What a quandary

"It must seem to those in Bloomsbury that the British Museum is under siege. Greek pressure for the return of the Parthenon sculptures is stepping up in advance of the 2004 Olympic Games, and in a February interview, Greece's Minister of Culture, Evangelos Venizelos, told ARCHAEOLOGY that the request for the marbles' return was not part of a broad campaign, but linked to the integrity of the Parthenon, building and sculptures. Still, the British Museum and its supporters fear that sending the sculptures back to Greece would set a bad precedent."

Museums are wonderful places preserving history. Except when they are fake. (And there is an awful lot more of this going on that you might think. I know someone who works for a big name in the industry. She tells me that there are a lot more fakes than you would think at the most presitigious places. She told me a story of someone who tried to document all the fakes at a major museum. When the people with the power found out, they canned him. He can't get a job anywhere. Troublemaker.)

Anyways, the thing is about these museums, as wonderful as they are, they are full of stolen merchandise. That is a fact. And I think requests like those of the Greeks are more than fair and should be granted. I'd love to see what the Vatican has hiding in its coffers. I know this is a touchy issue and most of the stealing was done long before any of the participants were born, but all of the Parthenon still around belongs in the Parthenon. Not in London.