Letters: Readers Discuss Political Dysfunction, Police Shootings And Gov. Eric Greitens

Platon proudly calls himself a cultural provocateur. While other mononymous artists like Bono or Madonna use music to provoke, Platon communicates through photography. Photographs, he argues, are only effective if they “make you stop in your tracks to think about the times we’re living in”—they should “choke like mustard gas.” A professional photographer since the late ’90s, Platon has consistently applied this approach to his work creating images of boldface names across every sector, including President Barack Obama, Serena Williams, Prince, Mark Zuckerberg, Muammar Gaddafi, and President Vladimir Putin.

(WASHINGTON) — An orangutan appeared to treat a wound with medicine from a tropical plant— the latest example of how some animals attempt to soothe their own ills with remedies found in the wild, scientists reported Thursday. Scientists observed Rakus pluck and chew up leaves of a medicinal plant used by people throughout Southeast Asia to treat pain and inflammation.

When Victoria Hinckley, a 21-year-old student organizer at the University of South Florida, participated in a pro-Palestinian protest Tuesday evening, the night ended with tear gas and rubber bullets used by police against the activists. “It makes me really disappointed, but more than anything, it really, really makes me angry to see this sort of response,” says Hinckley, who says she was suspended later that evening over email.

Perhaps the ad, which has run on an endless loop since the start of March Madness, just irks you. Maybe at this point it’s haunting your dreams, your soul, every freaking fiber of your DNA. If you’ve watched an iota of sports on television over the past few months, you know the spot in question: two stylish guys wearing dark jackets, who it turns out are young Oklahoma City Thunder star basketball players Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Chet Holmgren—though you might not know that if you aren’t a hoophead—walking out of a hotel, to the team bus, while singing a takeoff of the 1999 Christina Aguilera hit “What a Girl Wants.” In the ad, Holmgren tells Gilgeous-Alexander—often referred to simply as SGA—that AT&T “just sent me a heads-up on the best plan for me.” After SGA approves, Holmgren says, “They know what a pro wants.” SGA responds, “What a pro needs.” Then the singing.

(WASHINGTON) — Halle Berry is joining a group of bipartisan senators to push for legislation that would put $275 million toward research and education around menopause, the significant hormone shift women go through in middle age. The legislation calls for the federal government to spend more on clinical trials on menopause as well as the hormone therapy that is used to treat hot flashes and other symptoms. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Berry, 57, shouted about menopause outside the U.

In his first public remarks on this week’s campus protests, President Joe Biden criticized much of the unrest over the Israel-Hamas war erupting at colleges across the country, saying “none of this is a peaceful protest.” [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] “Destroying property is not a peaceful protest,” Biden said Thursday. “It is against the law.