Pacific Standard July-August 2013 Cover
  •

    Bath Salts, Zombies, and Crossbows: An Update

    Scientists are working to study the make-up and effects of bath salts, while ER doctors are struggling to treat its victims.


    By Lauren Kirchner

    Bath Salts, Zombies, and Crossbows: An Update

  • Dim Lighting Sparks Creativity

    New German research finds a darkened room encourages freedom of thought and inspires innovation.


    By Tom Jacobs

    Dim Lighting Sparks Creativity

  • The Next Political Weapon for Minority Parties: Recall Elections

    Why all the recall elections? And why do they matter?


    By Seth Masket

    The Next Political Weapon for Minority Parties: Recall Elections

MICHAEL TODD

Face to Face With More Electronic Privacy Concerns

As facial recognition on the fly becomes more and more possible, are there any uses that don't send chills up the spines of civil libertarians?

How Do We Know the Death Toll in Syria Is Accurate?

The count of the dead in Syria and other global trouble spots matters a great deal, and so does the provenance of the numbers presented. Here's one exhaustive effort to get them right.

NSA Surveillance: Better Down the Stretch Than at the Start

Looking at 20 years of jihadist plots in the West, a leading expert on terrorism finds that Internet surveillance has its uses but is no panacea.

divider-homepage

TOM JACOBS

Dim Lighting Sparks Creativity

New German research finds a darkened room encourages freedom of thought and inspires innovation.

You’re Probably Not as Conservative as You Think

New research finds a disconnect between young Americans’ self-proclaimed political ideology and their opinions on actual issues.

Want to Learn How to Think? Read Fiction

New Canadian research finds reading a literary short story increases one’s comfort with ambiguity.

divider-homepage

RYAN O’HANLON

The Highest Paid People on the Pentagon’s Budget: 3 Football Coaches

The head coaches at Army, Navy, and Air Force make the most money in the Pentagon—and it's not all that surprising.

The 51 Best State Flags

In honor of Flag Day, a definitive list.

Farmers Don’t Make Money From Farming

Instead, they lose it.

divider-homepage

MICHAEL FITZGERALD

News Outlets Show Significant Bias in Favor of Same-Sex Marriage

The public is in favor of legalizing same-sex marriage, but not by a margin of five to one, which is how a new Pew study weighs coverage during Supreme Court hearings for two landmark cases.

Sarah Gets Her Lung

It's unclear what it means for the future, but the 10-year-old Pennsylvania girl is set to receive a lung transplant today.

Sarah Versus the Data

When a child is deemed suitable for an adult organ transplant, why are they put at the end of the donation line?

divider-homepage

SETH MASKET

The Next Political Weapon for Minority Parties: Recall Elections

Why all the recall elections? And why do they matter?

What Your Cell Phone Data Actually Looks Like—and How It Might Be Used Against You

There's no reason to believe that the government is listening in on all of our phone calls, simply because the task is absurdly vast.

Just How Much of a Problem Is Campaign Money?

Wait a minute. Last year was supposed to be the one in which big donors bought the election—but that didn't happen. So why are we still getting worked up over the Citizens United decision?

divider-homepage

JIM RUSSELL

Demographic Deception

How mesofacts, or facts that change slowly, influence what we think about urban policy and talent migration.

Germany’s Demographic Bust

The population is shrinking and German companies need talent, but the country has always had a strained relationship with immigrants.

Madison’s Portland Problem

"There’s a persistent rap that Madison simply lacks an entrepreneurial spirit, with many locals content with a laid-back life spent enjoying their neighborhoods, lakes, bike paths, and craft beers."

divider-homepage

MARC HERMAN

Is Anyone Counting the Guns in Syria?

Two years ago, illegal arms deals helped Libya's rebels topple a dictator. Now it's Syria's turn, and the rules haven't changed.

Crisis-Wracked Town Bets on Smurf-Based Economy

Two years on, some blue paint continues to save a classic village. Except for the "classic" part.

A Security Scholar Talks About the NSA Scandal’s Private Side

"If there’s full disclosure—we are monitoring your phone calls and we’re tracking your keystrokes, and you should just know that this is happening—people tend to be OK with it, because they can self regulate."

divider-homepage

MATT NOVAK

How to Conjure a Ghost to Get a Murderer to Confess

All you need is a projector and a willing prisoner.

The Google Maps of 1917

Before Mapquest and Google, there was the "electric directory."

Were There Robot Librarians in the 1950s?

No, there were not. Here's how we know.

divider-homepage

LISA MARGONELLI

The Environmental Defense Fund Is Pissing Off Fellow Environmentalists

Has the large advocacy group allowed itself to be “co-opted by industry interests"?

Nikola Tesla Would Not Approve of Your Online Viewing Habits

Collectively, we've spent more than 50 years watching the Tesla vs. Thomas Edison rap smackdown that went viral on YouTube.

How the Trailer Park Could Save Us All

A healthy, inexpensive, environmentally friendly solution for housing millions of retiring baby boomers is staring us in the face. We just know it by a dirty name.

divider-homepage

MARIA STRESHINSKY

Application for Employment (Women)

Fifty years ago President Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act. A glimpse back at what it was like to apply for a job as a woman.

The Last Mile

Introducing the May/June 2013 issue of Pacific Standard.

My Vote for Most Inventive Way To Manage Stress

In the multi-tasking world we live in, it's safe to say many of us are looking for either more hours, or better ways to manage our stress and workload.

divider-homepage

Most Recent Stories

syria-checkpoint

Is Anyone Counting the Guns in Syria?

June 18, 2013 • By

Last night, in a televised interview with Charlie Rose, President Obama made the case for arming anti-Assad forces in Syria. In part, Obama was responding to critics who claim the U.S. weapons, once ... Read More

Army Football Media Day

The Highest Paid People on the Pentagon’s Budget: 3 Football Coaches

June 18, 2013 • By

According to Chicago Life magazine, yes, that is true. The three highest-paid employees on the Pentagon budget are the head football coaches at Air Force (Troy Calhoun), Navy (Ken Niumatalolo), and ... Read More

downtown-la

The City of the Future: Can Los Angeles Reinvent Itself All Over Again?

June 18, 2013 • By

This post originally appeared on OnEarth, a Pacific Standard partner site. In the summer of 1998, my wife and I left Brooklyn and gamely headed west to Los Angeles, as disaffected New Yorkers are ... Read More

Pieter_Brueghel_the_Younger_-_Peasant_Wedding_Dance_(Brussel)_-_WGA03635

Guess What? Traditional Marriage Doesn’t Exist

June 18, 2013 • By

The U.S. Supreme Court, any day now, will issue a decision about gay marriage as it considers the constitutionality of the federal Defense of Marriage Act and California’s Proposition 8, the two ... Read More

surveillance-face

Face to Face With More Electronic Privacy Concerns

June 17, 2013 • By

Whether or not your electronic life is your own to share or not fuels debate over the propriety of U.S. government trolling of phone and Internet sources. But the face you present to the ... Read More

lgbt-flat

News Outlets Show Significant Bias in Favor of Same-Sex Marriage

June 17, 2013 • By

The media is off balance with the public on the issue of same-sex marriage, according to a new study from the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism. Stories with statements mostly ... Read More

pittsburgh-aerial-view

Demographic Deception

June 17, 2013 • By

For policy concerns such as brain drain, demographic facts take a backseat to mesofacts. What are mesofacts? Samuel Arbesman coined the term: Mesofacts are the facts that change neither too quickly ... Read More

parshley-delhi-2

Inside India’s Perna Caste, Where Women Are Routinely Prostituted by Their In-Laws

June 17, 2013 • By

NEW DELHI — On a recent sunny day before the monsoons began, a thin woman settled to the floor in the cool shade of a nondescript apartment building in Dharampura, where a Perna community lives on ... Read More

williston-fracking

This Is Your Town on Fracking

June 17, 2013 • By

This post originally appeared on OnEarth, a Pacific Standard partner site. Not long ago I found myself stranded in Williston, North Dakota. You might have heard of it. Despite being the ... Read More

julian-assange

He Told You So: Julian Assange, the NSA, and Edward Snowden

June 17, 2013 • By

Unpleasant and even unreliable people can produce highly valuable insights; it's the job of interested observers to separate the wheat from the chaff. The irregular fortunes of Julian Assange, who is ... Read More

stem-cells

Your Stem Cells Are Here to Stay

June 17, 2013 • By

With each new report of a technological breakthrough, stem cells both inspire hope in patients and incite ethical controversy. Some see stem cells as a potentially game-changing cure for currently ... Read More

repub-elephant

You’re Probably Not as Conservative as You Think

June 17, 2013 • By

Conservatism the brand seems to be faring better than conservatism the philosophy. That’s the conclusion of new research that finds a serious disconnect between the way people under 30 identify ... Read More

fathers-day

A Father’s Day Remembrance

June 16, 2013 • By

My sister and I took our positions in the funeral home's family room and greeted hundreds of mourners who had come to pay their respects. Everything seemed as it had four months earlier at our ... Read More