this is oddly refreshing.

So, not to be too much of a downer, but one of my clients -- and ex nurse who now works in food science research here -- makes dire sounds about bad new coming for the blue claw crab. Inferences of some sort of epidemic. Sorry Steve.

DonS -- I'm so behind on so many deadlines, drowning in them...trying to catch up...that the one thing that was keeping me going was the idea of some time on the Chester River -- kayaking and crabbing...

Very bad news you have shared.

Steve, I'm waiting for more word, hoping its not so dire. The last thing we need, and seem to get, is more environmental degredation. Crabbing is one of those simple pleasures, as I remember!

I look forward to water pleasures in Nova Scotia where I'll retreat in July, and the wife for the whole dang Summer. Its a small skiff or a kayak for me -- soon!

We are headed for a world in which degradation will become, "Oh, thank god it's only degradation, and still reversible," and will be second fiddle to the realities of environmental destruction. Ecosystems have an amazing ability to recover if permitted to, just as we have an amazing ability to heal. But there are limits, and once crossed, are end points. Thus do I think that if we lose the battle to preserve and protect earth's ecosystems, all of these other battles being so valiantly waged by some really dedicated people will become moot points, and thus do I put global environmental issues first, and thus do I categorize war, including the war against Iraq, as environmental crimes of the first order, and an overpowering impediment, especially in the case of the United States, to meaningful constructive movement on the environmental front in time to prevent the worst calamities. We are already beyond full amelioration, and apparently hell bent to continue the destruction of: the rainforests; the atmosphere; the oceans; and any remaining shreds of common sense at the level of difference makers. Tokenism amok, of course, and all sorts of half-way, half-assed pseudo-acknowledgments of the problems. But the kinds of initiatives, and at the levels required to actually do something about the sky (which is falling, dammit), the seas (which are dying), and the rainforests (which are disappearing)? I don't see it. Doesn't mean I'll give up. That simply is not an option. But unless and until we face reality head on and go at the required changes full tilt, even if it means running over business interests, we aren't going to stop this degradation/destruction of the only place we have to live, love, and cherish our children.

And regarding the effing gated community mindset...

Steve,

I was bass fishing and did catch a carp. What an ugly fish.
What is so hard about catching them?

Steve--

Get a fly rod.

Steve,

There's plenty to carp about these days in DC with the lowest ever rated president, the even lower-rated key admin and ex-key admin personnel, and a congress from both sides of the aisle that seems more interested in how their investments in DOD-contracted companies are doing.

And how about the rotten smelly fish like Feith? Even his picture makes me gag and I know his deeds have been a thousand times worse.

Ooh, such a stench he makes.

Real carp are bottom feeders, meaning their food is the most polluted trash from the bottom. Thanks but no thanks to that fish.

Could that be the ghost of Fanne Fox? Or, Wilbur Mills haunting the scene of his most famous scandal?

That'll make a lot of gefilte fish, bro.

I guess you guys know about James Hansen's recent comments. I just discovered a nascent website that is planning to take them and run with them worldwide via the internet. A ray of hope?
http://www.350.org/4/

Carp are great fish to go after, they sure put up a big fight. I like to chum the water first with corn before I start carp fishing, great tip for any fisherman that wants to get into the sport.