Saturday, February 1, 2025

Rodentia

Rats. You remember them, don’t you? We’ve seen them train turtles to be ninjas, drag large pieces of pizza upstairs, and… oh yeah, they were partially responsible for the black plague that devastated most of Europe. Over the ensuing years, cities and health agencies have made a huge push to rid cities of the large rodents, and overall they’ve been successful. However, thanks to the specter of climate change, they’re set to return in larger numbers than ever.

While the fact that Washington has been singled out as one of the cities where an explosive rat population is most dangerous is somewhat humorous, the realities are frightening. “When rodent populations are high, people get sick, motor vehicles become disabled, mental health declines, fires are started and foods fouled,” said Houston rat expert Michael Parsons, who wasn’t part of the study. People are rightly bothered by rats because of “an innate fear caused by an organism that can make us sick.”

This comes at a time when government health information is disappearing from websites. Exercising extremely questionable authority, Musk aides have locked out a number of federal employees from critical computer systems. And then, there’s that whole mess with RFK, Jr. wanting to head the Department of Health and Human Services.

Que sounds of ominous music as Morgan Freeman says, “They were not safe. No one was safe.”

Oh, and that’s not the only terrifying health news this morning. Mosquitos. Yeah, we’ve not seen them in North America for a couple of months thanks to the cold. They’re coming back, though, and we’re finding that high-altitude winds help them spread diseases far and wide. So, what may start in some remote village deep in Central Africa could easily spread around the world carried by the high winds of the jet stream. Isn’t that fun news?

On top of everything else, we woke this morning to news of yet another plane crash, this time in Philadelphia, killing at least six. There’s still a severe lack of information regarding this flight and multiple fires have delayed determining whether anyone on the ground was killed. The plane crashed less than a minute after takeoff but explanations for why are still nothing more than speculation.

Both AOC and Mark Cuban are asking people to keep a lid on cynical and insulting rhetoric. I understand their position, trying to go high when everyone else is going low. I will, again, pose the same question I’m asking everyone, though: How many people have to die before we’re willing to get aggressive about stopping the insanity? Would another global plague do the trick? Are concentration camps in Colorado and Guantanamo not already enough?

WHAT THE FUCK IS IT GOING TO TAKE TO GET ASSES OUT OF CHAIRS AND INTO THE STREETS?

The most logical thing to do would have been to hit back hard on Day One of this administration. Every time Felonious Punk issues a new edict, the American people should forcefully fling it back in his face with all the power we can muster. That would have made sense and possibly at least slowed down the barrage of criminality we’ve seen from the White House.

Instead, we’re waiting to see exactly what tariffs get imposed on Canada and Mexico later today. Business leaders could be calling the members of Congress they have in their pockets, but they’re not. Everyone’s just clutching pearls and buying avocados.

This was posted yesterday:

How much of your life are you willing to sacrifice to the goons in DC? What is it going to take before you stand up for yourself?

We have no military support. We’re losing legal support. Even local police are increasingly helpless. No one else is coming to help us.

What’s it going to take?