Re: Yuri's Reluctance

Paul E. Pettennude (pettennude@usa.net)
24 Jan 1997 22:30:25 GMT

Yuri,

I guess you found somebody to give you a way to weasel out. By the way
group, we offered Yuri the opportunity to come with us this summer and to
participate fully in our activities with all the diplomacy we had in us.
It was a sincere gesture I assure you.

Now I would like to comment on his remarks.

There's a old saying which I would like to paraphrase, "He who is without
aim may cast the first stone." By this I would like to state, Yuri by his
own admission is a student of many things. Maybe, just maybe, he should
try to master a subject as complex as archaeology before he casts stones.
Archaeology is a multidisciplined science. All of its participants are not
the "diggers". For every field archaeologist there are dozens of support
scientists looking over his/her shoulder. Archaeologists don't decide what
evidence to accept or reject as a rule, it is a group decision. For
example, when a particular parcel of land is excavated, everything, and I
mean everything, is bagged and cataloged. It all goes to the lab for
testing and analysis. There are no cover ups.

If you've been around for a while you'll find that Yuri will come to this
group with claims bordering on science fiction using decades old obscure
sources from the fringes of fantastic archaeology and make the damnedest
claims you can ever imagine. He does this in all sincerity because he has
absolutely no idea how archaeology works, nor does he try to understand it.
He is a lot like my sons were as children. I can remember them bring a
dead bird to me and asking, "Daddy why can't the bird fly?" Yuri's
assertions are a lot like these questions. Yuri goes off on tangents
explaining how peoples brought coconuts, gourds, chickens and other pitiful
examples to the new world and thus altered the course of life. Once we
professionals stopped laughing at his outlandish claims, we tried to answer
in a way which was not offensive. We said, "Yuri, you've got to understand
the New World was populated by as many as 90 million people on two large
continents. Their societies were extraordinarily complex and
sophisticated. We doubt if they would have even acknowledged the arrival
of the newcomers, let alone initiated any contact."

There was once a Polynesian settlement named Nan Mamon which grew up
thousand of years after the rise of the great New World civilizations. I
think at last count population numbers were less than 2000. By New World
standards this was a settlement, a place of small significance. It could
not have possibly altered the course of New World history and learning.
Yuri accused us of bending the truth about the Polynesians, the Indians,
the Africans, the Olmecs, the Chinese and god knows who else. Even worse
collectively engaging in a cover up to conceal the facts to preserve our
reputations. We're still laughing. God Yuri, we love you. Maybe some day
you can stop being simply a student and become a master of something for
which we can hold you accountable.

Meanwhile Yuri if you would like to become a student of archaeology this
summer, let me know. There's nothing like getting dirt under your finger
nails to discover the truth.

Paul Pettennude

Yuri Kuchinsky <bg364@torfree.net> wrote in article
<E4IMFn.Lwp.0.queen@torfree.net>...
> malkinb7@mindspring.com (Michelle Malkin) wrote:
>
> [frank:]
> > >i've no doubt that the invitations were made in good faith, but might
> > >they have more diplomatically been made through private email??...the
> > >contentious nature of the newsgroup lends the air of challenge to any
> > >such invitation made here...both the decision and the grounds for
> > >making the decision to accept or not accept such invitation is
> > >nobody's business but yuri's...to demand that he make public his
> > >answer to a misplaced invitation is an unwarrented intrusion into his
> > >personal affairs...please cease this activity...
>
> frank,
>
> Thanks for pointing out the obvious that is for some reason not obvious
to
> a number of people.
>
> > I doubt that the invitations were misplaced - that is an assumption of
> your own > . > And, after all, Yuri could have called them on it - in
> public. And, I don't > really care what his reasons for not going were -
> that is his business, and I > was only suggesting things he might have
> said to those who invited him. What I > was really curious about was the
> fact that he didn't respond at all. That was > simply rude.
>
> OK, Michelle,
>
> So here's my reply.
>
> If the invitations were made in good faith -- and, considering the
> attitude and the tone of the people who offered me these invitations, I
> had some reasons to doubt it -- then, unfortunately, I must decline with
> many thanks. My plans for the next summer are not yet fully formulated,
> but a number of personal considerations will most likely prevent me from
> making these trips.
>
> OTOH, if those invitations were made only to point out to me that I'm
> lacking in first-hand experience in archaeological fieldwork, I had no
> reason to reply to them. I never claimed to be a professional
> archaeologist. My main fields of study are ancient history, the history
of
> religions and cultures, and historical anthropology, among some others.
>
> If some of our archaeologists don't need any insights that can be gained
> from the study of these disciplines, this will only point to their
> shortsightedness.
>
> Best regards,
>
> Yuri.
> --
> Yuri Kuchinsky | "Where there is the Tree of Knowledge, there
> ------------------------| is always Paradise: so say the most ancient
> Toronto ... the Earth | and the most modern serpents." F. Nietzsche
> --- my webpage: http://www.geocities.com/Athens/3988 ---
>