Hi Jane, Sorry but all I have for you is a chiding admonishment, eh? Please think of it kindly....
When reading these 'sturm und drang' posts please read carefully, to avoid misunderstandings. You see, Greg points out that the offices are in New York further down in his post: " When I inquired >whether or not they enjoyed tax exempt status in the State of New >York where their offices are located, again I was told that they do >not have tax exempt non-profit status. And, when I checked with the >IRS, they told me that Demeter does not have federal tax exempt >non-profit status either. That would be 401(c)(3) designation." I expect your less than careful reading probably comes from some place where you feel the attacks are overly one sided and that there is good in these people that is being denied by their attackers. Something in that old Catholic tradition of 'hating the sin, loving the sinners' seems to be missing, eh? It seems to me that the BD community in the US is getting caught up in an organizational dynamic similar to the struggles over defining organic for the National Organic Program and defining composting, which is being increasingly narrowly defined as thermophilic composting, (as in the NOP rules.) Maybe there is some deep astrological reason for this, who knows? But the businesses of Self-Other conflict on the one hand, and cooperation, on the other, can certainly entail crimination and recrimination, before they move to a more constructive level. Rather than stay within the little world of BD I would like to make you aware of the slightly large world of organics and composting. In both of these worlds process standards, ie how something has to be done, rather than performance standards, ie what are we trying to do, have become or are becoming the rule, not only of a core group of practitioners but as a matter of law (in the case of the NOP, Federal law.) I think the people on this list are much more in tune with the concept of multiple methods of accomplishing a goal rather than one orthodoxy. One pitfall to avoid is excessive indulgence in demonizing the Other. But it is hard to refrain from doing battle when the other side attacks you. I was recently thrown off the US Composting Council list for coming to the defense of vermicomposting, particularly vermicomposting in schools, which Jim McNelly has made a hobby of attacking in a 'Dennis Avery' sort of way over the last few years. I basically think he has an ax to grind against Mary Appelhof and fearmongering against her life's work is how he does it, for what that's worth. It is hard to avoid angry feelings in these contexts, but it is important to keep some sort of perspective. By and large, war sucks. Frank Teuton ----- Original Message ----- From: "jsherry" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Tuesday, February 19, 2002 9:36 AM Subject: Re: Demeter Non-Profit - Not! > Perhaps you looked in the wrong place. Demeter to the best of my knowledge > is in NY state, not Mass. > > JS > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "bdnow" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Sent: Tuesday, February 19, 2002 8:19 AM > Subject: Fwd: Demeter Non-Profit - Not! > > > >Date: Mon, 18 Feb 2002 13:13:06 -0800 > >From: Greg Willis <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >X-Accept-Language: en > >To: Allan Balliett <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >Subject: Demeter Non-Profit - Not! > > > >Dear Allan and All Listmembers, > > > >On Saturday, I received in the mail a copy of "THE VOICE OF > >DEMETER", ISSUE NO. 15, WINTER 2002. On the back cover is a plea > >for money under the title "BECOME A FRIEND". > > >
