Fascinating critters, if admittedly an excellent source for nightmare fuel:

Wasps of the genus Sphex (commonly known as digger wasps) are cosmopolitan predators of the family Sphecidae that sting and paralyze prey insects. There are over 130 known digger wasp species. In preparation for egg laying, they construct a protected “nest” (some species dig nests in the ground, while others use pre-existing holes) and then stock it with captured insects. Typically, the prey are left alive, but paralyzed by wasp toxins. The wasps lay their eggs in the provisioned nest. When the wasp larvae hatch, they feed on the paralyzed insects.

Thank goodness that insects aren’t sentient, as far as we know: the thought of a free-willed, self-aware individual trapped and paralyzed, watching as something alien literally battened on its flesh – well, I’m not ashamed to say that the thought of such a thing gives me the chills. Especially since it’s all done in the dark, where nobody can see. And what makes it truly horrific is that while the ‘host’ doesn’t know what’s happening to it, the observer does, adding a grim inevitability to the coming proxy anagnorisis…

…Oh, wait, this was scheduled to be a political post. My bad. Hmm. What can I write about?

Several members of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) expressed fear Tuesday that the new outside group Organizing for Action — a retooled version of President Obama’s campaign machine — could hurt the national party’s fundraising and drain its resources.

“I don’t know how splitting things apart is conducive to progress. When you start looking at competitive interests that are trying to move in the same direction, why wouldn’t you all be on the same page?” Krystal Thrailkill, a DNC committee member from Arkansas, told The Hill at the committee’s annual winter meeting.

(H/T: Hot Air Headlines) Read the whole thing, particularly the parts where the DNC head honchos all heard about the changes via their staffers passing along the OFA email.

Moe Lane (crosspost)

PS: Note, by the way, that the digger wasp is largely unconcerned about the long, or even short, term goals of the ‘hosts’ of its larvae.