Re: I'm late, I'm late...

["Peter Von Sholly" <vonrex@gte.net>]

Been reading the "exchange" between Dan Varner and Michael Schmidt and was
moved to comment.  There's a troubling undercurrent here from Schmidt that
illegal fossil trading is something we should just accept because the laws
are not enforced and there's nothing we can do about it.  If the
"authorities" don't have the time, money, manpower or whatever to enforce
the law, let's all just go crazy and ignore the fact that it exists.  It
seems to me that the fossil record is scrappy enough without losing many
valuable pieces of it to collectors.  

----------
> From: Michael Schmidt <dmschmidt@sprint.ca>
> To: Danvarner@aol.com; dinosaur@usc.edu
> Subject: Re: I'm late, I'm late...
> Date: Thursday, September 24, 1998 5:37 PM
 Most fossils from China are both collected
> and exported illegally.  These ones I suspect were, because I think I
know
> who is selling them.  Don't like it, do something to change it. 

Speaking up about it and raising people's consciousness IS doing something
about it.

> Don't like the fact that these things end up in the hands of private
> collectors?Live with it.

This is just plain rude.