Professional Archaeologists and the AHC Agenda
To Everyone Interested,
The following is an email that I received and my response. This is a typical email that I have been receiving from collectors, hobbyists and historians from all over the country concerning my arrest and the diving law in Alabama.
Steve Phillips;
I read your remarkable story on the SSDS web site about being arrested
for pleasure diving in 2003. The archaeological community has become
increasingly aggressive in its bid to control everything in the world
more than 100 years old that is on or under ground or water. They are
not only attacking pleasure divers, they also are waging a fierce war
against civil war artifact collectors and against coin collectors and
collectors of antiquities from all lands. They have become very
effective at convincing naive legislators to introduce and support
bills that assail the liberties and property rights of ordinary law
abiding citizens. Of course, you know a great deal about this through
your experience with the AUCRA.
I am a collector of ancient coins. The Archaeological Institute of
America has gone on record as being committed to the elimination of the
collector market because they argue that without a market there would
be no place for looters to sell their wares and this would put an end
to archaeological site looting. One would think that an idiot could
see the folly in that position, but apparently some legislators do not.
Last Fall, an obscure provision was attached to HR 1047 which was a
massive trade bill that was destined for passage. The provision
affecting us was couched in terms of protection of antiquities from
Iraq. It had appeal to lawmakers who felt obligated to respond to the
sensationalized reports of museum looting in Baghdad, which we now know
were wildly exaggerated. Unfortunately, the bill was so vaguely
written and so misguided in its aims that it threatens to restrict the
importation of antiquities, including coins, that never were in Iraq at
any time in history.
Last summer, I founded a national organization of Ancient Coin
Collectors for the purpose of opposing this sort of legislation and to
develop a strategy for opposing the archaeological community's arrogant
and elitist views. We have had some success, but we fall short on the
influence scale because we simply cannot muster enough constituents or
money to be heard in Washington. We are beginning to realize that we
need to find common cause with others whose rights are threatened by
the archaeological community, and you seem to be a prime candidate.
I have not had time to research your situation and find out where it
stands today from a legal perspective. I hope that common sense
prevailed and the case was thrown out. I hope also that your
recommended replacement bill was passed by the Alabama legislature. I
would be very interested to know whether you have found any chinks in
the armor of our common enemy. You have been fighting this longer than
we have and your advice and insights would be valuable to us. I
sincerely hope that your efforts have been fruitful.
With best regards,
Wayne
-----------------------------------
Wayne G. Sayles
Executive Director,
Ancient Coin Collectors Guild
P.O. Box 911, Gainesville, MO 65655
[email protected]
http://accg.us
417-679-2142
Mr. Sayles,
I just read your email and have been thinking this morning about the people who are opposing the public interest in access to public lands. I now know much more about the people who have spoken against us than I did two years ago, and most of these people have a financial interest in restricting divers and relic hunters from being involved in their hobbies. I have also been thinking about the people who have been my digging buddies for the last thirty-two years. My three digging buddies all have college degrees in history, and one was a college history professor in Tennessee. Any one of us knows more about Civil War relics and history than any of the people who speak and act against us, yet we are considered the bad guys.
We are not in the business of selling relics or getting paid for issuing permits, we simply love history and learning more about our ancestors. We like to spend our time walking the woods or diving in the rivers while trying to find and save lost relics. Of course we pay our own expenses and we are not trying to make money at what we do for fun. When someone else decides to write a book on relics telling how they were made, where used, who used them, or anything else about the relics, they come to us. By us I don't mean just our small group, but instead the thousands of relic hunters and divers who pursue such hobbies. We are the people who save the history before the relics rust away or are destroyed by development or nature, and we are not looking for any type of government financial aid or help. We want nothing more than to be left alone and not harassed by the academic and government elitist types who seem to have a burning jealousy of us, and a financial interest in having exclusive rights to our history. I don't know why they are so against the citizens who actually find and preserve the relics, as we are also the same people who have filled the museums of the world with the relics that all see and enjoy. We lend or give our relics to the museums and other displays, and often speak to schools, civic organizations and historical groups about history and our hobby. We are the good guys, yet we are portrayed as villains and called looters, pot hunters, scavengers and depicted as destroyers of history. Nothing could be farther from the truth.
In Alabama, we are battling against The Alabama Historical Commission (AHC). The people who have spoken against us to the legislators, or written to the papers, are almost without exception people with a vested interest in denying access to public lands and waters to the citizens of our country. They are insiders who are granted special permission or can actually sell permits to the public for access to our lands. Under the current laws and regulations, only a professional archaeologist can issue a permit for someone such as me, or any other citizen, to look for any relic or artifact over fifty years old in the waters of Alabama. There are twelve pages of professional archaeologist's names and addresses listed on the AHC webpage who are not divers or historians, but they are the only people who can get these permits. Here is a link to the 12 pages of archaeologists http://www.preserveala.org/archaeologistlisting.pdf This law was written for one purpose only, and that purpose is to financially benefit professional archaeologists.
The AHC was recently audited by the state Examiners of Accounts, and shown to be missing just a few million dollars of state monies. They also were shown to have lied to the auditors, and were exposed in the hiring of an employee that had no duties, but whose total compensation was over $100,000.00 dollars per year. Gross neglect of the properties in the care of the AHC was also itemized in this audit. One property alone has had over two million dollars spent on it, with no sign of where any of the money went. At this same property, $88,000 dollars has been spent to hire an archaeologist to use ground penetrating radar to look for graves. While this money was wasted paying an archaeologist, several state parks have been forced to close that could have remained open for as little as $25,000.00 dollars per year. The shameful thing here is, this property is all about, and only about, preserving the relics of one great man, and he is buried in Washington, DC. The family heirlooms and relics are still in the house where the heating, cooling and climate controls of the house have been turned off since 1999. While this property has been closed to the public since then, the AHC still has four full-time employees at this site. No one can seem to account for the waste or theft of the two million dollars. Here is a link to the AHC audit http://www.ssdsupply.com/aucraP/Report on the AHC.pdf
Another contract issued by the AHC to a professional archaeologist was at The Teague House, their own headquarters and main office in Montgomery. Built in the 1830's, this house is one of the South's finest examples of late Greek revival architecture where $55,000 dollars was paid to do an archaeological excavation in the yard of this house, yet the front door won't open, and the roof has leaked for years with no money spent on repairs. Archaeologists don't fix roofs or doors.
One of our opponents, who is just one example of many, is McDonald Brooms who works full time for Troy University. He has written to the newspapers and attended the public hearings in order to oppose our proposed legislation. He worked for the AHC in the past and is another of the professional archaeologists who is referred business from the AHC. In 1981 he wrote a letter to the Alabama Gun Collectors Association saying that no dug relic should be displayed at any shows or displays, and told collectors that the state could confiscate collections. He also claimed that all Indian relics are the property of the state. Here is a link to that letter http://www.ssdsupply.com/aucraP/AGCA.pdf
The big money that is controlled by the AHC is not reflected in any of the records of the AHC. What I am referring to, is the job referral services performed by the AHC in sending business to the twelve pages of professional archaeologists listed on the AHC webpage. It is wrong, and should be illegal, for a state agency to refer business to anyone, especially to handpicked insiders. These contracts are offered to archaeologists to gain their support in opposing our proposed legislation. Furthermore, at least one of the directors of the AHC benefits from referrals from the webpage. Craig Sheldon, who teaches archaeology for Auburn University in Montgomery and also does work affiliated with the AHC, is an active director of the AHC. In addition, his wife Elizabeth is listed on the twelve page list and receives business in this manner also. I don't think he should be allowed to be a director.
Bill Drinkard is the chairperson of the Board of Directors of the AHC and is heavily involved in the formation of the Foundation of the AHC that was discussed in the audit. The Foundation is used to hide money and is not thought to be legal under state law. Mr. Drinkard has said that the audit is just a witch hunt and tells people to just wait till the smoke clears and things at the AHC will get back to normal. Mr. Drinkard, as chairperson, is the overall leader of the AHC, yet Mr. Drinkard is a convicted felon having been found guilty of stealing $15,000 dollars of state funds, and has since been pardoned by the Pardons and Parole Board of Alabama.
Elizabeth Brown is the acting executive director of the AHC, currently filling the job that was previously held by the now-fired Dr. Lee Warner. Ms. Brown was the acting director before Dr. Warner was hired, and she was in charge of all daily operations when the current law that outlaws diving in Alabama was passed in 1999. No divers were aware of proposed legislation before that law was slipped through.
Tom Maher is the state archaeologist of Alabama. Mr. Maher is not from Alabama, and has no background in Alabama history. When Mr. Maher spoke at one of the public hearings that we had concerning the current diving laws, he lied and said that he had never had anyone arrested. In fact, he signed my arrest warrant. He and Ms. Brown were the AHC people who had me and Perry Massie arrested in Selma for relic hunting in the river. Ms. Brown identified and charged me with finding a Confederate ammo container on my arrest warrant, but actually the container is a Prince Albert tobacco can. She also knows nothing about Civil War relics and very little about Alabama history. In 1999 and 2000, Tom Maher told me, and several other divers, that the law that was passed was all about shipwrecks, and would not affect relic hunters who were not diving on shipwrecks. He specifically told me that Diving and finding relics in the river at Selma is permitted. When I was arrested at Selma and reminded him of this, he then asked "do you have it in writing?"
The real reason Perry and I were arrested was an effort to confiscate my Civil War collection, a collection that I have built over the last thirty-two years. While I have found a great deal of this collection personally, about half of my collection is "bought" relics and most of those relics were bought by me from state museums. I had intended to lend my entire collection to the state museums anyway, but they could not sell any of my relics. I was charged with a felony and my boat and equipment were impounded. Since I was arrested, the authorities in Dallas County have been trying to get me to plead guilty to a misdemeanor. They offered to drop all charges and give back my boat and equipment if I would just plead guilty, and allow them to save face for arresting me when they should not have. I can't do this because that action on my part would validate this bad law.
I want my day in court, but so far I can't seem to get there. I have filled a motion for a speedy trial but my case has been continued yet again, this time until August 1st , almost 2 years since I was arrested in Oct. of 2003. The DA in Selma now says that they have not had time to prepare for my trial, all the while continuing to use the law to persecute and harass me.
They harassed Perry Massie until he agreed to pay a fine for a 'violation', which is not a crime in Alabama. He did not plead guilty to violating the law that we were charged under. His legal expenses were about $60,000.00 dollars, he found no relics, and it was the first and only time he ever dived in Alabama. He had come to Alabama to film a TV show to be broadcast on his show on The Outdoor Channel. The AHC should not be allowed to continue to use their agency to harass and persecute the citizens.
The AHC staff has been found guilty in the audit of lying, gross negligence, misappropriation of state funds and illegal operations. Now they are supposed to be hiring an Executive Director to come in and try to fix things in this corrupt agency. In the last week I have been told by several people that the folks in charge at the AHC don't want to hire anyone, that there is not enough money to pay an Executive Director, and they want to just leave the people in charge who are in charge now. ??.They want us to leave the crooks in charge. Are we dumb enough to let this happen? Is the Attorney General of Alabama going to allow the AHC staff to get away with the crimes they have committed against Alabama?
In Montgomery this week I found out that our bills, HB125 and SB128 will probably not come up for a floor vote this session. The legislators have been filibustering over other issues, and even though our bills have come out of committee, they probably will die where they are. The colleges of the state oppose us due to their vested interest in contracts to their archaeology departments, and in teaching archaeology students who want government jobs and contracts referred from the AHC. These colleges have much influence with the legislators since they provide offices, secretaries and paychecks for a large portion of the legislators.
Our next action will be in court if we can get there.
Steve Phillips
Save Our Lost History
http://www.ssdsupply.com/
4515 5th Av. So.
Birmingham, Al 35222
205-595-3052
Steve;
Thank you for sharing the distressing details of your experience. I
can assure you that there are many who understand your plight all too
well. We are struggling to find a way to expose archaeology for what
it is. Several months ago, I posted an article on our ACCG web site
that speaks to the same issue that your story of AHC corruption does.
It is entitled "Archaeology: a wolf in sheep's clothing." You will
find it at
http://accg.us/issues/editorials/pro/wolf
The examples in my article relate to antiquities, but the methodology
of classical archaeologists and American archaeologists is identical
and is a reflection of their globalist views and fanatical support of
the UNESCO convention of 1970. I think the AIA and The AHC are simply
two heads of the same monster and they both are part of a massive
conspiracy that is only a stone's throw from National Socialism or
Totalitarianism. They are so far out on the fringe that it is hard to
tell if they are the extreme left or the extreme right. Indeed, I
think they defy categorization.
It is not just access to public lands that they want to control, they
also want control of private property. Archaeologists Jon L. Gibson
and Joe Sanders, in the Society for American Archaeology Bulletin,
wrote: "We suggest that just because sites happen to be on private
property should not make them privately owned. We also maintain that
archaeologists must challenge one of American's most precious rights -
the right to do as you please to your own land - if we are going to
have any chance of preserving our diminishing heritage....First, we
must press for legislation that places an archaeological lien on
private property with significant archaeological sites. Second,
archaeologists must be the ones to choose which sites are to be
protected. We can not entrust this selection to a governmental board or
legislated process, which would give land owners the final word on
whether a site will be protected.....Archaeologists must be more than
just stewards of the past. They must serve as the public conscience.
They must act on society's behalf even when society is insensitive or
objects."
This audacious proposal was published in a peer reviewed journal of the
archaeological community. It pretty clearly reflects the extent to
which they covet power and control over anything historical. The same
ideology is responsible for the Silverado Canyon issue and countless
similar episodes:
http://www.canyonlife.com/Tibor.folder/Archeology.html
I hope that you get your day in court soon, and I hope that you can
show the AHC to be part of a nation wide conspiracy that is trampling
all over our constitutional rights to further their own parochial
interests. I am not in any way an expert on diving, underwater
salvage, or Alabama law, but if you need a witness at your trial that
will testify to the scope of the archaeological conspiracy, either by
deposition or in person, I will happily do so at my own expense.
Regards,
Wayne
-----------------------------------
Wayne G. Sayles
Executive Director,
Ancient Coin Collectors Guild
P.O. Box 911, Gainesville, MO 65655
[email protected]
http://accg.us
417-679-2142
To Everyone Interested,
The following is an email that I received and my response. This is a typical email that I have been receiving from collectors, hobbyists and historians from all over the country concerning my arrest and the diving law in Alabama.
Steve Phillips;
I read your remarkable story on the SSDS web site about being arrested
for pleasure diving in 2003. The archaeological community has become
increasingly aggressive in its bid to control everything in the world
more than 100 years old that is on or under ground or water. They are
not only attacking pleasure divers, they also are waging a fierce war
against civil war artifact collectors and against coin collectors and
collectors of antiquities from all lands. They have become very
effective at convincing naive legislators to introduce and support
bills that assail the liberties and property rights of ordinary law
abiding citizens. Of course, you know a great deal about this through
your experience with the AUCRA.
I am a collector of ancient coins. The Archaeological Institute of
America has gone on record as being committed to the elimination of the
collector market because they argue that without a market there would
be no place for looters to sell their wares and this would put an end
to archaeological site looting. One would think that an idiot could
see the folly in that position, but apparently some legislators do not.
Last Fall, an obscure provision was attached to HR 1047 which was a
massive trade bill that was destined for passage. The provision
affecting us was couched in terms of protection of antiquities from
Iraq. It had appeal to lawmakers who felt obligated to respond to the
sensationalized reports of museum looting in Baghdad, which we now know
were wildly exaggerated. Unfortunately, the bill was so vaguely
written and so misguided in its aims that it threatens to restrict the
importation of antiquities, including coins, that never were in Iraq at
any time in history.
Last summer, I founded a national organization of Ancient Coin
Collectors for the purpose of opposing this sort of legislation and to
develop a strategy for opposing the archaeological community's arrogant
and elitist views. We have had some success, but we fall short on the
influence scale because we simply cannot muster enough constituents or
money to be heard in Washington. We are beginning to realize that we
need to find common cause with others whose rights are threatened by
the archaeological community, and you seem to be a prime candidate.
I have not had time to research your situation and find out where it
stands today from a legal perspective. I hope that common sense
prevailed and the case was thrown out. I hope also that your
recommended replacement bill was passed by the Alabama legislature. I
would be very interested to know whether you have found any chinks in
the armor of our common enemy. You have been fighting this longer than
we have and your advice and insights would be valuable to us. I
sincerely hope that your efforts have been fruitful.
With best regards,
Wayne
-----------------------------------
Wayne G. Sayles
Executive Director,
Ancient Coin Collectors Guild
P.O. Box 911, Gainesville, MO 65655
[email protected]
http://accg.us
417-679-2142
Mr. Sayles,
I just read your email and have been thinking this morning about the people who are opposing the public interest in access to public lands. I now know much more about the people who have spoken against us than I did two years ago, and most of these people have a financial interest in restricting divers and relic hunters from being involved in their hobbies. I have also been thinking about the people who have been my digging buddies for the last thirty-two years. My three digging buddies all have college degrees in history, and one was a college history professor in Tennessee. Any one of us knows more about Civil War relics and history than any of the people who speak and act against us, yet we are considered the bad guys.
We are not in the business of selling relics or getting paid for issuing permits, we simply love history and learning more about our ancestors. We like to spend our time walking the woods or diving in the rivers while trying to find and save lost relics. Of course we pay our own expenses and we are not trying to make money at what we do for fun. When someone else decides to write a book on relics telling how they were made, where used, who used them, or anything else about the relics, they come to us. By us I don't mean just our small group, but instead the thousands of relic hunters and divers who pursue such hobbies. We are the people who save the history before the relics rust away or are destroyed by development or nature, and we are not looking for any type of government financial aid or help. We want nothing more than to be left alone and not harassed by the academic and government elitist types who seem to have a burning jealousy of us, and a financial interest in having exclusive rights to our history. I don't know why they are so against the citizens who actually find and preserve the relics, as we are also the same people who have filled the museums of the world with the relics that all see and enjoy. We lend or give our relics to the museums and other displays, and often speak to schools, civic organizations and historical groups about history and our hobby. We are the good guys, yet we are portrayed as villains and called looters, pot hunters, scavengers and depicted as destroyers of history. Nothing could be farther from the truth.
In Alabama, we are battling against The Alabama Historical Commission (AHC). The people who have spoken against us to the legislators, or written to the papers, are almost without exception people with a vested interest in denying access to public lands and waters to the citizens of our country. They are insiders who are granted special permission or can actually sell permits to the public for access to our lands. Under the current laws and regulations, only a professional archaeologist can issue a permit for someone such as me, or any other citizen, to look for any relic or artifact over fifty years old in the waters of Alabama. There are twelve pages of professional archaeologist's names and addresses listed on the AHC webpage who are not divers or historians, but they are the only people who can get these permits. Here is a link to the 12 pages of archaeologists http://www.preserveala.org/archaeologistlisting.pdf This law was written for one purpose only, and that purpose is to financially benefit professional archaeologists.
The AHC was recently audited by the state Examiners of Accounts, and shown to be missing just a few million dollars of state monies. They also were shown to have lied to the auditors, and were exposed in the hiring of an employee that had no duties, but whose total compensation was over $100,000.00 dollars per year. Gross neglect of the properties in the care of the AHC was also itemized in this audit. One property alone has had over two million dollars spent on it, with no sign of where any of the money went. At this same property, $88,000 dollars has been spent to hire an archaeologist to use ground penetrating radar to look for graves. While this money was wasted paying an archaeologist, several state parks have been forced to close that could have remained open for as little as $25,000.00 dollars per year. The shameful thing here is, this property is all about, and only about, preserving the relics of one great man, and he is buried in Washington, DC. The family heirlooms and relics are still in the house where the heating, cooling and climate controls of the house have been turned off since 1999. While this property has been closed to the public since then, the AHC still has four full-time employees at this site. No one can seem to account for the waste or theft of the two million dollars. Here is a link to the AHC audit http://www.ssdsupply.com/aucraP/Report on the AHC.pdf
Another contract issued by the AHC to a professional archaeologist was at The Teague House, their own headquarters and main office in Montgomery. Built in the 1830's, this house is one of the South's finest examples of late Greek revival architecture where $55,000 dollars was paid to do an archaeological excavation in the yard of this house, yet the front door won't open, and the roof has leaked for years with no money spent on repairs. Archaeologists don't fix roofs or doors.
One of our opponents, who is just one example of many, is McDonald Brooms who works full time for Troy University. He has written to the newspapers and attended the public hearings in order to oppose our proposed legislation. He worked for the AHC in the past and is another of the professional archaeologists who is referred business from the AHC. In 1981 he wrote a letter to the Alabama Gun Collectors Association saying that no dug relic should be displayed at any shows or displays, and told collectors that the state could confiscate collections. He also claimed that all Indian relics are the property of the state. Here is a link to that letter http://www.ssdsupply.com/aucraP/AGCA.pdf
The big money that is controlled by the AHC is not reflected in any of the records of the AHC. What I am referring to, is the job referral services performed by the AHC in sending business to the twelve pages of professional archaeologists listed on the AHC webpage. It is wrong, and should be illegal, for a state agency to refer business to anyone, especially to handpicked insiders. These contracts are offered to archaeologists to gain their support in opposing our proposed legislation. Furthermore, at least one of the directors of the AHC benefits from referrals from the webpage. Craig Sheldon, who teaches archaeology for Auburn University in Montgomery and also does work affiliated with the AHC, is an active director of the AHC. In addition, his wife Elizabeth is listed on the twelve page list and receives business in this manner also. I don't think he should be allowed to be a director.
Bill Drinkard is the chairperson of the Board of Directors of the AHC and is heavily involved in the formation of the Foundation of the AHC that was discussed in the audit. The Foundation is used to hide money and is not thought to be legal under state law. Mr. Drinkard has said that the audit is just a witch hunt and tells people to just wait till the smoke clears and things at the AHC will get back to normal. Mr. Drinkard, as chairperson, is the overall leader of the AHC, yet Mr. Drinkard is a convicted felon having been found guilty of stealing $15,000 dollars of state funds, and has since been pardoned by the Pardons and Parole Board of Alabama.
Elizabeth Brown is the acting executive director of the AHC, currently filling the job that was previously held by the now-fired Dr. Lee Warner. Ms. Brown was the acting director before Dr. Warner was hired, and she was in charge of all daily operations when the current law that outlaws diving in Alabama was passed in 1999. No divers were aware of proposed legislation before that law was slipped through.
Tom Maher is the state archaeologist of Alabama. Mr. Maher is not from Alabama, and has no background in Alabama history. When Mr. Maher spoke at one of the public hearings that we had concerning the current diving laws, he lied and said that he had never had anyone arrested. In fact, he signed my arrest warrant. He and Ms. Brown were the AHC people who had me and Perry Massie arrested in Selma for relic hunting in the river. Ms. Brown identified and charged me with finding a Confederate ammo container on my arrest warrant, but actually the container is a Prince Albert tobacco can. She also knows nothing about Civil War relics and very little about Alabama history. In 1999 and 2000, Tom Maher told me, and several other divers, that the law that was passed was all about shipwrecks, and would not affect relic hunters who were not diving on shipwrecks. He specifically told me that Diving and finding relics in the river at Selma is permitted. When I was arrested at Selma and reminded him of this, he then asked "do you have it in writing?"
The real reason Perry and I were arrested was an effort to confiscate my Civil War collection, a collection that I have built over the last thirty-two years. While I have found a great deal of this collection personally, about half of my collection is "bought" relics and most of those relics were bought by me from state museums. I had intended to lend my entire collection to the state museums anyway, but they could not sell any of my relics. I was charged with a felony and my boat and equipment were impounded. Since I was arrested, the authorities in Dallas County have been trying to get me to plead guilty to a misdemeanor. They offered to drop all charges and give back my boat and equipment if I would just plead guilty, and allow them to save face for arresting me when they should not have. I can't do this because that action on my part would validate this bad law.
I want my day in court, but so far I can't seem to get there. I have filled a motion for a speedy trial but my case has been continued yet again, this time until August 1st , almost 2 years since I was arrested in Oct. of 2003. The DA in Selma now says that they have not had time to prepare for my trial, all the while continuing to use the law to persecute and harass me.
They harassed Perry Massie until he agreed to pay a fine for a 'violation', which is not a crime in Alabama. He did not plead guilty to violating the law that we were charged under. His legal expenses were about $60,000.00 dollars, he found no relics, and it was the first and only time he ever dived in Alabama. He had come to Alabama to film a TV show to be broadcast on his show on The Outdoor Channel. The AHC should not be allowed to continue to use their agency to harass and persecute the citizens.
The AHC staff has been found guilty in the audit of lying, gross negligence, misappropriation of state funds and illegal operations. Now they are supposed to be hiring an Executive Director to come in and try to fix things in this corrupt agency. In the last week I have been told by several people that the folks in charge at the AHC don't want to hire anyone, that there is not enough money to pay an Executive Director, and they want to just leave the people in charge who are in charge now. ??.They want us to leave the crooks in charge. Are we dumb enough to let this happen? Is the Attorney General of Alabama going to allow the AHC staff to get away with the crimes they have committed against Alabama?
In Montgomery this week I found out that our bills, HB125 and SB128 will probably not come up for a floor vote this session. The legislators have been filibustering over other issues, and even though our bills have come out of committee, they probably will die where they are. The colleges of the state oppose us due to their vested interest in contracts to their archaeology departments, and in teaching archaeology students who want government jobs and contracts referred from the AHC. These colleges have much influence with the legislators since they provide offices, secretaries and paychecks for a large portion of the legislators.
Our next action will be in court if we can get there.
Steve Phillips
Save Our Lost History
http://www.ssdsupply.com/
4515 5th Av. So.
Birmingham, Al 35222
205-595-3052
Steve;
Thank you for sharing the distressing details of your experience. I
can assure you that there are many who understand your plight all too
well. We are struggling to find a way to expose archaeology for what
it is. Several months ago, I posted an article on our ACCG web site
that speaks to the same issue that your story of AHC corruption does.
It is entitled "Archaeology: a wolf in sheep's clothing." You will
find it at
http://accg.us/issues/editorials/pro/wolf
The examples in my article relate to antiquities, but the methodology
of classical archaeologists and American archaeologists is identical
and is a reflection of their globalist views and fanatical support of
the UNESCO convention of 1970. I think the AIA and The AHC are simply
two heads of the same monster and they both are part of a massive
conspiracy that is only a stone's throw from National Socialism or
Totalitarianism. They are so far out on the fringe that it is hard to
tell if they are the extreme left or the extreme right. Indeed, I
think they defy categorization.
It is not just access to public lands that they want to control, they
also want control of private property. Archaeologists Jon L. Gibson
and Joe Sanders, in the Society for American Archaeology Bulletin,
wrote: "We suggest that just because sites happen to be on private
property should not make them privately owned. We also maintain that
archaeologists must challenge one of American's most precious rights -
the right to do as you please to your own land - if we are going to
have any chance of preserving our diminishing heritage....First, we
must press for legislation that places an archaeological lien on
private property with significant archaeological sites. Second,
archaeologists must be the ones to choose which sites are to be
protected. We can not entrust this selection to a governmental board or
legislated process, which would give land owners the final word on
whether a site will be protected.....Archaeologists must be more than
just stewards of the past. They must serve as the public conscience.
They must act on society's behalf even when society is insensitive or
objects."
This audacious proposal was published in a peer reviewed journal of the
archaeological community. It pretty clearly reflects the extent to
which they covet power and control over anything historical. The same
ideology is responsible for the Silverado Canyon issue and countless
similar episodes:
http://www.canyonlife.com/Tibor.folder/Archeology.html
I hope that you get your day in court soon, and I hope that you can
show the AHC to be part of a nation wide conspiracy that is trampling
all over our constitutional rights to further their own parochial
interests. I am not in any way an expert on diving, underwater
salvage, or Alabama law, but if you need a witness at your trial that
will testify to the scope of the archaeological conspiracy, either by
deposition or in person, I will happily do so at my own expense.
Regards,
Wayne
-----------------------------------
Wayne G. Sayles
Executive Director,
Ancient Coin Collectors Guild
P.O. Box 911, Gainesville, MO 65655
[email protected]
http://accg.us
417-679-2142
