Today Kate and I attended the sneak preview of the new Dinosaur Trail at the Museum of Life and Science in Durham. You might recall that I recently blogged about the last remaining dinosaur (R) on the late 1960s-era trail -- a "brontosaurus" -- was vandalized, its head decapitated and stolen. It was later recovered and there is a campaign to restore it up on Facebook, "Save Durham's Brontosaurus."
A couple of weeks ago, Beck Tench, who handles the Twitter account (lifeandscience, #dinotour and #dinotrail) at the Museum of Life and Science, sent out invitations to members, area bloggers and Twitter folks to visit the exhibit to get a peek at this work in progress. We were encouraged to take photos and video and contribute to the Museum's Flickr pool. Today's festivities for the new trail were a delight. The place was packed despite classic NC hot, very humid weather. Some of the absent dinos had cute cardboard cutouts where the real deal will be set in place by opening day on July 25.
I made a little video that includes a slideshow of the dinosaur exhibit. Let the kid inside out to play...
Uh oh, the purity of the pool is now under the federal microscope. Too bad, so sad for the members and board of The Valley Club as Senator Arlen Specter drops the hammer. (CBS3):
It looks like a Montgomery County swim club accused of racial discrimination will be investigated by federal officials.
Friday evening, Sen. Arlen Specter sent a letter asking the Department of Justice to investigate the allegations surrounding the Valley Club in Huntingdon Valley, Pa.
"If these allegations are true, then there appears to be a violation of Title II of the Civil Right Act of 1964," Specter wrote to Justice Officials. "I would appreciate it if you would review this matter, to determine what action, if any, is warranted by the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice."
The latest reason for ejecting the children from the club by the president of the club, John Duesler, is that all of the little black children couldn't swim. Does he know this for a fact? (it's not much improvement on the "complexion" remarkm btw). He said "They turned our club from a safe swim club into an unsafe swim club because of the sheer number of children in our shallow section who are basically unable to swim." Of course it was hard to explain this reaction of parents who are members of VSC to these kids:
"A couple of the children ran down saying, 'Miss Wright, Miss Wright, they're up there saying, 'What are those black kids doing here?"'
Wright said she went to talk to a group of members at the top of the hill and heard one woman say she would see to it that the group, made of up of children in kindergarten through seventh grade, did not return"Some of the members began pulling their children out of the pool and were standing around with their arms folded," Wright said. "Only three members left their children in the pool with us."
I'll grant Dr. Duesler a pass on principle for the moment -- and it's a very generous grant -- perhaps he personally doesn't have a racist bone in his body. He apologizeda>, but clearly believes it's all just a misunderstanding. This is post-racial America after all, it's just a terrible mistake. But does he feel any responsibility to acknowledge racist comments made by club members witnessed by multiple people? Clearly The Valley Club has members that do, in fact, want the club to be free of people of color (or perhaps, to be generous, have a few token members -- a small enough number to remain "comfortable" and keep the "contamination" factor acceptable -- to fend off claims of outright racism)
It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that the "mistake" here by the swim club is that its policies opened it to federal scrutiny because it leased out its facilities to non-members, thus making public accommodation laws apply to it. You best believe that other private clubs around the country that have their own unwritten policies about keeping environs snow white are running for cover and rethinking whether to rent out their facilities and get caught by the short ones.
Related:
* I guess I'll just sink to the bottom of the pool
* 'Complexion' of black camp kids not a problem at new pool
* Black kids booted from Philly club's 'whites-only' pool
The reason for the lack of information being released by the Navy and the Marine Corps about whether sailor August Provost's murder was a hate crime related to his sexual orientation is because, according to a U.S. Con gressman from California, it would raise questions about consequences of DADT and the inability for any gay or lesbian to report harassment without outing themselves. Here is the Navy Times take on the status of the case.
A sailor remained the top suspect in the June 30 murder of a fellow sailor with Assault Craft Unit 5 at Camp Pendleton, Calif.
...Navy officials said they don’t believe the shooting was gang- or terror-related. They also continued to dispute rumors that Provost was killed because he was gay, despite contentions raised by several relatives and gay advocacy groups who claim the sailor had been harassed at the unit because he was open about his homosexuality.
While Navy officials have denied that the shooting was a hate crime, Rep. Bob Filner, D-Calif., has asked Navy and Marine Corps officials for additional investigations into Provost’s death. Provost “made the selfless and courageous decision to serve his country, regardless of his sexual orientation; he should be treated with honor and respect,” Filner wrote in letters to Defense Secretary Robert Gates; Marine Commandant Gen. James Conway; Col. Nicholas F. Marano, who is Camp Pendleton’s base commander; and Rep. Ike Skelton, D-Mo., who chairs the House Armed Services Committee.
Filner said he was frustrated with a lack of information from the Navy and the Marine Corps, particularly over the suspicion that Provost’s sexuality might be connected to his death, which would raise questions about consequences of the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy.
“They don’t want that discussion to take place,” he said.
There is zero incentive for the Pentagon to admit this was a sexual orientation-related hate crime. I do hope that all of the relevant information comes out, because clearly there is no national security risk if the facts come out. The real risk out there is the one the Pentagon put the country in by discharging qualified gay and lesbian personnel.
Related:
* Sheila Jackson-Lee to call for Congressional investigation into the murder of sailor August Provost
* Time article mulls connection between slain sailor's murder to queasiness over repealing DADT
* Sailor killed at Camp Pendleton may have been target of hate crime
Oregon advocate Bonnie Tinker was killed in a tragic bike accident lae-tinker-300×200.jpg" /> Oregon advocate Bonnie Tinker was killed in a tragic bike accident last Thursday while attending a conference in Virginia. Tinker has been a dedicated activist in Oregon’s progressive community for decades. She championed equality as founder and director of Love Makes a Family, peace through her work with Seriously P.O.’ed Grannies, and justice as a member of the Religious Society of Friends. Her energy, commitment, and vision of a more just and peaceful world will be missed. Visit Love Makes a Family for links to remembrances and information about memorial services. 
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