Wednesday, September 26, 2007
The Biota Bite(s) Back - Again
News of a raft of new species in the jungles of Vietnam, and a happy rediscovery in Costa Rica should serve to remind us of our arrogance in assuming we have a reasonable idea either of how many species there are on Earth or of what's extinct and what isn't. We know almost nothing in these matters, but we're busy imposing a narrative of large-scale extinction, driven (of course) by climate change, which is driven (of course) by us. Things just aren't that simple out there in the jungle, and we just are not that important.
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A blog about, among other things, imaginary ideas - What ifs? and Imagine thats. What if photographs looked nothing like what we see with our eyes? Imagine that the Berlin Wall had never come down. What if we were the punchline of an interminable joke? All contributions welcome.
Disgusting news. Some people can't even be replied upon to exterminate a tiny frog.
ReplyDelete"Well done, boys. Over twenty new species we can now add to the endangered species list. Keep at it."
ReplyDeleteTrue, there's been a gratifying run of these discoveries lately including the finding of the Kipunji monkey in Tanzania. The name of this new genus, Rungwecebus, would be a cracking good one for an Anglo-Saxon bishop. However, the only reason these creatures still exist is that we haven't (yet) cut down the forests they live in. No more forests = no more of the animals and plants that depend on them. In this sense, alas, it is pretty simple.
ReplyDeleteTrue Mark, but no more forests is a wildly unrealistic prospect, even if logging, slash and burn and all the rest went on unchecked for millennia. Naturam expelles furca tamen usque recurret (or something to that effect)....
ReplyDeleteI see the old lounge lizard has crawled out from that arid, mind-numbing dust-bowl they call Channel 4. I thought his first comments would be a cynical lament for Marceau, something like "A two fingered gesture from Marcel summed up the human condition more eloquently than ten thousand words from Proust" But, surprisingly, no. It was some ridiculous reference to 'a buttock double'. Even then, a more accurate description would have been 'a double buttock double', simply because Britt's double showed both buttocks. I mean, let's get it right. But more typical is today's callous remark about his preference for the extermination of all frogs. And this, coming from a man once featured on the cover of the WWF magazine cuddling a heavy-jowled baboon. It really does make you want to throw up.
ReplyDeleteJWH Madeley, how dare you! That was no heavily jowled babboon.
ReplyDeleteNo man talks about my wife like that and gets away with it.
Why, oh why, do you always twist things to your advantage as you attempt to load guilt and shame on the perpetrator of an innocent remark, in this case most definitely a remark referring to a member of a fast disappearing and highly valued species (No, I'm not talking about Judy's decision to quit the show). However, I did recognise almost immediately I'd posted that it was a red-arsed baboon you were cuddling and not the heavy jowled variety. I therefore apologise for any unintended upset caused this evening within the Madeley household. See, a little humility goes a long way. Think on.
ReplyDeleteANNOUNCEMENT: Our demonstration of sock puppetry in practice previously scheduled to commence here at 6PM has been cancelled.
ReplyDelete