tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3364158.post1904467360299653589..comments2023-10-26T09:46:09.197-04:00Comments on BIRDS ETCETERA: Redefining ExtinctionJohn L. Trapphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14001532550767505335noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3364158.post-91377973054960142712006-11-17T16:53:00.000-05:002006-11-17T16:53:00.000-05:00Ya know, I try to stick to the point and avoid ins...Ya know, I try to stick to the point and avoid insulting language when posting here, saving the mud for the mudpits. Fat lot of good it seems to accomplish.Bill Pulliamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02333438671130100114noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3364158.post-7677097880689573622006-11-16T14:43:00.000-05:002006-11-16T14:43:00.000-05:00Let's face it. If there was nothing else left to ...Let's face it. If there was nothing else left to do in the world, then looking for the IBWO would still be stupid.<br /><br />It's extinct, Bill. Get over it. Get over your psuedo-scientific nonsense.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3364158.post-20448098648859477662006-11-14T19:11:00.000-05:002006-11-14T19:11:00.000-05:00Bill Pulliam asked, Are you confident enough in yo...Bill Pulliam asked, <i>Are you confident enough in your beliefs . . .</i><br /><br />Based on the scanty evidence produced to date, I don't believe that American taxpayers are being well-served by the Federal and State dollars being spent on this project.<br /><br />I would not "aggressively discourage all NGOs and private individuals from allocating" their resources on a search for Ivory-bills. That's what private money is for. If NGOs can find wealthy donors to bankroll such a project (as in the Pearl River search funded by ZEISS), more power to them.John L. Trapphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14001532550767505335noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3364158.post-72589828770924501452006-11-14T18:52:00.000-05:002006-11-14T18:52:00.000-05:00Bill Pulliam said, The heart of the matter here, J...Bill Pulliam said, <i>The heart of the matter here, John . . .</i><br /><br />I was initially prompted to pose my question to cyberthrush exactly because of "that whole proving-a-negative thing," but didn't say that in so many words, either in my question to cyberthrush or in my follow-up blog entry.<br /><br />According to the Wikipedia article on the IBWO, no less an authority than the august IUCN declared the Ivory-bill officially "extinct" in 1994. "This assessment was later [in 2005] altered to 'critically endangered' on the grounds that the species could still be extant."John L. Trapphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14001532550767505335noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3364158.post-86888634527097885562006-11-14T10:35:00.000-05:002006-11-14T10:35:00.000-05:00John, let me ask you this:
Are you confident enou...John, let me ask you this:<br /><br />Are you confident enough in your beliefs that, if you had the power to do so, you would call for an end to all search efforts, the dissolution of the recovery team, and the termination of all IBWO-related funding? Would you aggressively discourage all NGOs and private individuals from allocating any resources to IBWO-related activities?Bill Pulliamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02333438671130100114noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3364158.post-83120666547118288772006-11-13T22:57:00.000-05:002006-11-13T22:57:00.000-05:00The heart of the matter here, John, is that while ...The heart of the matter here, John, is that while there may be no indisputable evidence for survival, it is <i>not possible</i> for there to be indisputable evidence for extinction because of that whole proving-a-negative thing. Thus, either conclusion remains a judgement call, and anyone who proclaims either position as fact is basing this statement on some measure of belief. <br /><br />Extinction was "officially" proclaimed (pre-2004) by the ABA, Sibley, and Kaufman, none of whom are actually "official" to anyone but the birding community. The real "official" scientific and governmental bodies (AOU, USFWS) remained uncommitted on the extinction question.Bill Pulliamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02333438671130100114noreply@blogger.com