Mickey Z. -- World News Trust
July 2, 2013
“Your theory is crazy, but it's not crazy enough to be true.”
- Niels Bohr
The June 30, 2013, USA Today headline blared, 'Crazy ants' invade Southern states, altering ecosystem, and journalist (sic) Lindsay Friedman opened with this declaration: “America's ecosystem is under siege as the ‘crazy ant’ invades the South and displaces other species, including the fire ant.”
Some may wonder why these reddishbrown, eighth of an inch long Nylanderia fulva are called “crazy.” Fortunately, the corporate media is here to explain it’s “because of their unpredictable movements and swarming populations” and a “hankering… for electronics.”
Friedman dutifully digs up someone named Edward LeBrun, a University of Texas research associate who studied the species and published the results in the journal Biological Invasions. From LeBrun we learn that “crazy ants” cause “about $146.5 million in electrical damage a year because millions of ants are electrocuted in small circuits or wires, where they seek warmth.”
(“Crazy” = a journal called Biological Invasions.)
If that’s not crazy enough for you, these “vexatious beasts” also move soil, causing small structures or slabs to tilt and electronics to shut down as moisture accumulates in gaps.”
(“Electronics” is a euphemism that obscures “crazy” practices like mountaintop mining, fracking, tar sands, off-shore drilling, nuclear power plants, etc. that put the ecosystem under siege.)
Despite the fact that it was humans, of course, who transplanted “crazy ants” from South America, Friedman characterizes the insects’ presence in “infested” southern U.S. states as an “invasion,” quoting one local as declaring: "It's just a frenzy. They're everywhere."
(I can imagine the ecosystem having the same exact reaction when contemplating the existence of humans.)
Then USA Today shifts a bit and labels the ants a “costly nuisance” that can decrease property values.
(As they say in South Florida: BINGO)
So, what are the besieged humans doing to defend themselves against this invasion of ecosystem-killing beasts? Enter Tom Rasberry, known as the “Texas pest terminator,” who boasts of his ability to “eliminate an entire colony” thanks to the insecticide Termidor (fipronil), a poisonous gas.
(Hey, sometimes you have to destroy the village on order to save it.)
“The chemical, initially used for termites, was approved for emergency use only in Texas by the FDA,” adds Friedman. “If used incorrectly, it can be deadly for bees, birds and aquatic animals, including fish.”
“Crazy ant” expert LeBrun -- without a hint of irony -- returns to express his fear that the insects are “throwing the whole Southern ecosystem out of whack.”
(Insert deep sigh here)
“Terminator” Rasberry is given last word from USA Today and unwittingly offers a touch of sanity to the dismal efforts of a seasoned corporate apologist: "It's gone too far,” Rasberry opines. “There's no turning back."
It most certainly has gone too far. Now, I say we collectively do the arduous but urgent work to find out if indeed, there is no turning back…
#shifthappens
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Mickey Z. is the author of 11 books, most recently the novel Darker Shade of Green. Until the laws are changed or the power runs out, he can be found on an obscure website called Facebook. Anyone wishing to support his activist efforts can do so by making a donation here.
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