"Out, Damned Spot!"

What'll he push next?
Don't hurry him -
 he could get it right
(...Nah! Unlikely)
(Click to enlarge)

“Out, damned spot,” says Lady Macbeth as she washes invisible blood from her hands. “Out, I say! - One: two: why, then, 'tis time to do't. Hell is murky! ...afeared? What need we fear who knows it, when none can call our power to account?”

In this scene, Shakespeare communicates Lady Macbeth’s internal attitude to her despicable actions brought on by overweening ambition. And to abuse of power by the powerful.

Lady Macbeth’s conscience still flickered.

Click to enlarge.

The Donald’s? Not so much.
He wallows in abusing his power . Moreover, he proudly tells the world that his decisions come from his “gut” and his “very, very large brain.”

Do you see either gut or large brain at work in this clip of Trump promoting the injection of disinfectant into the human body?

The clip shows me a desperately deluded individual aiming to go down in history as The Guy with the Definitive Cure.
As this gaff becomes a universal meme, The Donald is back-pedaling, claiming, “It was sarcasm.” (Sheesh, can’t you take a joke?)
Sarcasm?
During a pandemic that has, to date, killed upward of 50,000 Americans?

Astoundingly, some diehard Trumpies believe him.
Kudos to the 100+ Maryland residents who’d like to believe him but decided to ask actual experts before following the deadly advice.

Of the “big problem” in Trump’s response, former Trump officials say:

…he is not relying much on data  but instead is using what he’s previously called “his very, very large brain.” At a briefing in mid-April, he pointed to his head when asked the metrics he would use to decide when to reopen the economy. 

… Asked whether Trump is a different person because of the virus, Anthony Scaramucci, Trump’s short-lived communications director, said: “No way. This guy hasn’t changed one iota.” [He added] “There’s only one thing that he’s concerned about and you know what that is? It’s TRUMP,” … spelling out the letters for effect. “When he does a news search,... [he] doesn’t search ‘USA,’ he searches ‘TRUMP.”

The Mooch got that right.

Then there are the pesky Americans (gotta be Democrats and socialists) who left a pile of newspaper-stuffed body bags outside Trump’s D.C. hotel.
Their message? “Most of the country believes in science….”

***

Listening pleasure

Click to enlarge

Music soothes ... and, during a pandemic, can lighten the load. The firefighter (left) gets it. He's playing his trumpet to lighten the load for residents locked down in Quito, Ecuador. Enjoy these, too:

• Randy Rainbow with A Spoonful of Clorox
• Goodwill Ambassador Angélique Kidjo’s pandemic take on Miriam Makeba’s famous song ‘Pata Pata
• Below: Song of Frogs after Rain – I recorded this after a heavy rainfall that flooded the garden and wetlands next door.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Click to enlarge

Detergent suds in the stream appear in the garden pond a few times a month.

Someone in the ‘hood is doing what residents near Howick Falls do: use public waterways to wash laundry.

***

I’ve tried, unsuccessfully, to photograph a pair of long tailed birds flying into a yellowwood tree in the garden. They could be widowbirds, shown left. 

I’m almost certain they’re not pin-tailed whydah.
The whydah is a handsome bird – at least with his seasonal breeding plumage, as shown below.

The seasonal appearance of his tail must boost his confidence because, during this time, he chases, pecks, and bullies his feathered colleagues.

After his tail feathers drop off, he turns back into a small black and white bird… and the bully becomes the bullied.

Read Week 1  | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4  |  Week 5

See photos Spying on Garden Creatures 
Watch Videos of Garden Creatures