Doug's Darkworld

I had to take a break. Covid and Trump’s antics were beating me down. And I feared my posts were blurring into each other. I was blurring into something. Moving on … So, less than a week from Christmas 2020. Donner Party winter coming up looks like: Opinion | Lewis and Clark’s Long, Dark Winter. And Ours. One out of a thousand Americans is already dead of Covid, should hit one out of five hundred by spring. Vaccines are being deployed, but in the US, and I’m being diplomatic here, the mixed compliance with science and reason based public health measures; means there’s still going to be mass death before we achieve herd immunity through vaccination. If we ever do.

I’m an independent voter. Both parties are slaves of the 1%, the corporations and rich that rule us. Then Trump came along, and stole the GOP base right out from under them, the establishment GOP right career politicians. Trump is like Nixon or Reagan on steroids. The GOP is still sticking to Trump’s “The election was stolen!” line. A shame. If Trump actually reached across the aisle with some humility, he could still come out of this a national hero like DeGaulle or Nasser. Fat chance.

And the Dems are playing the Russia card again. Yes, Russia has engaged in some massive cyberattack on the US just when the Dems need it most! Perfect! Yeah, the Cold War never made much sense to begin with, now it’s like a bad Get Smart episode. Yes, Putin is a ruthless SOB like 90% of human leaders ever, including plenty of US allies; but the idea he is trying to destroy the west is ludicrous. NATO has been the aggressor since its inception. I’m not the only one dubious of this all too convenient alleged Russian hack:  A Pandemic of Russian Hacking. Change my mind.

So two items of current news tonight. A new form of Covid seems to have appeared and been spreading in England: New coronavirus variant: What do we know? It appears to be even more contagious than the earlier strains, which is alarming and causing some economic disruption as countries close their borders to England. It long ago escaped England though, and has been detected elsewhere. It doesn’t appear to be any more dangerous than other versions of Covid. And viruses mutate constantly, it’s one of their things. The new vaccines will work on it, but it’s just another reminder that Covid is likely to be with us for a while, if not permanently. A new wrinkle, but most of the world will cope. America, not as much. We can’t even get people to wear masks, let alone get vaccinated.

The other item is Trump and martial law. Trump, who frankly seems increasingly unhinged these days, has apparently been talking about declaring martial law and seizing voting machines etc in key states to prove his massive voter fraud … fantasy. So far cooler heads have prevailed. This isn’t something that can be fixed with a sharpie. I don’t know what would happen if Trump declared martial law, and I don’t want to find out. I’m heartened that our electoral and judicial institutions withstood Trump’s fantasy legal assault, I can only hope the military will similarly say “We’ve sworn not to obey unconstitutional orders, we’re standing down.”

So we end up with Proud Boys trying to seize voting machines and records, and governors calling up their National Guards to resist. Hope not, but we’re in a tumultuous period of both global and American history, anything can happen. I plan to keep blogging through it, I’ve been trying to make sense of the world since preschool, and if anything am more determined than ever to do so. The Trump era, what a time to be alive.

That being said, help is appreciated. Even 1$ a month patrons add up, and a few 10$ a month patrons help appreciably. Support an old veteran who has been trying to make the world a better place using reason and science since the 60s: Patrons. Patrons get my undying gratitude, and I’ll write posts about topics they suggest. For some reason one of my Facebook groups, Glitches in the Matrix, recently exploded. Exploded as in new members flooding in. If any of them finds their way here and wants me to write about my glitch experiences here, now’s your chance.

That being said, I saw the Jupiter/Saturn “Christmas Star” conjunction tonight. Image above. It was easier to see last time, no city lights. Stay sane, warm, and safe everyone. #StaytheFHome #WearaDamnMask #FelesRegula

Copyright © 2020 Doug Stych. All rights reserved.

(Image: Copyright © 2020 Doug Stych. All rights reserved.)