Oh no, not again

 

I do realize that many people believe (or want to believe) in the Rapture and similar things, but do the doomsday preachers believe in their own prophecies at this stage? The above clip features a collection of truly absurd "predictions" connected to - you guessed it - the solar eclipse of 2024. Well, we´re still here talking about it, aren´t we?

The speculations are centered on the United States, not on the Middle East, a more logical place for an "apocalypse" to start (both in Biblical terms and in more secular ones). The fact that the path of the eclipse supposedly passes seven towns named Salem and seven towns named Nineveh is very significant. Except that it apparently doesn´t. It seems the eclipse was also visible from towns with names like "Donald" and "Uncle Joe"...

The paths of the eclipse can apparently be patterned in shapes reminescent of various Hebrew and Greek letters, Alpha and Omega being the most prominent. And what did Christ call himself in Revelation? Exactly. The two paths cross in an area of the Midwest popularly known as "Little Egypt"...

The emergence of the cicadas makes a brief guest appearence. I´m still a bit surprised that this isn´t a bigger thing. I mean, the connection between cicadas and locusts, while far fetched biologically, seem obvious and ominous from a "Biblical" perspective. 

As per usual, nothing will happen, and then it´s off to the next failed prediction "until Kingdom come" (pun intended).  

      

Double emergence

 

Brood XIX on the attack, and this time
IT WANTS TO DESTROY HUMANITY!!!

Two groups of periodical cicadas, known as Brood XIII and Brood XIX, will soon emerge from their burrows across the Midwest. Which they do every 13 years (Brood XIX) or every 17 years (Brood XIII). Every 221 years, the two broods emerge together ("dual emergence"). 

Literally trillions of cicadas will swarm across 16 American states, driving people nuts with their nut-like stench or bugging them by simply being around. The nutty bug plague will last for months...until the creatures bug out, or are eaten by predators.

Not sure how this will affect the primary election cycle, or whether there are apocalyptic prophecies about Abbadon and Apollyon connected to this. Personally, I´m more worried about locusts than about true bugs, so there´s that, I suppose. 

Still, it´s good to know that won´t be any shortage of cicada burgers for the vegans this spring!  

A trillion cicadas will descend onto the US

The fallen cicadas

 

Our favorite long-term troll Anointed Ashley doesn´t seem particularly worried about the Apocalypse starting about two weeks from now. 

Oh, and cicadas have a very long and peculiar life cycle (which is why you don´t see them for a long time). There is nothing strange about the cicada in Ashley´s back yard, and they are not closely related to locusts...

In another clip, she claims that the Nephilim will appear in October, perhaps next year, so something tells me she is already preparing to continue trolling beyond the August Apocalypse!

The other side of the pond

 

I´m shocked, shocked I say! It turns out that there is an entire genus of insects that is MARINE. Yes, they live in the freakin´ ocean!!! And no, I´m not confusing Insecta with Crustacea. They really are actual insects, "true bugs" in fact, related to the pond skaters we can find in our quiet little inland lakes. It seems the pond skaters found a much bigger pond to skate over! 

Wtf.

Below, I link to All-Knowing Nerd Site Wikipedia´s entry on these deeply disturbing creatures, and one of Wiki´s main sources. 

Halobates

Biology of Halobates (Heteroptera: Gerridae)

A world of damselflies

 

"David Attenborough´s Dragons and Damsels" is a wittily titled documentary about dragonflies (Anisoptera) and damselflies (Zygoptera) somewhere in the UK. And yes, the odonate extravaganza is narrated by the apparently ever-young David Attenborough. 

Dragonfly-like insects have been around for a staggering 330 million years! This production shows a wide variety of dragonfly and damselfly species, mostly the latter, come to think of it. If you are a budding zygopterist, this may rock your little world. Damselfly species shown include the Common Blue, the Banded Demoiselle, the Willow Emerald, the Azure Damselfly, the Common Red Eye, and perhaps some others I missed. Dragonflies shown include the "Emperor" and the Common Darter. 

Odonates turn out to be surprisingly highly evolved insects, with complex behaviors surrounding territorial defense, mating and signaling. Their flying capabilities are so extraordinary that human engineers who built a "dragonfly robot" had major problems mimicking the original insect! The documentary shows how Emperor dragonflies laying their eggs inside Common Blue territory are mobbed by swarms of the smaller damselflies. It´s interesting to note that the underwater nymphs of the damselflies are hunted and eaten by the Emperor nymphs, but it´s difficult to believe that the damselflies somehow *know* this. Other natural enemies of the damsels include fish, spiders and "pond skaters" (a bizarre "true bug" that can walk on water). Climate change rears its head with the Willow Emerald, a south European species which has began to spread in Britain, catching the attention of scientists and odonate aficionados alike. The Willow Emerald lays its eggs inside the bark of trees (rather than in the water) and is believed to have colonized the UK due to changes in weather patterns. 

"Dragons and Damsels" ends with winter coming to the anonymous lake, killing off all remaining specimens of Odonata...except the nymphs, which survive deep under the lake surface, only to re-emerge as adults in the spring. As they (perhaps) have done for 330 million years. 

Styx wants to get banned again

 

Some hard hitting truths in this one, but note the obvious contradiction between what Styx is saying here and his orthodox libertarianism. If you oppose globalism and big corporations, you can´t be a libertarian... 

There is no neo-liberal capitalism with a human face. There is only really existing neo-liberal capitalism. 

Welcome to 2021.

Tell me again about "pantheism" and such BS

Welcome to the atheist-pantheist universe, guys, where shit like this goes on forever and ever. But this is supposedly the only reality that will ever exist, God even. FUCK YOU. 

Zombie cicadas

Hic Rhodus, hic salta

A faux review of "Taxonomy and Ecology of the Jumping Plant-Lice of Panama (Homoptera, Psylloidea)" 

OK, I admit it. The book has a funny title. That's the only reason why I picked it up. The *what* of Panama?! There are 2000 species of jumping plant-lice all over the world, so why concentrate on Panama? Those who want further information on this rapidly growing global peril better consult Hodkinson 1974 or White & Hodkinson 1985. As for this book, it's an identification guide for advanced students of entomology, i.e. people who actually plan to study jumping plant-lice for a living. The line drawings only show those parts of the lice which are interesting for identification purposes, making each plate look like a gigantic autopsy table. Trust me, these specimens *can't* jump! Probably a good book if your main interest in life is Homoptera: Psylloidea, but otherwise I think you might want to give it a pass. Or jump somewhere else.

Kill them before they multiply

I got seven non-helpful votes, and no helpful one, on this review of a very obscure book, suggesting that bug-collectors have zero sense of humor...

"True bugs of the world" is an encyclopaedia covering all 92 families of so-called true bugs, a rather nasty group of insects otherwise known as Heteroptera.

The true bugs are not related to beetles, although they often look like them. Among the critters mentioned in this volume are bedbugs, bugs that live as parasites on bats, giant water bugs and even a bug that lives in the tidal zone!

The text is of the boring, scholarly variety. The sections on the natural history of the various families are quite brief. All illustrations are in black and white. This is not a book for the general reader (I mean, bedbugs?), but it's good for research libraries or advanced students of entomology. Especially if they're studying bugs!

Personally, I got a slight feeling of nausea when looking through this book the other day at one of our excellent libraries here in Stockholm. I say: kill them before they multiply!

The bugs, I mean...