Body Worlds

This quarter, I'm enrolled in what is fast becoming my favorite class ever! It's called Body Theory, another course in the Critical Theory area here at Davis: http://criticaltheory.ucdavis.edu/

Today, one of the students gave a fantastic presentation on plastinated human bodies--real human cadavers that have been preserved in such a way that allows them to be exhibited in Museums and used in university settings. What's different about this than the "normal" preservation of bodies for a med school anatomy lesson is that the bodies are often positioned in various states of action, with various amounts of skin and muscle exposed--mostly the cadavers have been completely skinned with the exception of some lips and scalp--a few "accents," if you will. So I will. Well, some of the cadavers are playing chess, others dribbling a basketball. One was a pregnant woman with her 8-month fetus, intact and exposed, for the appropriate consuming gaze. The entire affair is framed in terms of the educational value of the display of these bodies, but also with a definite artistic/aesthetic quality. It's not that these two things are mutually exclusive, but it seems the justifications used for this display are a bit fickle and seem tailored to the particular audience they are trying to captivate. Maybe there's nothing wrong with that. In fact, I honestly don't know how I feel about the exhibits. The "artist" has received criticism from all ends of the political and social spectrum. One of the preserved fetuses was even stolen from a museum and has not since turned up! Suffice it to say, my curiosity was peaked by this presentation, and I find the whole thing fascinating, if not a little bit disturbing. Check it out for yourself! Perhaps I'll post again when I've collected my thoughts a bit more on the subject.

http://www.bodyworlds.com/en/pages/ausstellung_usa.asp

Meanwhile, Alberto Gonzales today defended the administration's surveillance program. I feel rather silly even commenting on something that seems so straight forwardly illegal, but I can't help but have the sinking feeling that these turds are totally going to get away with it! And if they do, it's the American people's fault! Not just the administration's. My sense is that people in this country, with a few exceptions, have completely fallen asleep. I'm guilty of this too. I have yet to make a phone call to my representative. I'm not one who puts all my stakes in polling, but it looks as though a majority of people don't seem to care that we're being spied on without a warrant! Even the poll questions that don't ask an idiot question like, "Do you think the administration is justified in warrantless spying to prevent a terrorist attack?" seem to indicate that a majority is fine with warrantless spying regardless of the specifics as long as it's part of the wider war on terruh. So, my official prediction is that Bushie and his cronies will come out of this one unscathed. Gonzales recently spoke at Georgetown lawschool giving a rather contradictory presentation of the defense rationale. During the middle of it, a group of about 10 or so (maybe more?) law students stood up, and unfurled a banner saying, "Those who would forsake liberty for the sake of security deserve neither" a quote from Ben Franklin. They had on Abu Ghraib hoods as well. Others stood and simply turned their backs to him in protest. After the speech, did Al stay to answer questions from these young, budding legal scholars? No! He got the hell out of there without answering one question. Fortunately, Michael Ratner, a constitutional scholar, was there to pick up the slack and point out all of the holes in his argument. How many people saw this on CNN? Anyone? Anyone?