WorldNetDaily: NASA UFO Conspiracy

Things were really quiet this weekend, but suddenly something really big was brought to our attention by the blaring sirens and flashing lights of the Drool-o-tron™. The blinking letters of its wall display said WorldNetDaily (WND). As you know, WND was an early winner of the Curmudgeon’s Buffoon Award, thus the jolly logo displayed above this post.

The Drool-o-tron™ had locked our computer onto this article at WND’s website: Report: NASA cuts live feed as UFOs fly past Earth.

Wow — that’s the most exciting headline we’ve ever seen! WND has a very active comment section at the end. Their article says, with bold font added by us:

Mysterious footage said to depict three UFOs racing by Planet Earth is causing an out-of-this-world discussion on YouTube, as some people think it’s proof-positive of alien life. The 4-minute long video titled “UFO Mysteries: UFOs, Angels Or Biological Creatures Seen Leaving The Earth?” was uploaded a week ago and has more than 214,000 views.

“Mysterious footage”? UFOs? This is what they’re talking about:

As they say, the video is almost 4 minutes long, and YouTube has over 260 comments. We watched the thing. The first minute and a half is nothing. The UFOs which then show up are also likely to be nothing. Nevertheless, WND tells their drooling readers:

The video, reportedly shot from the International Space Station, shows three unidentified flying objects shooting upward out of Earth’s atmosphere. Just when the lights appear to blast off the planet, the video feed is cut by NASA, with a message subsequently displayed on screen stating: “Please stand by. The High Definition Earth Viewing experiment is either switching cameras, or we are experiencing a s temporary loss of signal with the International Space Station.”

Clearly it’s another government conspiracy. The rest of WND’s article is a bunch of the YouTube comments that they though were worth repeating, followed by some quotes from a couple of newspapers that have reported on the video.

A skeptic may think it’s not much of a story, but it was good enough for WND. Hey — it makes as much sense as creationism. Let us know what you think of it.

Copyright © 2015. The Sensuous Curmudgeon. All rights reserved.

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Discoveroids — Disney, Darwin, & Indiana Jones

We are so desperate for material today that we’re revisiting stuff we looked at and rejected yesterday. That’s why we’re looking again at the Discovery Institute’s creationist blog, where they wrote: A Disney Darwin Is Coming.

To know that they’re talking about, let’s start with this article from a few days ago in Variety, a leading news source for the entertainment industry: Charles Darwin Movie in the Works at Disney, which informs us:

Disney has launched development on a Charles Darwin movie with Stephen Gaghan on board to direct from his own screenplay. The studio acquired an untitled pitch from Gaghan, whose credits include [we don’t care].

[…]

Jeremy Thomas produced a Darwin movie, 2009’s “Creation,” starring real-life spouses Jennifer Connelly and Paul Bettany. That film, directed by Jon Amiel, focused on Darwin and his family as he struggled to finish “On the Origin of Species.” … [It] grossed less than $1 million worldwide.

We wrote about that one a few times. At first it had problems finding a distributor in the US — see Creation, the Movie: Expelled from the USA. Our final post was Creation: 3rd Weekend Box Office Results.

Okay, here’s what the Discoveroids say about the new film — or possibility of a film — with bold font added by us:

There’s already an element of the fairy tale in the beguiling Darwinian story of evolution, so perhaps a Disney Darwin isn’t all that shocking an idea. It’s evidently on the way, according to the Independent, “Charles Darwin Disney film: Adventure movie will give naturalist the Indiana Jones treatment.”

The article to which the Discoveroids refer doesn’t give any sources describing the contents of the proposed film. All they do is mention Darwin’s well-known voyage aboard the Beagle when he was a young man. The Indiana Jones talk seems to be pure speculation. Nevertheless, the Discoveroids accept it as an accurate description of the film. Then they say:

Wait a minute. Disney perhaps. But Indiana Jones? That is absolutely ridiculous. They seem to have the wrong one of the two co-discoverers of the theory of evolution. For a character worthy of Harrison Ford, surely it’s Alfred Russel Wallace that you want, not Darwin.

BWAHAHAHAHAHA! Wallace is the Discoveroids’ favorite “evolutionist,” because late in life he lost his mind and descended into mysticism — see Discoveroids Adopt Alfred Wallace as Godfather. Let’s read on:

Of course Disney has always excelled at fantasy and comedy, and this is surely both. Here we have a man who skirted the coast of various continents for a few years with Captain Fitzroy versus a man who lived literally by his wits with native peoples in South America and throughout the Malay Archipelago. The juxtaposition is a simple one, and readily quantifiable.

[*Groan*] Darwin’s five-year ’round the world voyage on the HMS Beagle — a wooden sailing ship — was a considerable adventure, during which he did extensive exploration at various exotic stops along the way. He also did field work both before and after that voyage. Although Wallace may have spent even more time in field gathering specimens, suggesting that Darwin was nothing more than an effete intellectual is utterly inaccurate.

Then, although the Discoveroids always cast themselves as opponents of the political left, they attack Darwin because of his family’s prosperity:

Darwin’s voyage on The Beagle was paid for by his father (around 600 pounds worth).

[…]

Does this sound anything like an Indiana Jones?

BWAHAHAHAHAHA! Indiana Jones didn’t pay for any of his fictional adventures. They were all subsidized — either by his university or other benefactors. And all of the artifacts he pursued seemed to have mystical implications. We continue:

In contrast, Wallace, by and large, paid his own way with the specimens he collected and sent off to his agent Samuel Stevens back in England. For Darwin, collecting was a fascination underwritten by his father, Dr. Robert Darwin. For Wallace collecting was a passion and a livelihood fueled by his own hard work.

That’s true, but irrelevant. By the way, do the Discoveroids pay for their own creationist activities? Hint — no, they don’t. Here’s more:

Darwin amassed nothing approaching [the number of specimens collected by Wallace]. Wallace’s massive collecting reflects a man in need of an income — no specimens meant no sales. Darwin’s comparatively smaller scale collecting reflect the interests of hobbyist with the leisure of an independent income. Which do you think represents the more independent adventurous spirit?

That’s a brilliant method for evaluating the merits of Darwin’s work. Anyway, that’s how the Discoveroids are thinking about the movie project being considered by Disney. Impressive, isn’t it?

Copyright © 2015. The Sensuous Curmudgeon. All rights reserved.

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Hambo’s Ark Project in the British Press

The Daily Mail, a tabloid which is the UK’s second biggest-selling daily newspaper, seems to delight in reporting bizarre news. The last time we visited there we wrote What Is the Mysterious Pyramid on Mars?

Today that esteemed news organ is reporting about something that’s been appearing in various US news sources because of a publicity promotion (Media at the Ark Encounter) by Ken Ham (ol’ Hambo), the Australian entrepreneur who has become the ayatollah of Appalachia. He’s famed for his creationist ministry, Answers in Genesis (AIG) and for the mind-boggling Creation Museum.

The headline in the Daily Mail is Four stories tall, 510 feet long and made of wood: Christian ministry unveils ‘life-sized’ Noah’s Ark which is being built in Kentucky. The tabloid’s story has already attracted over 60 comments.

There’s nothing new being reported — except that the Brits may not have known about Hambo’s Ark project before. The article has a video and a zillion photographs, so you may find it interesting to take a look. We’ll give you a few excerpts, with bold font added by us:

It will be a modern-day, ‘life-sized’ replica of Noah’s Ark. But unlike the Biblical vessel, it will be filled with millions of tourists – not animals. These photos show the first few wooden ribs being lifted into place at Ark Encounter – a planned visitor attraction featuring an enormous ark that ‘will be the largest timber-frame structure in the world’. The 510-foot-long replica, situated in a field in Williamstown, Kentucky, is being constructed according to the dimensions used by Noah to save his family and animals in the Old Testament flooding story.

Thrilling, huh? We’ll try to skip the stuff you already know about. Ah, they say:

When completed next summer, it is expected to attract about two million tourists a year, the Christian ministry Answers In Genesis, which is behind the work on the religious attraction, told NBC News. ‘I believe it will be one of the biggest attractions outside of Disney, Universal, people like that — it’s going to be one of the biggest attractions in this country,’ said ministry president, Ken Ham.

The folks at Disney World must be trembling. All they offer is fun and fantasy, spread out over 43 square miles, including — according to Wikipedia — “27 themed resort hotels, 9 non–Disney hotels, four theme parks [one of which is the Magic Kingdom], two water parks, four golf courses, one nine-hole walking golf course for young golfers (no electric carts allowed), two themed miniature golf courses, one camping resort and other entertainment venues.” That’s nothing. Hambo is offering the Ark! Let’s read on:

The ministry anticipates employing up to 900 full and part-time staff at the attraction. It will pour nearly $90 million of private donations and bond funding into the attraction, the AP reported. So far, Ham said, about $70 million has been raised.

And every penny of it will be wisely spent! We continue:

However, the planning and creation of the ark so far has not all been plain sailing. Last year, the state withdrew its previous $18million offer of tax breaks for Ark Encounter, saying that ‘state tourism tax incentives cannot be used to fund religious indoctrination’ or ‘advance religion’.

Gasp — how ungodly! Here’s more:

In February, Answers In Genesis sued Kentucky tourism officials over the withdrawal, saying that it violated the ministry’s First Amendment rights. A hearing on the suit will take place next week.

There’s been a lot of preliminary maneuvering in that case, but nothing important enough to report about. Maybe next week will be different. We shall see. Moving along:

Ham said the ark attraction is meant to reach more people ‘with God’s word.’ He added: ‘But we’re not forcing people to come here, they come of their own free will. And when they come here and go through, we’re not going to be forcing them to believe our message. ‘They’re going to have a great experience regardless of whether they agree with us or not.’ The ark will be around a 45-mile drive south of downtown Cincinnati, Ohio.

Then the Daily Mail reminds us of this:

A Noah’s Ark replica already exists in Holland – at a fewer 443 feet long. The ark, constructed from the metal hulls of old barges by Dutch contractor Johan Huibers, cost around $1.6 million to create.

Yes, and that one can float. We wrote about it here: Hey, Ken Ham: A Dutchman Builds Noah’s Ark. There’s another one in Texas — see Yet Another Noah’s Ark Replica.

So that’s the news. Now the Brits are aware of ol’ Hambo’s brilliant and awe-inspiring project. They must really envy us.

Copyright © 2015. The Sensuous Curmudgeon. All rights reserved.

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Poll: Humans & Dinosaurs Living Concurrently

We learned about this from an article at the website of the National Center for Science Education. Their headline is A new poll on dinosaur/human coexistence, and they say:

Prompted by the release of the movie Jurassic World, a new poll from YouGov indicates that Americans are about evenly split on the question of whether dinosaurs and humans lived on the planet at the same time.

Is this a great country or what? Here’s the story at the YouGov site: Over 40% of Americans believe humans and dinosaurs shared the planet. We’ll give you some excerpts from what they say, with bold font added by us for emphasis:

YouGov’s latest research shows that 41% of Americans think that dinosaurs and humans either ‘definitely’ (14%) or ‘probably’ (27%) once lived on the planet at the same time. 43% think that this is either ‘definitely’ (25%) or ‘probably’ (18%) not true while 16% aren’t sure.

In case you’re among those who aren’t sure, they add:

In reality the earliest ancestors of humans have only been on the planet for 6 million years, while the last dinosaurs died out 65 million years ago.

And of course there’s a religious angle to this:

While most Americans who describe themselves as ‘born again’ (56%) believe that humans and dinosaurs once shared the planet, most Americans who do not describe themselves as born again (51%) think that they did not. Only 22% of born again Americans think that dinosaurs and humans did not coexist.

There’s also an angle on the effect of movies:

When asked about the science that provides the fictional basis for the Jurassic Park movies, most Americans (54%) say that it is not currently possible to create dinosaur clones from DNA found in fossils while 28% believe that it is currently possible.

YouGov has this link to five pages of tables about the poll results. It’s mostly about the movie, but on the last page they give a breakdown regarding the question of whether humans and dinosaurs lived at the same time. Of the 14% who answered “Definitely,” 12% of those were Democrats and 17% were Republicans. For the 25% who said “Definitely not,” 28 were Democrats and 20% were Republican. For the 16% who answered “Not sure,” they were evenly split between the two parties. They also break the results down by gender, race, age, and region of the country.

It’s things like this that give your Curmudgeon faith in the future.

Copyright © 2015. The Sensuous Curmudgeon. All rights reserved.

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