show me the money

Witness the continued downfall of major US money-lenders through my favorite news-spots online tickers,  I have begun to realize what a mystery this business of banking really is. Billions of dollars have been lost – How? Where on earth did such a large amount of money disappear to so quickly? I realize the answer to this involves a complex web of transactions in which money is collect from some and given to others and somewhere within the process others still make (or at least used to make) a profit somewhere along the way. So when billions of dollars have been lost I am a bit baffled that the world keeps on turning with the only immediate impact being bad days on Wall Street. Naive – yes, very. I would add that I am also earning a low enough income that if it weren’t for the media’s relentless coverage I would not know that billions of dollars have disappeared spurring a national ecomonic crisis or sorts because such a loss doesn’t seem to effect my daily life in any significant manner – which I can appreciate. However, I find it hard to imagine how the loss of such great sums of money can be unnoticeable by anyone. A mystery indeed.

 

Mosquitoes

Unsolved Mystery: What is the function of mosquitoes? Why do they exist?

The biological/evolutionary/ecological value of mosquitoes escapes me. They may play role in pollination and certainly provide many animals with a source of food; but many other species accomplish both of these tasks. In the case of animals who eat mosquitoes, it is estimated that the mosquitoes only make up 1% of their food source.  What then is so special about mosquitoes? Surely they must have some redeeming factor that has left them in the evolutionary pool. What that factor is, I can’t tell you.

When it comes to an encounter with a mosquito, I view it as a battle of fittest; self-preservation if you will. I swat, clap my hands in an attempt to kill them in midair, and if need be I will engage in bizarre dancing, hopping, and running behaviors. I even go to such extremes as to use Deet to keep these beasts at bay despite the fact that this chemical substance once melted part of my shoe and a leather knife sheath when it spilled in my bag. I would rather put a plastic-eating chemical on my skin than have a mosquito land on it. After a battle with mosquitoes, I retreat to the great indoors, survey my wounds and reach for the Benadryl. As I drift into an antihistamine-induced slumber, I can’t help but wonder, “why do mosquitoes exist?”