Greetings Peter, and fellow listmembers, It is time to call a halt to the free-for-all I've permitted these last few days, and begin to address the issues that have been raised by so many of you. Normal standards of behavior are restored as of now, folks. Please behave accordingly.
I will use Peter Brandt's timely message as the platform for my initial comments. Thank you Peter! Peter writes: > I am glad to see that Joanne has spoken up as well but saddened to > see that she is the only one. I have never seen such lack of > solidarity and camaraderie on any of the many email lists I have > been a member of over the years. She is not the only one who has responded, but represents, as I believe you do, Peter, the most common attitude. The "lack of solidarity and camaraderie" you decry is indeed the most telling indictment possible. We cannot possibly do anything but harm ourselves by this behavior. > I hope what is being displayed are not the true colors of the list > but merely false appearances in times of great insecurity. Yes, I've thrown things up in the air and let them fall where they may. My purpose was to give those people with the most to say a chance to show themselves fully. Some have displayed great wisdom and care, while others have revealed their basest nature. We've learned something from each of them. In the process I've received a great deal of priceless help both on list and in private. You know who you are, and I thank you. In reply to Bill Fernald's rant, I wrote: > Bill, you really shouldn't hold yourself back like that! It's better > if you tell people what you *really* think! <GRIN> Thank you for > your spirited input! I was as shocked as anyone at Bill's cruel words, and likewise appalled that several of you uncritically applauded him. I was, however, getting exactly what I had called for, which was clear feedback on how people think I should be running the silver list. To take my response toward Bill as an endorsement is wrong. Peter continues: > Mike, I have been lurking on this list for a number of years and > have by and large applauded your efforts as a list moderator. > However, lately I find that you have often failed in keeping the > dialogue on the list constructive and civil. You are correct, Peter, only I think the problem has been more than "lately" and goes back a year or more. It started in small ways and has gotten continually worse. Most of the blame rests on my decision to tolerate a little bit of bad behavior for the sake of hanging on to certain people who had something to contribute to our technical discussions. I also could not afford to give those debates the attention they deserved for me to intelligently referee disagreements. This created a "priveleged class" who were not held to our normal rules of behavior. The long term result was to destroy the helpful spirit of our list and decimate the ranks of our lay community. > This has culminated with your letting Bill Fernald off with a slap > on the wrist after his insulting and below-the-belt character > assassination of Stephen Quinto. By not taking a firm stand as > moderator and implementing sanctions against such deplorable > behavior you give the impression of almost encouraging it. Had I been "taking a firm stand ... and implementing sanctions against such deplorable behavior" all along, Stephen would not have been there for Bill to insult. Remember, Bill "barely cares" about our list! His is exactly the attitude that is created by exempting *anyone* from our normal standards of good behavior. Bill's diatribe is a *perfect* example of why personal attacks can *never* be permitted. > The consequence is that other list members cheer on - obviously, cs > does not build character or honor - and Stephen quite understandably > decides to leave the list. The list ends up losing a very valuable > contributor. Surely, that must be a concern to you as well. It indeed concerns and saddens me. I must also endure the frustration and irony of the situation, however: In the first place, it was Stephen's repeated accusations that I was wrong to ban his friend Stuart, and his insistance that personal attacks are somehow justifiable behavior when he and Stuart were making them, that triggered my public re-examination of how this list should be run! And now it is Stephen who retreats in the face of a personal attack of the exact sort he would otherwise have me condone! And he continues to blame me for his failure here... Rest assured, Stephen may have abandoned the field but his enemies have also failed --- and we will be stronger for it. I am *SORRY* that I permitted this mess to grow so big for such a very long time, my friends. The upside is that we have learned what we need to do to get back on track. The guidance I've received from so many of you has helped to make the situation clear and the solutions apparent. I will cover the main questions in a series of further messages along the lines of the following: Will the basic rules and mission change? How will we handle technical discussions? What is the proper role of commercial vendors? What topics are permitted? Where do we go from here? I want further input and comments as we go along. If there's a need to fine tune anything, this will be the time to speak up. To the lurkers and newcomers who've been waiting for things to settle down, that is now going to begin. Please feel free to ask your questions. We are here, willing and able to offer our best advice. Thank you for your patience. 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 discussion of colloidal silver. To join or quit silver-list or silver-digest send an e-mail message to: [email protected] -or- [email protected] with the word subscribe or unsubscribe in the SUBJECT line. To post, address your message to: [email protected] Silver-list archive: http://escribe.com/health/thesilverlist/index.html List maintainer: Mike Devour <[email protected]>
