David Evans 's Comments
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Dec 10, 2009 | recommended: 1 | comments: 10
David Evans Dec 16, 2009, 5:19pm EST
Thanks all for viewing and for the comments...

DJE
Dec 10, 2009 | recommended: 1 | comments: 10
in reply to a comment by David K.
David Evans Dec 16, 2009, 5:18pm EST
Thanks David - just posted to those...
Dec 16, 2009 | comments: 2
David Evans Dec 16, 2009, 5:12pm EST
David, thanks for your comment...

I feel with you. I hope the best for your situation.

Best,
DJE
Dec 12, 2009 | comments: 14
David Evans Dec 12, 2009, 10:34am EST
Inhofe is a worm...

I worked on the largest Superfund cleanup/evacuation site in the United States - Tar Creek, Oklahoma. The site of the nation's largest lead mines. The mines provided lead for every type of industry throughout the last century, extensively wormhole-ing the region, literally undercutting the foundation of the community (Pitcher, Tar Creek, Commerce). The mines eventually flooded and contaminated groundwater. The piles of discarded rock mined out of the ground and the tailings of lead soil and dust were piled into hills visible from satellite photos. Children sledded down the high hills, played, rode dirt bikes all around, and families used the soil in their yards. On windy days the "chat" piles send dust clouds into the air.

Inhofe (as then head of the environmental committee) made sure that the lead companies paid the minimal amount for clean up and reparations if they even paid anything at all.

The honor for the cleanup he proudly shouldered onto the US taxpayer to the greatest extent possible. (A twisted logic: "Must save industry so that it can save the people" ... right?).

Inhofe? Champion of unethical practices in industry... Shove's it to the people...
He's a nutcase...
He's a worm...

Best,
DJE
Dec 10, 2009 | comments: 35
in reply to a comment by David Evans
David Evans Dec 10, 2009, 10:12pm EST
Peter, where is your book available to be purchased?
Dec 10, 2009 | comments: 35
in reply to a comment by David Evans
David Evans Dec 10, 2009, 3:21pm EST
I saw that one on Amazon after buying the Coming of the King. It looks like a good non-fiction resource, right?
The Coming of the King is definitely worth reading....

Best
Dec 10, 2009 | comments: 35
David Evans Dec 10, 2009, 2:12pm EST
Peter,
Thanks for your comment on the Iguanas of Guantanmo thing...

Very nice with your book! ... Very intriguing...

I'd been meaning to ask for some while if you've ever read or are familiar with a book about Merlin by Nikolai Tolstoy called "the Coming of the King - the First Book of Merlin." Yes he is a relative of Leo Tolstoy (War and Peace, etc.) but is British (family fled the revolution or something like that) and a master of British Celtic history and culture (and also a step child of Patrick O'Brian (Master and Commander author).

I'm reading it now and it's excellent.

I had never heard of it before I had picked it up.

Best,
DJE
Aug 24, 2009 | comments: 38
in reply to a comment by David Evans
David Evans Aug 26, 2009, 7:32am EDT
I've been busy, but have been regularly popping in to take a look...
Best,
DJE
Aug 24, 2009 | comments: 38
David Evans Aug 24, 2009, 11:10pm EDT
Wonderful!!!
Jul 11, 2009 | comments: 647
in reply to a comment by David Evans
David Evans Jul 19, 2009, 4:58pm EDT
Hanging in there... wife too...
Thanks Steve,
Best,
DJE
Jul 11, 2009 | comments: 647
in reply to a comment by David Evans
David Evans Jul 18, 2009, 10:21am EDT
have had my hands full with a growing squiggler.... kids are messy! ... cute though...

well done!

best,
dje
Jul 11, 2009 | comments: 647
David Evans Jul 17, 2009, 10:49pm EDT
David, Well put together...

I saw this quote on the New York Times online and thought it relates nicely here...:

"The problem with the ['skeptics/deniers'] you come across is that they start with a solid foundation of ignorance and then speculate from there using very poor logic. Even if you correct their logic you still have their ignorance to deal with which is why it’s impossible to ever change their minds."

It was used in context with moon landing deniers... but it works well with human induced climate change deniers...

best,
peace,

DJE
Jun 12, 2009 | comments: 54
David Evans Jun 12, 2009, 10:56pm EDT

Excellent!!! Peter!!!

More people should know about this!

The oceans are loosing their fish stocks... many of them!!!

There are a number of tuna species used for various markets... can, fresh, sushi ...

Tuna are warm blooded, increadible metabolic machines... They have increadible counter current return systems in the blood vessles that returns heat to its inner body... called the rete mirable (meaning "wonderful net" ... ironic isn't it... to be caught in "wonderfuly" inescable nets to die and be eaten...) ... They are among the most 'perfect' (efficient) and swiftest swimmers in the ocean...

Glad you posted this Peter... folks should know...

 

Peace,

DJE
Apr 24, 2008 | comments: 26
David Evans May 16, 2009, 6:28pm EDT
Thank you all for your visit and your comments! I'm glad you read and viewed...
Thank you Genki, Atticus, Rene, Jan, Sophie, and Renda...
I'm glad you found this worthwhile...
Best,
DJE
May 1, 2009 | comments: 345
David Evans May 9, 2009, 1:19pm EDT
Thanks for clarifying...
best,
DJE
May 1, 2009 | comments: 345
David Evans May 8, 2009, 11:16am EDT
Steve,
I like your description of understanding "reality" ... very concise...

I think of it as standing at the edge of a lake, or ocean...
We are standing at the edge of the water... We can see only so far below the surface...
We are planing on diving into the water... We are compelled, inescapably, to dive into the water...
What is the nature below the surface? What is the structure below our immediate vision?
There are shallows... there are rocks... there are reefs... there are piles of dangerous debris...

Do we want to dive in and foul ourselves on reefs, rocks, or debris?

Shall we plumb the depths to determine the best place to dive in?

Our science is our best effort to do that: plumb the depths...

We accept that there is some "ultimate reality" ... a configuration of the structure of the "reality" below the surface...

What process do we trust, do we feel comfortable with, to inform us to the best of our abilities of the nature of that "reality" before we dive below the waves... ?

At the edge... diving in... inexorably drawn in... Who do we listen to?

A well founded process has indicated that the debris we have been throwing into the ocean has presented a hazard for our impending dive into that water...

No cogent, comprehensive, or substantive alternative has been presented to provide aid in understanding our situation...


Steve,
I'm not sure what you mean about the American Geophysical Union changing its position... ???
This is their position statement as of 2007:
The Earth's climate is now clearly out of balance and is warming. Many components of the climate system--including the temperatures of the atmosphere, land and ocean, the extent of sea ice and mountain glaciers, the sea level, the distribution of precipitation, and the length of seasons--are now changing at rates and in patterns that are not natural and are best explained by the increased atmospheric abundances of greenhouse gases and aerosols generated by human activity during the 20th century.

The statement was drafted by Marvin Geller, John Christy, and Ellen Druffel and revised and reaffirmed by the AGU Council.

The AGU does not fall under the category of "a group that has changed its position" on human induced climate change that I know of...

Best,
DJE
May 1, 2009 | comments: 345
David Evans May 5, 2009, 8:52pm EDT
Sarah...
The Gary whatever fellow has been previously removed from Gather under a different name for exactly that reason... Obviously he keeps popping back up... Send the contact folks a message, they responded in the past...

Best,
DJE
May 1, 2009 | comments: 345
David Evans May 3, 2009, 9:46pm EDT
Sy, I think what you are talking about is understanding the distinction between "having the confidence of one's convictions" and "absolutism." ... My invertebrate zoology professor drove home the idea "confidence of one's convictions" ... he was tough... but he knew his stuff... A good scientist knows the difference...

A scientist or researcher has done the work, analyzed the data, written the report, and so knows the short comings and potential sources of error. Hopefully he or she knows if they are type one or type two ... and understands bias that exists in an experimental design... But ultimately, he or she is confident in his P values... and... has discussed it appropriately in his results and discussion sections.... I have, personally, been trying to explain that aspect of science here on Gather for some time as well as on Andy Revkin's Dot Earth Blog at the NYTIMES online page.

It does not, however, come across often in newspaper (etc.) science journalism and certainly is lost most often than not, here on blog site discussion of science...

Discussing science is of course worth while!!! Expecting to resolve issues and questions is unrealistic, and results in "paroxysms of public thought" errupting like St. Vitus' dance in the Dark Ages! It is the expectations one has in going into these discussions. I myself, at times, love jumping in and taking a whack at technical points of science... but it's with the understanding of the expectations and the meaning of what transpires... Learning more from people's viewpoints and motivations than from "resolving" points in question...

Lastly, I'm not sure of your purpose in 'redirecting' David's piece here... Of course, that is up to David himself on how he feels about it... I personally find it a bit strange... Your question is indeed a 'fruitful avenue' and I think fitting for a posting of its own... But it does seem quite a departure from David's original observations on the psycho-social aspect of the public discussion on Climate Change...

Cheers,
DJE
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David Evans
Garland, TX
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