Democrats like to paint Republicans as being anti-science and of course this is true. Republicans dispute scientific facts about everything from the harmful effects of pollution to the fundamental basis of biological science. But when it is politically expedient, democrats can be just as anti-science. On September 28, 2016 democrats caved-in to religious nuts who want to bury an extremely rare specimen where it will be lost forever to science. The specimen is known as Kennewick man, first discovered 20 years ago. It’s a nearly complete skeleton of a man who lived 9,000 years BP. Skeletal remains of humans from this age in North America are so rare that only a few have ever been discovered. The Army Corps of Engineers was going to let Native American tribes bury this precious specimen shortly after its discovery, but some scientists banded together and sued for the right to study it. They won in court and luckily we now have increased our knowledge about the life of early archaic man in the Pacific northwest. In 2015 a genetic study of this specimen determined Kennewick man shared a common ancestry with modern Native-Americans. Unfortunately, this gave new legal momentum to the religious nuts who want to perform a ceremonial burial with the specimen, even though the study did not show any direct relationship with the tribes that inhabit the region today. An amendment introduced by a democratic congresswoman was attached to a bill signed by then President Obama that will let these idiotic Indians throw away any more potential scientific knowledge we can learn about Kennewick man. Future advancements in science could give us the opportunity to glean further knowledge from the specimen, but alas, unless there is another successful lawsuit, this rare specimen will be lost. And it’s all because of the unnecessary deference given to stupid superstitions.
The government is going to let ignorant Native-Americans bury this 9000 year old skull. A nearly 1 of a kind scientific specimen will be lost to science forever.
I didn’t realize that Obama and the democrats were just as anti-science as the republicans.
In my opinion all religion is brainwashing for simple-minded people, and scientists know this, though they are often reluctant to say so. If this dispute involved Christian fundamentalists, many scientists would be loudly protesting this amendment. I’m sure they would call them “bible thumpers.” But they seem unusually quiet about this because they are afraid of being called racist or politically incorrect for getting in a conflict with an indigenous belief system. Well, I won’t be silenced. I have no tolerance for ignorant beliefs no matter what group spouts them. These Native-Americans are pushing their religion on us, and I think it is an outrage. This specimen doesn’t belong to them. They did not personally know Kennewick man. None of their great-great-great-great-great grandparents knew Kennewick man. In fact the ancestors of some of these tribes may have even fed upon Kennewick man’s kin. (See: https://markgelbart.wordpress.com/2012/10/24/native-american-cannibalism-and-dog-eating/ ) Their claim on this specimen is based on phony political correctness. They can’t demonstrate to which tribe Kennewick man belonged, probably because none of the tribes existed yet when he lived. So all the 5 tribes of the Pacific northwest (Umatilla, Nez Pierce, Colville, Yakama, and Wanapum) are going to share the burial ceremony, and the specimen is going to be buried in a secret location to prevent disinterment. How ridiculous. What politically correct bullshit. When Europeans discover thousand year old human specimens in Europe, no group ever comes forward to claim they have the right to the remains because they are relatives. Human remains are not sacred…they are just bones.
Native Americans on their way to bury scientific knowledge.
After I die I do not want to be cremated. I want to be buried, so there is a chance my remains could be discovered by scientists 30,000 years in the future. They can study or do whatever they want with my skeleton, and I’m pretty sure I won’t care.
Tags: democrats and republicans are anti-science, Kennewick man, Native-Americans bury science, religions are stupid brainwashing
GeorgiaBeforePeople 
February 13, 2017 at 3:23 pm |
Ah good person..now tell us..how ya REALLY feel. 😉 I am one who finds it ..comfortable..to let the various religious structures..deal with their ..creation-myths. It is when..we find what I would call..fundimentalists in American government positions..pressing/pushing..and..i fear..about to start..legislating.. a christion version of events..into killing the science formed laws/rules/creative..forward learning. Me n’ mine..have been creamated..as will I.. Dear friends..ask to buyied..within the root balls of trees..way..up in the forests. As to whom..is related to whom..I figure we are all..anywhere..on this earth..ONE family.. Some early..versions..failed at the ..competitive situations..the world ..provided. What we have left..is..one family..many diff. colors/viewpoints. The kenniwick man..HAS been studied..over a great deal of time now,,both legally..and ..without permissions. All that he/his kind could have provided..for the rest of us..is..still avail. to now, and..coming generations. Also..in a fair number..of ..institutions.Dropping back..to land grabs..which..white America crafted..with ugly, selfserving zeal..i find a certain sense of ..reaching out/sharing..as the tribal groups provide a version of their..welcoming back..into their populations. Welcome kenniwick man..may we honor your rather short life, welcome your various ‘seeings’..as you trod the earth..around, north of me..and lived a bit of a..family life..as well. You may not..have been my..lineal-father..but..you.’.represented’..in that..time frame. Ah hay. Peace.
February 13, 2017 at 8:12 pm |
I can understand your anger. From a scientific point of view it is a catastrophe, unbearable. Of course, it is ridiculous for any living person to assume a direct kinship with the Kennewick man. According to my inessential view the attitude of the tribes is only a reflex to centuries of surpression and cultural disrespect from the whites. There is great mistrust to science, as it was always used against them, at least, this was their impression. When I attended the Paleoamerican Odyssee Conference in Santa Fe in 2013 I realized that anthropoly and archaeology in America is a white science. I wonder if there were any scientists of indigenous or black origin.
I live in Germany, a country which bears the load of the holocaust. Germans have killed millions of Jews. The guilt is indisputable, the greatest crime of the century. But many people here therefore do not dare to criticize the state of Israel or call people antisemitic when they do so. This is similar to the relation of the political class in your country and the indigenous people. Guilt in one respect is transferred to something completly different. In both cases feelings of guilt are instrumentalized to achieve certain goals, especially to strengthen the own position within a certain group.
February 14, 2017 at 1:26 pm |
It is anti-Semitic to criticize Israel for defending itself. The world always considers it a war crime when a Jew defends himself. The world declares it illegal for Jews to win a war. Didn’t Germany just go along with the rest of the world when they condemned Israel for building houses on land they fairly won in a war of self defense?
Native-Americans hate archaeologists, btw. They even have a derogatory term for them. They call them arkys.
February 15, 2017 at 12:33 am |
In..another view..my hope for a ..two county..system..may..even. win out. The term..listed as..’arkys’..is but ONE..of the terms..for the ‘infamily..resident arch. trainer. None the less..we are..all needing to feel..the bloodlines..which..interweave/connect us. There is a time..when..bookish pursuits..must be..ignored..and..moved on beyond. So..toss me a fragment of smoked fish..and I’ll share.. the fruit pulp..with camas..and blueberry mash.