Curl, no offense, none was ever intended.

As for walking a day with attorneys, in point of fact I do so nearly every day, and 3 good friends of mine are attorneys, as well as a favorite uncle who, now retired, was a juvenile court judge.

I doubt there is a fellow here on this forum who hasn't had reason to seek counsel from an attorney, and attorney-bashing was NOT my point nor my intention. I am sincerely sorry if that was how it sounded to you, or if that is what my post implied or sounded like to others.

I meant no disparagement toward attorneys in-general, but if that is what I did, in the same way you disparaged another, to use your words, "class of workers" yourself; "bureaucrats", in the same way I did lawyers, I suppose. But heck, I cannot disagree with you on that score. Look, let's face it, you and I are both right in that attorneys and bureaucrats WILL be the only ones to benefit {if that is the right word...} from this lead thing.

The whole nonesensical issue is I suspect a red herring. The discussion of the law and its relation to these issues is spot-on topic! I'd hope that some attorneys who are members of this Forum would offer services to those fighting the ban and explanations for those of us observing it.

The condor issue is like so many others; at first blush and to the uninformed they appear to be about "wildlife", or "the environment", or other scientific topics where professionals in those disciplines could pool their skills and knowledge and make a plan. But very soon it becomes obvious to the most casual observer that the issues slip from the realm of science to a battle over the nuances of the law, and it is attorneys who are called in to do much of the scrapping, and not for free. In our fight against so-called "wolf recovery", I am very glad for the existence of "the attorney class" and I hope the fellows down in California will retain sound counsel in their fight against this lead bullet ban. But I can't help but state that I am troubled by the fact that these issues arise and become legal messes, and as you say, fodder for bureaucrats and as I say, fodder for the lawyers to fatten themselves up on.

A discussion about the law and how it applies to the condor/lead bullet issue IS THE TOPIC. And lawyers as much as or more than scientists will take center stage in hashing this thing out.