This morning I read an interesting article about the how artificial hybridization can result in the restoration of sight in otherwise blind Mexican cave fish. I was about to provide a link when, to my horror, I realized that such a posting might offend the Ignorami whose views on caving are restricted to holes in the ground and the darkness within their own skulls. I should have known better, for the subject is a veritable minefield. First, the fish in question are from Tamaulipas, not Texas. The source is highly suspect too, for what Ignoramus would believe anything from the New York Times? Which leads us to the subject which underlies the article, evolution, which is an insult to both god and man, and is JUST a theory! If we are going to stay on topic here we had better restrict our comments to the dark zone of our known turf, so don’ t talk to me about karst! Karst is a province in what used to be Yugoslavia. The sun shines there and it is nowhere near Texas, nuff said! I’ve done some caving in Texas but was not much impressed by the caves. I joined this list because I was impressed by Texas cavers, a lively bunch who even occasionally leave the state they were born in; though, to their discredit, most don’t speak much Mexican. To an abnormal degree some of the posters here are informed by science and can even think! That’s why I am on this list! Personally, I have no interest whatsoever in a posting describing how a group of five went into an unknown cave in an unknown location and there discovered darkness and a passage which first went right, and then left. Been there, done that. Texascavers is a little microcosm of the world. In every society there are schismatics with narrow minds who want to Balkanize their thoughts and activities into specific permissible categories. (Oops! Sorry! The Balkans are in Yugoslavia, so there I go indirectly mentioning karst again!). I don’t know what to do about it, for there is no medicine to open one’s mind, not even LSD works for that! The only thing I can suggest is to relax and let the breeze blow in a few new scents from the faraway peaks, then weather the storm should one occur. Soon enough the wind will die down and you can resume sniffing the reassuring odor of manure that permeates the flatlands of the closed mind. I only have one suggestion as to how to improve Texascavers, and I have made it before. That is to never ever use the “reply” button. As cavers we don’t use threads to find our way around, so do what I do which is to make a new posting every time, and thereby avoid endless mindless repetition. How about throwing people off the list who clutter it up and make it unreadable? As for myself, I have no intention of joining the OT listserve. I personally think that Charles has done a great job of hosting this list. He treats us like adults and lets us say what we wish, for that I thank him! If he wants to throw me off this list for being an “off topic” wiseguy, so be it! But until then I intend to keep on posting! Sleazeweazel
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