I try to cheer them up but do I get a thank you . . . ?

I have been exasperating the excitable kiddies over at Deltoid.  This is an 'Ultra-Warming' site and needs to be approached with care!  They are in a fair old strop over 'Climategate II' and despite my efforts to be, er, helpful they show no gratitude.  If you have nothing else to do you can start at Comment #90 in which I reply to an earlier comment.  You can then jump to Comment #102 in which Jeff, a true believer, takes me to task.  I reprint my reply to him below because it sums up, in rather blunt terms, much of my re-action to 'Greenery' in all its forms.  I should point out that in the original, somehow Jeff's name mutated to Jeremy, another contributer to Deltoid, but I have corrected it here.  Also to aid your understanding, my first paragraph refers to the not too surprising story that two years ago the 'scientific experts' all agreed that the Canadian caribou had disappeared and, natch!, it was all the fault of Man/global warming/oil exploration or whatever.  None of these experts bothered to ask the local natives who would have told them that the caribou always went off to some other place at certain times.  Anyway, lo and behold, they're back and hopefully Sarah Palin will have plenty of targets if any of them are foolish enough to wander into Alaska.

Well done, Jeff, exasperated, of course, but sticking to the point, by and large. I'm just a little hurt that you failed to thank me for the good news on the missing mooses, or caribous, or whatever you call those great hairy things that have the temerity to shit all over Canada. They're safe and sound!

As to your first main paragraph, are you telling me that my description of bird species as waxing and waning and then, perhaps, waxing again is not an accurate description of their history? And are you also denying that there is some controversy over the fact that those giant windmills are damaging birds?

Also, let me assure you that we have no disagreement that climate change has an effect on different species of both animal and plant life. That, in fact, is the entire history of this planet - it was ever thus. Also, I did not suggest that the "dustbowl" [of the '30s] was the same as the conditions current in Texas, my point was that if it isn't 'one damn thing' it's another! By and large, central areas of big land masses suffer big weather and geological effects. Again, it was ever thus.

Finally, and at this point I must urge you to sit down with a large scotch to hand, let me spell something else out to you. You are quite correct to maintain that human activity has had an effect on living things. Some of it has been deleterious and at this point you can reel off the names of several cuddly animals to weep over but let me tell you bluntly that I, personally, couldn't give a stuff! Even worse, I don't give a stuff about polar bears! What I do see is that through human efforts more and more humans are living longer and longer because they are healthier and healthier. And, this will come as a bit of shock to you, Jeff, I actually think people are far more important than, say Natterjack Toads, or, some flower that lives in a desert and comes up once every ten years. I cannot stress this too much, people are more important than anything else! (How are you feeling? Have a sip of scotch, it'll help.)

Don't misunderstand, I don't wish other living things to be destroyed; if there are sensible ways to preserve them (which increasingly there are) then by all means do it. But, if it comes down to a straight choice then polar bears don't even get a look in!

Now you may suggest that such wanton behaviour will lead to the destruction of people as well. I would suggest that you are wrong. Because as well as causing harm, people also do good. Just two silly/simple examples, dogs and cats thrive because of Man. New types of crops, some bio-engineered, are now feeding more and more people. I could go on but you take my point.

So, I hope that positive ending has cheered you up, Jeff, because I do think you are a tad too dismal - no, no, don't thank me!

Comments

[A K Haart]

What a cage-rattler you are under that genial veneer!

I used to visit the site a while back, but found it a bit of a freaky hole to put it very mildly. I was amused by Jeff's brand of bluster though, particularly where he says "I will not even lower my dignity". I'm not sure he realises it's already reached the level of a rattlesnake's arse - probably not.

Good work (:

[Whyaxye]

I've just spent twenty minutes looking at the thread. They love you, don't they!

I particularly like your brand of provocation mixed with cheery common sense. Does it owe anything to your time in the Paras? Or second-hand car sales? Carefully edited, this has all the makings of a short humorous book!

[Kevin B]

Bravo David, bravo.

Of course the thing to remember with a lot of these greenies, (that nice Sir David Attenborough - patron of the Optimum Population Trust - for instance), is that they hold humankind, (outside their own elite bubble), in contempt and would cheerfully preserve one polar bear at the cost of a billion humans.

So well done for taking the fight to them in such an unapolagetic way.

[David Duff]

Thanks, Kevin, and of course as you will have realised, it was exactly that sort of extreme ideology over people that brought about the mass tragedies of the 20th century.

ALSO, PEOPLE, TAKE A LOOK AT KEVIN'S PHOTOS BY CLICKING ON HIS NAME/LINK! I have to be honest and say that I have never considered photography to be an 'art', using that over-shagged word at it's highest. Nevertheless, there are some absolutely superb images at Kevin's site, well worth a look and a browse.

[David Duff]

'W', the great thing about making fun of fools is that it is so easy and also provides one with an entirely spurious air of wisdom! Love it!

[Kevin B]

David,that's not my site, but my sister's. She's the artist in the family whereas I'm the... er... not artist.

She really does suberb work, and if you like what you see, why not tell her on her review page. She'll really appreciate it and she could do with cheering up.

[GSW]

@David

They're so easy to bait as well. Just keep giving them a little prod every now and then, then sit back and enjoy.

Your 'good news' didn't go down too well, the disappointment at another 'Biodiversity armageddon' fail was overwhelming. Jeff, as you've probably gathered, lives for the day it will come to pass, his career, such as it is, depends on it. Liked the phrasing of

"I'm just a little hurt that you failed to thank me for the good news on the missing mooses, or caribous, or whatever you call those great hairy things that have the temerity to shit all over Canada."

If the tar sands pipeline goes through, the Deltoids would quite quite happily join the 'mooses' - in shiting all over Canada that is - still, even that would be a step up from their normal social behaviour.

Enjoy,

;)

[Andra]

Ha ha ha!
Good one Duff.
You won't change their tiny minds, though. They will all die swearing the ice WILL melt at any minute now.

[David Duff]

Kevin, I have done more than leave a comment at her site, Ihave posted on her wonderful gallery - see above.

GSW and Andra, glad you enjoyed the bear-baiting!