Zombicology

A letter to the editor of The Economist, January 7, 2010:

SIR – When I was a medical student one of the most popular lectures was given by an expatriate Haitian professor who explained the pharmacology that created real zombies (“Invasion of the living dead”, December 19th). Unrepentant troublemakers in small Haitian villages were sometimes dealt with by a shaman, who would prepare a powder from the skin of a blowfish mixed with ground glass. This was surreptitiously placed on the doorstep of the home of the victim, whose bare feet rubbed and absorbed the toxin.

The active ingredient of this poison was tetrodotoxin, a neurotoxin which can paralyse and reduce breathing and heart rates to undetectable levels while preserving consciousness. The victim fell ill and “died”, to be buried in a wooden coffin. The night of the funeral, the shaman exhumed the “corpse” and took it away to his home. If the victim was fortunate (or maybe not) the toxin wore off, but the shaman then kept him stupefied with “zombie cucumber”, or jimson weed, which contains the hypnotic drug scopolamine. Zombies were used as slaves by the shamans, but occasionally escaped and returned to their villages. Imagine the power this gave to the elite: anyone who crossed their path could not merely be killed, but punished in the afterlife as well.

Dr Philip Early
Fresno, California

8-year-old on TSA security list

The New York Times reports on Mikey Hicks, age 8, who has been on the TSA "selectee" list for additional security screening since age 2. (link here, don't know how long it will work; and hat tip to Kerry for the article)

I love the "mythbusting" on the TSA website:

Myth: The No-Fly list includes an 8-year-old boy.
Buster: No 8-year-old is on a T.S.A. watch list.

You know, mythbusting - getting through all the formalities and clutter to provide answers that real people can understand. But look at the bureaucratic, legalistic thinking behind the mythbust: "There are no 8-year-olds on the no-fly list. Oh, that other list... the selectee list... well, that's a totally different list, you see. Not really a watch list at all. Of course there are 8-year-olds on that list." (But not "as a rule". Thanks for the clarification, TSA spokesman James Fontenos.)

Today's milestones

1. Owen sends his first email. Or so he thinks. For bedtime reading, he handed me a stack of Space Shuttle photos and announced, "Owen sending email."

2. Owen pulls Dad's leg. He was being uncooperative - I think with toothbrushing, or maybe putting on PJs - and then stopped, looked at me and with a perfectly impish grin said, "Teasing Daddy."

Mixed blessing

Yesterday I heard Owen speak on the phone better than ever before. His voice was clear, he was speaking into the phone, and he knew who he was talking to on the other end (me). He said,

Daddy coming home see Owen [lastname]?

(Ow) No, son. (Ow) No, I have to stay at work a while longer. (Sigh)

Baby Katherine = the Bus from the Movie Speed

Remember the Keanu Reeves/Sandra Bullock movie 'Speed'? It had the bus that would explode if it went < 50 mph? We've discovered that Katherine is much like the bus and is only happy in the car at highway speeds. Stoplights are her nemesis and lead to squawking and crying. Once we're moving again, she relaxes and dozes off again.