I wonder how many pro-GMO and nuclear power signs there were?
That was my favorite.
Houston checking in!
(Not terribly good) Pics here: March for Science, Houston, Texas, 2017 - Album on Imgur
I saw exactly the same number of pro-GMO and anti-GMO signs, and the same number of pro- and anti-nuclear power signs. Zero in all cases.
Not sure what you were expecting, or even what your point is. Nobody needs to march for GMOs, for two reasons:
- They’re a fact of life. It would be like marching for highways.
- GMOs already have a metric ton of corporate money and lobbyists doing the ‘marching’ on their behalf. Rallies and marches generally happen for stuff that needs to demonstrate popular support because it doesn’t have that sort of support.
I saw several of those in Boston.
Also, a lot of variations on:
**I came because I heard there was (pi)
I’m with Her** (picture of the Earth
**No Science, no Beer
No Science, no Viagra
No Science, no Big Bang Theory** (picture of Sheldon Cooper)
A Spoonful of (formula for sugar) helps the medicine go down
**make “The End is Nigh” signs Crazy Again
Na S Ti W O Mn** (each letter or pair of letters a box from a periodic table)
this sign was hastily thrown together, unlike the centuries of scientific progress
One sign was an elaborate one that you had to get up close to read. The title across the top read Redundant Functions of Scientific Posters in Protest Demonstrations, and the whole thing was made to look like the poster at a scientific meeting “Poster Talk”.
But my overall favorite was one I saw in a picture. I don’t even know which city it was in:
Without Science, Trump is Bald
I was at the one in Cleveland. ZipperJJ was right: They had a really tough time getting the crowd chanting. The timing was impeccably organized, though: They said that activities would start at 9:00, speakers at 10:00, and the march itself at 11:00, and they were within a minute on all of them.
I saw exactly one sign that was anti-“nukes”, but I think that meant bombs, not power plants: It was pretty vague. And I saw exactly one sign against GMOs, but it followed up by being pro-hemp. There was a fair amount of support for wind power, which is a hot topic here right now: They’re trying to get a wind farm on Lake Erie.
I think my favorite sign was a picture of Neil Armstrong’s footprint, with the caption “Science makes America great”: Simple, to the point, emotional, and positive. The most amusing sign was someone apparently in earnest protesting the layout of the periodic table: The premise is that aluminum is a metal, so it should be moved over to the left next to the alkaloids. There was also a kid (8th or 9th grade, maybe) holding a sign with the single word “Unless”.
I did notice that the parade was very Earth-science-centric and not focused on computer sciences at all! I’m glad I didn’t make a sign (I’m a programmer). I just wore my shirt that is a Bill Nye silhouette that says “SCIENCE!”
I saw one sign that said something like “Conservatives: Climate change is real; [something else]” on one side and “Liberals: GMOs are ok; nuclear power is ok” on the other side.
The Cleveland Orchestra was a sponsor of the event so there were a few professionally-printed posters regarding the science of music.
My favorite was “So severe even the nerds are here.”
I marched in DC. It was good. Wet, but good.
I don’t know if this link will work, but I took a little video of the march in DC with my smarter-than-mephone. I found out that my phone doesn’t recognize my cold, wet fingers. Oops. Anyway, I had joined the march near the front, went to the Capitol building, then came back toward Federal Triangle Metro station. I had to wait until most of the march went by to get to the other side but I really enjoyed watching everyone. I held one of my signs up at the end:
http://www.rci.rutgers.edu/~lreed/DCScienceMarch.mp4
I think I’ll go back for the Climate March.
I went to the march in Memphis. It rained the whole time, but the energy was great and I’m glad I did it. I just kept thinking how sad that it was even necessary.