Any time I comment about "another" controversial topic such as surfaced last week liberals get very upset. “They accuse me of distortion, disinformation, dishonesty. Really, my crime is raising the subject at all. Many liberals cannot—they cannot—find it within themselves to condemn this sordid moment.”
The topic
was National Geographic's publication "This Face Changes the Human
Story... "occurring within hours of the sale of National Geographic
magazine and other publishing operations to Murdoch-controlled 21st Century
Fox!
It
appears to be the final installment in National Geographic’s century-plus
“sensationalistic, unsubstantiated, tabloid journalism.”
Dr.Peter
Raven In an “OPEN LETTER TO” regarding the Society’s November 1999
publication of "Feathers for T. rex?" by Christopher P. Sloan
explains why. I would like to reprint the entire open letter for readers to
dissect themselves. However here is Raven's conclusion:
... The
idea of feathered dinosaurs and the theropod origin of birds is being
actively promulgated by a cadre of zealous scientists acting in
concert with certain editors at Nature and National
Geographic who themselves have become outspoken and highly
biased proselytizers of the faith. Truth and careful scientific
weighing of evidence have been among the first casualties in their
program, which is now fast becoming one of the grander scientific
hoaxes of our age---the paleontological equivalent of cold fusion. If
Sloan's article is not the crescendo of this fantasia, it is
difficult to imagine to what heights it can next be taken. But it is
certain that when the folly has run its course and has been fully
exposed, National Geographic will unfortunately play a
prominent but unenviable role in the book that summarizes the whole
sorry episode.
Sincerely,
Storrs
L. Olson
Curator of Birds
National Museum of Natural History
Smithsonian Institution
Washington, DC 20560
