From don/ Please no more talk about gay's and other such nonsence. I simpley quoted a front office man who was angery with me and was mouthing off. Put no value to this guy. Forget his mouth and let's get on with the main course. Our reefs.

The following mean something to me and has become my life.


BONAIRE ALUMNI REPORT
By don/
Sept 12 08

You may recall, or perhaps not, that I had expressed to you my desire to
provoke environmental awareness among the numerous Bonaire Talkers. Locals
warned me to stay out, saying the BT posters are chit -chatters WHO evoke
no substantive interest in action . Others said "for what?"

However, my instincts said otherwise. From the beginning of tourism 47
years ago, innumerable returning guests have expressed an overwhelming
aura of love and respect for Bonaire.

I have incessantly wondered about these Bonaire alumni, who when off
island live with their memories like high school kids with their first
loves. This emotional loyalty to a small island I found bizarre, and I had
to discover why.

I have been told by several Harvard University mathematicians that I have
taught, dove or sat at the bar with at least one quarter of a million
divers. These people I have taught, swam with a thousand miles, buried
some, and watched their children grow. They have been my life, my family.
They are my only clan.

Today I am engaged in my greatest environmental struggle against those who
are deliberately destroying the health of our seas. It is a fact that our
reefs are the canaries of the sea. Like the canaries used by the old coal
miners. When the bird fell from its perch the miners knew their lives were
in peril. The world's failing reefs are the symptoms of an ocean in peril.
Many bleeding hearts are Boohooing over dying reefs which cures nothing,
while the truth is that it is our oceans that require the Boohooing.

The world oceans are being wounded, and as with any wound if cared for
with no further tormenting, it is more than capable of healing itself.
However, it's going to take an army of vanguards, all speaking with one
tongue and words of fury and vengeance. There is no room for bleeding
hearts here. It is warriors that are needed.

Calling in my clan: The Clan being the multitude of divers world wide who
are willing to fighting for the on going health of our seas. It is said
there are eleven million divers world wide of which at least half are
confirmed environmentalists. Like Diogenes, in search of an honest man, I
am driven to search for that half.

It is conceivable that the Bonaire alumni, if grouped as one as shown by
the compatibility of Bonaire Talk, could spear-head the search for these
divers to direct the world's attention to the destruction of the oceans
that we love.

For those not on Bonaire Talk, look up: http://www.oldbonairetalk.com
Go to Anything Else Bonaire. Look up: Oceans. My first entry was "We are
the pioneers of earth’s last frontier." The reaction was warming.

Now go to Diving Bonaire and look up Oceans, Books,Yarns and Fairytales,
Reef Windows, Accolade, Captain Don and the novel Sea Trauma. A total of 7
threads. The remarks are heart warming. To scan the total of BT shows the
possibility of the devotion of the Bonaire Alumni as an army at the ready
to speak with one tongue.

Sir Donal.

Captn Don, You have alot of devoted followers in whose eyes you can do no wrong. However you also have a lot of us who only know you from the folklore and publicity you have gotten over the years.

For the latter group it is very important that you are not written off as some rambling decrepit senile old fool. That is why some of us are critical of your posts. If your posts are just accepted without any negative as well as positive comments pointing out flaws in some of your arguements, and your responses to clarify your statements or at least defend them, then you will end up being dismissed as an old antique who just needs to be humoured.

Of course nothing could be further from the truth. I for one feel that you are more than capable of responding to criticism and in the process maintaining and building your credibility with many of us who are not AARP members, do not wear adult diapers and do not really know much about you except for the folklore gushing about how great you are.

As you have pointed out many times, we are all on the same side on big environmental issues. Keep up the great work and know that even your critics are behind you.

Ditto. cb

It would be helpful if we in the USA had a president who cared enough about the environment to make it a priority. A president who would not appoint industry hacks to run the departments that deal with environmental issues. Think "fox guarding the hen house". A president who would not attempt to silence the scientists who speak unpleasant truths that upset the corporations that control the government.

But in the current political scene in the USA, environmentalists are considered elitists at best...and akin to communists or nazi's by some. With all the publicity about global warming, the party in power has a vice presidential candidate who doesn't believe man has anything to do with it. So, how much sympathy can we expect from her with regard to the oceans? She wants to silence biologists in Alaska who state unpleasant truths about polar bears and global warming. There are no coral reefs in Alaska, and not many on the mainland US. It is very hard to believe she will be an ally for protecting our oceans. We need someone who will be a friend of the environment in the White House...but don't hold your breath...many in our country view Obama as an elitist because he speaks well and went to Harvard.

I bring this up because it matters who get's elected to positions of real power. Presidents who don't care about the environment will drag their feet and commission studies. Tobacco companies employed these stalling tactics. Oil companies are doing that now for global warming. "It needs more study"...they will study the oceans until they die.

Captain Don keep up your great work. It has a real purpose and any changes made from your hard work will help many people on the island and from around the world see the real beauty of Bonaire for generations to come.

Daniel, I think you posted on the wrong board.

Ron,

I agree that this is not the board to talk about election politics in general. However, this is one planet and the health of the oceans and the earth's climate affect everyone. This is particularly true of Bonaire because of the intimate relationship with the ocean and the importance of the coral reefs.

What Bonaire does for the rest of the world is to serve as an example of what will be lost if more isn't done to save the oceans and stop global warming. When the "leader" of the free world shows no concern or support for actions on those fronts, it's a problem. A big problem. As the world's largest consumer nation, we can not pretend that our actions don't affect the whole planet.

Educating the public and building support to save the oceans and the climate has many components, one of which is political. If you want to save the oceans...if you want to combat global climate change...there are things that you can do on your own in terms of consumption and stewardship. If everyone does that, it will make a difference. However, if the USA had leadership that emphasized the importance of protecting the oceans and slowing the progress of global warming, it would be a very big benefit...for the oceans and the reefs. I believe that is also true of other countries. If your leader acts like global warming and ocean health are non-issues...you can either pretend it doesn't matter...but if you care about the reefs, you need to push for political change at home.

Like it or not, politics does matter on environmental issues. Deny that if you can.

Dan