signumops
Hero Member
Re: the state of floridas " catch 22" why they HAD to change their salvage process
Tommy Gore and others told me that the meeting was recorded by a stenographer. He stayed there while many others left in disgust. He elaborated upon the rantings of Sonny Cockrell and Ross Morrell, as well as the official recording of email messages supposedly received by the B.A.R. with the viewpoints of persons supposedly expressing opinions on the matters being "discussed". The transcript of this meeting is a public record and must be furnished for discovery at a reasonable cost. If the B.A.R. will not furnish it, then we can get a copy from a judge in Tallahassee. I think that it would be wise to identify the email "contributors" and determine exactly what possible standing they have in the purview of these rule changes, and, whether they have any practical experience in the field, what reports they have filed for the work they have done, what relationships they have with legislative bodies, the scope of any involvment they may have with any commercial interests that could be significant, and what other opinions they have expressed publicly on similar matters in the past. If any are laypersons, then we should bring this to the attention of our own representatives, since, it is clear from their recognition that their opinions hold more weight than our own. This is prejudice, prima facia .
If anyone has scrolled through these threads, you are sure to see the testament of Rob Westrick, whose situation is such that it is abundantly clear the State's administrators have nothing but blatant disregard for the law, and will continue to bend the law to their own purpose, with no consideration of commerce. In fact, I think that there is no argument regarding the altruistic posture of archaeology here. There is an argument that government officials, paid with public money are obstructing commerce, where they are not given any authority to do so. They are doing this for their own benefit, albeit without monetary reward, to bestow favors upon their friends and "peers" (just ask them what THAT means and stand by for the incensed windstorm sure to follow). Like lawyers themselves, these folks are damming up the regular flow of business so that they can control it and manipulate it for themselves and others of their school.
As an aside, let us discover, through the records of the B.A.R. which institutions and/or individuals are now excavating any shipwreck more than fifty years on the bottom and seek a restraining order against them until they can prove that no person "might have" died with that shipwreck. This would include any and all university operations, especially those being carried out by schools outside of the Florida School System. It would only be fair that wreckage protected by Florida taxes should be reserved for the exploit of Floridians, not Texans, nor Pennsylvanians, or Carolinians, ect. Let Texans work Padre Island, Pennsylvanians work the Ohio River, Carolinians pursue the backwaters of their state and so forth, but do not let them seek "favors" from the B.A.R. of Florida.
Archaeologists are prone to overburden anyone who will listen to them with their "vitae", which is a rather granular synopsis of each and every archaeological interest they can claim any attachment to, in any fashion. This is a totem, sort of like scalps, for lack of a less poignant comparison, which all of them sport as a measure of success, rather than a gold mastercard, or sufficient checking account. All of us should begin documenting our own vitae as it applies to the commerce of salvage with details about our discoveries, where we worked, for whom, under what conditions, using what equipment, and so forth. Only a few archaeologists can match us for sheer resourcfulness and dedication. Speak of bottom time, fuel bills, equipment repair, boat outfitting, and all the rest and you will scare the bejesus out of any professor contemplating a summer at sea along the Treasurecoast. They can not possibly do it. There certainly are exceptions, and we know who they are, but they are not the subject of our attention. By the way, is anyone aware of any "contract" archaeologist who has received payment for documenting a shipwreck in Florida? If so, we should see that the money is immediately returned to the patron, especially if the State paid any part of the fee. That's strictly in keeping with the spirit of "archaeology" as the administrators of the Florida B.A.R. see it.
Terry Armstrong ... www.andrewsinvestigations.com
Tommy Gore and others told me that the meeting was recorded by a stenographer. He stayed there while many others left in disgust. He elaborated upon the rantings of Sonny Cockrell and Ross Morrell, as well as the official recording of email messages supposedly received by the B.A.R. with the viewpoints of persons supposedly expressing opinions on the matters being "discussed". The transcript of this meeting is a public record and must be furnished for discovery at a reasonable cost. If the B.A.R. will not furnish it, then we can get a copy from a judge in Tallahassee. I think that it would be wise to identify the email "contributors" and determine exactly what possible standing they have in the purview of these rule changes, and, whether they have any practical experience in the field, what reports they have filed for the work they have done, what relationships they have with legislative bodies, the scope of any involvment they may have with any commercial interests that could be significant, and what other opinions they have expressed publicly on similar matters in the past. If any are laypersons, then we should bring this to the attention of our own representatives, since, it is clear from their recognition that their opinions hold more weight than our own. This is prejudice, prima facia .
If anyone has scrolled through these threads, you are sure to see the testament of Rob Westrick, whose situation is such that it is abundantly clear the State's administrators have nothing but blatant disregard for the law, and will continue to bend the law to their own purpose, with no consideration of commerce. In fact, I think that there is no argument regarding the altruistic posture of archaeology here. There is an argument that government officials, paid with public money are obstructing commerce, where they are not given any authority to do so. They are doing this for their own benefit, albeit without monetary reward, to bestow favors upon their friends and "peers" (just ask them what THAT means and stand by for the incensed windstorm sure to follow). Like lawyers themselves, these folks are damming up the regular flow of business so that they can control it and manipulate it for themselves and others of their school.
As an aside, let us discover, through the records of the B.A.R. which institutions and/or individuals are now excavating any shipwreck more than fifty years on the bottom and seek a restraining order against them until they can prove that no person "might have" died with that shipwreck. This would include any and all university operations, especially those being carried out by schools outside of the Florida School System. It would only be fair that wreckage protected by Florida taxes should be reserved for the exploit of Floridians, not Texans, nor Pennsylvanians, or Carolinians, ect. Let Texans work Padre Island, Pennsylvanians work the Ohio River, Carolinians pursue the backwaters of their state and so forth, but do not let them seek "favors" from the B.A.R. of Florida.
Archaeologists are prone to overburden anyone who will listen to them with their "vitae", which is a rather granular synopsis of each and every archaeological interest they can claim any attachment to, in any fashion. This is a totem, sort of like scalps, for lack of a less poignant comparison, which all of them sport as a measure of success, rather than a gold mastercard, or sufficient checking account. All of us should begin documenting our own vitae as it applies to the commerce of salvage with details about our discoveries, where we worked, for whom, under what conditions, using what equipment, and so forth. Only a few archaeologists can match us for sheer resourcfulness and dedication. Speak of bottom time, fuel bills, equipment repair, boat outfitting, and all the rest and you will scare the bejesus out of any professor contemplating a summer at sea along the Treasurecoast. They can not possibly do it. There certainly are exceptions, and we know who they are, but they are not the subject of our attention. By the way, is anyone aware of any "contract" archaeologist who has received payment for documenting a shipwreck in Florida? If so, we should see that the money is immediately returned to the patron, especially if the State paid any part of the fee. That's strictly in keeping with the spirit of "archaeology" as the administrators of the Florida B.A.R. see it.
Terry Armstrong ... www.andrewsinvestigations.com
). I'd be almost positive that agents from other states are recruited to work on archaeological projects in Florida from outside university systems. Denying the Florida B.A.R. the privilage of orchestrating such operations would be a kiss-of-death academically, and soon enough, you could bet that other states would reciprocate. Imagine all the fun that would be spoiled! And by the way, I want all the museum loans to out-of-state "clients" returned to Florida where I can see them in one of the numerous State-run museums that must be nearby! And I demand that the State of Florida make any report about any such archaeologically valued item a public record and hosted electronically on a freely available website. This information will also include the textbook materials and other written information that is ascribed to any and all college/university professors or other persons receiving any public funds arising from Florida tax who would otherwise profit from the publication of that information, for whatever purpose. I also demand that any archaeologist who has ever had access to any data or artifact controlled by the State but otherwise excluded to the public, to be identified so that he or she may be questioned as to their asseessments and opinions of those artifacts and those data.
--- theres power in numbers --- nothing like having an "angry mob" pelt them with letters to get political folks to pay mind to you --- Ivan
