11/18/2004: Swarm at the pyramids

[Undertoad]

full story - dateline, YESTERDAY. It started as a West African infestation, then swarmed into Cairo. From out of nowhere, the city streets were thick with these 3-inch monsters:



Locusts. Pink ones!

And by nightfall, they were all gone.

This kind of swarm hadn't been seen in the lifetimes of most of the city's residents, and it was described as "biblical". Well, sure!

Can you imagine what this might have seemed like in biblical times? Without a strong grasp of how these things work - without the communication and science to notice and warn of the West African infestation - this would definitely look like something that a higher power had engineered. For the lot to suddenly appear as if out of nowhere, and then to disappear so quickly? The instinct to understand, to have a story, to answer the question "Why?" is so strong in us, that it's easy to imagine explanations developing out of well-intentioned storytelling.

And then, to develop rules that seemed to act as prevention - especially if that "Why?" question was answered with "Probably because of something you did." A parent-child relationship being the most familiar rule-making structure, that became the narrative for the higher power who would get angry and swat His people with plagues.

On the other hand, perhaps the people of Cairo HAVE been bad, and perhaps a higher power DID engineer the plague by setting up the conditions under which an investation would develop.

Enh, your call. But in the end, it's all about who sets up the story, who controls the narrative.

[lumberjim]

PINK LOCUSTS.....hmmmm......i think it IS a sign from god. i think he's telling us that gay marriage IS ok with him. no?

[Elspode]

It takes a deity who is very comfortable with his omnipotence to send a plague of pink locusts.

Fundamentalist Christian take on this? "It is a sign from God that both Moslems and Gays are bad. C'mon. Pink locusts in Cairo? How else can that be interpreted?"

[Trilby]

exactly.

Plus, I'm committing suicide later this week.

You are all welcome.

[Brown Thrasher]

I can remember as a child in south Ga. having a similar looking locust infect the area ever so often. However, I never remember thinking this was a plague of a Higher Power.
Actually, higer power is a complex word that could mean anything from God to an oak tree. If you are a follower of religion of some type. God,Allah,Jehova...etc... would be considered a higher power. If you believe in nature, An oak tree is a power greater than yourself. By the way the pink locust may have been female or of the femine nature. However, the ones I remember were redbreasted, which I guess accounts for their aggresive nature.

[warch]

I'm hearing a song...Pink Locusts in Cai-ro....They jump, they fly-o...Is it a plague? see pyramid so vague.....uh....thats all I got.

[Cyber Wolf]

Swarms of locusts ain't so bad. Locusts are good eatin'. Free food and they're all OVER the place. Get a net, catch yourself a few hundred. A few of those can easily replace a meal's worth of crops they might eat. Especially if the buggers are 3 inches long. And dried bugs don't rot, they'll keep for months!

[be-bop]

A friend of mine lived in Zimbabwe or Rhodesia as it was called then and he told me about locust pie which used to be sold in bush meat markets
Too gross for words !!!!

[wah]

This might seem kinda strange, but I went for a walk around the island of Manhattan the other day to try and listen to the song of the earth (literally, I walked about 20 miles).

Yea, it's a bit freaky, but sometimes you have to push yourself to overcome the limits of standard cognition. Pain is a wonderful clarifier, especially if it is welcomed and willful (forcing pain on others tends to muddle information).

Rest assured however, the forces beyond our comprehension have taken note of our actions, and they are not pleased. The two-headed turtle attests to this. The swarm of locusts is another 'sign'. The discovery of the missing link. is another.

Strange things are afoot. Of that there is no doubt.

[jaguar]

two head turtles are the result of pesticides, swarms of locusts are seasonal, or at least or byproduct of global warming.

[wah]

there are the male fish with the eggs and such. <-my take.

or go straight to the national geographic web page.

If the 'god talk' rubs you the wrong way...how about..."There is a disturbance in the Force." Then we can use one of the modern day myths, instead of the old skool stuff.

Or maybe...'a glitch in the Matrix' is a better way to state it.

[xoxoxoBruce]

I'll bet there were two headed turtles long before anyone ever thought of pesticides.
Pink locusts too.

[jinx]

Originally Posted by wah

there are the male fish with the eggs and such. <-my take.

or go straight to the national geographic web page.

If the 'god talk' rubs you the wrong way...how about..."There is a disturbance in the Force." Then we can use one of the modern day myths, instead of the old skool stuff.

Or maybe...'a glitch in the Matrix' is a better way to state it.

We don't know whether its a matrix, a force or a god - but we're qualified to recognize a disturbance (glitch, anger...)in it?

[wah]

We don't know whether its a matrix, a force or a god - but we're qualified to recognize a disturbance (glitch, anger...)in it?

Well, 'we' (I) don't know what 'word' you (both singular and plural) use to describe such things. Hence, we use a more 'linguistic shotgun' approach.

It certainly <i>seems</i> like a disturbance. It certainly <i>feels</I> like one. To call such events 'normal' seems a bit of a stretch, IMHO.

Some folks get very, very hung up on words. So much so that using one conception or another causes them to stop thinking entirely about the dataset being presented.

[xoxoxoBruce]

I beg to differ. You don't know how many two headed turtles there has been, how often they appear or why. You're assuming something you aren't knowledgeable about portends bad shit.

Btw, love your picture, Jinx.