Doug's Darkworld

Neat photo, eh? What happened here? That is the remnant of a concrete building, the metal is indeed rebar. Thick iron rods embedded in concrete, in fact this is what reinforced concrete is, concrete with metal bars in it. No, nuclear weapon damage. In fact this damage was done by a natural phenomena. I’ll give the answer at the end of the blog.

I get my Covid vaccine on Wednesday, knock on wood. Not sure which version it is, doesn’t matter. I’ve kept current on vaccines all my life with no problems, this one will be a blessed relief. It doesn’t by any means I can just go back to “pre-Covid” behaviour. Well, I suppose I could, but it would be stu-pid. Like “OK, I’ve got a seat belt now, let’s crash my car for fun!” stupid. Vaccines are not necessarily 100% effective, and this is a terrible disease, one best avoided if at all possible. So I’ll still be masking in public and socially isolated, but I will be less stressed about it and will resume outdoor socializing with friends, maybe indoor with vaccinated friends.

Huge numbers of people being vaccinated world wide, good news. Bad news, and it is indeed very bad news, this isn’t going to magically return the world to its pre-Covid state. We aren’t going to be able to say “Phew, it’s under control now, throw away your masks and parteh!” That’s because Covid is unlike any previous disease, it’s a terrible disease, and it’s not going anywhere. It’s not going anywhere for two reasons. First of all it’s the disease from hell. Second of all, people are stupid.

By disease from hell, I mean it’s a terrible, highly contagious, widespread disease … that is mutating as I type! New strains have emerged that are even more contagious than the original version, more likely to reinfect Covid survivors, and at least somewhat resistant to some or all of the current vaccines. And new versions will continue to evolve, so vaccines will have to be continually updated. This is a war that will likely continue the rest of our lives.

Secondly, many people, including some US state governors, are simply pretending everything is now OK and lifting all restrictions. This is literally bat shit crazy, but welcome to the American 2020s where the GOP lives in pretend reality. As long as people continue to pretend that Covid is no big deal or just a temporary thing, especially people in power, we’re effed. And that would definitely be America, as someone put it, a state lifting precautions is like a designated peeing area in a pool. Here’s the good doctor on the science: COVID Race Against Time | NeuroLogica Blog.

So trying to parse just when the American  right exited reality, today’s theory is that it was after Gulf War Two, the March 2003 invasion of Iraq. Anniversary coming up. Before the invasion there was much public debate, the right claiming Iraq and Saddam were an existential threat to the US, and we needed to invade to eliminate Saddam’s WMDs. This was right after 9/11, so Americans were afraid of mass casualty attacks. And as a codicil to this, they argued that the people of Iraq would be happy to have Saddam removed and freedom and democracy bestowed upon them! On the other side people argued that the threat posed by Saddam was at least wildly overblown, and that nothing good would come of this invasion.

At least there was debate about the potential war, and common ground to debate about. Saddam and Iraq actually existed, the debate was about what America should do about it. The “Invade Iraq!” faction won (not that there was ever any doubt,) Iraq was invaded and conquered easily! The results, twofold: First,  exactly dip squat was found of any WMDs, Saddam had in fact destroyed his WMD programs exactly as he was told to. Secondly, democracy and freedom didn’t flow through the streets, mass bloodshed and instability did. Continuing to this day.

So let’s review. Turns out the 2003 Iraq invasion was utterly unjustified, and the results were catastrophic by any reasonable measure. After Vietnam at least there was some general agreement that the war was a mistake, after Saddam’s fall turned into a nightmare, nothing doing. The War Party, and that includes plenty of Dems, just carried on as if everything was fine. Not surprising it was all coincidental with birtherism and trutherism, the two other big fact free beliefs of the post 9/11 era.

The wheel is spinning, who knows where it will land. There’s people who think about things, and people who find someone comfortable to think for them. Both have an evolutionary advantage I suppose. I write for the former. I hope. So, image above. Came across that because a friend asked if the Romans who died in Pompei died quickly? Yes, yes they did. Pompei was hit by a nue ardente, or pyroclastic flow. Basically super hot gas (450F plus degrees) and molten rock ash. Flowing faster than a person can run. Like being tossed into a blast furnace. A windy blast furnace. And that’s what the image above is, a reinforced concrete building in Mexico hit by a pyroclastic flow in 1982. Killed at least 1900 people. From a dormant volcano. Oops.

Stay safe everyone. Crazy days. #StaytheFHome #WearaDamnMask #FelesRegula

Copyright © 2021 Doug Stych. All rights reserved.

(image: Described in text. Taken by a USGS employee as part of their job, so public domain under US copyright law.)