On:    Fri, 22 Sep 2006 08:33:06 -0500, Denys Beauchemin
<[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Well let me see now, the environmentalist movement has so far killed
> between 10 and 30 million people,

Yes, they are really going to have to light a fire under themselves if
they are ever going to catch up the the ideologues of nationalism and
economic determinism who manage to accomplish far more killing than that
every generation.  Not that we are ever going to see how M. Beauchemin
comes up with his figures, nor are we ever goinfg to see what the offsets
were in terms of lives saved and injuries forstalled.

> downed two space shuttles and their astronauts and severely damaged
> our forests, among many similar accomplishments.

Well, Dr. Richard Feynman, Nobel Lauarate and former member of the
Manhatten Project, found differently in his investigation into the
Challanger disaster and laid the reponsiblity at the door of people who
put their personal beliefs ahead of the evidence available, groupthink in
point of fact.  A practice which contibuted mightily to the second
disaster shuttle disaster as well.  The favoured approach seems to be:
Close ones eyes to the evidence, pray for the best and blame the vicitims
if things turn out badly.  Pretty much describes the American
neo-conservative world-view.

The environmentalism movement has so many adherents for one simple reason,
the degree to which narrow private economic interest often externalizes
its costs onto the backs of its neighbours without their consent.  It is
hardly surprising that in a world of instant commiunication and
wide-spread literacy that these interests and their true costs are
rapidily indentified and resisted by their intended victims.

One of the primary reasons that there are any forests left standing to
"damage" is the environmentalist movement dating back to the early 1900's
evidenced in the National Park System.  Given the lack of detail provided
to support his outragious and baseless claims one can only speculate that
by "damage" M. Beauchemin is referring to the recent change in practice to
allow certain forest fires to take their natural course and refrain from
intervention to protect ecconomic interests.  This is a judgement call and
while it may be flawed it is inherently no worse then the former practice
which had the effect of ageing forests until they possessed litterally
explosive amounts of fuel that, when ignited, often sterilized the very
ground on which they stood.

Now, since the topic is Mars, how about the contribution made by manifest
political provincialism to the failure of NASA's Mars Climate Orbiter a
few years back.  Why is the United States of America the ONLY nation on
the globe not to formally adopt the ISO measurment standards? And what
standards do they have? Why those formally employed by the state from whom
they declared independence over two hundred years ago.  Ironic is it not?

M. Beauchamin apparently lives in a world of simple black and white, which
implies that its atmosphere is comprised of a vaccum, and evidently lit by
a very dim star.

Sincerely,

--
James B. Byrne                mailto:[log in to unmask]
Harte & Lyne Limited          http://www.harte-lyne.ca
9 Brockley Drive              vox: +1 905 561 1241

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