New Smithsonian human origins exhibit

A new $20 million 15,000 square foot exhibit has been built around a central question: "What does it mean to be human?" says paleoanthropologist Rick Potts, director of the Smithsonian's Human Origins Program and curator of the project. It all makes good sense, which means that it is about to be attacked by a huge numbers of people who dread the idea that they are human animals. If only these anti-science types would learn to take deep breaths to follow the evidence wherever it leads. They would find that we humans are part of an immense and intricate tree of life. what possible concocted story could be more amazing than that?

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Brownshirt guards prevent free-wheeling discussion at the Creation Museum

It's almost unbelievable. I suppose that too many thinking people were wandering in and criticizing the faux-science exhibits at the "evolution science" museum in Kentucky. Apparently, Ken Ham and his Creation Museum team simply can't stand it when people talk real science in their "museum." They'll shut you up and kick you out. PZ Myers gives a detailed description of his visit, and it's well worth reading the entire thing. It's pretty amazing that a "museum" would so unabashedly attempt to stifle all thinking. Myers almost can't believe his own eyes and ears. Stifling thinking? But that's how it is in most fundamentalist churches too. Fall in line or else. Pretend you know things you don't really know. Pretend that you don't know things that you do know. This is the foundation for an incredibly screwed up community, and the fundamentalists want to export it to the public schools too.

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Air Force Cheesecake

A few weeks ago, I visited the National Air Force Museum in Dayton, Ohio. I didn't expect that I'd like the exhibition that much- my eyes tend to glaze over at the discussion of military specs. However, some of the museum, which is on a functioning Air Force Base, really surprised and impressed me. I liked that the museum had seven different Air Force Ones available, four of which could be explored inside and out. I also really liked looking at the ways in which different air force jets and planes of different eras were decorated. I took many pictures of the cheesecake-style pinup gals, critters and skeletons that adorned these big flying weapons. The gals are not surprising I suppose- they echo the centuries-old tradition of masthead mermaids on ships. What really struck me was the use of contemporary cartoon characters as happy icons of war. I decided to string together my photos of airplane cheesecake and cartoon characters in another simplistic Youtube slideshow. Check it out, and look out for the Seven Dwarves, Donald Duck, Goofy, The Jolly Green Giant, Dennis the Menace and Dumbo, all emblazoned proudly on the face of military jets.

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