Doug's Darkworld

As my mentor Sally used to say: “There are no adults.” That was a while back, if anything it’s even truer today. This observation came to the forefront triggered by this disturbing story. A town in Oklahoma mandated the wearing of masks inside stores. A perfectly reasonable and legal mandate to slow the spread of Covid-19, and thereby save lives. And what was the result? Huge numbers of people completely lost their shit and threatened store employees, one with a gun even. The mayor backed down and now the denizens of his fair city are free to commit negligent homicide. Sigh. I’d say I have no words, but then where did all these blog posts come from? My first thought was what anyone rational person would think: What the hell is wrong with these people?

The modern term is privilege. It’s a lovely term, easy to ignore or discount. I prefer what my grandparents would have styled. What a bunch of crybabies. Only a spoilt child has a freaking tantrum when they are trivially inconvenienced. Because that is literally all that wearing a mask is, a trivial inconvenience. It’s no more difficult than wearing shirts and shoes, which many businesses require of their patrons, and no one freaks out about that. And not just a few of them, there were so many people freaking out that the mayor decided backing down was a better option than forcing the issue. The whole mask wars thing is crazy, one person has even been murdered over this.

Pretty sure this wouldn’t happen in any other country. Over my lifetime I have seen the general maturity level sink in America. More selfish, less empathetic, less educated. I’m not the only one to notice this, and there certainly are demographic trends supporting same. Well, if this article is to be believed. I dunno. A dumbed down media where comic books put to film are all the rage. Home schooling. Advertising increasingly scientifically designed to make us into mindless consumers. Leaders and pundits propounding science denial. Idiocracy in the making.

So much going on. Various Covid-19 developments.

Neurological damage and strokes. That’s right, it’s becoming more and more clear that Covid-19 isn’t just an upper respiratory disease. It infects multiple organs in the body, causing neurological damage in many, and is also causing strokes in some people. This should scare the crap out of people and make them more receptive than ever to the lockdown and other measures to ensure the safety of themselves and others. Not in America though, on my errands yesterday so so many people weren’t wearing masks and keeping a safe distance. I can only assume Trump and Fox News are still downplaying the seriousness of the situation. The US is already the worst hit developed nation, and there’s no end in sight. The mind, formerly boggled, reels uncontrollably.

So it’s no surprise then that the FDA has called for hand sanitizer manufacturers to make their products less appetizing. That’s right, because of Trump suggesting ingesting disinfectants as a treatment, people have been ingesting it. Again, how the hell did so many Americans become so stupid? How did I get in this alternate reality? It’s things like this that make me glad my grandparents are long dead, they worked hard all their lives only to leave a world full of idiots? And I’m guessing making something less appetizing won’t help, because there’s nothing appetizing about hand sanitizer as it is. Also pretty sure the bottles already carry warnings against internal use. Sigh. “You can’t make anything foolproof because fools are so ingenious.”

In a fascinating little tidbit, Maryland has its national guard protecting its Covid-19 test kits at an undisclosed location … so the Federal Government can’t seize them. Which the Federal Government has done in other states. OK then. And once again, another sign of how there is no effective central government organization of the fight against Covid-19, or worse, the Federal Government is actually hindering various state’s fight against Covid-19. And heck, by the Federal Government, I mean the Trump administration. Or the Trump gang or whatever it is that’s occupying the White House, because it’s looking less like a functional government every day.

A last few depressing links for anyone I failed to cheer down so far. First, Pulitzer winner Chris Hedges: “These are the good times — compared to what’s coming next.” It’s essentially about the decline of the American Empire, which is declining, despite what apologists for it may claim. And a good article about conspiracy ideation in general, and about Covid-19 conspiracy theories in particular. It really is distressing how many people fall down the conspiracy ideation rathole, worse that so many “leaders” encourage them for partisan gain.

Lastly, a bit of good news to start the week off with. Asian Murder Hornets have arrived in the USA. Never heard of Asian Murder Hornets? They are huge buggers, up to two inches long. They can wipe out an entire beehive in just hours. Their sting can penetrate beekeeping suits, and is among the most painful insect stings known. It’s also toxic, about 50 people a year are killed by them in Japan alone. And I’m not talking people being allergic to them, talking healthy people dying when swarmed and stung dozens of times. They have been found in Washington state, and some experts think they will inevitably spread across the country. Woohoo!

Wait, why is swarms of deadly giant hornets good news? Because it will encourage people to #StaytheFHome. Have a safe and sane week everyone. Shares, likes, comments appreciated.

Copyright © 2020 Doug Stych. All rights reserved.

(Image: Trying to laugh about this whole mess. Anonymous meme found on Facebook, used without permission. Assuming it’s public domain unless I hear otherwise.)