This is the government. What does anyone expect?. If you look at the
quality of most elected officials it will be made quite clear. These
are not people that you would NOT invite for Christmas dinner......
There are four things that government does extremely well.. The
first is to overreact to anything. The second is to (eventually)
throw enormous sums of money at things. The third is to issue press
releases to make believe that the problem has gone away based on the
first two. The fourth, is denial of anything ever happening.
Does this clarify things?
If not, Please Read "Civil Disobedience", by Henry David Thoreau.
Carl.....
On Dec 8, 2010, at 10:48 PM, Stephen Fleming wrote:
On 12/08/2010 13:03, jennifer wrote:
Subject: Breaking News - NM's El Mapais National Monument Closes
Caves
http://www.nps.gov/elma/loader.cfm?csModule=security/
getfile&PageID=522060
And so it begins. Probably a tipping point...it should not be
unexpected if other areas/agencies follow suit in relatively short
order. No agency wants to be the one that can be pointed to as
having 'not done enough'. Such events just need somebody to go
first and then the thing runs like a slinky down stairs.
I'm surprised that we had not heard of this sooner given that the
press release was dated Nov 22.
So, to summarize...
a) No demonstrated human vector; pure, unsubstantiated speculation
in every announcement to date as to a human component.
b) No evidence of WNS anywhere in NM.
c) A minimum of 300 air miles between NW Oklahoma and El Malpais.
d) Next closest confirmed incident approx. 1000 air miles east in
eastern Missouri.
e) No additional Oklahoma reports since the May 2010 single
occurrence, nor of any other occurrences elsewhere in adjacent
states; thus no evidence or even trend data to suggest a spread
either is occurring or is at risk of doing so.
f) The Oklahoma incident is of a different quality. Oklahoma
Department of Wildlife notes: "...the pattern of infection was not
consistent with the White Nose Syndrome infection observed in bats
in the eastern United States. There also has not been a mortality
event attributable to White Nose Syndrome in Oklahoma to date. The
next closest known report of the fungus occurred in eastern
Missouri earlier this year. To date, all of the White Nose Syndrome
cases have been east of the Mississippi River."
Ergo, in the absence of any documented facts specific to the park
(or area, or state, and thus a question as to what is the
compelling need?) the caves must be closed now. Very logical in
some folks' minds, I guess. The NPS does not present a very
compelling WNS case in their rambling catch-all explanation of the
closure. The action surely appears more opportunistic than
necessary, given the prospective nature of their language.
Stephen Fleming
_____
Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored. – Aldous Huxley
If the facts do not conform to the theory, they must be disposed
of. – Maier’s Law
The facts, although interesting, are irrelevant. – Unknown
The fewer the facts, the stranger the opinion. – Arnold H. Glascow
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