One week after Cincinnati Zoo officials fatally shot a gorilla to protect a child, one aspect of the public outcry proves many humans are birdbrained. That’s actually unfair to birds. Many are quite intelligent. A study two years ago found…
Longer Reads
Peeing, Privacy and Politics
Since politicians have made bathrooms a trending topic, I have a confession: I’ve been urinating in public all my life. Or at least it feels that way. For those of us with penises (and birth certificates to prove it), exposing…
Dear Web: Shut the F*ck Up!
Pardon the headline. In the spirit of our profane presidential campaigns, I see no need to sanitize my disdain for web video ads that take control of my screen and speakers. You know the drill. You click on a website,…
If Elected, Trump Pledges to Put Assets in Blonde Trust
At the sixth GOP debate, Donald Trump offered this brilliant safeguard to avoid Oval Office conflicts of interest: Let his children run his business empire. Ever since Trump announced his candidacy, I’ve been waiting for a debate moderator to ask…
Blaming ‘the Media’ is What’s Lame
“For the 14th consecutive year, Fox News led in total viewers and in the 25-to-54-year-old demographic crucial to advertisers. The network’s average of 1.8 million viewers in prime time placed it second among all cable channels, the highest finish for…
Republicans Love Virgins
“I’m not a politician,” said (fill in the blank). Both leading contenders for the Republican presidential nomination repeatedly deny being politicians. Former pediatric neurosurgeon Dr. Ben Carson this week overtook reality television star Donald Trump in national polls to lead…
Driverless Car Bombs Pose Threat
GPS satellites broadcast passive one-way signals that by themselves can do no harm. But bad actors can use the power of GPS in frightening ways. “Driverless vehicles could easily be perverted into a ghastly weapon—a guided missile making full use…
Metro Growth = Job Security for Urban Planners
Forecasters at the United Nations last fall updated their projections for the growth of cities across the planet over the next 15 years. World Urbanization Prospects is the type of report that fuels worry about teeming masses huddled amid poverty…
Southern Pride Needs a Different Symbol
“A small group of neo-Nazis have staged an anti-Semitic rally in London, but were hugely outnumbered by counter-demonstrators….The group, waving Palestinian and Confederate flags, stood surrounded by police in a fenced-in area near Downing Street on Saturday. A counter-demonstration drew…
ISIS: Earth’s Worst Tumor
Maps of territory held by the Islamic State, or ISIS, bugged me, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. Then, I realized, they look like scans of brain tumors. Unfortunately, the similarities go much deeper. Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), the…