Closer looks at dodder

 

Posts five days ago and three days ago showed you a field on the Blackland Prairie in Pflugerville where a parasitic vine called dodder (Cuscuta sp.) was preying en masse on other wildflowers. Notice that I said “other wildflowers.” People usually think of dodder as an angel-hair-pasta-like tangle of yellow-orange strands. Actually dodder produces flowers, too, often lots of them, only they’re so tiny—about an eighth of an inch, or 3mm—that you have to take a close look to appreciate them. The picture above gives you that close look.

 

The second photograph confirms that even being the official Texas state
wildflower doesn’t exempt the bluebonnet from dodder’s clutches.

 

    

And look at this triple predation on greenthread (Thelesperma filifolium),
firewheel (Gaillardia pulchella), and prairie bishop (Bifora americana):

 

 

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Gender self-identification, a major belief in the religion of Wokeness, holds that whatever “gender” someone claims to be, you must “affirm” it. If a fully intact man with a beard declares that he’s a woman, and you have the temerity to question that counter-factual claim, trans activists will not only excoriate you, they’ll wage a campaign to get you banned from social media and fired from your job. Many such campaigns have succeeded, alas.

But two can play the self-declaration game. Last month in Indiana, Delaware County Councilman Ryan Webb, a white man, made this announcement on Facebook:

 

After much consideration I have decided to come out and finally feel comfortable announcing my true authentic self. It is with great relief that I announce to everyone that I identify as a woman and not just any woman but as a woman of color as well. I guess this would make me gay/lesbian as well, since I am attracted to women… Whew, that felt good to finally get that out there and start living life as my true self. I’m excited to bring some diversity to the county council. Until today we didn’t have any females of color or LGBTQIAPC+++ on the council. I’m glad that now we do! To avoid confusion, everyone can continue to address me as Ryan or as Councilman Webb. I will also retain my preferred pronouns of He/Him, however, this will in no way diminish my true identity as a woman of color. I’m excited to be a vocal partner of the LGBTQIAPC+++ movement. Who knows just how far we can take things, but I’m just glad that this is now possible so ANYONE can be ANYTHING or ANYONE they want.

 

Okay, so this is obviously a spoof. Yet according to the “rules” activists play by, we must accept a person’s self-proclaimed identity. If activists doubt the validity of Ryan Webb’s claims, they’re breaking their own rule of gender affirmation. Or, if activists are allowed to question this man’s proclamation, then why aren’t we allowed to question other people’s delusional claims?

There can’t be different rules depending on whose interests are being served.

 

© 2023 Steven Schwartzman