Random

> Lloyd Ahlem, my favorite golfer, sent this picture of a guy who fell backwards into the cacti at a golf course in Tucson. Apparently it took three hours of work before they could get him into the ambulance.

> Speaking of Tucson, when I was riding my bike down 51st Ave yesterday morning, I noticed that it was packed with RVs. They're all snowbirds headed toward southern Arizona, using 51st Ave and the road through the Gila River Indian Reservation, as a bypass around the downtown Phoenix traffic on I-10. The winter migration has begun.

> Is Christianity a hobby? ~ link

> Mosquito talk --

It's been a bad year to be a mosquito. The world's most annoying insect is responsible for 250 million cases of malaria per year — and 1 million deaths. But scientists at the University of Arizona have genetically engineered a mosquito that's immune to the Plasmodium parasite, the malaria-causing agent it transmits with its bite. The next step is to make the new mosquito hardier than the ordinary kind, then release it into the wild (perhaps within 10 years), where it will displace the deadly variety.

Come on U of A, you can do better than that! While you're at it why can't you just genetically modify the mosquito so that it doesn't bite people, period? That's a better way to stop the spread of malaria, dengue fever, yellow fever, West Nile virus, encephalitis and a bunch of other diseases -- and annoyances. ~ Time

> It looks like today is Taco Tuesday at Jack in the Box. ~ EV Trib

> Professors propose one way trips to colonize Mars. ~ KTAR

> Lego CEO has a Lego "business card" that looks like him. ~ WSJ

> Centuries old Chinese taboos associated with death and dying are rapidly disappearing. ~ Global Post

> Not that it matters all that much but the metro Phoenix area is now the 11th largest in the US -- 4,536,069 residents. "Arizona ranks 13th among states in population with 6,815,765 people." ~ Phoenix Business Journal