This list has been around for donkeys years. I wasn't on it in the very very early days but I probably just about qualify as an "old hand" by now J
A lot of people have come and gone over the years but the list lives on. The key point is that the canals list is not just about canals, it is, and always has been, a meeting place for people whose common interest is the waterways to discuss whatever is uppermost in their mind. The oft used (and sometimes abused) analogy is that the list is a virtual canalside pub. In amongst the chat about locks, gripes about BW, the inevitable "my bog is better than your bog" recurring topic, there is also chat about more general matters. Historically and traditionally, "off topic" has always been par for the course hereabouts! Politics rears its ugly head from time to time - both in a general sense and with regard to the running of the list. George is the list owner and has, as he always has had, the final say as to what is and what is not acceptable. George is now ably assisted by Bob and, having been involved for a time in the running of the list myself, I don't envy them the task. In answer to Julian's question :- to my knowledge only one member has ever been "banned" - by me for a flagrant breach of the agreed etiquette. In fact, the person in question was never banned as such, they were privately asked to give an undertaking not to break the AUP in future and when they refused to do so their membership was suspended until they did. The older hands will know the who, what, when and where and the general nastiness that incident led to and my advice would be not to ban Adrian, or anybody else for that matter unless there really is no alternative. Some of us feel compelled to challenge Sir Adrian Stott at any and every opportunity. I personally loathe his politics and cannot stomach his blind and frequently arrogant presumption that market forces can solve every problem in every walk of life. Since Adrian is incapable of ever conceding any single point at issue, this does lead to some fairly acrimonious debates which are not to everybody's tastes. That's what the delete key is for folks! If you don't want to read it, delete it unread. I have some (though not a lot) sympathy with digest users but I'm broadly against restricting the normal and proper use of a mailing list to suit a format which is inherently problematic. On the other side of the coin, however irritating and frustrating we may find Adrian, and whatever I may mutter to myself in private (!) I don't like to see matters descending into personal abuse and it's come perilously close a few times recently. Let's have a bit of festive spirit and lighten up for a wee while eh? J Does anybody have any good toilet stories? Bru [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
