[meteorite-list] RE: [off topic] Fwd: To all interested Parties

[Martin Altmann]

>As for Oman and Meteorites it's still not exactly clear if the
>government wants to control the export of meteorites!?

That's almost the point!
I think, it was clear, as also before John was leaving a license for hunting
and an export permit was obligatory.
Could he knew before? I think it was possible.
At least I see now reason to condemn the whole Oman country like on the
webpage to be dangerous or even terroristic, only because he was caught in
violating some laws.
I guess that John knew before, that meteorites are objects of scientific and
monetary value and come on - how naive must one be not to suppose, that
collecting such objects in another country and to take them home from there,
might be not a delicate issue?

If Martin Buckleboo travels to the states to have some fun, as his greatest
dream is to be a lumberjack and starts to chop the redwoods down in
Yellowstone and if then a ranger would arrest him, would we blame the USA a
dangerous country? Shall we release a global warning for tourists not to
travel to Canada or to Australia, because there the export of meteorites is
restricted?

So assumed John Blennert really had no glimpse, that hunting in Oman is
problematic - then I would him expect first to blame the American embassy,
where he was given insufficient informations about the laws in Oman.

Don't also see no reason to argue about which country or system is better -
to protect ressources of any type by law is the good right of each
souvereign nation and not a question of moral and ethics.
And that such laws existed in Oman and that they were not especially freshly
invented to sentence him , shows the document, John was so kind to publish
on his website.

Or am I wrong?
Martin






----- Original Message ----- 
From: "mark ford" <markf at ssl.gb.com>
To: <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
Sent: Thursday, June 23, 2005 6:40 PM
Subject: RE: [meteorite-list] RE: [off topic] Fwd: To all interested Parties



Yes obviously 911 was very different to this but, how would you like it
if you or your family was snatched in the middle of the night because
you 'sounded a bit suspect' to some intelligence analyst, based on
patchy information)  then held in a cell for months/years, interrogated
etc, without any trial or anything? It's very easy to say they must all
automatically be terrorists, but the rule of law has been in place for
centuries for a very good reason, - dangerous route to go down that.

As for Oman and Meteorites it's still not exactly clear if the
government wants to control the export of meteorites!?  there is a
massive cultural difference between 'them and us' and you have local
officials and soldiers etc who can (and do) basically what they want,
the very fact that a bribe had to allegedly be paid illustrates the
point... the rules seem inconsistent and subject to change without
notice.

 The unfortunate events that John and his colleagues have undergone,
have sent a clear enough message, don't go there if you don't want the
chance of something similar happening to you.

It won't be on my top 10 holiday destinations for a while! :)

Best
Mark




-----Original Message-----
From: JKGwilliam [mailto:h3chondrite at cox.net]
Sent: Thursday, June 23, 2005 5:12 PM
To: DALMASSO Thomas; meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com
Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] RE: [off topic] Fwd: To all interested
Parties

How does collecting meteorites in the Omani desert compare to the
killing
of thousands of human beings?  You are compring apples to oranges.

To me, the solution is simple. If the Oman government wants to control
or
curtail the collection and export of meteorites from their country all
they
have to do is share that information on any of several forums (like this

list) that are available.  That way, meteorite hunters from around the
world would know what the official position is on the issue.  Why do you

think it is that they allowed tons of meteorites to clear Customs prior
to
this incident?  Maybe a few strategically placed signs (in several
languages) posted in the airports and near the customs areas stating
that
collection and exportation of meteorites is forbidden would be helpful.

Best,
JKGwilliam

At 08:23 AM 6/23/2005, DALMASSO Thomas wrote:
>Hello all,
>Sorry for the off-topic, but we seem to always point to the same
>countries, but do you think actually that what is written below never
>happened in the USA after Sept. 11th?
>Best Regards,
>
>Thom, Bruges, Belgium.
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: AL Mitterling [mailto:almitt at kconline.com]
>
>Any country that holds people without charges, doesn't permit them to
>contact their countries embassies when trouble arises (reasonable
length
>of time), takes property is in my opinion guilty of crimes themselves.
>Such countries should be avoided at all costs.
>______________________________________________
>Meteorite-list mailing list
>Meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com
>http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list


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