May 12, 2017

At the 2 Ants Café...

P1130569

... insects don't have politics.

(Pssst: The Althouse Amazon Portal.)

26 comments:

Owen said...

Are you sure? Politics is just an argument over finite resources. Ants and plants perform that argument.

Once written, twice... said...


When Trump said last year that he could murder someone in the middle of 5th Avenue during broad daylight and his followers woundn't care, he was referring specifically to Ann Althouse.

mockturtle said...

Ants eat the aphids, as I understand it.

Original Mike said...

The world is a sphere! Look, I'll prove it to you. You stay here ...

Ignorance is Bliss said...

At the 2 Ants Café...

... insects don't have politics.


Politics is not possible with only two. You need at least three.

On the other hand, if you have at least three, politics is inevitable.

JohnAnnArbor said...

I thought ants were the ultimate collectivists, dying for the colony as needed.

RAH said...

Ants love peonies They also protect the flowers from other insects

The Elder said...

Have Meade grow a rubber tree plant so we can all sing along!

Ann Althouse said...

"Are you sure?"

There's always the first insect politician, an insect, who dreamed he was a man, and loved it... but now the dream is over, and the insect is awake.

Anonymous said...

Once, when I was living in the tropics, the local ants colonized our coffee maker. They accomplished a complete conquest between midnight and sunrise. They set up the nursery in the little oblong window that showed the water level. Pretty cool really, an unexpected ant farm, and I was impressed by their speed and efficiency.

I was kinda bummed about not being able to make coffee that morning, though. I use a coffee press these days. Ants don't seem to mess with that, though, like the tropical ants of yore, they do launch an annual offensive on the house during the rainy season. But our defenses hold; they have not prevailed. Yet.

Freeman Hunt said...

They have political allies though. Whenever I take up Terro against the ants, my children plead strenuously on their behalf.

"Thou shalt not kill!"
"The Hebrew doesn't say that. It says not to murder. Murder not kill."
"Then you can't murder the ants!"
"Murder is against a person."
"Says who?!"
"It's in the definition of murder. It's part of what the word means."
"You don't care about animals. You are their enemy."
"I love animals, but a responsible person does not allow insects to infest her home."
"They think it's THEIR home!"
"They're wrong."
"You are killing hundreds of creatures, and you don't even care about it."
"I do care, but it's what has to be done. The ones living in the yard away from the house can live."
"They don't know the difference between the house and the yard!"
"That is sad for them."
One child to another: "Can you believe mom would do this?"
The other child: "I know. It's evil of her."

And so on. Then they eat chicken for dinner. Go figure.

traditionalguy said...

Maybe those are termites disguised as black ants, but really Red Ants!

Our entire Peony system is under attack.

Freeman Hunt said...

It is hard not to laugh when you are putting ant bait around the outside of the house while your children jeer at you for being an "animal murderer" from the windows, but to laugh is to belittle so one tries not to do it even if not always successfully.

Anonymous said...

Freeman Hunt: And so on. Then they eat chicken for dinner. Go figure.

I take it none of your kids ever inadvertently stepped in or sat on a nest of fire-ants as toddlers.

That generally cures 'em of sentimental inclinations toward those little commie bastards.

Clayton Hennesey said...

Ants, at least, never developed politics because to date they've found that war and genocide have always addressed their problems adequately.

I Callahan said...

When Trump said last year that he could murder someone in the middle of 5th Avenue during broad daylight and his followers woundn't care, he was referring specifically to Ann Althouse.

Once Written... is flinging dung again. Cleanup on aisle 6...

mockturtle said...

Great dialogue, Freeman! Makes me think of my nephew, Che, who lectured my mother once on the evils of fishing.
Mom: Are you saying it's cruel to the fish?
Che: Not just the fish, but also the worm.

Fernandinande said...

mockturtle said...
Ants eat the aphids, as I understand it.


Depends on the ant - some of them actually 'farm' the aphids.

Some wags have said that the social(ist) insects are the only animals who wage human-type mass wars. Besides humans.

rcocean said...

Ants have a good PR firm. Except for a few movies about "Killer army ants" they are represented positively in children' TV, movies, and books.

But what's the difference between an ant and a cockroach? Except one is ugly, and the other isn't.

mockturtle said...

Fernandinande said: Some wags have said that the social(ist) insects are the only animals who wage human-type mass wars. Besides humans.

I have personally witnesses a large flock of gulls attack, unprovoked, a large flock of cormorants. It may have involved fishing rights. The battle raged for over an hour but I don't know the casualty count.

mockturtle said...

witnessed, not witnesses..

mockturtle said...

rcocean asks: But what's the difference between an ant and a cockroach? Except one is ugly, and the other isn't.

How about a rat versus a squirrel? Both are rodents and both can carry bubonic plague.

Fernandinande said...

mockturtle said...
The battle raged for over an hour but I don't know the casualty count.


It's a matter of degree - ant wars can last for several days and involve thousands of ants.

JohnAnnArbor said...

What language is the spammer spamming in?

FullMoon said...

mockturtle said...

rcocean asks: But what's the difference between an ant and a cockroach? Except one is ugly, and the other isn't.

How about a rat versus a squirrel? Both are rodents and both can carry bubonic plague.
5/12/17, 11:23 AM


"The difference between a rat and a squirrel is the clothes they wear"

Said by some mother to son going for interview.

Kansas Scout said...

Do you use tripods for these close ups?