they have it), just because Eskom told them not to and they don’t like Eskom, are equal parts irritating and amusing. Talk about shooting yourself in the foot. To be honest, I’m sure it’s mainly internet bluster and bravado: surely no-one could actually be that stupid, right?

Love it or hate it [Really?!? -Ed.], we’re unavoidably stuck with loadshedding for the foreseeable future and beyond.
And as is clear from the several hundred words above, my advice is to just get used to it, but also very much, don’t let yourself just get used to it.

I hope that helps.

Blame the virus

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There’s a worrying thing happening worldwide at the moment. Anecdotally, we’re seeing a lot more people suffering from – and/or dying from – cardiac problems. Generally, these people tend to be relatively young, and often relatively fit. Certainly not the cohort you would expect to be hit in this way.

Of course, the tinfoilers are all over this. After all, what has changed since the onset of the Covid pandemic? Yes, the vaccine. So that must be it, because there’s nothing else that has been so ubiquitously distributed around the world (ha!), so QED, the vaccine is causing the problem.

You actually have to admire their scientific approach. Indeed, when we as scientists are trying to find out what causes something, we too look at changes in the systems which precede that thing. In this case, what we would also consider is:

THE ACTUAL VIRUS

And lookie here: this German study suggests that infection with Covid – even if it’s a mild infection – is associated with heart problems down the line.

And, surprise surprise, they found damage to the heart and increased cardiac markers (the chemicals in the blood that we measure to see if there is damage to the heart) in previously healthy patients.

This is a study that still needs more work (indeed, it’s still ongoing), but the signs are clear. If you have had Covid, you are more likely to have cardiac damage than if you didn’t have Covid. And while in many cases, that might only manifest itself in shortness of breath or chest pain, there will sadly be some individuals who suffer much more serious consequences. See my first paragraph above.

These observations fit well with another study – importantly mostly done before the vaccine was widely released – in which a team based in St Louis, USA found some very disturbing results regarding cardiac and circulatory problems post Covid infection:

Importantly, the more severe the infection (they used non-hospitalised, hospitalised and ICU) the greater the increase in risk, but in virtually every situation, the risk of heart or circulatory disorders was increased in those who had been infected with SARS-CoV-2.

So when we’re out there considering whether to take our booster jab for Covid, please look beyond the anti-vax nonsense. Please ignore the shouty people telling you that “the jab is killing healthy, young people”. No. It’s the damn virus that’s doing that.

And if you want to be better protected against the damn virus, go get the jab.

Observing

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OK. I have a lot to do today, but I felt that I had to take a quick break and get some thoughts down on paper pixel. And that only because maybe I feel that I should say something today and I do need to clear my mind a little.

Social media are a horrible place to be today. Some might argue the same of any day, but I’d say especially today – and any day when something momentous has occurred.

Today, for me – despite my not being a Monarchist – it does feel like the rug has been pulled a bit. Something big has shifted. A disturbance in the Force, if you will.

When I think back and look through the major historic events that have occurred during my lifetime, the Queen dying would obviously be one of them that’s right up there. Others? 9/11, the Berlin Wall coming down, the Space Shuttle disaster, Chernobyl, the Falklands War (those last two weren’t really “single moment” things, although the sinking of HMS Sheffield was).

What I’m saying is that considering my lifespan, there are relatively few “big things”, and what happened yesterday was certainly one of them. Arguably the biggest, since I’ve obviously never known any other monarch in the UK, and while everything in the world constantly and necessarily changes, the Queen was always someone – something – that was remarkably constant.

That’s not to say that she didn’t change with the times as well, indeed, I think that was one of her most impressive feats: often she was even ahead of the curve. Her Christmas speech in 1952 – remembering that she was just 24 years old, now the head of the Anglican church, and female in an (even more) male-dominated society included this line:

…but I want to ask you all, whatever your religion may be, to pray for me on that day – to pray that God may give me wisdom and strength to carry out the solemn promises I shall be making, and that I may faithfully serve Him and you, all the days of my life.

Which I feel showed amazing foresight, acceptance and openness towards other faiths. Setting a good example from her first moments as monarch.
And something many people could still do a lot better at now, 70 years later.

Later in life, we saw another side of her. Her sense of humour, her incredible work ethic and her vulnerability. The annus horibilis speech in 1992 given that she has given 70 Christmas speeches, the fact that that one remains strongest in the memory is most likely because we saw her human side publicly, maybe for the first time.

The world has lost a wonderful, quiet, perceptive leader.

And, as I said when Prince Philip died last year:

You can learn a lot about people by watching their public reactions to this sort of news.

I recognise that not everyone likes a royal family, and I recognise that Prince Philip may sometimes have been a divisive figure, but some of the comments on social media – particularly those making it all about the individual posting – are both appalling and superb.

As far as I am concerned, you can say what you want. They’re just words. Sometimes pleasant, sometimes humorous, sometimes distasteful, sometimes downright vile. And as I noted above, you don’t have to share my views on the Queen or anything else. But one should always bear in mind that freedom of speech does not mean freedom from the consequences of that speech. Whatever those may entail.

Again:

You can learn a lot about people by watching their public reactions to this sort of news.

It’s worth noting that those downright vile people have always been out there. But sensibly, you probably chose not to associate with them before. Now, their incendiary viewpoints are thrust upon each and every one of us via retweets, “shares” and “likes”, whether we want to hear them (we don’t) or not.

Be the better person. They’re just words. Step back, take a deep breath, quietly observe.

But also: always remember. As you should with the anti-vaxxers and the covid denialists and the rude and the ignorant. Because knowing who or what you’re dealing with will stand you in good stead, should you come to interact with those people in the future.

Things I missed

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I don’t want to get into the nitty ad the gritty of the royal family’s in-fighting. I don’t actually care about what they do, at all. The mud slinging is pathetic. The underlying tones on both sides are unpleasant, and the point scoring is petty. But I did see this earlier, and I need to just say that someone isn’t telling the whole truth.

It might be the cast member from The Lion King, it might be the Duchess of Sussex or it might be the journalist responsible for this pisspoor puff piece. I don’t know. But someone is lying.

I need to be absolutely clear here: I was elsewhere when Nelson Mandela was freed from prison (on February 11th 1990). But there are photos showing what that was like:

And while there may have been some people who were very happy about Ms Markle marrying into the royal family, I can categorically state that there was no rejoicing in the streets or packing of the Grand Parade just down the road “like when Mandela was freed from prison”.

That didn’t happen.

More like “The Lying King”, amirite?
Much like the D***y M**l version of the Fishhoek Shark Attack, it’s wildly – and likely deliberately -inaccurate.

Whomever is comparing Meghan with Nelson like this is lying, and actually – while I’m not taking any sides, as stated above – is actually being rather disrespectful while doing so.

Fewer updates

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Fewer because the NICD is stopping its daily Covid reporting, and moving to a weekly report instead:

And with that, Ridhwan Suliman’s daily reporting of the NICD’s daily reporting also comes to an end. Well done on a sterling effort throughout the last two (plus) years.

Why these things? Well, because Covid isn’t a big thing in SA at the moment. It has been a big thing in 5 very separate waves:

But it’s not anymore/at the moment.

There are some thick people out there asking where the next wave is now that the mask mandate has been removed in SA, but the fact is that the mandate was removed because there was virtually no Covid around. And while I don’t think there’s any question that we are in a low Covid moment right now, it’s worth noting that there’s likely still a great deal of under-reporting, given that the public don’t have access to Covid tests, and have to pay a few hundred Rands to get one.

No-one has any money and there’s very limited value in doing a test when you aren’t going to act on the results. If you are sick, you’re going to stay in bed anyway. If you aren’t sick, why are you getting tested (aside from the tiny, tiny number who require it for travel)? To spend hundreds on a test, when the result doesn’t matter… well, it’s no wonder that the case numbers are so low.

What next? Who knows… If this virus is going to become seasonal like we’re all being told, then I’d like to know when, exactly. At the moment, it’s still circulating, mutating, and working according to viral timeframes, rather than seasonal ones. And “we” are seemingly happy for that to happen, while it knocks off a 9/11 number each and every week in the USA with virtually no news coverage. Have “we” decided that that’s an ok situation? Are “we” content with that?

I’m not, because there is clearly more to this virus than just that week/fortnight long acute nastiness. We’re learning about more and more complications and long-term effects of Covid every day, and we don’t have anything in place to handle them or mitigate for them.

That’s not good.
And very possibly not sustainable, either.