Tweets--

This is a difficult situation. I agree with Steve about Don's
continuing assessments of environmental exploitation and
amazing knowledge of issues and the players. He spends a
great deal of time sorting out those issues and we usually
get the benefit of his research and insight in some form
of response he makes to someone's question, which is usually
not nearly as well thought out.

And I think Michelle has some things to say as well in her
assessment of the the overall situation.

I guess what it boils down to is style. Don's style was
"in your face"..that puts many of us off. He also refuses
to back down on issues regardless of how sensitive they
might be. the Creation v. Evolution thread was an
unfortunate interchange as it hit a number of Tweets in
their belief structures. It should be clear that we really
can't argue beyond that.. i.e., we might be able to trace
everything back to an Efficient Cause/Prime Mover, but we
don't necessarily have to agree on what that is.
As Michelle pointed out, it's tends to vary depending on
where one's located.. i.e., Iran, N Korea..Salt Lake City, etc.

The thing I try and remind myself about is that nothing is
learned if belief structures are not challenged. I have
a colleague who gets an occasional call from Creationists
to debate Creationism v. Evolution. They are not put off
by his arguments, but try to learn from them. I like to
think that

the engine of insight is fueled by
differing intellectual perspective.

I am truly sorry if people were offended by Don's passionate
response to what he believes to be intellectually dishonest.
That's his prerogative and I appreciate his candor.
And, while his style was abrasive, his arguments were cogent
and succinct.


I think Michelle and Steve are correct---this list is
definitely the worse for Don's absence. We all knew we
would be taken to task for our off base or ill founded
opinions when Don's ascerbic wit was active.

Think about the terrific fun we had with the Limerick Thread
goaded on by Don's outrageous puns...
Ah-h-hhh, the good old days...such as they were.

I also have to say, I think Don could have operated with
more finesse. Some of the best things he ever did were
so subtle they had to be thought about a long time.

I know I don't have the energy to read all those voluminous
reports or pay attention to the extraneous details of the
different land trust deals, or those wonderful anecdotes he
shared about the weeks he spends every fall in the Goshutes
volunteering for Steve Hoffman and Hawk Watch International.

I know Dan was in the proverbial rock and a hard place
and had to make the decision to ban Don from the game.
But, I grew up playing hockey in New England and no one
ever stayed in the penalty box for the duration of the
game...and this game ain't over 'til it's over..

I vote to reinstate Don later on. He'll be down in the
Goshutes soon and be there for three weeks or so.. that
should be a good month and a half or more, so perhaps
by then he could be welcomed back to the list.
I miss his intellectual honesty and passion for birds
and the environment.


Tom




Tom Foote footet at elwha.evergreen.edu
Lab II
The Evergreen State College (360) 866-6000 x6118
Olympia, WA 98505