International water crises for World Water Day from CNA, VOA, and PBS

Happy World Water Day! I begin today's observance of the day with Singapore's CNA reporting World Water Day: Water can be a tool for peace when communities, countries cooperate, says UN.

World Water Day falls on Mar 22. It is marked every year by the United Nations (UN) and the world to inspire positive ripple effects to tackle the global water crisis. The theme this year, amid growing concerns over wars, is “Water for Peace”. The UN says water can create peace or spark conflict, playing a critical role in stability and prosperity. CNA's Julie Yoo has the details.

The statistics Julie Yoo cites for the distribution and availability of fresh water are the same ones I tell my students using a graphic similar to this one from PBS.


It certainly puts things in perspective and I hope it makes an impression on my students.

Yoo's report for CNA emphasized international conflict and cooperation in Asia. Voice of America took a more global view and included private actors indirectly moving water in World Water Day: Corporations Accused of ‘Grabbing’ Water From Global South | VOANews.

There is a growing risk of conflict over water as climate change takes hold, according to the United Nations, which marks World Water Day on Friday. Meanwhile, aid agency Oxfam accuses global corporations of grabbing water from poorer countries to boost profits. Henry Ridgwell reports from London.

Seeing South Africa's water shortage reminds me that the second post I wrote for this day was Cape Town's Day Zero for World Water Day 2018. Same country, different city.

Also, the transfer of water from the global south to the global north reminds me of another story I tell my students, I=P*A*T, "where I is impact, P is population, A is affluence, and T is technology." Affluence increases environmental impact both through the ability to demand resources and the waste that resource use creates. While technology is the only way to reduce the impact from population and affluence through efficiency, it can also make the impact worse. The technologies allowing the international transfer of water through food and other products might just fall into that latter category.

Some water shortages have mostly local causes other than climate change, as PBS News Weekend reported two weeks ago in Mexico City is running out of water. Here’s why and how millions of residents are affected.

Mexico City, one of the world's most populous cities, could be just months away from running out of water. It’s a crisis brought on by geography, growth and leaky infrastructure, all compounded by the effects of climate change. Journalist Emily Green joins John Yang to discuss the situation.

The irony of this is that Mexico City was built on a lake and much of that water is still under the city. That's another story I tell my students, but I'm saving it for another time.

Tomorrow features a traffic jam of topics, with Purim, blog stats, and Louisiana primary all on the agenda. I've skipped Purim before so I might do it again. Stay tuned.

Desi Lydic, an Emmy-nominated performer, Foxsplains the January 6th Committee Hearings

I closed 'Saturday Night Live' earned ten Emmy nominations plus looks back at the 2021-2022 season by admitting a mistake.

There are actually seven nominations for "The Daily Show with Trevor Noah" and its three spinoffs. I'll get to the one I missed in the next installment of this series. Stay tuned.

The nomination is of Desi Lydic as herself in "Desi Lydic Foxsplains" for Outstanding Actress in a Short Form Comedy or Drama Series. Here is the most recent segment, Desi Lydic Foxsplains: The January 6th Hearings | The Daily Show.

We made Desi Lydic watch 439 hours of Fox News so she could explain what the January 6 hearings are REALLY about.

On the one hand, that's hilarious. On the other, that's about all I can take of Fox News opining on the January 6th Committee hearings, even as satire. No wonder a study found Fox News viewers less informed than people who watch no news at all.

Enough of that for now, although I think I will embed more of Lydic's videos in the future. It's time for the nominations for acting in short form comedies and dramas from 74th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards.

Outstanding Actress in a Short Form Comedy or Drama Series
Jacinte Blankenship – Intersection as Jenaya (YouTube)
Patricia Clarkson – State of the Union as Ellen (Sundance TV)
Desi Lydic – Desi Lydic Foxsplains as Desi Lydic (YouTube)
Rhea Seehorn – Cooper's Bar as Kris Latimer (AMC)
Sydnee Washington – Bridesman as Judith (YouTube)

Out of all the nominees, I'd say the favorites are the Oscar-nominated and Emmy-winning Patricia Clarkson and Emmy-nominated Rhea Seehorn. These are the only Emmy nominations ever for Lydic, Jacinte Blankenship, and Sydnee Washington and the only award nominations period for Blankenship and Washington. Lydic at least has a Webby Award for Video - Best Web Personality/Host, but she may have to be happy with that this year.

Now that I've covered Lydic's nomination, I can share the following image from #ShareSouthAfrica on Twitter, who correctly counted the number of Emmy nominations for "The Daily Show with Trevor Noah" and its three spinoffs as seven, not six, as I carelessly did. Oops.


With that, "The Daily Show with Trevor Noah" has the lead among talk variety shows, beating both "Last Week Tonight with John Oliver" and "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert," both with six including "Tooning Out the News" for the latter. Congratulations!

Follow over the jump for the rest of the short form nominations.

CNBC examines at-home testing and vaccine patents, a double pandemic update

I'm still not through posting about the pandemic this week, even after ASAPScience asks 'When Will COVID End?' yesterday and Joe Hanson of PBS Digital's 'Be Smart' describes what he's learned first-hand about Omicron, a pandemic update the day before that. Today's entry is a double feature of CNBC videos about two methods of containing the pandemic, tests and vaccines. I begin with yesterday's Can The U.S. Fix Its At-Home Covid Testing Problem?

The latest Covid-19 wave during the busy holiday travel season caught the U.S. flat-footed when it came to one key tool in its pandemic-fighting arsenal: at-home rapid tests.

The White House has made it clear that the tests — sold over-the-counter at drugstores — are critical to keeping the economy running during the current surge of the highly contagious omicron variant and any future variants. Demand for at-home tests has soared as infection and hospitalization rates soared to unforeseen levels in early 2022, leading to supply constraints and accusations of price gouging.

The fight against Covid-19 appears far from over, and those at-home rapid tests look poised to play a crucial role in federal and state efforts to mitigate another tough pandemic-era winter. The U.S. vaccination rate has stalled, leaving pockets of Americans vulnerable to severe disease. Experts also point out that kids under 5 years of age still don't have access to an approved vaccine. Even vaccinated Americans are testing positive for Covid-19, and researchers are trying to understand what that means for how well the variants spread.

Federal regulators at the Food and Drug Administration have been criticized for not authorizing at-home Covid tests quickly enough to match demand. Meanwhile, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's evolving testing guidance for the vaccinated also has confused test manufacturers, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Watch the video above to find out how the U.S. fell behind on its at-home Covid testing strategy, and what the Biden administration is doing to fix it.

I can personally attest to two items mentioned in the video, the availability of tests and policies regarding testing. When I received my booster shot last month, I saw several customers ask for home testing kits only to be told they were sold out. People were worried once Omicron arrived in the U.S. Also, I know of at least one workplace that did not require testing or isolation of exposed people if they showed proof of vaccination. That was the CDC guidance at the time, which was before Omicron, a variant that can infect vaccinated and boosted people. Things change quickly.

I'm glad the Biden Administration has done its part to make tests more available. My wife has ordered a month's worth of tests and we are looking forward to having them arrive in the mail. May all of our results be negative.

'My Octopus Teacher' wins Best Science/Nature Documentary and Best Cinematography at the 2020 Critics' Choice Documentary Awards

For the last winning film at the Critics' Choice Documentary Awards that I will examine before Thanksgiving, I'm examining "My Octopus Teacher," a double winner. Watch My Octopus Teacher | Official Trailer | Netflix to see what the movie is about.

A filmmaker forges an unusual friendship with an octopus living in a South African kelp forest, learning as the animal shares the mysteries of her world.

That's a beautifully photographed and moving tease of the movie, which shows why it won two awards and was nominated for two more. To watch the acceptance of its first award, watch BEST SCIENCE/NATURE DOCUMENTARY - My Octopus Teacher.

Winner of the 5th Annual Critics Choice Documentary Award for Best Science/Nature Documentary: MY OCTOPUS TEACHER.

That's Pippa Ehrlich, the film's director, accepting the award, and that looks like one of the flanks of Table Mountain above Cape Town, South Africa, behind her. We'll see more of Ehrlich later in this post. In the meantime, watch BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY - Roger Horrocks, My Octopus Teacher for the acceptance of the other award.

Winner of the 5th Annual Critics Choice Documentary Award for Best Cinematography: Roger Horrocks, MY OCTOPUS TEACHER.

In addition to winning these two awards, "My Octopus Teacher" earned nominations for Best Documentary and Best Narration. That's more than either "David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet" or "I Am Greta" did, so I expect great things for this documentary at the various craft awards, Environmental Media Association Awards, Creative Arts Emmy Awards, and News and Documentary Emmy Awards. Honestly, I would be happy with any field of nominees at any of these awards that includes all three.

I promised to show more of Ehrlich. The following interview from South Africa's Expresso Show Filmmaker Talks About Award Winning ‘My Octopus Teacher’ Documentary certainly does that, pun intended.


Congratulations to Netflix, Ehrlich, Horrocks, and Craig Foster for these wins and nominations!

I'm taking a break from the Critics' Choice Awards for American Thanksgiving at least. I might return with one more winner after that, "Crip Camp." Stay tuned and an early happy American Thanksgiving to my readers!