I could not believe my eyes when reading the FML from 9/14/03.  There was
a post from Jennifer Null regarding her 2 cents on the smoking issue,
i.e., smoking around ferrets.  She was sounding off on smoking and there
was a note from BIG at the bottom saying that this was off topic.
 
Gee, BIG remember when I wrote you privately that I was surprised that
you let that post through that said the woman was ashamed of her country
for invading Iraq and you said that was okay?  Tell me again, that wasn't
off topic?  I thought that this was the FERRET MAILING LIST..... ferrets,
ferrets, ferrets, not opinions on the war in Iraq.  Jennifer's post
followed a whole lot of posts on the smoking issue.... even Deathadder
wrote about all the carcinogens in things around the house and you
didn't get him for off topic.
 
I'm done.  No more FML for me.  Remove this e-mail address from the
subscriber list.
 
[Moderator's note: Off-topic posts are accepted on a case-by-case basis.
Usually they have to be seen in context -- if a reference to something
like Iraq somehow explains a personal belief that supports an opinion in
an otherwise on-topic post then I'll often let it through.
 
A couple of the second-hand smoke posts were clearly off-topic and
perhaps I shouldn't have included them.  Yet they were certainly related
to the discussion about smoking around ferrets and posting one or two of
those helps to let readers appreciate the strong reactions that people
have about the topic -- either pro or con.  But one or two posts like
that go a long way and we get the picture quickly!  BIG]
[Posted in FML issue 4272]