Thoughtless for the Day

Starting a few months ago, and then appearing more frequently over the last several weeks, I'd begun to notice a spate of news items about the possibility that early homo sapiens and Neanderthals interbred: Here's one. Here's another. And yet another. Oh, here's another one.

Apparently, someone found ancient skeletal remains which seem to have both human and Neanderthal characteristics. Initially I didn't give these stories much credence. Anybody who's ever seen the trailer for Jesus Camp or ten minutes of Cheaters can tell you that anecdotal evidence for human/Neanderthal interbreed abounds like meth-fueled kangaroos. But without actual DNA evidence, such claims are only so much horseshit and gun smoke. Would you point to someone with webbed toes as evidence that humans interbred with water waterfowl?

Then, last week, possible DNA evidence came to light hinting at actual species mixing. The fact that this evidence has appeared only a few short months after I sent my DNA off to the Genographic Project for analysis has implications too disturbing to be discussed at present.

Anyway, all this talk about humans and Neanderthals getting it on prompted some lonely individual to ask the Explainer at Slate about the kind of love that draw the line at primates. The article itself wasn't that fascinating; however, there was once sentence that stood out among all of the others:

In the 1920s, Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin sent an animal-breeding expert to Africa in hopes of creating an army of half-man, half-monkey soldiers.

The fuck you say! Seriously, Stalin actually pursued the idea of taking the term guerilla forces to new heights. You can read all about it here.