Ok, I've responded privately to the acerbic nature of
the last post.

But this one bears commenting upon.

First and foremost, we're on the exact same page with
respect to the Neocons you have identified and, by
virtue of these comments here, with the war itself.

However, this is where I believe the line is drawn
with respect to whether this is a museum-related topic
or a political one.

My purpose in infusing myself in the dialogue
yesterday had to do with the fact that the war and its
fallout is a political topic and, as such, engenders
nationalism.  There have been posts that have bordered
on "those ugly Americans" heretofore as it relates to
the antiquities (I am neither agreeing nor
disagreeing), and there were some in the recent thread
that started to invoke "don't tread on me" and my
flag.

If you want to talk about the political agendas, come
on over to
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Indecision2000 (the
political disability advocacy group I started as a
result of the Y2K US election).  Not a whole lot of
disability talk there these days (in fact the group
has gotten quiet because many are overwhelmed by the
psychological fallout of war); mostly, it's political,
and I have done extensive research on Perle et al
(you'll find it in the archives).

But my position is that infusing Us and Themism into
this debate, this forum, is disrespectful.  We come to
this forum from all over the world.  We embrace
multiple ethnicities, races, religions, and credos.
It is simply inconsiderate of our colleagues on list
to infuse the political aspects because, with 4500
members, or however many we have now, you're just
going to piss somebody off.

Now, you may think you don't care.  Well, think about
it.  You TOO could have your own little cyber bomber.
Good morning, [log in to unmask]  That person
has been visiting me and my inbox since mid July of
2002 with no respite in site (he'll probably be in
there today).  It means you have to surf cautiously.

Then again, there are those nice folks from the Orient
who use this list to harvest email addresses and also
send virii and pornographic spam using words they've
harvested from the discussions here.  Yesterday, the
subject was Grants.  So what do you suppose I found in
my inbox today (in something that resembled Taiwanese
or Korean).

So, if you don't care about what you're doing to the
rest of the list when you infuse such volatile topics,
think about what you MIGHT be doing to yourself.  The
repercussions are the fallout from living in a world
so topsy turvy.

If you want to turn this BACK to a museums related
discussion, just what do you propose the average
member here can do to stop the plundering and
pillaging of artifacts.  Channeling the frustrations
into something productive is much better than simply
complaining about it.

I think we all have heightened awareness that such
"thievery" does exist.  What solutions do you
recommend that can ensure these materials don't wind
up on Ebay or in the homes of the politicos you
referenced?

And, if you're stateside, are you willing to
championing a measure before Congress to put real
punitive measures behind such theft.  Talk is cheap.
Lobbying isn't, but it can clearly be effective.

If you want to pick up that torch, start here:

http://thomas.loc.gov/


--- Tim Atherton <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Tim,
>
> I hate to sound pessimistic, but "international law"
> doesn't seem to have
> held much sway in the last couple of months. I'm not
> sure the Pearles and
> Wolfowitz's who can sway this kind of deal worry too
> much about UNESCO. And
> these are the people of are setting up the staffing
> of the new, soon to be,
> military government of Iraq.
>
> tim
>


=====
Indigo Nights
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