I’m not off the record. I am firmly on the record in my conclusions at both my past agency and my current one. The guys who discuss things over beers at meetings that are not included in their public reports I am referencing as anonymous sources.

Invasive species biologist for the department of agriculture here. I worked on the African snail eradication program in Miami, and now reside in Hawaii. Rat lungworm (Angiostrongylus cantonensis) and the giant African snail (Lissachatina fulica) have both been broadly distributed throughout Hawaii for well over a…

Yup. Right next door to the crazy-person creation “science” museum.

The Latin American edition en espanol will be Dostinia.

Homeland Security did my training, too. I work for a Federal agency stationed near a major airport. They did not engage in any of those sorts of suggestions about profiling or fears of “political correctness”, out beyond noting that most active shooters were angry white men, but could be any angry unstable person. The…

Clearly it has been too long since you last saw “the Dirty Dozen”. As I recall, a number of that Magnificent Seven Samurai (plus five) manage to survive.

I want you to know that I understand and appreciate what you are saying. The golden rule suggests that we should treat others as we wish to be treated, and that we should be fair and even-handed in our dealings. Alas, the very concept of honor sometimes feels like an archaic relic from a better time that never was.…

This always drove me nuts about the prequels. All this talk about a prophecy and a chosen one, and they never gave us the supposed prophecy or any details. It was rather like Lucas introduced the concept, and then completely forgot about the plot thread. He unapologetically dropped the ball on the subject, an de since…

If only. I work for the USDA. CBP/DHS took a bunch of our customs duties in regard to agricultural imports with them when they left. Of course, they don’t seem to care about agriculture. Even today, the “Agriculture Specialists” are treated like second-class citizens in CBP, and the agency as a whole does not play…

The best futuristic space armour I’ve seen for females lately comes from XCOM2.

Thanks for your comment. I was a little concerned at how low this article aimed. What blows my mind completely is that they’d failed to mention Dr. Naish’s long-running blog, Tet Zoo:

In the original plan for the film, they were all supposed to be wearing the power armour from the books that allowed for superhuman ability when fighting the bugs. The football scene features the “kids version” of the armour, and is an artefact leftover from this planned direction for movie.

Not the tail, but the eyes. Not the big fancy compound eyes on the sides of the head, either - but the trio of tiny simple eyes on the top of their head. Your state or Federal entomologists will have other tricks up their sleeves, but this is the easy method that doesn’t involve breaking apart the body.

Yes, but do you see one of the billions of sterile males the USDA and CDFA release annually to prevent outbreaks, or do you see a genuine invader, fresh off a ship from China or Hawaii? The former are dipped in a UV-fluorescing ink while pupae, and if you put them under a UV bulb, you should see the telltale glowing…

They are loud, but you’re not alone. Stay strong together.

M. Brin doth protest too much. While I appreciate the point of his essay and agree with it in no small part, it remains true that his “the Postman” comes to a climax not between the everyman and ideas bigger than single people (as the Kevin Costner adaptation does), but between two genetically-modified supermen…

I understand and appreciate your confusion. I am going to assume that you want to do the right thing and not offend anyone, but find gender politics complicated and sometimes surprising. Lots of people do, including the transgendered! It is a very individual and personal exploration of identity and self, and not all…

Never stop writing, Mr. Narcisse. Your insight and commentary are two of the reasons I keep coming to this site. Keep up the eexcellent work!

Zoolander and not Tropic Thunder? I’m not sure I can trust your cinematic judgement.