Aggie:
There is a bond that those who are not survivors of genoncide share, our ashes can not be separated on the fields around Auswitz Bergen Belsen. There is an understanding, which my Anglo Irish father could never emotionaly have, that mother's family and I share.
The evening of August 2-3, I know you will pause and think of that night which saw the murder of almost all the Roma in those places beyond the understanding of humanity.

Neolithic is not a pajoritive. The root of a number of British traditional societies is found in pre-iron age culture. DNA studies show that there are decendants of Cheddarman living where they have lived forever, and leaving traces of their ethics shrowded in local custom.

In the US, the fact that in recent times (and to a degree presently) we have been in the process of stealing land from one group of the many nations on this shore, has led our courts to struggle with a body of law to make it seem just and right. A Canadian political sientist, Russel Bear, if memory serves, once said the American Indian Law is not law, as law must apply the same concept of rights to all and be predictable. In this, he did not mean the same set of laws, but, if it is wrong for one to be concoured, it is wrong to concour another.

There were times when Jews in England were in a position very like the Romani folks are today. Being that the state religion was anti - Jewish in its myth, Jews were not able to live freely as Jews.

There was a viriety of ways that British Jewish people reacted to this persicution, not all of it examples of taking the high road.

Often, when you find conflict between the way two groups live, you find both sides at fault. If you can come to the conference, I'm sure you will hear example after example of needed utilities denied to nomadic and semi nomadic people in Britain. Of late, my area of expertise is semi nomadic people in the US, so I have heard many of these stories from England, but have not filed these stories away, as it has not been a needed part of my work here. In the US, Travellers have moved away from the "camp period" by adopting a culture where they move from RV camps - small villages of mobile homes, to motels, a very American phonominon, hotels in every community, very very affordable and designed to accomodate cars and trailers. The fact of motels has greatly affected Traveller culture here, where for a few dollars a night, one has indoor plumbing, heat and airconditioning. As a result of this hapenstance, among all the tention and myth surounding Travllers in the US, leaving a mess is not on the board. In fact, I have found the RV parks run by Travellers to be among the most well kept parks in the US. Among the stories I hear from England and Ireland, is land set aside for Travellers without water, or a case, if memory serves, in Ireland, where horse drawn Travellers had to camp on a concrete lot where the Guardai kept watch to see that their horses did not stray to grass nearby.
We bear the weight of our history in a way that some on this board might not. I hope you can take the a little time in December to come to Ireland and find the story's other side. Remember that the world looked the otherway, fifty years ago, and the results will be felt in our families forever. When remember, as Eli Weisel remind us, that those millions died one person at a time, the racist murder of Johnny Delaney, last June, may call us to find out why. I know it is not for leaving a mess, in spite of TY's call for lynching those who litter. It was because the blaim pattern in society always points down to those with the least ability to defend themselves.
So once again, do come to the conference, if you can. It is a better thing to meet and learn from each other, then to only share the soil of Poland's death camps.
All the best
Shalom, agus Slan, hai baxt.
Larry