Wednesday 19 October 2011

This Long And Bitter War

One of those rare examples of unambiguously good news, as we learn that science is close to perfecting a malaria vaccine.  50% efficacy isn't brilliant by medical standards - certainly we're a long way from doing to malaria what we did to smallpox, but the number of lives that stand to be saved by this drug is truly astonishing.

Naturally, however, there are knock-on effects. In response to the hobbling of its mosquito foot-troops, the Insect Overlord (currently believed to exist in a blood-soaked wasp hive somewhere in war-torn Congo, or possibly Jan Moir's chest cavity) has struck back by arraying a mighty invasion force of Asian hornets across the French coast, ready to invade at a moment's notice.

I know what you're thinking. We beat the Nazis, we can beat some trumped-up foreign-johnny wasps who've gotten above themselves.  But hornets, unlike Messerschmitts, don't show up on radar.  We may never know when their vespidated take on Operation: Sea Lion is finally launched.

Plus, say what you want about the Luftwaffe, they never sent over pilots heavily pregnant with the next generation of National Socialists.  That may have only been due to ejection issues, but still...

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