Hi Mike, While I find I can't completely agree with your characterization of the situation, I am *very* glad you're back, and happy to see some order restored to this list. I especially want to thank you for your message of tolerance for those of us who may not share the majority opinion. You're pretty alright, for a right-winger. ;)
And I'm sorry to hear of your health struggles, I hope and pray you will be well and strong soon. Cheers, -- indi On Tue, Apr 28, 2009 at 12:34:34AM +0000, M. G. Devour wrote: > Hello, everybody! > > As Mark Twain said, "The rumors of my death have been greatly > exaggerated!" > > I sincerely want to thank EVERYONE who expressed their concern and left > me messages over the last several days as I was absent when needed. I > am still coping with some health issues that limit my energy and often > monopolize my attention. However, in this specific case, I just > happened to get really busy at precisely the wrong time... > > I was fully caught up with the list as recently as early on the 23rd. > It is now the 27th. When did all hell start to break loose? The 23rd > and 24th... <sigh> I got so involved with a project for my family that > I failed to even *think* about the list for several days. > > Today I checked in, deleted about ***Five THOUSAND*** SPAM messages > from my in-box, and caught up with both the list and private > correspondence. (Wayne: Before you say it, mate, it's actually helpful > for me to LET all that SPAM come through in order to avoid false- > positives in the spam filters getting in the way of some members' > ability to participate in the list or to contact me. It's a price of > doing business, I'm afraid! <grin>) > > Okay, so what's happened? It started innocently enough! Poor Leslie, > for reasons I understand PERFECTLY well, asked a totally off-topic > question about what kind of cord to use to lift or turn a turkey in the > oven... That's all! > > (By the way, Leslie, my wife has a contraption of wire and chain that > is designed for that operation. You lay it in the pan under the bird > before cooking and it's there when you're ready to lift it out of the > pan afterward. Google 'chain turkey lifter.' You can let your son know, > for future reference! <wink!> ) > > Several folks helped her, exactly as she and I would both expect to > happen with this great group of people, and in the process a few folks > started trading tips on slow-cooking various meats. > > Anyone who's been here any length of time knows I don't object to a > little OT chit-chat and noise, and that I accept and even encourage > health-related questions not directly related to CS, so long as they're > treated more briefly and don't overwhelm the discussion for long > periods of time. > > However... If you're looking to turn things into a big mess, just get > us started on a debate over politics (animal rights, anyone?) or > religion (vegetarianism vs. eating meat)... > > I joke... a little. <sigh> > > Finally after no fewer than twenty off topic posts on cooking dead > animals, Indi posted her story about releasing a live turkey doomed to > be raffled off for the holiday, many years ago. When confronted over > the political/ethical aspects of this by Teri, she explained, 'telling > that story was simply my gentle little way of saying, "we don't all > want advice on how to prepare corpses in our inbox". No offense, but > this is the silver-list...' > > Okay, let's do a little analysis: The rules allow *some* OT chit-chat. > The rules ask you to contact me, the list owner, if you feel that > anyone's behavior is offensive. In those rules, I specifically > discourage members from playing "List Cop" by posting complaints about > other members. Dealing with all of that is supposed to be my job. The > rules also prohibit politics, religion, and any other obviously > controversial topic that can be reasonably expected to trigger an > argument. > > List rules? We have rules? Yep. They're at the web site that's linked > to in the footer at the bottom of every message from the list: > > www.silverlist.org > > Now maybe you haven't heard from the list owner in many weeks? Maybe > he's not really paying attention? Does that mean it's okay to post just > a little "hint" or two that you don't like what's going on? Does it > mean you should jump on another member's remarks because of their > controversial overtones? Does that mean that everybody who's ever been > annoyed with anybody else can pile on and say anything they damn well > think, and snap back with whatever they like? > > Are you tired of rhetorical questions yet? > > Let me tell you why you have heard so little from me lately: Yes, I'm > dealing with health issues and a bunch of family obligations. However, > in case you haven't noticed, it has been MONTHS since the main list has > *needed* any serious intervention from me. You have all been doing an > outstanding job of staying reasonably on track, taking care of new > people and each other, and steering clear of discord. I had to beat > down a brushfire on the OT list around Christmas time, and again in > January, but beyond that I can't remember the last time I had to step > in at all seriously on the main list... > > I just checked. It was early November of last year. > > Think about what that means? Thank you, folks! You did that! > > I really do depend on you to govern yourselves as much as possible (and > not each other...). Despite Steve's assumption that I "caught" a couple > of his posts, I don't actually review the messages before they go out. > (His probably got snagged by the very low, 18k message size limit.) No, > I'd rather let the conversation flow at a natural pace and prune topics > and coach behavior issues as they develop. > > Indi, ma'am, I don't agree that you've been a victim of anything other > than having posted predictably provocative remarks and having people > fall into the trap you set for them. You ought to have known better > and/or resisted the temptation to bait them. I *need* you to know > better and resist that temptation. > > That, and know that I consider off-list conduct as well as public > behavior in my decisions regarding members' continued participation. > Back-channel backstabbing is no more acceptable than public aggression. > All of you are my guests. I expect you to treat each other with > respect. > > As silly as it may seem to the rest of you, talking about cooking all > those tasty roasts and turkeys and chickens is going to be at least > annoying, if not upsetting or offensive to the non-meat-eaters that are > inevitably part of this diverse a group. There are more of them than > just Indi. I expect *them* to be willing to ignore and tolerate such > remarks and not jump all over you at the first provocation, but we each > need to be sensitive to everybody who *might* be listening to what we > say and keep our OT comments brief and inoffensive enough to not > provoke. > > And when somebody else runs up the black flag, do NOT respond in-kind, > please! Responding to remarks on prohibited topics with either a) more > prohibited remarks, or b) complaints about the prohibited remarks, will > only add your name to the list of those violating the rules, and the > spirit, of the group. > > If I don't respond right away to your efforts to alert me to what's > going on, please know that I will, as soon as I can, and I *will* deal > with what's going on. > > Nobody who took part in the argument was blameless. It took intolerance > and insensitivity on both sides to keep it going. I needed to be here > sooner, and wasn't. I'm sorry. Let's stop now, and I'll happily listen > to anyone who wants to contact me privately, now that I am back. > > Be well, > > Mike Devour > silver-list owner > > [Mike Devour, Citizen, Patriot, Libertarian] > [[email protected] ] > [Speaking only for myself... ] > > > -- > The Silver List is a moderated forum for discussing Colloidal Silver. > > Instructions for unsubscribing are posted at: http://silverlist.org > > To post, address your message to: [email protected] > > Address Off-Topic messages to: [email protected] > > The Silver List and Off Topic List archives are currently down... > > List maintainer: Mike Devour <[email protected]> > > -- indi
