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Post by acjade on Jun 27, 2005 13:34:29 GMT 7
About an hour on foot from my campus residence is the remains of an ancient tomb. It looks like a huge pottery kiln covered in dirt and grass.
Last year it was the scene of grave robbers and looters. The looters ( unqualified archeologists really, wouldn't you say?) uncovered a rare black artefact. It didn't do them much good. Someone tipped off the cops who then executed them.
This story came straight from the mouth of my non-licenced taxi chappie. The two men concerned were his best friends. Grew up with them in the village.
I can't help wondering who tipped off the cops. And how did anyone know the two amateur archeologists had discovered the rare black thingie?
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Post by con's fly is open on Jun 27, 2005 14:13:30 GMT 7
 Executed. Geez, I'd have sentenced to clean bodies in the morgue, humiliated them a bit, taught them the error of their ways. Something like that. I clearly have no future in Chinese law. They probably tried to sell the thingy. If it was centuries old and defective, it was probably wind-up. No wonder they couldn't sell it. 
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Post by George61 on Jun 27, 2005 14:24:35 GMT 7
If it was centuries old, it could prove that Australians actually discovered China!
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Post by acjade on Jun 27, 2005 14:27:01 GMT 7
They probably tried to sell the thingy. If it was centuries old and defective, it was probably wind-up. No wonder they couldn't sell it.  Good thinking there, Con. Yes. Sales is a fairly public way of announcing your product. But I don't think the Chinese invented windup thingies until well after the old bird (with whom the rare black thingie was buried)carked it. |
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Post by acjade on Jun 27, 2005 14:29:26 GMT 7
If it was centuries old, it could prove that Australians actually discovered China! Australians invented windup thingies? Well this definately puts a spoke in the wheel. |
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Post by Mr Nobody on Jun 27, 2005 15:02:39 GMT 7
Yes, the windup thingy is australian. We made them 5000 years before there was even aboriginals in Oz.
It is part of our culture, and our heritage.
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Post by acjade on Jun 27, 2005 15:07:41 GMT 7
Yes, the windup thingy is australian. We made them 5000 years before there was even aboriginals in Oz. It is part of our culture, and our heritage. Strewth. This means the rare black thingie for which the two amateur archeologists gave their lives is, culturally speaking, part of Australia's heritage. I'll have to inform the National Trust. A delegation will have to be sent over here to negotiate the return of the rare black thingie to its rightful owners. Whom would they be again? |
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Post by Mr Nobody on Jun 27, 2005 15:30:27 GMT 7
Well, is it truly a wind up thingy, or is it a locally made fake, albeit a very old one.
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Post by acjade on Jun 27, 2005 15:35:48 GMT 7
Well, is it truly a wind up thingy, or is it a locally made fake, albeit a very old one. Can't be fake. It's apparently worth millions and millions of dollars. Not Kwai. Dollars. Tomorrow when I return from the lovely LE's torture luxury treatment I will look up the origins of said thingie and we can discuss the nature of its molecules in greater depth. Must run... LE awaits. |
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Post by hankuh on Jun 27, 2005 15:45:53 GMT 7
Well, forgive me for selective quoting, but I think this quote as you relate the sad consequences of the culprits needs to be stressed: In a Chinese collective community, the Chinese love to look at everyone--that includes your own foreign ass--and along with the collective eyeball comes the gossip--and that definitely includes your own foreign ass. I KNOW from first hand experience (although I would never assume that the gossip about me and my wifey would ever reach such dire results as these poor souls). I never would have postulated such a observation years ago, but my experience definitely points otherwise. Call me paranoid--I really don't give a flying rat's ass. They watch you. They talk about you. Things gossiped about-- can and will elevate themselves to legendary proportions, and on the bright side, even totally unfathomably humorous proportions. They are even worse with their own kind. I will not share what some have said about my wife. The plundering of China's past is often a sensitive issue. I think I saw in China Daily, the bastion of objective accuracy, a photo taken in Beijing. In it, the caption: Foreigners nabbed taken China's treasures. I wonder if the same would be done for these Chinese.....nah I don't wonder........taken out of sight, out of mind...  |
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woza17
SuperDuperBarfly! 
Posts: 2,203
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Post by woza17 on Jun 27, 2005 17:38:11 GMT 7
Could it be the black thingie from 2001 space odessy.
The 2 guys being killed for that, sucks.
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Post by con's fly is open on Jun 27, 2005 18:59:13 GMT 7
Yeah, Hairy, I know exactly what you mean. I once went to the park on two successive days with different females. The second reported to me what some schnooks said: "Wow, laowai was here yesterday with another girl. How many does he have?" This within hearing distance of her. There's one of the toxic downsides to small town living. How can a body go on a date with everybody gawking?    f |
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Post by Mr Nobody on Jun 27, 2005 19:07:50 GMT 7
Nope dont quite agree. They knew the risks, I assume. I would have. So they knew the risk, they found the item, tried to sell it, worth a lot. So to them the risk must have been worth the reward, but they lost the gamble.
I think it sucks to have the death penalty for looting of corpses, but many countries do, including our own up until the past 150 years or so, and hey, like I said, they knew the risks. Eg, climbing a mountain. Risk of death. Reward looking out over the world. Is the reward worth the risk? When someone dies, we don't go "Oh, nature is such a mother. Gravity shouldn't have a death penalty just for not putting in the piton right."
I know that the difference is man's laws compared to nature's laws, but the thing that is the same is risk/reward relationship.
They just lost the gamble. Unlucky.
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woza17
SuperDuperBarfly!
Posts: 2,203
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Post by woza17 on Jun 27, 2005 19:13:12 GMT 7
Sorry Mr N
No way should people get the bullet for theft of property.
Property is theft
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Post by Mr Nobody on Jun 27, 2005 19:29:37 GMT 7
Property is Theft. So says Oswald Spengler.
I tend to agree with aspects of that. Back to that in a minute. But that is not the point of what I am saying.
I am not talking about the punishment being right or wrong. It is wrong. I am saying that, knowing it to be wrong, and knowing they are committing a crime for which the punishment is death, these two guys did it anyway, it happened to them, and they can have no complaints. Neither can anyone else. They gambled, they lost.
Personally, I think that theft or destruction of unique items of antiquity should carry something very serious. It is mankind they stole this from. Like the bastards who burned down one of the 12 or 13 remaining stave churches in Scandinavia a few years ago. For those guys, I would have pulled the trigger myself. I don't care if they are rockstars.
These two guys stole a unique item, taking it from everyone. For private gain. They are clearly guilty of a major crime. Much more than had they stolen something of equal value from a private citizen. It isn't the value of the item, but the uniqueness. Knowledge nearly lost to mankind forever. And how much did they destroy in doing this? Property is definitely theft. They did not steal from a person, so it wasn't property. They made it property, their own, and tried to sell it. What is the appropriate punishent?
Like those Christians who owned a limestone quarry in Africa used for cement making. They found bones of extinct animals and even of extinct man. They destroyed them. After 20 years they were found out and the site protected. Even after 20 years of destruction, it was still one of the great finds.
How to punish them for that?
I agree that the death penalty is a bit extreme. But what they did wasn't simply theft of property.
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gengrant
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Post by gengrant on Jun 27, 2005 22:07:10 GMT 7
but if it's Aussie dollars, like my daddy used to say, "It ain't worth a plug nickel." I agree with Nobby on this...it's not just theft of property...it's theft of 'national treasure,' which in most instances could be equated with treason (in one's own country - as this was) or even espionage.  has anyone figured out what that black 'thingy' is, btw?  |
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Post by Jollyjunklass on Jun 27, 2005 22:32:10 GMT 7
Okay GG,
PUT DOWN THE PISTOL!!! I hear what you are saying, but, some people don't always think before they act. Especially those with immature, worry about the moment, type minds. They do not walk themselves through the entire scenario before making a choice, just like many millions in this world.
I, for one, am not a death penalty advocate. But, that's neither here nor there. People make mistakes and bad choices. Many people don't have the ability to live for tomorrow and can only live for the moment. I could see this being the case in China, where at one time, not sure about what goes on now, your only option was to think of survival for the day. When you have a mentality such as this it is difficult to think in terms of long-term consequences and make long term choices. IMO, we all deserve chances. EMPATHY guys, EMPATHY.
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Post by Mr Nobody on Jun 28, 2005 7:37:30 GMT 7
I DO feel sorry for them, and their families, just like I would a victims of shark attack swimming in shark infested waters, people accidentally killed while touring around in warzones, falling off mountains they decided to climb, parachutes failing to open, etc. Dangerous things happen to people who behave dangerously. These guys were also committing a major crime while behaving dangerously, ie committing a crime with a death penalty in a country well known to enforce it.
I don't think we should protect people from their own cupidity, beyond reasonable levels. Reality does not give second chances. Besides, this was CHOICE, not really bad luck. Evolution in action. Stupid actions = stupid death. It goes along with the Darwin awards idea.
I agree with the idea of giving chances. The point is, it isn't our decision to make. Even in our countries, you commit a crime, you do the time, and even if the law changes, you broke it while it was there, so you STILL pay the price.
Oh, yeah - did they take a shovel? I bet they thought enough to obtain the thing, they thought enough to know the penalty. It can't have been spur of the moment. And I don't think that anyone who does a crime that has the potential to be fatal can argue they didn't think it had long term consequences. The consequences of committing a crime you can get killed for have been known for time immemorial in EVERY culture, except ours, recently. This kind of thing has always had permament consequences.
They used to hang people for robbing graves in our past too.
And , like GG, i would like to know more about the thingie.
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Post by con's fly is open on Jun 28, 2005 9:34:24 GMT 7
Yeah, those guys committed a crime against knowledge. Ignorant scumbags. A [insert spoiled stereotype here] youg lady was walking through the Louvre, talking away on her cellphone, and crashed headlong into [insert famous Michelangelo statue], which toppled over and shattered. People screamed and wailed, and staff came running from all directions. "Relax, everybody!" reassured the girl, "I'm not hurt."  I feel bad for those two- an example could have been made without turning them into organ donors. I also oppose the death penalty. |
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gengrant
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Post by gengrant on Jun 28, 2005 10:18:52 GMT 7
anyone here ever read the Darwin Awards? just sounds like these two had found a creative way to remove themselves from the gene pool. probably should have just sentenced them to janitorial duties for 20 years...they probably would have learned their lesson. then again, maybe we don't know the whole story here...maybe the answer lies with that black thingy...hmmmm... |
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Post by Mr Nobody on Jun 28, 2005 12:02:48 GMT 7
Possibly as organ donors their contribution to society was maximized. Prior to that, what had they done for society lately? Of course, this principle could easily, and perhaps should, be applied to politicians and maybe lawyers. Darwin Award, cool reading. The ones about Near Misses I find just as funny. (I think they are called special mentions or something) My mum gave me the book for Christmas. Which goes to show what sort of family I come from. www.darwinawards.com/ |
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Post by con's fly is open on Jun 28, 2005 15:28:54 GMT 7
Ay, there's the rub: you never know the whole story in China.   (Closeup of Faye Dunaway's new third eye, then pan to cops dragging Nicholson to a faraway pub) |
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Post by acjade on Jun 29, 2005 22:13:38 GMT 7
I have more of the details of our doomed Indianna Jones characters. I will wait to post this until the weekend.
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gengrant
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Post by gengrant on Jun 30, 2005 10:41:40 GMT 7
How do you keep Saloonite Monkeys in suspense? thanks for making us wait, AJ... |
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Post by Mr Nobody on Jun 30, 2005 19:38:46 GMT 7
Yeah, now there is a crime against knowledge. The rest of us blurt out things we learn the instant we learn them, unconfirmed or otherwise.
ESPECIALLY unconfirmed.
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