Hoopla

TBC: As noted last week, evolutionist's have mounted a full scale assault to hopefully slow the rapidly spreading cracks in the facade of evolution. Knowing that many readers have a short attention span, the common tactic used in reporting these finds is to begin with a forceful headline such as the following:
 
"Ethiopian fossils link humans to 4.4 million-year-old apelike creatures, researchers say."
 
[The next step is to lead with a strong opening statement]:
 
"Fossil hunters scouring Ethiopia's harsh and rocky Afar desert have uncovered fresh evidence linking our human ancestors of 3.5 million years ago with more primitive apelike forebears who lived a million years earlier and had not yet emerged from woodland habitats.
 
"The scattering of fossil teeth and bones 'represent unambiguous evidence for human evolution,' says Tim White, a UC Berkeley paleoanthropologist and leader of the international Middle Awash research project."
 
[TBC: Finally, the "bad news" is hidden near the end of the article, a place where relatively few readers go. Here is what is deemed "unambiguous evidence" by the researchers]:
 
"As for the fossil hunters, scraping the sand and rocks of the Afar region requires tireless backs, sharp eyes and tough hands, and some of the most significant hominid finds by the expedition came during this winter's field season.
 
"Among those discoveries were a canine tooth found by Ferhat Kaya from the University of Ankara in Turkey; a single molar and a tiny tooth fragment unearthed by Kampiro Kayranto, an Ethiopian veteran of five seasons with the Middle Awash team; and a molar fragment and the toothless fragment of a lower jaw spotted by Moges Mekonnen, an Ethiopian field cook assistant with the expedition who has been trained as a skilled fossil collector"
 
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/04/13/MNGMII8GLK1.DTL

(posted by TBC April 25, 2006)