So last night, Gene and another coworker and I realized that the most fitting way to commemorate the day was with a parable of the conflict between science and blind adherence to tradition, between an inclusive, cosmopolitan worldview and one that separates people sharply into distinct groups, between the quest for the protection of human rights and a brutal theocracy bent on quashing them. So we grabbed a couple of beers and watched Planet of the Apes.

This morning, NPR reports the death of Kim Hunter. She was made famous in the role of Stella from A Streetcar Named Desire, but her most immortal role will surely be that of the great simianitarian, Dr. Zira. Zira was the synthesis of all that’s good in Western civilization: an Enlightenment reverence for truth, moral courage, and respect for equal and universal rights. Dr. Zira may be gone, but her memory will live in our hearts, and the hearts of all Americans, until the scourge of… oh, no, sorry, that was yesterday. Zira was cool. That is all.