It appears that the "green" movement is after another dangerous threat to the environment, i.e. the cellular telephone in national parks.

The Interested-Participant is covering this, and promises to have more information as it develops. The IP also notes that while, "cell phones can be an annoyance", he doesn't "think that freedoms in America should be taken away just because some people are annoyed. I also believe that the action by the environmentalists is only a small initiative in their overall campaign to outlaw everything that annoys them in society."

For what it's worth, I tend to agree. The basic observation I have of the radical environmentalist movement is that they're not interested in a sustainable equilibrium, or even that much in the way of human progress. I won't go so far as to tar them with the brush of the folks in Rainbow Six, but one wonders where the logical end of their preferred policy objectives are. Now, let me mount the soapbox, and hope that the wood's been kept up: At this stage, I must confess to being a cellular phone addict: My family's been using one since the early days of the widespread introduction, and I have very fond memories of our first "portable" phone that came in a bag with an antenna. I felt like I was on top of the world with a modern CIA-issue satellite telephone carrying that sucker around. It was cool to have that thing in the car, along with an antenna on the back glass. Fast forward to the present day: My current Sprint PCS phone stays with me nearly everywhere I go, and people can get in touch with me at almost any point in time---church and class being major exceptions---assuming service is present.

However, I understand the complaint of the man who wishes to visit the biological majesty of the Jefferson National Forest, and to do so in silence. That means that I hear the complaint of the green in this instance with some sympathy. (Wait, weren't you the guy calling some girl from the deck of USS North Carolina to brag about being on board a battleship? --Ed.) It's disruptive, yes, and it's a small problem, but it's not one that needs to be dealt with by means of a sledgehammer across-the-board approach like the one being advocated here.

Having said that, the National Park Service has the ultimate in rebuttals to the green position in this case: Safety. To me, the provision of a system to increase the availability of emergency medical services to those who need them is something that you don't argue with. But yet, that's what these green types are doing in this instance.

I'm not a fan of the constantly chirping, singing, and song-playing cellular phones in this world, and I'd shut a lot of ringers up if I could---have some decency, sir!---but darned if I'm going to say that people who go into the NPS establishments can't have something to call for help if they get into trouble. Exactly what do you green types have against saving lives? (Zero population growth types aren't going to give you the answer you're looking for. ---Ed. )

I would suggest a) keeping the system as it is and b) posting signs that request the users to respect other patrons and limit cellular telephone usage. If the greens can't get in line with this modest policy proposal, then I'll adopt the viewpoint of Charlton Heston and the NRA. It won't have the same effect as Heston and a musket, but imagine me hoisting a small Sanyo telephone over my head and intoning, "From my cold dead hands". You greens will get my phone when Camp X-Ray freezes over.

Tip of the Wisconsin hat to Interested-Participant.

(Yes, this is an increased operational tempo around here; it, like most "surges" in activity, probably won't be maintained for long. For some reason, I've got a lot of neurons firing at the moment.)

Posted by: Country Pundit at 02:02 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 673 words, total size 4 kb.