Ron,

I should have scrolled down the message a bit further to see what Tom King had to say.  For some reason the post had a large space between your comments and his (removed here).  

And here I thought you were just name dropping, but apparently you actually did make a one sided case to Mr. King.  I suppose I feel the need to respond as to whether or not I flamed you?  And, as well, to your assertion that I am defensive because I am close to collectors?

I make my comments and sign my name.   My non-mustached Catholic wife tells me that my sarcastic analogies are often offensive, and even though they are not intended to be so, I don't seem to feel apologetic just now about anything I said in response to your post. I don't ask for or even attempt to garner support from anyone else on this or any other list.  My beliefs are what they are.  

Yeah, I really like and respect some collectors the same way I really like some archaeologists; they're all people.  And yes, I really despise some collectors and some archaeologists too.  By the way, I am neither.  My educational background is in RF Engineering.  My passion is historical archaeology.  I am close to this subject, because it involves what I enjoy doing for a living.

If I recall correctly, it was you who questioned the lack of support by your colleagues here on this list? And when support wasn't forthcoming as fast as you'd like, you apparently went to the originating list to tell your side of the story to Tom King.  Who really seems defensive here Ron, me or you?

As to the flaming: I wasn't mad at you when I responded to your initial post; although, I clearly thought it was out of line and wrong.  And, you would be irking me some now if you weren't making my point for me. Now if you want to do some real flaming, we can take this outside (off-list). 

My apologies to the list for this two party thread.

Rich Green
Historic Archaeological Research
4338 Hadley Court
West Lafayette, IN 47906
Office:  (765) 464-8735
Mobile: (765) 427-4082
www.har-indy.com

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Ron May 
  To: [log in to unmask] 
  Sent: Sunday, April 23, 2006 1:41 PM
  Subject: Re: Individual rights and relic hunting: Thorny issues


  Rich,
   
  After your first response, I raised the issue once again on ACRA and  
  received this reply from Tom King. I expect everyone knows Tom, so will not  bother 
  to introduce him. I have to say that the tone of your  reply read as defensive 
  and made me wonder if you are not a little too  close to the relic-collectors? 
  Moreover, communication threads on these  online bulletins assume a life of 
  their own and there is no rule that  denied me the right to slip away into 
  another thought or two. Idea threads often  move into different areas, such as the 
  connection between criminals and  artifact-hunting. While you may not like 
  it, the connection is apparently well  established and worth discussing.
   
  Ron May
  Legacy 106, Inc. 

  <<Why in the world would anybody flame you, Ron?  I can imagine  disagreeing 
  with you, but the association of artifact (historic and prehistoric)  
  trafficking and drug trafficking is well enough established anecdotally that I  can't 
  imagine why anyone (without a guilty conscience) would get mad about  it.  It 
  was a widely reported association 15 years ago when I did a study  of 
  collector behavior for SAA and NPS (which never got published -- too kind to  the 
  collectors, I figured).  And it seems intuitively obvious; you're out  in the 
  woods cooking meth or something, why NOT dig up some stuff to sell?
   
  TKing>>