Emperor Barack - I

Barack Obama has a chance to do what no one has ever done before - Become the world's first democratically elected Emperor!

Think about it. He got rousing welcome every single place he visited over the last couple weeks. Over 200,000 Germans turned up for his speech there is a dessert in Palestine called the "Obama cake", the King of Jordan chauffeured him and unofficial polls in New Zealand show that he is more popular than the candidates running in that election. With his Kenyan ancestry, he has parts of Africa covered as well and penguins in Antarctica wouldn't give too much of a damn either way! There is a real chance for Obamasphere around the world!

But to be a little more serious, in this age of widespread information, will denizens of any nation or region temporarily lease out leadership/executive positions to a more competent individual even if that person is not a native of the land?

Can we avoid aging?

That's what Aubrey David Nicholas Jasper de Grey seems to think. Here's the link to a very interesting and provocative speech given by him at TED

But to be fair to the speech, it is not as much as about avoiding aging but more so about extending lifespan. It is a truly a very interesting question.

Most of medical research is about extending lifespan by preventing or curing diseases. But if the onset of diseases can be delayed, especially those considered to be inevitable due to hereditary or life-style reasons, would that extend life? I'm not talking about exercise etc but real medication that healthy people take to delay a disease that they are most likely to be afflicted with in the future! The results may not overtly radical, but something to think about. Enjoy the speech for now.

btw, with his long beard, Aubery de Grey looks like wizard out of LOTR. Wonder when he'll become Aubery de White?