This Day in Blogging History: TV news programs don't debunk political ads that pay their bills; Make your own Planet of the Apes tunic; Males doomed to extinction

One year ago today

TV news programs ignore false claims in the thousands of political ads that pay their bills: Are these stations offering any local news coverage to debunk the lies in these ads? Are they exposing the deep-pocketed interests behind the groups buying ad time? The short answer is: No. The local stations we looked at in the report provided no local stories exposing the special interests behind these ads, and only one station among the 20 surveyed devoted even a few minutes to investigating whether these ads told viewers the truth.

Five years ago today

DIY Planet of the Apes tunic: I got some fabric on sale at Wall-Mart for $1/yard and dyed it green. Then I cut out and stitched together the front and back panels to form the torso. I sliced the sleeve pattern into 3 strips in order to form the 3 panel sleeves that are customary for chimpanzees. I spaced out the 3 pattern pieces to account for seam allowances before I traced and cut out the 3 sleeve pieces.

Ten years ago today
Oxford geneticist says males are doomed to extinction: Bryan Sykes, a professor of human genetics at Oxford University, says that because the Y chromosome doesn't mix with other genes, and is therefore unable to heal itself from genetic wounds, men will eventually become extinct.