A leaf-tailed gecko in Andasibe-Mantadia national park, Madagascar: photo by Thomas Marent/Ardea/Caters News Agency via the Guardian, 9 October 2014
A noise would awaken or impersonate Kim.
As if these things were self evident
In her sleep ancient lunar fish enacted,
As if before an underwater window,
A comic mimicry of a sunken world,
The one Kim wished to inhabit -- as if
Wishing were the next best thing to being
There. When the white moon comes up in the black
Cold winter night, the skin of empire drifts off
Like a poison that's evaporated;
Funny, thought Kim, how the film over words
Loses its toxic power in certain lights
Above implication's dowager kingdom.
In her sleep ancient lunar fish enacted,
As if before an underwater window,
A comic mimicry of a sunken world,
The one Kim wished to inhabit -- as if
Wishing were the next best thing to being
There. When the white moon comes up in the black
Cold winter night, the skin of empire drifts off
Like a poison that's evaporated;
Funny, thought Kim, how the film over words
Loses its toxic power in certain lights
Above implication's dowager kingdom.
This morning... Just before the sun rose.... #moon #jpnagar: image via vrundashankara @vrundavs, 13 December 2014
A flotilla of fish follow a transparent drifting jellyfish, Aurelia labiata. Gulf of Mexico. Many animals of the open sea, like this Aurelia labiata jellyfish, are largely transparent: photo by Sonke Johnson / Operation Deep Scope 2005 Expedition: NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration (NOAA Photo Library)
Flowery flounder. The peacock flounder (Bothus mancus) can change its pattern and colours to match its environment: photo by Brocken Inaglory, 28 May 2010
Orientalischer Süßlippfisch (Plectorhinchus orientalis). Tauchgang ca. 15m Tiefe, Koh PhiPhi, Thailand. – Dieser „sweetlip“ wird gerade bei einer Putzerstation von 2 Putzerfischen bedient, diese entfernen diverse Bakterien und Parasiten von Haut und Kiemen: photo by Morningdew, March 2006
Northern lights and the moon over #Tromso, #Norway Credit: G. Gunnar: image via Observing Space @ObservingSpace, 12 December 2014
Hooded Grasshopper Teratodus monticollis, superbly mimics a leaf with a bright orange border. Teratodus monticollis at Pocharam lake, Andhra Pradesh, India: photo by J.M. Garg, 2 August 2008
Biston betularia caterpillars on birch (left) and willow (right): photo by Noor MAF, Parnell RS, Grant BSA. 4 September 2008 in Reversible Color Polyphenism in American Peppered Moth (Biston betularia cognataria) Caterpillars; image by Rocketpocket, 9 September 2008
A mossy leaf-tailed gecko blends in perfectly with the branch of a tree
at Montagne d’Ambre national park, Madagascar: photo by Thomas
Marent/Ardea/Caters News Agency via the Guardian, 9 October 2014
A tawny frogmouth owl among a jumble of branches in Western Australia: photo by Don Hadden/Ardea/Caters News Agency via the Guardian, 9 October 2014
This stick insect is indistinguishable from a real stick: photo by Pascal Goetgheluck/Ardea/Caters News Agency via the Guardian, 9 October 2014
This stick insect is indistinguishable from a real stick: photo by Pascal Goetgheluck/Ardea/Caters News Agency via the Guardian, 9 October 2014
A black arches moth on tree bark in Cornwall, UK: photo by David Chapman/Ardea/Caters News Agency via the Guardian, 9 October 2014
Papuan Frogmouth (Podargus papuensis), Daintree River, Queensland, Australia: photo by JJ Harrison, 2 July 2011
Draco indochinensis, Bandipur National Park, India: photo by Yathin S. Krishnappa, 7 February 2005
Colostygia aqueata, Großer Buchstein @ approx. 850 m, Gesäuse National Park, Styria, Austria: photo by Kurt Kulac, 21 July 2011
Colostygia pectinataria (la Cidarie verdâtre -- the Green Carpet), Hainaut, Belgium: photo by Entomart, 18 May 2006
Saharan Horned Viper aka Horned Desert Viper (Cerastes cerastes), Stuttgart Zoological Garden: photo by H. Krisp, 2 December 2011
Common squirrel in oak leaves. Protective coloration allows it to merge with the oak leaves. Kharkov Forest Park, Ukraine: photo by Dennis Markov, 9 May 2007
Iguana, blending in with the rocks on St. Thomas: photo by Howard33, 15 January 2010
Lizard, Oregon: photo by Seattle.roamer, 26 July 2009
Lesser Sand Plovers (Charadrius mongolus): photo by Cisticola, 20 April 2009
Long-eared Owl (Asio otus), Carson River, Lyon County, Nevada: photo by fugie, 28 April 1984
Fusco marginatus, Vilnius, Lithuania: photo by Lukas Jonaitis, 30 May 2009
A 4mm Macroxiphus sp. cricket mimics an ant to ward off predators. Pictured in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania: photo by Muhammad Mahdi Karim, March 2009
Indian Spectacled Cobra (Naja naja), one of India's most venomous snakes, Hyderabad: photo by Kamalnv, 25 October 2008
Rhagerhis moilensis (False Cobra) in captivity. The false cobra
(Malpolon moilensis) is an opisthoglyphous snake found in parts of
Africa and the Middle East. The name "False Cobra" comes from the fact
that this is not a cobra. The False Cobra (Malpolon moilensis)
is a mildly venomous but harmless colubrid snake which mimics the
characteristic "hood" of an Indian cobra's threat display. It imitates
a cobra's stance by spreading its neck into a hood and hissing like the
cobra. It can grow up to 1.5 metres in length and preys on rodents and
lizards: photo by Etienne Boncourt, 2 June 2013
An undercover police officer, who had been marching with anti-police demonstrators, aims his gun at protesters after some in the crowd attacked him and his partner: photo by Noah Berger/AP, 12 December 2014
Oakland undercover officer who drew gun on protesters 'could have shot
anyone'. After their cover was blown, two plainclothes officers found
themselves in a melee with demonstrators and a freelance photographer
captured the incident on film: Nicky Woolf and Jessica Glenza, The Guardian, 12 December 2014
An undercover California highway patrol officer who infiltrated protests against police violence
in Oakland pulled a gun on demonstrators after his and his partner’s
cover was blown.
Michael Short, a freelance photographer who was covering the protest
for the San Francisco Chronicle and witnessed the incident, told the
Guardian that after the crowd realised that the pair were undercover
officers, they became “incensed”.
One of the protesters snatched the beanie from the head of the
smaller of the two officers. Immediately afterwards, another member of
the crowd ran up from behind and punched the same officer in the head,
knocking him to the ground.
The shorter officer stood up and tackled his assailant, at which
point the other officer, who was already brandishing his baton, drew his
gun and pointed it at the crowd, which was surging forward.
This is the moment that Short captured on film.
After drawing his weapon, the taller officer radioed for backup.
According to Short, between 20 and 25 uniformed officers who had been
accompanying the protest arrived and pushed back the crowd. “Everyone
was yelling and screaming,” said Short.
Short said that the danger didn’t really register with him in the
moment. “In retrospect, yeah, it was scary,” he said. “One little slip
and he could have shot anyone in the crowd, including myself.”
The two officers have not yet been named, though the California
Highway Patrol’s Golden Gate division has confirmed that there were two
plainclothes officers at the protest, and that one of them had drawn his
weapon.
An undercover officer points his gun at the crowd while his
partner subdues a protester, as
demonstrations continue for a fifth night in Oakland: photo by Michael Short / San Francisco Chronicle, 10 December 2014
An under cover officer points his gun at the crowd while his
partner subdues a protester, as
demonstrations continue for a fifth night in Oakland: photo by Michael Short / San Francisco Chronicle, 10 December 2014
An undercover officer points his gun at the crowd while his partner subdues a protester, as demonstrations continue for a fifth night in Oakland: photo by Michael Short / San Francisco Chronicle, 10 December 2014
Undercover Cops Outed
Caught Smashing Windows
Caught Inciting Violence #BerkeleyProtest #ICantBreathe: image via Joseph Godfrey @j0eg0d, 11 December 2014
Dear
Oakland, watch out for these undercover pigs. #berkeleyprotests
#BlackLivesMatter: image via Nadir Bouhmouch @LeJebly, 11 December 2014
Tuesday’s demonstrations against police brutality in the San Francisco Bay Area were smaller than the last three nights, but still drew hundreds of people: photo by Justin Benttinen for the Guardian, 10 December 2014
The #Moon and #Jupiter: image via MonkeyIslandLane.org @MonkeyIsland, 12 December 2014
6 comments:
The sense of dislocation intensifies with each "as if".
"The skin of empire"; order of simulations.
There are those moments of disenchantment when the game shows up plain before us. At least one hopes so.
Invisibility has always been a human fantasy, but all we get is disappearance. Great post. Thanks, Tom.
Many thanks, Duncan and Terry, and bail for the both of ye will be set in the morning.
Polymorphism seems so much more sophisticated in the natural world. For better or worse, a cop can never really disguise being a cop. Some kind of ineradicable plaque deposit on the soul?
In any case, in any world that contains the powers that be, invisibility would certainly be the best way to go, though in any world with a crumb of fairness, it would be the powers that be that would be the first thing go.
The game has indeed shown up clearly before us, unavoidably, what with the helicopters buzzing, search lights sweeping, sirens wailing all through the livelong once-upon-a-time-a-dream-of-democracy night. It's more than a wretched body can do to try to simply expire in peace.
Speaking of invisibility and disappearance by the by, in these nightly demonstrations that are actually a bizarre form of commedia dell'arte with the occasional bit of grand guignol tipped in, a predictable set of tactics is emerging on both sides of the battle line. The cops now mass at strategic intersections, covering all side street outlets, and more or less directing the flow of foot traffic by these planned intercessions. The ultimate objective now is to keep protesters off the freeway; here, the freeways are the nerve centers. The cops on the street (think: large detachments) now typically outnumber the protesters by a 2-1 ratio, so that, as their massed lines cause marchers to split off into smaller splinter groups, the reduced groups can be securely "kettled", or boxed in on all sides; it is these maneuvers which lead to the mass arrests, which take place on the spot, and proceed slowly, so that, for example, last night, those of us unhappily watching were treated to the sight of an 80 year old man, snowy haired, gaunt, showing all the alacrity and dexterity one might expect of an octogenarian who has just trudged for miles through bedlam streets in the night, leaning his weary bones against a police cruiser as four or five cops twice his size fidgeted their way through the arrest-and-cuff procedure. Shameful, revelatory, business as usual.
In the sudden rush of activity required for the massed forces to close up that particular "kettle", only a matter of seconds mind you, three of the protesters managed to sneak into a bar; the bar owner locked the door against the cops' pounding, yelling that "they're patrons", and then turned out his lights. The three protesters, one of them a live streamer, got out the back way, in due time; and that live stream was up and running again within a half hour or so.
For those who can no longer move, it seems there is at least the approximate consolation that Yes, contra the prediction of the great Gil Scot-Heron, bits and pieces of the revolution will be televised.
The Revolution Will Not Be Televised: Gil Scott-Heron, from Pieces of a Man, 1971
Gil Scott-Heron explains what he meant -- and his words keep getting truer, as the shades of evening come down...
Thanks for this, Tom.
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