Seven things a remote-control butterfly cannot do:
- make DARPA seem like a good value in defense spending.
- escape a hungry sparrow, or a curious cat.
- drive a robot.
- replace drug-sniffing dogs.
- carry laser-guided munitions.
- fetch my coffee.
- live very long.
I bet we can come up with better uses for controllable butterflies than to enlist them as spies, yes?
It’s spring break everywhere, isn’t it?
by greg—Mar 17, 07:52 AM
Yes, everywhere, even here. Well not really, but I imposed a week long vacation on myself Wednesday when I realized that I was completely burnt out, i.e. couldn’t read two sentences in an article without spacing out for 15 min, commenting in a blog, etc. I did however find Kostova’s book on sale here for only 5 pounds, and I’m about halfway through it. Good book so far, will say more when I finish it.
As for these butterflies, I have no comment on these miraculous creatures, except that only Rumsfeld’s defense department could make me view butterflies as suspicious intruders rather than the gorgeous harbingers of spring.
I’m joking. No I’m not. Yes I am.
Damn I need this vacation.
by JH—Mar 17, 11:53 AM
Frankly, I’ve been diverted of my attention, too, thanks to all-around uncertainty. K’s been worse than me, so between us, our house is perpetually teetering on the edge of nervous breakdown. We take naps come 3 o’clock, we’re so exhausted from worry.
The butterfly thing is at least a little more humane than theorizing about dropping explosive cats out of airplanes…
Still, I look forward to your thoughts on The Historian, JH. Especially, its tour of Eastern Europe. Not having been there (or anywhere), I found myself longing for Istanbul...
by greg—Mar 17, 12:00 PM
Alternate title for this post: Bullet with Butterfly Wings?
by Gay Restorationist—Mar 17, 01:09 PM
2nd alternate title:
Shh! The room’s been bugged.
by greg—Mar 17, 01:57 PM
Ah, this lays the foundation for a GREAT sequel to the summer smash-hit, “Snakes on a Plane.”
Next year, for a follow-up, a crate full of Rummy’s Super Spy Bugs will be released on a plane. Instead of an assassin trying to snuff someone in the Witness Protection Program, this time its a CIA operative trying to whack a terrorist, but without making it look like a hit, or a whacking. That way, none of the other terrorists will get wise to the plan.
This is going to be great!
by GKB—Mar 17, 03:24 PM
(
Greg’sGKB's being modest: he’s a Snakes on a Plane devotee.)A war flick about remote-control insects sounds like one of those horrid 50s-era, nuclear-mutation B-movies, like Them.
by greg—Mar 17, 03:32 PM