Wednesday, 3 June 2020

Quarantine entry #74 - June 3


Obligatory disclaimer: lately, the current political events in the U.S. are giving a strong feeling of déjà vu, and not necessarily of the good kind.

Let me elaborate. Does anyone remember the immediate period post the elections-2016? The country of USA was feverish as various social groups – you know, the antifa, the skinheads, the Neo-Nazis, the BLM, the ALM, and who else have you, were apparently duking it out on the streets, and the rest of the American society was hiding in the basements, attics, cellars, backyards and etc., while this was going on, and the Donald was just making it worse by being himself. Now… we got WASPs, POCs, the abovementioned social groups, other social groups duking it out on the streets, and the rest of the American society is in the background… only not?

No, they are, as the entire kneeling situation isn’t participation or control – it’s appeasement. America’s finest are trying to appease the protesters by signs of submission and not everyone agrees with it, not even all of the Yankees themselves. The Donald, in particular, is tweeting a storm…, which actually brings us to the other side of the situation: the elections. This year they will be done by mail at least in part, and plenty of people are not happy about it, and they are venting about that as well. And-?

And nothing. Not unless you want to cancel the elections-2020 altogether, at least until the next year, or until all the paranoia and the COVID-19-related deaths, well, die down, and people do not sound as if they want that either. More precisely, they sound as if they do not know what they want – they want several contradictory (for the moment) things – for people to be safe and for them to vote at the same time… and for all of that to be possible with minimum of effort.

…There is a short story going around in the West, with the punchline being that of the contractor telling his employer: “You want it done fast, and well, and cheap. That is not possible. Choose two out of three.” What did the employer choose remains up for grabs, but the point is that the U.S. politicians, (who are some of the main voices of dissent for the entire ‘voting by mail’ concept), are trying to have just that – fast, and well, and cheap, and screw reality. Have your cake and eat it too! The French Revolution, everyone! It says hello! Pause!

…No, I do not think that the U.S. is in danger of falling apart straight away, but if it continues like this, who knows what can happen? The Donald might lose his presidential chair, for example, and-

-And that bring us back to the elections-2016, when the U.S. mass media did its’ best to achieve just that, as it and the Donald hate each other, (just look at the latter’s latest feud with Twitter). It instigated, or helped to instigate, the riots back then, and it seems to be doing something similar right now, only right now the riots aren’t about the Donald – they were about George Floyd, and are becoming about themselves instead. It is not any longer about George Floyd; it is about racism in general, (and does anyone know as to who Desmond Tutu is supposed to be?!), and soon might be becoming a pogrom that is proceeding for its’ own worth instead.

…The Russians are mocking the U.S., but that is because they had their own pogroms at the turn of the 20th century and have largely outgrown them by now, because reasons, because the U.S.S.R. was supposed to be free of anti-Semitism; in reality, the situation was more complex, but officially, this is how it was, and woe betide anyone who gets caught breaking the official rules!.. No wonder that the RF is currently mocking the US – it can afford to.

Now, today I wanted to talk about the woodpeckers. They are fascinating birds. Aside from the ‘true’ woodpeckers, (including flickers), this group of birds also includes two species of wrynecks, which are fascinating birds, as they are snake mimics, and 20+ species of piculets, which are similar to woodpeckers, but are smaller and weaker than they are, in general.

The biggest woodpecker species are the size of a jackdaw, or even a hooded crow; the smallest bird is sparrow-sized, (remember sparrows? We talked about them recently already). All of the woodpeckers, including their wryneck cousins, can peck wood and have evolved in this direction, making them some of the most specialized birds of the modern times.

Male and female woodpeckers look differently from each other, but only slightly, (with some exceptions), and practically all of the woodpeckers look like each other, with some minor variations, (mostly in coloration and size) – their way of life is practically similar… Pause.

...I cannot do it. Not while real life is so weird. Woodpeckers are a fun way to escape from real life, but real life is inescapable for the moment, it seems. Ergo, let us put the woodpeckers on hold and I will see you soon instead!

Cheers!

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