Regarding news reports about Iraq in general and the cultural artifacts
specifically, I offer the following comments and .. suggestions:

(1) - Recent reports imply that not thousands upon thousands of items were
lost/looted .. but rather (depending on the source) .. 33 or less than 100. - If
that's true, that's wonderful news! - Swaths from the tapestry of our collective
heritage have been preserved in .. loosely speaking .. the public domain.

(2) - Reports of museum directors "pulling a fast one" .. Iraqi people destroying
their own heritage .. and other .. (to borrow a phrase from Donald Rumsfeld) ..
"untidiness" .. are, and will continue to .. have a negating effect on decades of
hard work that the museum community as a whole have invested in defining their role
as safe harbor for cultural heritage .. and reputable dispensors of wisdom and
truth. - There are those who will enjoy "using" news reports of Iraqi museum
malfeasence to further their own goals and agendas. - And I leave it at that for
now, other than suggesting that there may be some repurcusions for YOUR museum ..
something to consider. - I leave it at that for now.

(3) - Personal suggestion - News agencies are businesses first. - They have to sell
their media so they can sell advertising, day in day out. - The news business is a
labor intensive one, which means stories need filing under intense deadlines, with
human frailties and limitations influencing the results. - As others have suggested
and/or implied .. be a critical thinker when consuming news .. cast your news net
wide .. evaluate possible agendas .. consider primary sources and the heirachical
flow of news in its temporal cascade. - I'll leave as it is as well.

Just my personal views that may not be "museum related" as independant items ..
however taken collectively, I believe them relevant to the promotion of museums, et
al, as pillars of positive support for communal benefit. - In my mind it would be a
tragedy if even one person created a negative association in their mind for museums
in general .. after hearing a story that "some" museum personel may have been
playing hanky panky.

--
Roy Hemmat
Director, Discovery Media
http://www.MuseumStuff.com

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