So, yeah, I click on my news feeds yesterday and get hit with video featuring this blast which at first glance I legit thought it must be a nuclear bomb. I thought: "Whelp, that's it. 2020 got the best of us, yo. Peace out."
Turns out (as we are now told) it was an accidental explosion of a cache of ammonium nitrate. Whatever it was, Beirut looks a mess. And what a time to overwhelm hospitals in the midst of a pandemic, and in a third world country at that.
I remember the similar accident in China a few years ago, but I think that one was at night and well into an industrial area so the reported death toll for that one was less than 200. This shit though...on the harbor-side and near the heart of the city? Shrugs.
Hopefully all this bad stuff is just a parallax view of circumstances stacked askew by the human tendency to see patterns where they may or may not exist. Things gotta get better soon, right? I mean, let's look at the calendar and see what's likely coming up...
Hurricane season continues. At least two more severe storms hit US.
Trump starts to become unstable, already showing major signs, declares martial law. Election suspended. Congress dissolved.
Current riots amp up at least ten-fold in response. Militant right-wing response converges on cities like Portland, Seattle, Chicago, New York. Open fire indiscriminately.
Extant yet dormant terrorist cells awake in light of developments and bomb shit everywhere.
White House coup attempt fails in bloodshed, Trump and his small clan of cronies wrest full control of the "football."
And in the wee hours of January 1st, the foggy grey skies over Beijing suddenly become a blaze of light.
Welcome to 2021.