December 2, 2010

Uh-oh. Maybe the old fools will never die.

I read an article today at Science Daily. Here's the link. It's about extending life by playing around with the metabolism of mitochondria. They've only accomplished this with worms so far but already they're talking about applying the discovery to people. It looks like we may actually be able to extend our lives at some point.

Now, I could see this as good news but I didn't. I don't know about you but I spend my time these days waiting for the current crop of Republicans, Tea Partiers, braindead Supreme Court "justices", and religious-right lunatics like the Pope to die. The marvelous thing -- the only thing we can hang on to -- is that so many of them are old. How long could they last? It's a delicious thought.

But what if they could live forever? What if we'll never be rid of them? That's the frightening thought this story brought to mind for me.

You know that if there's a way to cheat death it will be the Christian Taliban GOP that claws for it most fiercely. Folks like this say they look forward to a heavenly reunion with jesus when they die, but from what I've seen of them, they're way more afraid of death than the rest of us. They will push all opposition aside and rip through living flesh to snag a cure for aging.

Let's hope it doesn't come along too soon -- and I'm 63 as I say this. I'd be happy to miss out on this treatment and die soon if it meant that they would, too. See, I'm an atheist so I don't fear death. A bargain like this would work for me.

I suggest we save life extension for a more deserving generation, like the people who are kids right now.

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