The peaceful death of my sister-in-law this week gave me pause

to consider that there are a few individuals in this country who may far outlive their life expectancy.

Consider an individual who has had a Left Ventricular Assist Device (LVAD) implanted in his (or her) chest. This is normally used as a bridge to transplantation but consider this: let us say, for the sake of argument alone, that this person was able to receive AAA+ medical supervision and treatment 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. There is no pulsatile blood flow (something, believe it or not upon which I wrote a published paper in 1974 - strange world, isn't it?) which means that the blood pressure may be regulated and thus reduce the risk, IMO, of both hemorrhagic and occlusive cardiovascular accident, or stroke. Couple this with the quarterly PET scan to rule out incipient cancerous lesions, magnificently coordinated administration of pharmaceuticals, and reasonably good genes, and there is no telling how long this individual might survive, perhaps to 120 years of age or beyond.

And to finish, just suppose an individual attended a great function, watched by nearly all Americans wearing a black costume and hat, seated in a wheelchair. Would this not be construed as a signal to the minions who are loyal to his cause?

George Lucas had no idea at all whatsoever of his own prescience back in 1977.