His References To Rare Species Had Two Possible Meanings

[robin_d_laws]

Comments

[richardthinks]

the sinking feeling of looking down at his plate and realizing that he and the Beagle crew were presently engaged in eating one

You've reminded me of a wooden automaton I saw at the wonderful cabaret (now semi defunct, alas - catch them in Baltimore if you can), which shows almost exactly this scene, except it's titled "
the last dodo"

[jimboboz]

That's awesome.

"So this bird, which we think may be extinct -"
"Um, sir -"
"Yes?"
"Is tasty, but..."

[righteousfist]

[scholargipsy]

Previous stops were in the US, where it had trouble attracting sponsorship. Among the sponsors for the Toronto leg is The Observer, the official magazine of the United Church of Canada. Although I’m not someone you’ll find sitting in a pew, this fact makes me extremely proud of the church I was raised in. Go United!

Contrariwise, the first sentence quoted above makes me extremely embarrassed to be a U.S. citizen.

Sorry I didn't get to see this one (I live in Japan), but maybe it will come to Tokyo eventually.

[lead_sponge]

I agree, the fact that most of our nation can't accept the scientific facts really drives me nuts. I honestly think that is one of the reasons we are falling behind in science and innovation. U.S. culture is so anti-science and anti-intellectual that it sickens me.

There are facts and then there are beliefs. Facts are quantifiable, like evolution, while beliefs are an act of faith. You can have both facts and faith. They aren't opposed to one another, but you just have to know when to apply each. Most of my culture can't wrap their heads around that.

I would love to see this exhibit and I think it is something a lot of people in my country could use seeing.

[richardthinks]

strange little anecdote: I was standing in a long line at Disney with a guy who had 2 kids with him. His kids liked my kids, we got talking. He told me his youngest had shown several of the warning signs that suggested he would have an adverse reaction to the MMR vaccine (there are controversial claims that MMR can give some kids autism). This had alarmed the guy, who tried to keep his kid from being vaccinated (I think in NY state) but who found that mere medical suspicions would not be seen as grounds for making an exemption to a state-wide all-vaccination policy: as he said it, the conscious decision had been made by lawmakers that a few autistic kids was an acceptable cost in the interests of getting everyone vaccinated. To keep his kid from being vaccinated he moved to North Carolina and identified himself as a Jehovah's Witness: apparently in NC, although medical risk-factors are treated as unimportant, religious freedom is paramount, and you can circumvent the vaccination policy by stating it's against your religious values

[thebitterguy]

Wasn't the decision that autism isn't actually caused by vaccination, so they wouldn't endanger lives based on a few cases of people falling for disinformation?

[madmanofprague]

Displays underline the extreme reluctance with which Darwin finally presented the theory he knew would ignite a storm of criticism-and would batter the faith of others, as it had stripped away his own.

Interesting Fact: Darwin only 'came out' as an agnostic after his youngest daughter died of some random disease, which he took as a sign against an interventionist God.

Considering he was a rich white Englishman in the 19th century, it might be a sign for one.

[2h2o]

Unrelated, but not to be missed: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080802/ap_on_re_ca/canada_bus_stabbing