Yes, We Have No Bananas

May 10, 2008 Ann 1 Comment

Even though bananas come from an asexual plant, it doesn’t mean they’re not sexy.  I mean, look at them.  Peel back the skin and taste the sweetness with your tongue.

I started hearing all these rumblings about how we’ve been cloning bananas for so many years that one day they were just going to run out, and then we’d all be screwed.  I’d hate to be my sister, who can’t even stand the smell of a banana, because my comfort and satisfaction seems to revolve around whether we have this sweet and slender fruit in the house. 

Anyway, I had to find out what it was all about. A 2001 article from the National Geographic talks about this wretched fungus attacking banana crops and how scientists were working on this five-year banana genome project so they could create fungus resistant bananas. Well, since then they succeeded with the first plague and are busy working on the next big fungus.

Meanwhile, you’ve got debates about the evils of genetic manipulation, big business, politics, world hunger, murder and espionage, all around this sexy little fruit.  All I have to say, is that if bananas can’t have sex the natural way and take advantage of all that Darwin’s natural selection process has to offer, then what’s wrong with a little manual manipulation?

The Spiritual Battle For Your Decayed Corpse

May 6, 2008 Dan 2 Comments

I was reading on About.com’s Genealogy blog on how the Vatican has ordered dioceses worldwide to stop Mormons from photographing genealogy records held by the Catholic church.

Kimberly writes:

“One of the core tenets of Mormon faith is that the dead can be baptized into the Church to offer them the opportunity to accept the faith in an afterlife and achieve salvation. Many Jews and Christians have been upset by this practice, and see it as usurping the memory of their departed relatives.”

It makes me wonder what sort of religion I might be inducted into in a couple of hundred years. Perhaps Scientology? I wonder if I can go up in level in Scientology after I’ve passed away? Can a corpse become Clear?

Maybe I’ll be the first.