confusion

We’ve opened up a new front on the war on terror. It’s an attack on the unique, the unorthodox, the unexpected; it’s a war on different. If you act different, you might find yourself investigated, questioned, and even arrested — even if you did nothing wrong, and had no intention of doing anything wrong… If you ask amateurs to act as front-line security personnel, you shouldn’t be surprised when you get amateur security.

Bruce Schneier, from “The War on the Unexpected” [schneier.com], Schneier on Security

When it comes to their social behavior, people sometimes act like monkeys…

From “Humans and monkeys share Machiavellian intelligence” [sciencecodex.com web.archive.org]

Broken link replaced with link to Wayback Machine on Archive.org

Contrary to popular belief, not a significant amount of research goes into cockroach radiation,

Gran Imahara, from “‘Mythbusters’ test seeks to determine if cockroaches could survice a nuclear holocaust” [seattletimes.com]

When bugs from the east coast have to be trucked to California to pollinate an exotic tree because California has no bugs, it’s a pretty whacked-out agricultural system.

Randy Oliver, “What Was Behind the Honey Bee Wipeout?” [alternet.org], by Gina Covina, from Terrain magazine