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Archiver > SULTANA > 2001-10 > 1001980417


From: David Woodbury <>
Subject: Re: [Sultana] Please stop the bickering
Date: Mon, 1 Oct 2001 16:53:37 -0700
References: <3BB8B7D5.35F96CCD@flash.net>
In-Reply-To: <3BB8B7D5.35F96CCD@flash.net>


At 1:37 PM -0500 10/1/01, Gene Shields wrote:
>People, remember what happened last year. We almost lost this list.
>Let's quit throwing darts at each other and get back to the common
>purpose of this group. If you must have the last word, let it be by
>private e-mail to the person intended and not to the whole list.
>Everyone has a right to his own opinion. I have mine, but I will keep
>it to myself for the present.

Gene,

With all due respect, if we cannot dispassionately discuss different
ideas, scholarship, or forthcoming articles about the explosion of
the Sultana, what exactly is it that you would consider "safe" for
this list? And frankly, there's really no correlation between what
happened last year (the bruhaha with the former list manager) and the
recent exchange.

I honestly am not trying to push anyone's buttons, but the rather
irrational response to the simple mention of this article -- the rush
to dismiss it out of hand -- suggests there's something of a "sacred
cow" phenomenon with respect to the accepted history of the disaster.
The historical record, or "truth" about this event, stands
independently. New research, or new approaches to old research, will
either further illuminate that record, or else will fail for reasons
we'll be able to identify.

David

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