[meteorite-list] Lake Eyre meteorite 'Crown property', researchers required to hand findings over

[Galactic Stone & Ironworks]

Hi Bob and List,

Bingo!  (or should I say, Bingol!) - Look, I have the utmost respect
for meteorite hunters who go out into the field under harsh conditions
(at best) and recover these space treasures. Whether they work for
ANSMET, the Crown, or the Meteorite List - it takes determination,
money, knowledge, and skill to hunt for meteorites. Governments rarely
have those attributes, and that is why the vast majority of meteorites
would rot away in the field unrecovered, if not for private hunters.
And, we all know that many private hunters are very generous with
their finds and donate large amounts of material to science - beyond
the 20/20 classification requirement.

But, take a look at the numbers in the Bulletin. How many important
finds have come out of Australia since their stranglehold laws
starting being enforced?  The numbers have plummeted.  Look at how
many scientifically-important finds have come out of Morocco!  Those
weren't found by ANSMET, the Crown, or the Moroccan government.

Dr. Grguric is apparently another example of academic elitism. He
looks down his nose at the great unwashed Men of No Letters. In his
world, every weathered H5 chondrite should be the exclusive property
of a museum or institution. He fails to see the difference between
those meteorites that have been almost exhausted of scientific value,
and truly important finds like Black Beauty, ungrouped, and anomalous
meteorites. Such attitudes are self-defeating and myopic to the
extreme.

One cannot blame the media for garbage like this. Your average
"journalist" nowadays is an intern working for free while trying to
finish their communications degree. When a Man of Letters gives them a
juicy (click-bait) soundbite, they make no attempt to fact-check it or
seek the other point of view. They just print whatever falls out of
the source's mouth, and if they don't get that soundbite, they will
invent one by twisting the quote out of context.  The real problem is
intellectual snobbery. Maybe the good doctor has some letters behind
his name, but my dog has more common sense.

Best regards and Happy Huntings,

MikeG


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On 1/15/16, Robert Verish <bolidechaser at yahoo.com> wrote:
> Hey Galactic Stone, why don't you tell us how you REALLY feel?  ;-)
> Did this line in that article hit you too close to home:
>
> "Professor Bland said he suspects there are amateur astronomers who are
> frustrated by legislation requiring them to hand back their discoveries from
> outer space."
>
> I find the phrase "hand back" interesting.  If you accept that this
> meteorite was "stolen from the Queen", then
> the only legal recourse for Professor Bland is for him to take that
> meteorite back out to the Queen's Outback and
> shove it back into that muddy hole from which it was purloined.  If you want
> it so bad, you know where it is?
>
> I think this would be a great opportunity for a group discussion comparing
> the Queen's "policies" relating to how
> meteorite finds are handled in Australia vs. Canada vs. England vs. U.S.
> public lands.
> Personally, I vote that the U.S. adopt the "policy" version that the
> Canadian's enforce.  It's proven that it works!
>
> Galactic Stone is right.  It's time to refute the insane rhetoric that a
> recently fallen meteorite is an "artifact".  Insanity!
>
>
> --------------------------------------------
> On Fri, 1/15/16, Galactic Stone & Ironworks via Meteorite-list
> <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com> wrote:
>
>  Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Lake Eyre meteorite 'Crown property',
> researchers required to hand findings over
>  To: "Tommy" <tommy58 at hvc.rr.com>
>  Cc: "Meteorite List" <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
>  Date: Friday, January 15, 2016, 7:50 AM
>
>  More hogwash.  The inbox is full of it this morning.
>
>  "Scientific value" - "sitting on the mantlepiece" - "black market"
>
>  This kind of piece belongs in the National Enquirer.
>
>  Dr. Grguric should get together and drink kool-aid with Lindfors
>  and
>  the new World Record Martian Loon.
>  They all have the same level of intelligence apparently.
>
>
>
>  On 1/15/16, Tommy via
>  Meteorite-list
>  <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
>  wrote:
>  >
> http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-01-15/lake-eyre-meteorite-'crown-property'/7091562
>  >
>  > Regards!
>  >
>  > Tom
>  >
>  ______________________________________________
>