CompuServe Messages

Tim, I'm the ignorant someone who mentioned that landfills and paper aren't a problem…or at least I presume you think I'm ignorant since your statement was that, "…someone ignorantly pointed out that paper isn't a problem in the landfills…" Sure, something like a National Geographic won't degrade as fast as newsprint will…but it WILL degrade in a reasonable amount of time. I call them "so-called" experts because I personally don't believe they are experts yet others seem to take their word as gospel. Carl Sagan is a case in point. He does appear to know what he's talking about (as much as anyone can) relative to his chosen field of astronomy. But he doesn't seem to know diddley about the atmosphere of Earth. He was one of the first ones predicting all kinds of dire consequences from (prior to the fact) from the burning of the Kuwaiti oil fields. He used his computer models, to supposedly prove his point. Quite obviously…his models were way off. And if you can't build models… then don't call yourself a model-builder (sic). There are lots of others like him. Many are experts in certain fields, quite respected in those fields…but when they venture out of those fields…they fall flat on their face (in my….and many other's opinions). And no…I am not an expert in those fields either…but then I don't make predictions nor do I claim to speak with authority other than that of someone who's observed and read about many of the issues. Why do I bring up extreme examples…because by exagerating (using extremes) the points of contention can generally be made very clear. I never suggested you felt that way…only that some people feel that way. (continued in next reply..)