Dennis Kucinich on A) Media Reform and B) How Bush is Scaring the Republicans

It wasn’t on the original schedule of the National Conference for Media Reform, but Dennis Kucinich agreed to hold a press conference tonight.  Kucinich ran for president of the United States in 2004.  He has indicated that he plans to run again in 2008.

I hadn’t ever before been to to a press conference of a presidential candidate.  I learned of it at the last minute.  I packed my press credentials (the media reform conference granted these to me on the basis of this blog), my video camera, a still camera, a pad of paper and a couple pens and dashed to the designated area.

In his prepared remarks, Kucinich pounced on the issue of media reform.  He demonstrated himself to be familiar with many aspects of media reform and the Internet.  In the not-too-distant future, he intends to hold Congressional hearings on media reform (“for an entire week, if necessary”).  He believes that media issues are among the most important issues facing this country today.  In response to a question I asked, Kucinich said he considers the media reform to be closely related to the possibility of campaign finance reform.  At the point when we have more of the former, he said, we will have the opportunity to implement the latter.  Campaign finance reform should take the form of public financing, he asserted.

He invited those attending to submit their ideas for issues to explore at his media reform hearings.  Foremost among those topics will be media ownership.  In …

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Museums, Train Territory and Oil in Chicago

My family and I just returned from a wonderful trip to Chicago. My wife and I have two daughters, aged 6 and 8.  All of us learned many new things at Chicago’s spectacular museums.  For instance, the Field Museum

        Field museum.jpg

has a terrific exhibit, called Evolving Planet, which examines the evolution of life forms on Earth from 4 ½ billion years ago up to modern humans, combining displays regarding genetics with numerous awe-inspiring fossils.  There’s no sign that the museum has given in to the creationist crowd. It’s mainstream science all the way.  In fact, the website for Evolving Planet takes misconceptions regarding evolution head on.  Here’s a refreshing sample:

Misconception: Evolution is just a theory, just as intelligent design and creationism are theories.

Answer: False. Evolution is a scientific theory based on the scientific method, which involves systematic data collection of observable phenomena and scientific experiments that can be accurately replicated. Intelligent design and creationism are faith-based belief systems—not testable scientific theories—that offer non-scientific explanations for life’s origins and the diversity of life forms.

Top off a visit to Evolving Planet with a visit to the Shedd Aquarium where you can see evidence of transitional forms like the Australian lungfish

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[I realize some of these photos are grainy–the aquarium prohibits flash photography.] 

Or view this exquisitely camouflaged leafy sea dragon.  God designed each and every fake leaf, even though He engaged in conscious deception by doing this (very unbecoming of omnipotence and omniscience).

        seahorse.jpg

Travel note: Chicago hotel rooms …

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How does one explain the stubborn resistance to Darwinism?

In this recent interview, published by Salon.com, Ronald Numbers (a former Seventh-day Adventist and author of the definitive history of creationism) discusses "his break with the church, whether creationists are less intelligent and why Galileo wasn't really a martyr." Here's a sampling.  Aren't anti-evolutionists anti-scientific?  It's not that easy, according…

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U.S. Park Service refuses to admit the age of the Grand Canyon

According to Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), the U.S. National Park Service won't admit the well-established age of the Grand Canyon. Why?  Because our National Park Service doesn't want to offend young earth creationists.  Here's the well-established geological story: The principal consensus among geologists is that the Colorado River basin (of which…

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The Media (which media? THE Media!)

This age.  Bizarre.  Part of the bizarreness rests in how much we actually know about it.  We swim in a deepening sea of information.  How to cope?  We compartmentalize.  So, though, do those providing us the information, and therein lies another problem, which is a question of integration. Recently at…

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