From: gil@tillage.DIALix.oz.au (Gil Hardwick)
Newsgroups: sci.environment
Subject: Population growth and cultural destruction (Re: Nast
Distribution: world
Date: Fri, 01 Jan 93 07:41:42 GMT
Organization: STAFF STRATEGIES - Anthropologists & Training Agents


In article <1992Dec31.215438.15641@watson.ibm.com> andrewt@watson.ibm.com writes:

 > Biological productivity is the amount of organic matter (usually expressed in
 > terms of the energy involved) produced in certain area in a certain time.
 > You seem to be confusing it with population growth.
 >  
 > As the Flood Plain Rat is extremely abundant during the dry season, I doubt
 > there is a massive mortality at the start of the dry. What is your source
 > for all of this?

Perhaps I have *finally* mined some rather more substantial information
in support of Mr McGowen's statement on land based biomass pyramids.
Now all we need is some data on krill and whale biomass for us all to
be edified and enlightened to the reality without fear of his paranoid
ideological campaign set on attacking and abusing other people.

 > No. By East Africa most of us, mean what was formerly British and German East
 > Africa, i.e. Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi.  Zimbabwe is in
 > southern Africa.  CAMPFIRE is actually an acronym for a particular Zimbabwe
 > program.  The only other country I've heard of pursuing a similar program is
 > Zambia.

Your criticism remains petty and nit-picking in the extreme, and by no
means causes me embarrassment. Had you broached it within a reasonable
and amicable context I would have said, "Fine, my error". But on the
basis of your persistent attacks on the basis of trivial and wholly
irrelevant side-issues I feel free to say whatever I want just to stick
it up you a bit more. In my present frame of mind I might as well post
a statement about Denmark being here in Western Australia, just so I
can watch you run around wasting energy trying to embarrass me on it.

Ah, you'd better watch that one, BTW.

I remain, however, intrigued by your apparent unwillingness to pursue
further the matter of kangaroo culling in Australia, or the wider issue
of the propaganda and hysteria to which we are persistently subjected
whenever we are so bold as to actually adhere to democratic processes
here in this country.

 > Many African countries try to both involve local people in conservation
 > and allow them to benefit from it.  This is a tenet of "meddling foreign
 > conservationist" organisations such as the WWF.

Slow progress toward the empowerment of local communities to take care
of themselves in the aftermath of decolonisation, by working with them
instead of "relocating them" to the margins. Again, the point made is
very much concerned with *respect* for their sovereignty and integrity
as underwriting the international (and I must add interdisciplinary)
cooperation very gradually developing there, yes?

 > >the repeated plea has consistently been toward raising the standard here.
 >  
 > You have lowered the standard by posting reams of abuse and mis-information.

Again, in the extremely *few* examples you have managed to assemble,
slow progress necessarily responds in the short term to the established
ambience of this sci.environment group, especially in the midst of a
flame war on political issues however you personally might feel about
it, toward raising the standards you apparently by your comments seek
yourself.

I don't like it myself, but I still do not agree with you on the right
of anyone to undermine the democratically arrived at decisions we make
here on whatever matter may be at hand. Again, if we decide to cull
kangaroos we will do so, without anticipating that we need to defend
ourselves against the hysterical abuse, propaganda and misinformation
against which the protest was originally made from the University of
Queensland.

You would also better serve your purpose by adopting the professional
stance of informing and advising people within your own field; which I
am very happy indeed to leave up to you. However that may pan out, it
still does not give McGowen the right to boss others around with his
abusive intervention and wholly unsupported statements, colleague of
yours or not.

Get it yet, Mr Taylor?

Gil

Newsgroups: sci.environment