Andre Delambre won't like this....

British scientists bring us.....fly-eating robots.

Now if they would only invent lawyer-eating robots, then they would be on to something. The technology has to be pretty close--the fly-eating robots use human sewage as part of their system already.

Rumors of my well-being have been greatly exaggerated.

OK, so The Malcontent, in fact, didn't get well. Hope to return during the week of December 27th. Until then, go read ACW's histrionic dramatic tales of his own ill health!

The Malcontent Lives!

To paraphrase Twain, rumors of The Malcontent's death have been exaggerated, but not that greatly. Feeling better, hope to return to posting soon.

Nerd party.

William Saletan covered the President's Council on Bioethics in Slate last week.

Saletan's coverage offers an interesting perspect on the Council generally, their recent stem cell discussion, as well as Frank Fukuyama's newest proposal.

What Saletan gets exactly right is that the Council is often pondering really earth-shaking monumental ideas and developments that will change the world as we know it. What is missing from the discussion is the fact that we have had several prior panels--as thoughtful as this one, dealing with issues just as paradigm-changing as this one, and ultimately, none of them have had any substantial effect on policy. The unanswered question is--how do bodies like this one affect change and thus, have a real policy effect?

Disclaimer: The Malcontent works in the policy world, and often in the same areas of interest as those addressed by the Council. Rarely, if ever, do our positions align.

Creepy.

B.T.K. plays cat-and-mouse with the police.

So it could have been worse.

We here at The Malcontent love the stinky cheese, as do our friend and colleague AnonymousCoworker. Recently, through the machinations of the delightful P.G., The Malcontent received not one, but two whole wheels of the legendary Red Hawk, made by Cowgirl Creamery of California.

The cheese, which remind many of the French Epoisses, smelled so strongly that it was the first thing you noticed upon entering our house for all the days that the cheese was in residence. It has a light "abattoir in a sewer" kind of smell. AnonymousCoworker, a brave and stalwart soul, took one home with him, but he honestly looked a bit nervous about it.

Now, we learn it coulda been worse. (For those loyal readers who think we're over the top on this, you will note in the BBC story linked immediately prior that the French do not allow the Epoisses to be carried on public transport. When I was on the Washington D.C. Metro with these cheeses, people looked at me with an expression that said "why would anyone carry around a briefcase filled with rotting garbage?" Really.)

(As far as the Red Hawk goes, The Malcontent can only echo the words of Ferris Bueller, in contemplating the 1961 Ferrari, two-fifty GT California: "If you have the means, I highly recommend picking one up.")

Lettuce milkshakes, however, are out.

What would we do without the FDA to protect us?

For example, when they finally got around to checking milk supplies, it turns out milk in the U.S. is generally contaminated with perchlorate, the primary ingredient in solid rocket propellant, and a chemical linked to impaired thyroid function, which can play a role in tumor formation in the thyroid.

Ditto lettuce.

But the FDA doesn't want you to worry. According to WIRED News:

"At this point we don't know if there is any risk," said an FDA spokeswoman. "Therefore, we're telling consumers to continue to eat a well-balanced diet. We don't want people to alter their diet in ways that make them think they're removing perchlorate, when they're really removing the healthy benefits of those foods."

The Malcontent might feel better if the folks at FDA talked to the folks at EPA, who have the following in their FAQ on perchlorate:

Is perchlorate-contaminated water safe to drink?
EPA's draft toxicity assessment is preliminary and thus, it is difficult to make definitive recommendations at this stage. It is also important to recognize that estimates contained in this draft assessment are designed to be conservative. In other words, there are adjustment factors built into this estimate to help account for uncertainties in the underlying data and information used. Other factors that influence the answer to this question include how much water is consumed, the degree of perchlorate contamination and the health status of the consumer.

That's what we call around here, um, a "no."

Well, at least the folks at FDA didn't jump up, scream, and yell out "Beware the Salad of Death!" Because that would have really been unsettling.

The data? Of course.