Kitsu’s Afternoon “News” – Capt’n Morgans Ship Found! (brought to you by the Captain Morgan Rum Company)

Originally reported by Time on their Website.

The conveyance of 17th century Welsh pirate Sir Henry Morgan, commonly called Captain Morgan, was found by archaeologists. The ship that was located is the starboard (right) side of one of the five ships from Morgan’s fleet alongside as big heap of unopened boxes and chests. Morgan’s fleet was lost while taking a fort near Panama City, and though Morgan succeeded in taking the fort his ships and their cargos have not been seen topside since.

Best part: The financiers of this expedition? The Captain Morgan Rum Company.

Bonus Link: Top 10 Audacious Acts of Piracy, also brought to you by Time Magazine.

Kitsu’s Afternoon “News” – Award winning children’s book on Evolution shunned by US Publishing

Originally reported by Discovery News in their blog on 16 September 2011. That’s right, this one is actually current. But I saw this and felt that it deserved to be covered quickly and not wait around while I worked through a backlog of less pressing issues.

Evolution: How we and all living things came to be (Book by Brian Loxton)

If ever you wonder why US children score so much lower on science related tests, you just have to look at the situation surrounding Mr. Loxton’s book. Normally books about evolution can find publishers pretty easily. A good example is Biologist Richard Dawkins’ “The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution” which was published by Free Press of New York, NY. But American publishers, the same publishers who also published Dawkin’s “The God Delusion” decided that a book on evolution targeted at ages 8-13 was “too hot a topic”. It wasn’t until Canada’s Kids Can Press stepped up and hit the go button on the publication that the book received a Lane Anderson Award nomination and was a finalist for the Silver Birch Award.

How could American publishers decline to publish such a well received work? Since when are book publishers supposed to decide what is and isn’t a controversy? Arn’t they supposed to be selecting books worthy of publication rather than books worthy of publication without causing the lunatic religious left to make a big stink?

Heaven forbid science and pre-teens go together and we start teaching your children to think and examine what they read. Heaven forbid we start to teach them to examine theories and controversies for themselves and expand their brains instead of only teaching them what’s “safe” and “not too hot”.

Kitsu’s Afternoon “News” – 18th Century Vandalism Cleaned Up!

Originally reported by Discovery News via their blog on 28 September 2010. Yes. this is a year old. I don’t care. I still find it interesting.

During the 18th century it was decided that a nude of dwarf and court jester of the time, Morgante, was painted over. The original canvas, titled “Bronzino”, is double sided, and portraying both full frontal and full backal nudity on the part of the dwarf. The work was considered obscene prior to it’s vandalism. The painting was “Fixed” by adding masses of vines and grapes to “protect” the modesty of Bronzino and recast him as a humble servant overing wine.

The subject of the painting rose from the status of slave to be a landed man and favored subject of Duke Cosimo l de’ Medici. Duke Medici also had his favored entertainer portrayed in a number of other works by a variety of other artists. Even, however, he was not safe from the various mistreatments of dwarves in the times. “Nani”, and the dwarves were known then, were expected to entertain and amuse, being made the butt of many jokes. Even the landed and titled Morgante continued to suffer at the hands of other courtesans.

Prehaps, now, he is getting the last laugh. He has achieved a level of longevity and grandness those abusive courtesans can never achieve. He is immortalized in a collection or art that places him as the center.