[Vision2020] Dodging Important Questions

Wed Aug 20 13:32:11 PDT 2008

Ted, I didn't dodge your question, I completely, totally and intentionally ignored it.
When one is constantly bringing the same subject up, over and over, despite a discussion on something completely different, it strikes me as being obsessive. Armchair or not, perception is everything. This is my perception, like it or not. It's kind of like the guy who collects all the Star Wars stuff, knows all of the characters' "history", the size, armament and max speed of every ship. Yeah, "that guy", the one everybody avoided because he couldn't talk about anything else.
We were talking about a storm warning. You turned it into yet another take on global warming.
Dandelions blooming early? Global warming.
Dandelions blooming late? Global warming.
A feather fell off a duck's butt? Global warming.
I know all about being obsessive, I drool over photographic equipment catalogues like a 16 year old male drools over a Victoria's Secret catalogue. I think about photography constantly, shots I've seen, shots I've taken and shots I want to take. Nearly everything I see, I look at with eye towards, "How can I shoot that?"
Thankfully, you were wrong about the storm, I've been waiting for one like that for two years. (The last really good one was July 5, 2006)

From: Ted Moffett 
Sent: Wednesday, August 20, 2008 12:45 PM
To: Kai Eiselein, Editor 
Cc: Dan Carscallen ; vision2020 
Subject: Dodging Important Questions

Kai is dodging the discussion of important questions once again, using laughable amateur armchair psychoanalysis in the process.  What a howl!  Thanks for the humor...

I don't require your photos to enjoy the beauty of nature... You are absolutely clueless regarding this aspect of my life.  But thanks anyway.  They are nice photos.

Asking a Moscow City Council member if they continue to engage in misinformed obscurantism (my view of Carscallen's past comments on Vision2020 regarding this issue) regarding human impacts on climate, one of the most critical issues humanity is facing, and certainly an issue that can be addressed by local government, is an important question.

Dodging questions is a very important skill, for editors who must protect their reputation, given the political slant of readership and supporters, and for politicians, as we all know.

Ted Moffett

On 8/19/08, Kai Eiselein, Editor <editor at lataheagle.com> wrote: 
  Good thing you weren't betting in Vegas, Ted.
  Now, breathe... in-out, in-out....quit obsessing for a moment and take a little time to enjoy the beauty around you. 
  Here something to get you started:

  From: Ted Moffett 
  Sent: Monday, August 18, 2008 7:55 PM
  To: Dan Carscallen 
  Cc: vision2020 
  Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Weather advisory

  Consider this radar image regarding the impending storms:

  http://radar.weather.gov/radar.php?rid=otx&product=N0R&overlay=11101111&loop=no

  Odds are, nothing significant will hit Moscow, and the major impacts will only hit a very small segment of the area this radar image covers; but National Weather Service must issue a warning, as they should.

  But I can't help but wonder, given Dan Carscallen trusts NOAA enough to think these local weather warnings are reliable, has he now changed his mind on anthropogenic global warming, given NOAA also issues "warnings" on this threat?  Or does Carscallen continue to adopt the skeptics view of anthropogenic climate change?  I have not forgotten Mr. Carscallen's dismissal of the science behind the problem of anthropogenic global warming.  I can reference the Vision2020 posts authored by Carscallen expressing this dismissal...

  Also, I can't help but wonder, how could the Moscow City Council, of which Mr. Carscallen is a member, enter into a legal agreement to sell water across state lines, without a thorough understanding of the legal complexities involved?  At this date, about six months after the Moscow City Council agreement to sell water across state lines to the Hawkins development in Whitman County, according to a recent article in the Moscow/Pullman Daily news, the legal issues are still in doubt...

  I am well aware I am posting on two issues that may seem unrelated.  But they both relate to Dan Carscallen's views on environmental issues, anthropogenic climate change (an issue everyone on this planet should be working to address with local action), and local water resources; the wise or unwise allocation of this precious resource.

  Most politicians are not climate scientists or lawyers who specialist in water resource law...

  Plato might have been correct, that Democracy is flawed, that society should be run by committees of experts, who really know what they are talking about, rather than by politicians with questionable expertise, elected by a public of questionable wisdom... Or do I misunderstand Plato's "Republic?"

  Probably...

  Ted Moffett

  On 8/18/08, Dan Carscallen <areaman at moscow.com> wrote: 
    Vizzz peeps, this just came over the wire.  Thought I'd share.

    Batten down the hatches!

    BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
    SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH OUTLINE UPDATE FOR WS 839
    NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
    405 PM PDT MON AUG 18 2008

    SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH 839 IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 1100 PM PDT
    FOR THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS
    ID
    IDAHO COUNTIES INCLUDED ARE

    BENEWAH BONNER BOUNDARY
    KOOTENAI LATAH LEWIS
    NEZ PERCE
    ATTN..WFO...OTX...PDT...

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  Kai Eiselein
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Kai Eiselein
Editor, Latah Eagle
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