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circa 1939: Dragging a fugitive across the border, near El Paso, Texas, USA Picture by Luis Marden / National Geographic.

Vocativ has learned that the Justice Department has opened a criminal bribery investigation into the prestigious nonprofit. At issue: Nat Geo's tangled relationship with Dr. Zahi Hawass, a world-famous Indiana Jones–type figure who for years served as the official gatekeeper to Egypt's glittering antiquities. Beginning in 2001 and continuing for a decade, National Geographic paid the archaeologist between $80,000 and $200,000 a year for his expertise. The payments came at a time when the popularity of mummies and pharaohs was helping transform the 125-year-old explorer society into a juggernaut with multiple glossies, a publishing house and a television channel. But...

For 125 years, National Geographic has enjoyed a reputation as a scientific and educational organization. It is so trusted that if a topic is covered within the pages of National Geographic, it has been accepted without question. Most of us grew up reading it in the classroom, and later, in the doctor’s office. So what were they thinking when they chose to feature a nearly submerged Statue of Liberty on the cover of the September issue? Obviously, by using scare tactics and fear mongering, the editors have bought into the propaganda of man-made climate change. They are frantically trying to...

Check out the trailer for COSMOS: A Spacetime Odyssey, a 13-part docu-series debuting in 2014 on FOX!

A National Geographic “undercover team” wants to end private firearm sales and ban those they find disturbing. They never say it honestly and outright, but that’s the conclusion one walks away with after viewing the hysterical hit piece embedded in a July 16 ABC “Nightline” report. “Investigative journalist” Mariana van Zeller is appropriately incredulous and intimidated as “former police officer and firearms expert turned private investigator” Jesse Torrez guides her through such shocking activities as looking up classified ads on the internet, dialing the phone and driving to meet people to make private transactions. Had someone with experience in such...

Biologists briefly brought the extinct Pyrenean ibex back to life in 2003 by creating a clone from a frozen tissue sample harvested before the goat's entire population vanished in 2000. The clone survived just seven minutes after birth, but it gave scientists hope that "de-extinction," once a pipedream, could become a reality. Ten years later, a group of researchers and conservationists gathered in Washington, D.C., today (March 15) for a forum called TEDxDeExtinction, hosted by the National Geographic Society, to talk about how to revive extinct animals, from the Tasmanian tiger and the saber-toothed tiger to the woolly mammoth and...

Translation Synopsis: (Summary from Japanese): "Criticism is coming out over the airing by the US cable TV National Geographic, only two days before the US Presidential election where Obama seeks reelection, a docu-drama about the killing of terrorist Osama bin Laden which puts Mr. Obama in a politically positive light. The criticisms say that essentially the documentary is a propaganda adjunct of the Obama Re-election effort itself. The 90-minute program was funded and directed by big supporters of Mr. Obama's re-election. In the depiction, actual news footage of President Obama is used, leading to complaints by news media that...

A group of Republican-leaning Navy SEALs is battling with movie mogul and Democratic donor Harvey Weinstein for voters' attention Nov. 4, just two days before Election Day.The Special Operations OPSEC Education Fund, a political action committee made up of former special operations and intelligence members, says it will air an anti-Obama ad in key swing states during the prime-time debut of Weinstein's new "Seal Team Six: The Raid on Osama Bin Laden." The dramatic film, which prominently features President Obama's role in the raid that killed bin Laden, will debut on National Geographic and release on Netflix the following day.OPSEC's...

Obama Is Prominent in ‘SEAL Team Six,’ Weinstein Film LOS ANGELES — Thanks to the magic of editing, President Obama will have a starring role in a television drama about one of his biggest accomplishments — the killing of Osama bin Laden — that will be shown just two nights before the presidential election. But promotional materials and a copy of the movie provided to The New York Times this week also show that the film has been recut, using news and documentary footage to strengthen Mr. Obama’s role and provide a window into decision-making in the White House.

LOS ANGELES — A film dramatizing the death of Osama bin Laden is set to debut next month on the National Geographic Channel, two days before the presidential election. "Seal Team Six: The Raid on Osama bin Laden," from The Weinstein Co. and Voltage Pictures, will air Sunday, Nov. 4, the channel said Thursday. President Barack Obama faces Republican challenger Mitt Romney at the polls two days later.

Rodeo clown was behind racist joke about Michelle Obama It was rodeo clown Mike Hayhurst of Barstow, not announcer Ed Kutz of Arroyo Grande, who made an offensive, racist joke about first lady Michelle Obama over the public-address system of the Creston Classic Rodeo, a rodeo board member confirmed Sunday. Spectators initially believed and reported that Kutz made the comment Saturday. Both he and Hayhurst were on microphones at the same time. Speaking Sunday on behalf of the rodeo’s nine-member board, Mike Barrett said the rodeo is not responsible for the joke and will ask Hayhurst for a letter addressing...

The Perfect Storm author spent a month with anti-Taliban warrior Ahmad Shah Massoud in 2000. Now he offers his reaction to the recent murder of the Northern Alliance leader—and the subsequent attacks on the U.S. In November 2000 [National Geographic] Adventure sent contributing editor Sebastian Junger and photojournalist Reza (see photo gallery) to profile Afghan resistance leader Ahmad Shah Massoud. The resulting article (read an excerpt) appeared in our March/April 2001 issue and has just been reprinted in Fire, a collection of Junger’s journalistic work. ________________________________________________________ On September 9, 2001, suicide bombers killed Massoud. Two days later the U.S. was...

Being A Polygamist Most of us frown upon the idea of polygamy, but it's considered an acceptable lifestyle in many other places around the world. For instance in Africa, children are considered to be symbolic of wealth, so polygamy is an appealing lifestyle because of how quickly it allows families to grow. Being Or Using A Prostitute Prostitution has some terrible connotations in America, but in places like Germany, it's just like any other respectable profession. For instance, if you are unemployed for a year and refuse to take an available job (like being a prostitute), the government reserves the...

NEW-SERIES PREMIERE TUES FEB 7 9P et/pt Doomsday Preppers explores the lives of otherwise ordinary Americans who are preparing for the end of the world as we know it. Unique in their beliefs, motivations, and strategies, preppers will go to whatever lengths they can to make sure they are prepared for any of life’s uncertainties. And with our expert’s assessment, they will find out their chances of survival if their worst fears become a reality.

George W Bush says his blank reaction to the first news of the Sept 11 attacks while US president was a conscious decision to project an aura of calm in a crisis. In a rare interview with the National Geographic Channel, Mr Bush reflected on what was going through his mind when he was informed that a second passenger jet had hit New York's World Trade Center. Mr Bush was visiting a Florida classroom at the time, and the incident - which was caught by television cameras - has often been used by critics to ridicule his apparently dazed response...

Archaeologist Zahi Hawass, Secretary General of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, reports that several of the country's museums have been attacked by looters taking advantage of the political turmoil in the country. In the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, looters stole jewelry from the museum shop and smashed a statue of Tutankhamun and other artifacts. In a Sinai store containing antiquities from the Port Said Museum, "a large group, armed with guns and a truck, entered the store, opened the boxes in the magazine and took the precious objects. Other groups attempted to enter the Coptic Museum, Royal Jewellery Museum, National...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 23 (UPI) -- The U.S. Department of Defense is funding research to discover how species of Asian snakes are able to glide long distances through the air, researchers say. Researchers at Virginia Tech are studying how snakes of the genus Chrysopelea, found in Southeast Asia, India and southern China, glide without the benefit of any wings or wing-like parts, The Washington Post reported Monday. The snakes undulate from side to side, almost as if slithering through the air, to glide from the tops of 200-foot tall trees to land almost 800 feet away. "Basically ... they become one...

Last week I tooled around the ice cap over Katla, adjacent to the ice cap over the erupting volcano -- I'm too lazy to look up the names right now -- using Panoramio. I compiled a collection of images that confirm I need to get there someday. I was going to post them this week. But anyway, time's pressing. I also discovered last week that National Geographic provides desktop quality images monthly. Great stuff. I found an example and I'll link to where they are if you're interested (the source link above). Covers the whole range of National Geographic subjects....

Virginia Commonwealth University VCU Dining Services Earth Hour Event: On Saturday, March 27, at 8:30 p.m. Shafer Court Dining Center and Jonah’s will take part in Earth Hour — the world’s largest climate change event. By simply turning out all nonessential lighting for one hour, Dining Services will join tens of millions of concerned citizens through...out the world in calling for action to save the planet. The locations will remain open, but with limited lighting during this hour. For more information about the VCU event, contact tmhighsmith@vcu.edu.

Thanks Stephen Messenger, TreeHugger, Of Yahoo GREEN.