Natural Science Forum / Biology / Paleontology / May 2004

You can call me anything you want, just call me to dinner, as the saying
goes...

OK, I suppose this is pretty serious, now that somebody has trotted out the
"I-don't-like-people
-who-use-cyberhandles-because-they-are-petty-cowards-who-are-afraid-to-use
-their-real-name--and-so-they-hide-behind-a-pseudonymn-in-order-to-troll-w
ithout-consequences" argument--an argument usually flung by somebody who's lost
control of the direction of a debate and has little else to contribute. I've
been using "Inyo" now for three or four years--with no plans to change
cyberhandles, by the way--and this is actually the first time I've encountered
that cyber-sucker punch. And to think that after all of those years all I had
to do to get that argument flung in my face was to speak in a loud, obnoxious,
verbose, stilted, offensive manner.

But really, was all of your vitriolic hysteria really necessary (although much
of it did read like a parody of my own posts in this thread)? Most folks who've
been reading this group for the past two or three years, at least, should
realize that I'm normally one of the easiest going posters around. Usually, I
post links to cyberarticles and/or places of potential paleontological
interest. Rarely do I engage in any kind of controversy. And, based on my
apparently disastrous attempt to convey a firm, confident, unwavering position,
probably I should refrain from further forays into such raging controversy
until I can learn to master the art of persuasive, coherent, nonconfrontational
language.  I admit, I'm just not very good at it right now, although I don't
plan to try the old addage--"practice makes perfect."

On this occasion, though, I felt that I simply had to take a firm, passionate,
decisive stand on the Capitola seawall issue, albeit my resultant verbage came
through as raw, disorderly and arrogant.. I did see valid reasons to question
forcefully John Miller's motives when I learned that, most curiously, he did
not advocate what is obviously the best possible means available to protect the
fossiliferous seacliffs from eroding away--in other words, constructing a
seawall at Capitola. My views were pointedly and directly stated--that I
acknowledge. I am still of the firm opinion that Miller's position is
tantamount to criminal negligence, but as I have related at least twice now, my
instinctive take is that members of the Capitola Planning Commission have
already made up their collective minds to abandon the proposed seawall project.
So, all of this is now pretty much a classic moot point, it would appear.

Actually, in closing, I would hope that readers do not, as a group, feel that I
have tried to intimidate or brow-beat them into submission, attempting to
squelch sincere debate. I am open to all criticism here. I certainly have it
coming, I would admit. I would hope I can come of the cyber-doghouse soon.

Fossils At Redrock Canyon State Park, California
http://mojave.topcities.com/redrock/redrockfossils.html
(If you receive a topcities.com error message, please try again later on;
sometimes I exceed my day's allotted bandwidth and my server simply shuts me
down for a short while.)