Poor Yemen… as if a simmering Shia insurgency in the North and abducted Japanese tourists ain’t bad enough, Yemen is facing the prospect of a screw worm epidemic. How is this for gross?

The menacing fly lays its eggs in a cut or open wound of a warm-blooded animal. The maggots then feast off the living flesh, and can kill the animal if it´s not treated in time.The outbreak hit the country´s coast late last year. Veterinarian, Mansoor AlQadasi, General Director of the Central Veterinarian Laboratory, says it´s the first official outbreak of ´old world´ screw worm in Yemen.”There are about 20,000 cases of livestock affected. Most of these are sheep and goats. We have also found some human cases — mainly in children and older people,”

Although I hope Yemen gets this under control, my “geek brain” (not to be confused with my “reptillian brain” or my “big baller for realz 2012 stylez brain” ) immediately realized I had heard this story line before….desert country with worms, you know where I am going with this:

How Yemen is Like Frank Herbert’s Dune*:

1) In the Dune the economy of the universe is controlled by the mysterious drug “spice,” it gives some users the ability to navigate space. In Yemen the economy is
being ruined by a mysterious drug, Qāt, which is gives many users the ability to stare into space for hours
2) Yemen has been infected by a crazy looking worm that has a strange life cycle and sometimes eats humans. The planet Arrakis is filled with lots of massive worms that sometimes east people.
3) Yemen is a desert country, with fertile valleys high up in the mountains. Arrakis is a desert planet with delicate ecosystems in the mountains.
4) In Yemen several groups including desert nomads wage an insurgency against the central government, which they call a jihad. In Arrakis the Fremen, a desert civilization, wage an insurgency against the government, which they call a jihad.
*Yeah, i know this is a bit ironic because Frank Herbert based the Fremen civilization on the Bedouin.

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1. Yemen, its a Blast!
2. I would rather be in . . . Yemen
3. The Devil is in the Details
4. Osama Bin Hippo
5. Camel Love