[meteorite-list] Doug Schmitt's Talk at TEDxVancouver on 21st October 2012

From: Mendy Ouzillou <ouzillou_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Wed, 6 Feb 2013 21:04:34 -0800
Message-ID: <1b2101ce04f0$9fe9e0d0$dfbda270$_at_com>

The facts below are very well stated. So, we can either tear apart arguments
but hold our tongues, or we can put together a news release of our own
highlighting the incredible (and only most recent) collaboration between
meteorite hunters, collectors and scientists on Black Beauty and its
sisters. I would like to call on the IMCA to speak out in defense of the "C"
in IMCA to raise awareness of the good work going on. Yes, maybe there are a
few bad apples in the hunting and collecting community, but the scientific
community is not perfect either. Again, let's focus on the good.
I'm not one to allow me or the community at large (which includes
thoughtful, inclusive and appreciative scientists/meteoriticists) to be
slandered or be given a black eye without a fight.
As I have stated multiple times before, I'm happy to help craft a news
release, but can't do it by myself. So, in the scientific community, anyone
willing to go on the record and be quoted (does not have to be in relation
to Black Beauty) in response to this specific issue? Even better, anyone out
there want to be the "goto" person, i.e. an advocate, to respond to these
negative remarks. I am aware of Marc Fries doing a very nice job of this,
and others, but unfortunately this is a message that must be continuously
reinforced.
Thoughts?
Mendy
-----Original Message-----
From: meteorite-list-bounces at meteoritecentral.com
[mailto:meteorite-list-bounces at meteoritecentral.com] On Behalf Of MEM
Sent: Wednesday, February 06, 2013 5:56 PM
To: Adam Hupe; Adam
Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Doug Schmitt's Talk at TEDxVancouver on 21st
October 2012

Let me get this in perspective.? 25,000+ meteorites are locked up in ANSMET
deep freezers wholly available to researchers only.? Another? 31,000+? non
ANSMET ( ANSMET and METBUL figures) are in the met bulletin.? All meteorites
passing muster have between 100% and 20% owned by approved/certified
institutions of curation.??

As Emma Peel the Wendy's Lady might have said..."Where's the beef?"

So please someone somewhere give me the name of a credentialed researcher
anywhere in the world that cannot get hold of specific material to do their
research? Were it not for the collector community there would not be the
1000's of newly found meteorites available in the first place.

How many confirmed but non-NONCOM approved, distinct meteorites are totally
in private hands without a speck available for research?? Does anyone on the
list have an unclassified NWA that would not gladly share a portion if a
scientist came calling??

The blurb bout selling it "illegally on ebay" is outright fear mongering. If
he is a maritime law expert shouldn't he be calling us "pirates" as well??
And speaking of slander, why is no one publicly concerned about Jennskins'
interviews where he talks about "Outlaw meteorite hunters"and the "meteorite
black market"? Give me an answer and I'll hold my tongue and(Chicago
convention excepted) speak no more of it.? I do not care that he is "Mister
Meteor" nor that he may be world renown but he shouldn't be given a pass on
his uninformed public statements regarding our community.? I really would
like to see his direct response published, should he ever again be misquoted
like the "black market" statements regarding the Gabal Kamal Iron. We would
have his position on record.? Better yet, if he truly understood from an
informed position he might never make disparaging comments to reporters.

Which brings us to the other meteorite law logical fallacy: "Cultural
property" and Doug Schmitt's building on the "cultural heritage defense to
outlaw private ownership of meteorites.? Where a meteorite should land is
random so its ascension to protected "native heritage/cultural object" is
unfounded.? I understand Willemitte and Hoba, perhaps Cape York owing to
separate reasons.? If they were men of integrity they would just pass their
LOCAL laws regarding meteorite ownership. And let the rest of the world be.?
By using cultural object status they are violating their own obligation to
preserve in tact and not slice it up for study.

Elton

PS:? So according to Schmitt's TED talk only iron meteorites originate in
the asteroid belt and are the oldest objects in the universe(sic)



----- Original Message -----
> From: Adam Hupe <raremeteorites at yahoo.com>
> To: Adam <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
> Cc:
> Sent: Wednesday, February 6, 2013 5:14 PM
> Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Doug Schmitt's Talk at TEDxVancouver on
> 21st October 2012
>
>
> In my opinion, NOT a friend of the meteorite hunting community.
>
>
> Seems he found his
> 22-minutes worth of fame outside of his area of expertise.? He should
> stick to maritime law instead of demonizing the commercial aspects of
> meteorite hunting which have contributed far more to science than his
> videotaped self-promoting blather.
>
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: karmaka <karmaka-meteorites at t-online.de>
> To: met-list <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
> Cc:
> Sent: Wednesday, February 6, 2013 11:16 AM
> Subject: [meteorite-list] Doug Schmitt's Talk at TEDxVancouver on 21st
> October 2012
>
> There Are 5,000 Meteors Heading Our Way... Now What?:
>
> Doug Schmitt at TEDxVancouver on 21st October 2012
>
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqcHaN91YSA
>
> " Doug Schmitt is a Partner with Alexander Holburn Beaudin + Lang LLP,
> who has been practicing maritime law for over 32 years. Drawing on
> similarities to the law of the seas, Doug has become one of the
> world's few published authors on meteorite law. A member of the
> Meteoritical Society, a non-profit scholarly organization founded in
> 1933 to promote the study of extraterrestrial materials, he sits on
> that organization's Working Group drafting the code of ethics for
> collecting and distributing meteorites. Doug's scientific and legal
> backgrounds position him ideally to offer insight from two distinct
> disciplines into a fascinating topic: the possible consequences for
humankind of a failure to properly study meteorites."
>
> Martin
>
>
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Received on Thu 07 Feb 2013 12:04:34 AM PST