Obiter Dictum

During an interview on Tuesday, President Obama deftly swatted a fly with ninja-like reflexes and even commented on how awesome it was.  “That was pretty impressive, wasn’t it? I got the sucker.”

It was!  Flies are annoying.

PETA  is going to send him a “humane” fly catching device to help avoid future fly carnage.  Apparently it’s important for to let a creature live who is simply a nuisance to every other creature in the world and can spawn in the neighborhood of 700 baby flies in under 24 hours.  Important enough to make a press release about and act all holier than thou about.  I mean, seriously, flies live 15 days, maybe 25 days in ideal conditions.

I will continue to proudly swat flies and encourage my dog to bite them out of the air.  I’m doing my part to save the world from this growing threat.  Think about how many flies we would have if they went unchecked.  2 flies = 702 flies after 1 day.  Given 10 days for larvae->adult,  you could have nearly 250,000 flies shortly thereafter (assuming a 50/50 male to female ratio, and that they all mate).  This is an epidemic!  We must continue the swatting!

Seriously though, PETA people who care about this are stupid.  Do you really want to make a big deal about this with the President who actually voted for animal rights in the Senate?

source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/06/17/peta-wishes-obama-hadnt-s_n_217162.html

So as it turns out, some researchers down the road at UNC have discovered the key protein for identifying how fast a body is actually aging – a biomarker, they are calling it.  This protein is in cells called T-lymphocytes, also known as T-cells.  The research that uncovered this is actually focused on this protein because of it’s tumor-suppression characteristics and to help identify suitable organs for transplants.  Apparently people are very excited about this find because it could eventually lead to us being able to control people aging and regenerating/rejuvenating dying cells, etc.

That sounds nice, but I find this whole thing awfully close to the plot line for Resident Evil.  Let’s compare.

In the 13 year old video game-turned-film franchise, the giant medical research company with a top secret military-grade-weapon agenda develops the T-virus, which is supposed to be able to cure disease and regenerate tissues but actually ends up starting a massive zombie invasion because the T-virus works even while the host is dead, reanimating the flesh, etc etc.

Could this be another case of Sci-Fi predicting the future ? It wouldn’t be the first time that Sci-Fi writers have predicted the future by accident.  Isaac Asimov invented the word ‘Robotics’ in October 1941 for a short story.

An even more important question: Will you be ready for Z-Day?

Here’s some important safety tips that may help keep you alive:

1. Wherever you hole up to survive with your assorted non-zombie buddies, you must assume you have missed 1 entry point into the building that the zombies will eventually exploit.

2. If someone becomes infected, kill them immediately.

3. Always have (1) firearm with good stopping power, preferably shotgun and (1) melee weapon for close encounters or 1 on 1’s.  Think Ash from Army of Darkness.  Actually, you might want to rethink the chain saw, it might not be easy to find gas on Z day.  Let’s just stick with an axe.

4. No one seperates from the group for any reason.  This is when they will get the bite that they cover up with the sleeve of their shirt.  Inevitably, these people will turn to zombies at the worst possible moments.

Good luck out there!

source: http://www.med.unc.edu/www/news/test-detects-molecular-marker-of-aging-in-humans/

So the world is abuzz about Twitter – I even made one myself.  I think it’s interesting to get updates on your favorite celebrities and friends who travel, but I can’t see the point for 90% of the population of the world.  You will never convince me that people actually care that I ate a ham sandwich today.  It all seems just a bit self-indulgent to me.

(So is a blog.)