ARTICLE: "Cat Lovers Lining Up for No-Sneeze Kitties," by Elisabeth Rosenthal, New York Times, 6 October 2006, p. A14.Consider this a public service announcement.
A company in San Diego says it has genetically engineered cats which now lack the molecule in their spit that generates the allergic reaction in humans (the spit dries in their fur when they clean themselves, and the resulting "dander" is what enters the air you take in, giving you the allergic response). They want $4k and all sorts of up-front screening to own one of these cats.
What the article does not mention is that there is a breed that already naturally achieved this result: Siberian cats, which came to America only after the end of the USSR. Siberians run about $800-$1000. They naturally lack the molecule in question, making them normally non-allergenic. We know this, because we have two in a house where several people suffers cat allergies but have no problem with these two cats. We've also had plenty of guests around them, including overnight, with no response.
Plus, Siberians are very good looking, and the neatest, most dog-like cats you'll ever own. Very well tempered.
We got our two from a dealer in Georgia, near Atlanta. Both flew up on Delta flights. Worked like a charm.
This "breakthrough" reminds me of Temperpedic's marketing, pretending like they are the only company in the world that can get you a memory foam mattress, when actually any good mattress factory can build one for you custom at half the price. Ah, but Temperpedic's mattress is "endorsed" by NASA! Like you'd trust NASA on beds. Truth is, NASA had the technology developed but then never used it, because the material gets hard in the cold (you've never seen a more rock-hard mattress than a memory foam mattress delivered in the cold of winter).
Yes, I know. Not my usual stuff, but I like transparency.
Now when I start pontificating on musical theater, I'll really start giving a s--t what Mark Steyn thinks of my writing!
BTW, saw "The Departed" last night with wife and it was spectacular. Never has 141 minutes blown by so fast. The tension is unrelenting. Performances are fantastic from stem to stern and top to bottom.
But now I do want to see "Infernal Affairs," the Japanese original.
| Permalink |
Comments (4)
Actually, the original "Internal Affairs" is made in Hong Kong.
see:
imdb link
I personally think the script is too unrealistic but that's just me.
Posted by Scott Tsai | October 9, 2006 12:10 PM
Hong Kong original, actually.
Posted by Lexington Green | October 9, 2006 12:58 PM
"Infernal Affairs" was a Hong Kong film, not Japanese.
And a good one too- I highly recommend it.
Posted by Chris | October 9, 2006 5:22 PM
Thanks. I think I knew that from readiing reviews of the film so long ago, but there is that tendency to assume anything Asian that's advanced and cool is Japanese.
Reminds me of the Solzhenitsyn story from his WWI trilogy: bunch of peasant soldiers on the front see a warplane fly over and instinctively shoot at it, not knowing to whom it belongs. Their rationale? Anything that clever HAD to be German.
Posted by Tom Barnett | October 10, 2006 9:22 AM