It’s fair to say that you’ve never seen anything like this. This Indonesian fisherman named Dede has a rare immune system deficiency that has caused him to grow warts all over his body, which have overtaken his appendages and left him unable to provide for his family.

From the Telegraph UK:

After testing samples of the lesions and Dede’s blood, Dr Anthony Gaspari of the University of Maryland concluded that his affliction is caused by the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV), a fairly common infection that usually causes small warts to develop on sufferers.
Dede’s problem is that he has a rare genetic fault that impedes his immune system, meaning his body is unable to contain the warts.
The virus was therefore able to “hijack the cellular machinery of his skin cells”, ordering them to produce massive amounts of the substance that caused the tree-like growths known as “cutaneous horns” on his hands and feet.

But there’s potential good news for Dede. Dr. Gaspari believes that a synthesized form of Vitamin A will halt the growth’s progress, and reduce the larger warts; and with surgery and continued doses of Vitamin A he will, theoretically, be able to use his hands again.

And you thought Treebeard looked cool.

A BABY MINIATURE HORSE ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZAWWWWW!!!!!111 You can actually learn a lot about Miniature Horses on YouTube. Such as:

Miniature Horses in England Get Pissed as Fuck.

And “Two young stallions are delightful to watch playing.” Why yes, yes they are.

The thing about Miniature Horses though that’s probably the most fucking bad ass, is the fact that you can actually train them and use them as service animals. Like Seeing Eye Dogs, but instead of a dog, it’s a little goddamn horse. FUCK WITH IT!

And as it turns out, not just people who are blind or fucked up physically qualify for a mini horse friend. All you have to be is emo as fuck. Check it:

Miniature Horses gain rights as Emotional Support Animals

Recent court rulings have extended the rights of the disabled to employ emotional support animals (ESA). To qualify, the disabled person must have a Psychological Neurosis (as delineated by the American Psychological Association diagnostic guidelines), and the animals must provide a legitimate service.

For example a person who was traumatized by a mugging could get diagnosed with Agoraphobia and gain the right to keep a ESA dog in an area where no pets are allowed.

On May 9 2003, the Department of Transportation (DOT) published new guidelines concerning service animals and air transportation as they relate to the Air Carrier Access Act (ACCA), ruling that ESAs fall within the scope of the ADA.

The financial costs to those who violate the rights of ESA users can be substantial. In 2000, a Minnesota judge awarded a man Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) $190,000 in damages after his condominium association refused to allow him to keep a ESA dog.

Miniature horses have been recognized as therapy animals. Miniature horses have the right to act as mobility aids, pulling wheelchairs and steadying those who could not walk without external support.

Dude I’m so getting an Emotional Support Horse. Emo Horses are the new shit for ‘08. RECOGNIZE

Maybe I’ll get around to chiming in on Julie Abra Fischer or EMI cutting 1/3 of its workforce later. I have something even better to tell you about.

Element 115 from Phoenix, AZ. Holy wow.

First, a little background on our Band You’ve Never Heard of Band of the Day. We Synthesis folks have a SonicBids account, and bands hit us in hopes of us writing about them on our blog or in our magazine. Most of these bands are pretty terrible. Real shitty. Shitty, shitty, shitty. Just plain awful. There are some fairly decent bands too, but most of them are only barely so. It’s mostly stinky poo-poos. But, then there are the bands who are really doing something…er, different…who capture the imagination of we bloggers, and rise from among the soiled ranks and into our hearts. Element 115 is one of those bands, and for God’s sake I hope they take that quote and put it at the top of their damn bio.

You should of course have been listening to Element 115 from the link at the top of the page this whole time. If you’re not, please open another window and do so now.

See? Holy wow!

Here’s the rundown:
1. Classic rock style band with original classic rock songs. About cars and aliens.
2. Band leader “Michael” belts out hair-raising hair-rock howls like woah.
3. Their drummer is an alien being that plays with the band live via interstellar video conferencing.
4. Read that last bit again.
5. In full support of Ron Paul (god bless them).
6. Headset mics.
7. No full songs on their page, just clips (no one rides for free…)
8. Dude’s rocking a Gibson Explorer. LEGIT.
9. Bring their own light and stage show.
10. “the band GUARANTEES a memorable event when they play.”
11. LISTEN TO THAT ROCK! FUCKING FUCK!

I’m really honestly confused right now. I am caught between ridiculing this band and genuinely appreciating their cheese factor. Is this infatuation ironic or genuine? I’m not sure! As I’ve been listening to them for an hour straight I imagine I must actually like this band, and God help me. The amount of work that has gone into this band is seriously staggering. It’s just the music is the most mind boggling mix of pop metal and prog-rock, and I bet they have no idea how funny and awesome it is.

I kinda want to join this band.

Seriously out of this world.

Below the jump you will fine the real-time, non edited AIM conversation between me and Editorial Director James Barone about Element 115.

(more…)

 Interesting article over at Reality Sandwich by Sean Donahue titled “Antibiotics, Counterinsurgency and the Myth of Contagion,” taking a look at the somewhat telling correlations between the methods used by the Western World  in treating two of their most favorite afflictions, terrorism and disease: 

We operate on the idea that the biggest threats we face come from the outside — bacteria, viruses, and parasites entering our bodies through cuts and bug bites and contaminated food; terrorists sneaking across our borders. And so we seek to eliminate those threats using the most potent weapons and strategies available, from broad spectrum antibiotics to the cruise missiles and laser guided bombs the military uses to secure “full spectrum dominance” on the battlefield.But those approaches are backfiring. The indiscriminate use of antibiotics has spurred the evolution of newer, more virulent diseases. The medical establishment’s primary response has been to develop new antibiotics that in turn spur the evolution of stronger bacteria. Large scale bombing, urban firefights, house to house searches, and the detention and torture of suspected insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan have led to upsurges of violent resistance in both countries.These failures require a reexamination of some of our fundamental assumptions about how the world works – and that re-examination has the potential to be a catalyst for some important cultural shifts 

That shit is word. Now excuse me while I get some Synergy all up in my shit     

I remember being like 12 and watching The Lawnmower Man and seriously getting a BONER thinking about Virtual Reality. Now it looks like shit is starting to get a little bit closer to becoming a reality, with homeboy Johnny Lee’s little invention above and the 3DV Systems camera being unveiled at this year’s CES. Pretty soon teenaged shut-ins will be able to pop a disc in their Wii virtually mow Hayley from Paramore’s box in total 3D. THAT SHIT WILL MOVE UNITS!

…with their eco-friendly “Tope” which you can read about on their website here.

What do they do with this stuff? Wull, they make wallets of course! Not just geeky wallets you would assume to come from planet-savers, but trendy, artistic wallets with various styles for every type of person. Here are some of our favs:

Check out everything they have to offer at DBCLAY.COM