Many are painting current events as the enactment of a grand struggle between the opposing forces of Light and Darkness. Of course, the archetypical such conflict, paleontologists are learning, was staged at the dawn of civilization between the Neanderthals and their eventual successors, the Cro-Magnon who would turn out to be forebears of modern humankind. Scientists have recently begun to appreciate that the two humanoid races coexisted in time and space across the European continent, and may have even intermarried to some extent, while vying for the supremacy of their respective ways of being sometimes by geopolitical positioning, sometimes frank combat. We may be considered to be in an analogous situation today. This Reuters wire photo, however, raises serious doubts about whether we’re the Neanderthals or the Cro-Magnon of the day. [thanks,Ted!]