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WCPO Channel 9 Cincinnati covered the third in a series of discussion of the Bodies the Exhibition.  This discussion took place last night at the Cincinnati Museum Center.

While useful, I feel like the structure of the forums prevented an effective discussion to take place.  Instead of having the parties in dispute involved, the activists and the Cincinnati Museum Center, the forums relied on discussions from third parties to make arguments about the issues.

While this made for a civil discussion, beating around the bush doesn’t get to the heart of the matter.  I believe that a lot of the attendees expected someone from the Cincinnati Museum Center to answer questions, but the Cincinnati Museum Center never had a desire for a true dialog.  They joined the forums as a sponsor, but was more of a reluctant participant.

For example, last night there were no signs at the
Cincinnati Museum Center for the discussion, employees weren’t told
about it, and zero advertising on the Museum Center’s website.  There was a printed out sign for a wedding reception, but they couldn’t print a sign for the forum?

If the Cincinnati Museum Center wanted a discussion, they could have organized a forum at any time to answer the questions of the public.  But, they have not chosen to do so.  All we get are statements from Premier, and vague references to documents that are never shown.  Trust us, they say.  We know what trust is worth when dealing with money and profit.  Nothing.

The Cincinnati Museum Center has consistently said that if new information were revealed, they would review the situation.  Any such review should be in a public forum and include members of the community and not their stacked “ethics” panel.  My impressions from speaking to members of the “ethics” panel was that evidence against the exhibit was not shown and that the “ethics” panel was chosen for their endorsement value.  No Chinese community leaders were asked to be part of this “ethics” panel.

Anytime the Cincinnati Museum Center wants to have a dialog or re-examine the issues, there are plenty of us who are willing to participate.  But, I don’t believe that the Cincinnati Museum Center is willing to examine the truth critically.  Their motive is money and with the flux in the Ohio Attorney General’s office, there’s little chance anything will happen before this show closes.  Meanwhile, the Cincinnati Museum Center continues to profit of the bodies of possible tortured and executed prisoners.

Video coverage of the Bodies Discussion from WCPO Channel 9 News

For some reason, the video doesn’t work in Mac Safari, but it does work in Mac Firefox

From WCPO.com: Debate Goes On Over ‘Bodies: The Exhibition’ (written version)

Kellogg’s and Lego have joined together to create the ultimate in child culinary confusion- Lego Fun Snacks!  Are they bits of hard plastic or chewy bits of near-fruit?  Have fun teaching your kids what’s edible and what’s not!

In reality, these amorphous lumps of hardened goo barely look like Lego’s.  The bottoms are also just flat- no reverse, so you can’t even snap two pieces together. UPDATE:  They’re actually pretty good, but I wouldn’t serve them up to kids as a healthy food choice.  It’s basically candy.

Premier Exhibition, exhibitor of Bodies the Exhibition that is currently being shown at the Cincinnati Museum Center has settled with the NY Attorney General’s Office.

“The grim reality is that Premier Exhibitions has profited from displaying the remains of individuals who may have been tortured and executed in China,” said Attorney General Cuomo. 

“Despite repeated denials, we now know that Premier itself cannot demonstrate the circumstances that led to the death of the individuals.  Nor is Premier able to establish that these people consented to their remains being used in this manner.  Respect for the dead and respect for the public requires that Premier do more than simply assure us that there is no reason for concern.  This settlement is a start.”

Premier Exhibitions will provide full ticket refunds to all customers who ask for it.

The Premier lawyer who negotiated the settlement, general counsel Brian Wainger, said, “We are happy to have this behind us.” Wainger said the settlement terms only applied to exhibits in the state of New York but that the company would “adopt practices that mirror New York’s requirements” in its operations worldwide.

It’s been clear since the 20/20 news show that there are strong questions of where Premier Exhibitions gets bodies.  It was shown that Premier may have been purchasing the bodies of executed prisoners from the black market.  Political dissidents and religious practitioners are amongst that prisoners in China.  So, if there are executed prisoners, in this exhibit, there may be people in this exhibit that have committed no crimes except for speaking out against the Chinese government.

The Cincinnati Museum Center has been hiding behind Premier’s “documentation” and profiting from this display.  The Cincinnati Museum Center has said that it would:

“act accordingly in response to any credible findings that may emerge from follow-up investigations being conducted by Premier Exhibitions and the New York Attorney General”

The Cincinnati Museum Center has previously chosen to take the low road and to wait and see if it can get away with profiting from the show.  If the Cincinnati Museum Center had an ethical backbone, it would sue Premier to break its contract and close the exhibit. 

UPDATE: (fixed link below)
Press Release from NY Attorney General’s Office: CUOMO SETTLEMENT WITH “BODIES. . . .THE EXHIBITION” ENDS THE PRACTICE OF USING HUMAN REMAINS OF SUSPECT ORIGINS

From ABCnews.com: Crackdown on Ghoulish ‘Body Exhibitions’
From NYTimes.com: ‘Bodies’ Show Must Put Up Warnings

Here’s a real taste of Cincinnati, good old H20 from the Cincinnati Water Works.
Mmmmm, fresh Cincinnati water freshly pumped from a fire hydrant!  Tasty!

From CNN.com: Indiana Jones movie upsets communists

Members of Russia’s Communist Party are calling for a nationwide boycott of the new Indiana Jones movie, saying it aims to undermine communist ideology and distort history.

Let’s see, the movie’s about a search for a crystal skull “endowed with mystic powers”.  I’m sure Spielberg and Lucas were worried about making sure their movie was historically correct.

This movie’s clearly made for an American audience, where the good guys (us) win and the bad guys (Nazi, Communists) lose.

From NYTimes.com: 36 Hours in Cartagena, Colombia

Still on my list of places to visit.

From Cincinnati Enquirer: Ruby closing Tropicana

Jeff Ruby said Friday he is closing his Newport on the Levee restaurant, Jeff Ruby’s Tropicana, June 30 because he is being sued over its name.

Tropicana Entertainment, the Crestview Hills-based gaming company owned by Bill Yung III, filed the lawsuit a year ago. The company has since gone bankrupt and lost the gambling license for its Tropicana casino in Atlantic City, but it has not dropped the suit.

I can’t say that I’m totally surprised by this news.  It explains why the Tropicana was looking pretty ratty lately.  I think the suit is part of the reason for closing, a loss of interest another.  Jeff Ruby could have easily changed the name to “Jeff Ruby’s” and  kept it open.  Even though he talks about the decor, it is definitely nothing special.  But, Jeff Ruby’s excited about his latest restaurant venture with Bootsy Collins, Bootsy-Ruby’s and it’s clear his focus is over there.

From CBS.news: Clinton References RFK Assassination In Defending Length of Campaign

“My husband did not wrap up the nomination in 1992 until he won the California primary somewhere in the middle of the June, right? We all remember Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June in California. I don’t understand it.”

This seems like a pretty glib statement for Hillary to make.  She later said that it was just a historical reference to how RFK continued to campaign through June until his assassination.

Hillary’s correct that RFK campaigned through June, but he didn’t even enter the race until March 16th!  Four days after the first primary of New Hampshire, March 12th.  In 1968 there were still major primaries like California to win.  In 2008, there aren’t any big prizes left to win.  Obama, has a majority of the pledged delegates.