Free Republic

Richard Wrangham, an anthropologist at Harvard, claims that hominids became people—that is, acquired traits like big brains and dainty jaws—by mastering fire. He places this development at about 1.8 million years ago. This is an appealing premise no matter who you are. For those who see cooking as morally, culturally, and socially superior to not cooking, it is scientific validation of a worldview: proof that cooking is literally what makes us human. For the rest of us, it means we have a clever retort the next time one of those annoying raw-food faddists starts going on about how natural it...

Topanga Canyon Mall Evacuated WOODLAND HILLS, Calif., 10:13 a.m. PDT September 19, 2002 - The Topanga Canyon Mall was evacuated Thursday morning. Authorities found possibly suspicious containers on the roof of the mall. The material may be on the roof directly above the California Pizza Kitchen, according to NBC4. A mall security guard called the Los Angeles Police Department at 8:05 a.m. to say he received a call from a man with a Middle Eastern accent saying chemical agents were being left at several locations in the mall, according to Lt Horace Frank of LAPD press relations. Responding officers talked...