i picked up an issue of national geographic at the train station the other day. mostly for the snarky nature of the cover. it read, “was darwin wrong?” the joke is when you open up to the story it says in huge letters, clear as day, “no.” hahaha. thought that was funny. i could just picture some of the mags’ vast readership in their living rooms picking it up and saying “finally! a major publication is outing evolution as the fraud it is!” only to open up to the article and get a 120pt seriffed slap. beeeeotch! anyhow, i went to their website to post the story for my compatriots here (the issue was actually pretty good) only to find that their firm stance on the issue was in fact not very firm. below a snippet of the article they presented a bunch of links for related reading, over half of which are intelligent design / creationist dookie, or centered on “the controversy.” kind of undermines the giant “no” doesn’t it? add to this the fact that they have set up a forum specifically to debate evolution and the “set the record straight” nature of their issue is essentially nullified.

calling this site “the nonist” is in part an admission that we as human’s really don’t know all that much for sure. that we are essentially as clueless, confused, and presumptuous as children when it comes to the big questions. hence grand pronouncements bug me, assumptions about moral high ground bug me, the tendency to reduce everything to black and white bugs me, the inability to admit ignorance bugs me… yaaaarrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!  o.k. a lot of things bug me so i’m all for open minds and questioning paradigms. this though, this evolution thing that’s been brewin, well, i just have to draw the fucking line. seems a contradiction in philosophy but i’ve thought about it a bit, and i don’t think it is. you see, the theory of evolution allows for an open mind, it is all inclusive, complex, in motion, and though the mechanics of it’s own functions are clearly defined it does not imply any explicit purpose for it’s own existence beyond those functions. the other side of this supposed battle of notions, however, is closed, irrational, simplistic, and static. it is above all else meant as an explicit implication of purpose. the “creators” purpose. so in point of fact, evolution is much closer in theory to the nonist ideal and does not preclude further inquiry. to put it simply, scientific

theories vying for prominence, attempting to rationally explain observable evidence, whilst shifting to include new data: good. irrational theories seeking to co-opt the language of open minded inquiry to better crystalize human hubris and superstition into an unquestionable final mythos: bad.

to avoid the mistakes of national geographic, which by encouraging a debate seems to cast doubt on it’s own stance, let me also state my feeling another way: creationism as well as it’s masked doppleganger intelligent design are not science, hence have no place in scientific debate, let alone plastered on science textbooks. they are distilled from the same god fearing, uninquisitive, backward, superstitious nonsense which seeks to rigidly dictate humanities morality and identity, and as such create the lion’s share of conflicts world wide, contributing more to humanities suffering and misery than to it’s enlightenment. period.

anyhoo, with that out of the way i can get to what i actually wanted to post, namely a sampling of the many ape related links which have accumulated on my machine here.

fresh fossil evidence has been found which may be a new link in the evolutionary chain. quote: “Scientists in Spain announced that they’ve unearthed a 13 million-year-old fossilized skeleton of an ape that is possibly a common ancestor of humans and great apes, including orangutans, bonobos, chimps and gorillas.” a find which according to new scientist shows that not all great apes were swingers.

online companion to pbs’ evolution series which inhabits my netflix que at this very moment. includes among

many

other things (change, extinction, survival, sex, humans, religion) darwin’s diary and a section called evolution revolution a timeline to the inroads of the theory.

the scottsman is reporting that young apes are brighter than human children. ha ha. love it.

the university of utah released a study which argues that “our genus, Homo, evolved from more ape-like human ancestors, Australopithecus, 2 million or more years ago because natural selection favored the survival of australopithecines that could run and, over time, favored the perpetuation of human anatomical features that made long-distance running possible.” essentially the ability to run was the advantage that ultimately paid off in beer helmets, and laz-y-boys.

whose the luckiest monkey?. ha.

carbon dating of plant remains from an archeological site have shown that man was present in north america well prior to previous theories. “The findings are significant because they suggest that humans inhabited North America well before the last ice age more than 20,000 years ago, a potentially explosive revelation in American archaeology.

one man’s quest to catalog every gorilla graced comic cover ever. keep up the good work there whoever you are.

the black bonobo foundation, advocating that we take cues for a happier and healthier life from the horniest apes on earth. “the bonobo way: peace through pleasure” ha ha.

visit the great apes and other primates at the national zoo! i met some of these folks last year when i visited the zoo. swell people one and all, though i was a bit concerned for a fella by the name of kiko, he was one ennui filled, suicidal looking orangutan. i’ve got pictures. seriously. kuja the silverback on the other hand wanted no pity from puny human like me, he was the resident bad-ass. he’s turn his back on you if you stared too hard.

the shaolin society’s explanation of the monkey. “the art of monkey kung fu as it is better known, is considered one of the most unusual and effective styles in kung fu. Its deceiving and unorthodox techniques make it an awesome and strange sight to behold.” more awesome and strange than monkey karate?

ape history the illustrated 70’s kid’s book way. damn!that uakaris is one ugly mo-fo.

become a chimpanzee. a sort of choose your own adventure through quicktime movies. courtesy of the jane goodall institute’s discover chimpanzees web project. cool!

check out howlett and port lympne’s gorilla cams. live gorilla web cam goodness. pretty cool. alternately check out the san diego zoo’s ape cams.

and finally, to wrap it all up: the writings of mr. charles darwin online (“the most complete collection of Darwin’s work ever published-  with original page numbers, illustrations etc.” ) for your reading, thinking, inquiring pleasure.