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Steve, yoU hit this one inside the bullseye. This guy, and all of his
pals, will find that liberal "just a little head" answer for everything.

STEVE GRIDLEY wrote:
> 
> Spoken like a true liberal. I'll bet you have a picture of Bill Clinton
> taped up in your VW microbus.
> ---- Steve Gridley, Doing It Right (far right) in Newton, Kansas
> 
> >
> >Hi Bill,
> >
> >Oh, what the hell.  When I wrote you the private, I was late for a
> >meeting, so I didn't have time to play.  The meeting was postponed, and I
> >have about 15 minutes to kill, so I'll go ahead and bite afterall.
> >
> >Let me begin by introducing a new term.  Remember when you guys used to
> >use the term "Annellid-stupid"?  As a biologist, I always liked that one.
> >However, in recent weeks I and my critter-nerd ilk have invented a new
> >term that represents an even lower form of stupid - the lowest of the low.
> >
> >No, it's not "bacteria-stupid" or "virus-stupid" or anything like that.
> >Rather, it is "Kansas-Board-Of-Education-Stupid", or "KBOE-stupid" for
> >short. It's not directed only at the Kansas BOE - they just happen to be
> >the ones in the limelight at the moment.  Other states, like Alabama,
> >Tennessee, and Arizona, among others, all have their versions of it.
> >
> >At any rate....what does "KBOE-stupid" have to do with my reply to you?
> >For those who haven't followed the news lately, the KBOE decided that the
> >concept of biological Evolution (or "macroevolution", as the call it)
> >would no longer be part of the State's education standards.  They're not
> >forbidding the teaching of it or anything like that - they're just
> >removing it from the State standards, which means removing from state
> >exams.  The problem is that local district curricula tend to want to
> >produce students who do well on the state exams, which means emphasizing
> >only those topics covered by the exams.
> >
> >But the real point of bringing in "KBOE-stupid" is to illustrate the kind
> >of "stupid" that you are proposing in your message below.  The KBOE thing
> >was a weak attempt to thwart the dissemination of evolutionary theory to
> >students.  Many in the "bible-belt" of this country (note that all other
> >developed western countries have matured well beyond this silly but
> >seemingly perpetual problem) view evolutionary theory as a threat to
> >Christian Faith.  If Evolution happened, then not only is the Earth older
> >than 10,000 or so years, but it also means that God did not spontaneously
> >create humans in Her* own image (although She may have created Prokaryotes
> >[not necessarily in Her image], which begot eukaryotes, which later begot
> >multicellular organisms, which ultimately developed internal skeletons and
> >notochords, which at some point crawled out of the sea, went through some
> >funky changes and diversifications, grew hair, and led to [among a vast
> >multitude of other taxa] the species _Homo sapiens_). In any case, as many
> >eductaed people have come to realize, there does not need to be any sort
> >of conflict between religeon and science (or, more specifically, between
> >American breeds of Christianity and Evolution). Nevertheless, there are
> >still a disturbingly large number of KBOE-stupid people who see Evolution
> >as a threat to their faith - and thus something that needs to be fought.
> >
> >The parallels between this sort of mentality, and the messages I am
> >hearing from you and the people who preach the same "gospel" as you (we
> >all know who I mean), are rather stunning, when you get right down to it.
> >By way of example, let me review a little history on the Evolution debate:
> >
> >The first KBOE-stupid attempt - about 70 years ago, was to ban the
> >teaching of Evolution outright.  A guy named Scopes, in fact, had to fork
> >over a hundered bucks as fine for attempting to do so.  That lasted about
> >20 years, until the Supreme Court said "Ain't constitutional".  The next
> >real effort was to try to mandate the teaching of "Creation Science" (an
> >oxymoron of 'biblical' proportions, so to speak) alongside Evolution.
> >Once again, the Supreme Court steped in and said "Sorry Charlie - Creation
> >is religion, not science, and we have this thing about separation of
> >church and state...."
> >
> >The KBOE thing is the latest effort - and a new tactic.  Rather than
> >promoting Creation, it's trying to surpress critical thinking.  By
> >omitting the discussion of topics that have been deduced from rational
> >thought, they apparently hope to hide people from reality.  They want to
> >shelter people from being exposed to what's so obviously going on in the
> >world around us.  The only way to supress Evolution is to promote
> >misunderstanding of it, which means hiding information, and perpetuating
> >misinformation. For example, there is a lot of emphasis that "Evolution is
> >a theory, not a fact".  HELLO!!! Welcome to the world of science, where
> >*everything* is ultimately, at its core, a theory.  The notion that matter
> >is composed of atoms, which are themselves composed of neutrons, protons,
> >and electrons - that's "just a theory" too. Hell, the very idea that the
> >Earth revolves around the Sun is ultimately "just a theory".  The point
> >is, Evolution is every-bit as well-supported as these other theories are.
> >Eventually the evidence becomes so incredibly overwhelming (as in the case
> >of basic atomic structure, or Evolution), that we just accept it (keeping
> >in mind that new revelations may ultimately falsify it - but the prospects
> >for that are close to Nill).
> >
> >I hope I've illustrated this point with enough clarity and depth that you
> >will grasp my meaning when I tell you that your suggestions in your email
> >to me (below) are a perfect example of "KBOE-stupid".  Both you and George
> >have repeatedly tried to get me to stop sharing my face-value thoughts
> >with respect to diving with the public at large. You want me to suppress
> >and distort my real-world information when presented publicly so that,
> >when it is presented, it conforms to your EXTREMELY MYOPIC view of the
> >diving world.  If some real-world experience of mine conflicts with your
> >perhaps well-intentioned, but otherwise grossly distorted perception of
> >diving, then you want me to keep it to myself.  You don't want me to
> >disrupt your efforts to put blinders on people.  In short, you don't want
> >me to encourage critical thinking among divers.
> >
> >Sorry guys, but in the past, in the present, and with every intention of
> >continuing into the future, I call it as I see it.  Period. I do not lie,
> >despite your tireless efforts to accuse me of being a liar. I do not
> >distort my delivery of information to try to manipulate anyone or to
> >satisfy any political, egotistical, or other equally trivial agendas.
> >When I see feces, I call feces.  When I feel I have something to offer to
> >a discussion, I offer it. As a scientist and as a scholar, it's just my
> >nature to be that way. Sometimes (more often than not, in fact), they way
> >I see things corresponds very well with the way you guys see things.  On
> >occassion, however, my perspective differs somewhat from yours.  This
> >doesn't surprise me at all, given our different diving histories and
> >different diving environments. You should have learned by now that all
> >your ranting and raving about me - publicly or privately - has absolutely
> >no effect. I continue to call it as I see it.
> >
> >On the topic of air at 150 - as I told George in private - my response to
> >Chris was the most accurate.  I normally wouldn't have posted anything,
> >but I just felt so incredibly....well....violated....that he actually
> >agreed with me, I had to do *something*.  All I did was tell the truth -
> >if I didn't have my rebreather in a particular situation, *I* wouldn't
> >bother with helium much deeper than about 150.  That's the truth - as
> >painful as it may be to you.  Two weeks ago I was doing a film-shoot on a
> >sailboat.  One night a Manta Ray hooked up one of the surface-supply
> >cables to a 1000-watt HMI light and dragged it off.  I didn't have my
> >'breather and there was only air on board, so the next morning I started
> >my search at 150 and worked my way up the slope.  Lo and behold, I found
> >the light and saved the Production crew a lot of money and hassle.  I'd do
> >the same thing again if the same situation presented itself.
> >
> >Does this mean I think that all dives to 150 should be done on air?  Of
> >course not!  In fact, whenever I dive with the rebreather, which is
> >99.9999% of the time, the maximum PN2 I subject myself to is about 2.5 atm
> >(about 70 feet worth of air). Does it mean I think all divers should be
> >doing dives to this depth on air? Of course not!  I know people who
> >shouldn't be diving at all, and others who should never get below 60 feet.
> >I also know others who I would trust more as a diving companion while
> >breathing air at 200 than I would trust probably half the poplulation of
> >trimix divers at the same depth on trimix. Do I think all diving
> >environments are equal?  Of course not!  In cold or dark water I'm
> >hammered at 90 feet - and can feel it. But I very rarely dive in cold or
> >dark water, which is why I said that *I* probably wouldn't bother with
> >helium on most OC dives shallower than about 150 or so.
> >
> >On the topic of solo diving, the real-world reality is that I usually
> >*don't* dive solo.  That is, on my more extreme dives of late, I usually
> >have a true buddy (either Joe Dituri or John Earle).  But the bottom line
> >is that *I* still prefer to be alone on more challenging dives because *I*
> >feel more comfortable being able to devote 100% of my concentration to my
> >*own* safety.  You can cry about it all you want, but I'm not going to
> >hide this fact, or be ashamed of it in any way.
> >
> >There will always be stupid people out there doing stupid things.  I'm not
> >going to compromise my own safety just to conform to someone else's
> >perception of what the best way to do a particular dive is - especially
> >when that someone else understands very little about what I actually do.
> >Nor am I willing to play the KBOE game of hiding the reality from the
> >masses - I am always going to be honest and forthright about what I do,
> >and why I do it.  I always have been, and intend to continue to be
> >equally honest and forthright about when I make mistakes. My record of
> >doing so speaks for itself.  If stupid people misunderstand me or try to
> >emulate me without understanding their own limitiations (incidentally, the
> >list of people ending up in chambers after trying to emulate George's deco
> >philosophy is growing....), then that's what I would call "natural
> >selection" (another tie-in to the overall Evolution theme).
> >
> >I do what I do, the way I do it, because I think it's the best for me in
> >my situation. Because I'm a nice guy, I'm willing to share with others
> >specific details about how I do what I do.  Trash from you and others like
> >you will only continue to decrease my willingness to share.
> >
> >What is my point to you, Bill?  It's the same point I've been making to
> >George in private.  It's simply this:  I'm bored of playing these email
> >games with you guys, and I've got better things to do.  So do all the
> >people on this CC list.  I decided the forward it on to the whole list
> >with the hope they would enjoy some of my musings.  To those who found it
> >a waste of their time, I apologize.  To you, Bill, I do not apologize --
> >you don't have to be KBOE-stupid.  You can grow up, share with us your
> >experiences of what work in your diving environment, and even question the
> >practices of others who you think are unsafe.  But Please, PLEASE, spare
> >us the BS crusade crap.  It's so unbecoming of you. After this post, I
> >will *not* help you perpetuate it any more.
> >
> >Ciao,
> >Rich
> >
> >*Note: In case anyone is wondering why I apply the female gender pronouns
> >to the Lord Almighty, it's not because I'm sort of new-age freak or
> >militant feminist or anything.  It is because, as any biologist worth
> >his/her saline knows, all human beings (and indeed, all mammals) are
> >fundamentally females.  Female is the default gender - we all begin life
> >as females.  If nothing gets screwed up along the developmental pathway,
> >we would all be born females too.  However, about half of us, however
> >happened to have received a deffective X-chromosome from our daddies at
> >conception (reduced in size - we call it a "Y"-chromosme.  This deffective
> >chromosome leads to a very slight flaw - only one hydrogen atom out of
> >place - in the structure of estrogen.  This flawed estrogen also goes
> >under the name "Testosterone".  Testosterone is the enzyme which alters
> >the development of our reproductive organs, inhibits breast development,
> >and encourages a wide array of aggressive behavior like bar-room brawls,
> >horn-honking, and tireless efforts to beat one's chest on internet email
> >lists).  Bottom line is; if there is, indeed, a Supreme Being; and if,
> >indeed, Homo sapiens was created in Its image, than "It" would surely be
> >the defualt, fundamental, female form.  Since the only real purpose of
> >males is to facilitate the exchange of genetic material among females, it
> >would seem odd that any sort of Supreme Being would serve such an inane
> >purpose.
> >
> >On Thu, 26 Aug 1999, Bill Mee wrote:
> >
> >> Subject: RE: DEEP AIR VOTE, was: (RE: Re:IANTD vs 70 m air instruction
> >> and158m air dives You gotta be kidding)
> >>
> >>
> >> >snip
> >> > I personally am comfortable breathing
> >> >air to a maximum depth of about 150 feet (as I said in the post that
> seems
> >> >to have garnered so much attention). All the senseless name-calling in
> the
> >> >world won't change my feeling on this,....>
> >>
> >> >Aloha,
> >> >Rich
> >> >
> >> Richie,
> >>
> >> Is this my imagination or are you just joking here?
> >>
> >> Diving in the 100 - 150 fsw range on air is a recipe for disaster and we
> >> don't need double blind studies and scholarly treatises to confirm what
> >> should long ago have become obvious to anyone serious about so called
> "tech
> >> diving".   This is the worst sort of treason coming from you, especially
> >> since you were one of the early people to use mixed gas in the ocean. In
> >> fact I was cleaning out some magazines last week and lo and behold a
> dusty
> >> old Aquacorps Journal with your youthful picture on the back turned up
> and
> >> the subject was said same.
> >>
> >> Of particular horror is your advocacy of solo diving, a practice which
> has
> >> claimed quite a few lives of late.  To make matters worse you promote, by
> >> example, solo diving with rebreathers which is another endeavor with a
> >> disturbingly morbid track record. The problem is that you are considered
> the
> >> leading civiliam expert on computerized electronic ccrs and like Tom
> Mount,
> >> everyone wants to emulate you.  If Richie Pyle can dodge the bullet why
> >> can't Joe Shinola?
> >>
> >> If Tom Mount can point to you and say "the leading practicing authority
> of
> >> solo deep open and closed circuit mixed gas diving endorses intermediate
> >> deep air" then a lot of people will listen to this lie and the end result
> is
> >> some over weighted poor fat bastard will go and get himself killed solo
> >> diving with an air pony on the Andrea Doria or some such deep junk pile.
> I
> >> know, I know, I know you will just disount what I and George say  as so
> much
> >> threadbare hyperbole, but the freshly minted dead people of this summer
> were
> >> very real and had names and families and believed the bs.  There is no
> >> shortage of 12 inch tough guys who want to prove that they are just as
> tough
> >> as Tom Mount and you.  Like Chris Werner said:
> >>
> >> > Hey Richie, how is that you can deal with the deathtrap
> >> > (Cis-Lunar) that you
> >> > swear by diving, with all the complications and it hideous fatal track
> >> > record, but yet you cannot mix the right gas for OC?  You are one
> >> > lucky guy
> >> > and tougher than nails.
> >> >
> >> That's the problem.  You are articulate, tough and very lucky.  Mount and
> >> IANTD are on the wrong side of this air thing and resolutely refuse to
> >> change the standards. Unfortunately, for all involved, the standards will
> be
> >> changed, by mandate from the insurance companies, which are choking on
> the
> >> endless lawsuits and settlements. I fully expect that it is only a matter
> of
> >> time before you will be called as an expert witness (or defendant) in one
> of
> >> the many wrongful death lawsuits now pending and you will have to
> vigorously
> >> defend your above statement.  I surely hope that you have the bona fide
> >> belief and conviction to do so.
> >>
> >> Best regards,
> >>
> >> Bill
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >
> >Richard Pyle
> >Ichthyology, Bishop Museum                deepreef@bi*.or*
> >1525 Bernice St.                          PH: (808) 848-4115
> >Honolulu, HI 96817-2704                   FAX: (808) 847-8252
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >--
> >Send mail for the `techdiver' mailing list to `techdiver@aq*.co*'.
> >Send subscribe/unsubscribe requests to `techdiver-request@aq*.co*'.
> >

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