>From:    Eric Winship <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Flames
>just letting it slide no matter how ludicrous it sounds to them.
 
Since you obviously mean me.  You take me far too seriously but what you
say perhaps not seriously enough.  Far more seriously than I take myself.
I'm just a goofball that has learned a bit about ferrets (and other things)
and is willing to share that.
 
Are you saying the if the CA F&G were to tell people that ferrets were wild
animals and a danger to people and wildlife we should just let it slide?
See a quote I borrowed from someone else in the same FML issue.  If you
really mean that, a LOT of FML posters would be guilty.  Someone is not
wrong or mean just because they disagree with you.  Plus your post I'm
citing was devoid of ferret content.  I had a longer response but the rest
too is devoid of ferret content so should be unacceptable to the FML.
 
>From:    Kevin Bonner <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: HOUSING DISCRIMINATION RESPONSE
>Misinformation can be much more dangerous then no information !!
 
>From:    hotdish <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Just Stuff
>This on-going war between "anonymous" and Zen must stop, it is really
>ridiculous and getting really old.
 
A total of 4 posts, two from each side is "really old"?  Sounds like you
are unhappy with one of the posters not the time the topic has gone on.
 
>[Moderator's note: It has stopped :-)  BIG]
 
Personally I feel it would be a shame to allow the stopping of a legitimate
discussion because some people have their feelings hurt by being proven
wrong.  Opinions are not different than 'truths' just unproven truths.  The
truth is not always fast and easy.  Often everyone turns out to have been
at least a little bit wrong by the time the final truth comes out.
 
[Moderator's note: Agreed.  Stopping a legitimate, productive discussion
would be a shame.  Stopping a non-productive flame-war is another story.
Deciding which is which is tricky too :-)   BIG]
 
>From:    Bob Church <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Bob C: Q-N-A: Lisette, Polecat Body Styles
 
Bob did a very good job of explaining that there are not body styles in
ferrets to any real degree.  Just variations.  I've seen ferrets, polecat
ferret hybrids and 'pure' ferrets and they all have very similar
variations.
 
>Forget club crappola on body styles for a minute.
 
The exact same arguments against true bulldogs and whippets can be used
to shrink the number of 'true' colors down to less than ANY of the ferret
groups current claim.  There really are only about three colors black
brown-black and brown (silver, sable and chocolate) plus albino.  Maybe
only two.  Black and brown.  (silver and sable).  Things like pandas are
not colors but merely modifications of colors that do not breed true.  The
seperation into all the other colors is as much to sell ferrets and have
excuses for saying one ferret is better as anything else.  We have forces
that are supposed to be authorities that understand genetics so poorly and
don't want to know the truth that they claim 'spontaneous' color mutations
in as many as 20% of litters.  Thats goofy.  Pandas and blazes are the same
genetics so they are not really different and certainly are not breeds.
 
>WHat we lack in the ferret community is the knowledge of specific
>linkages to specific breeding programs.
 
So far we have seen that some forms of cataracts may be genetic.  But no
other trait that can be used as a predictor.  There have been other traits
that can be tracked to certain 'lines' but no other traits seem directly
tied to that flaw.  We have a lot of breeders that claim their lines are
free of the cancers but that probably isn't exactly true.  It might be but
there hasn't been any tracking that would actually tell us.  So far ugly
politics has derailed every attempt at large scale breeder
registration/genetic tracking.
 
LOS friendly breeders will not co-operate with a registry that is run by
the AFA.  AFA friendly breeders will not co-operate with the IFFB.  IFFB
friendly breeders will not co-operate outside of the IFFB.  All parties are
equally guilty.  I have volunteered several times to do ALL the
database/registration work but too many people are so opposed to me from
irrational fears that I want power that that hasn't gotten off the ground.
You can see politically based arguments against me in the past couple FMLs.
Again, I'll volunteer to REALLY do a database that will 'register' ferrets
but mostly as a goal toward trying to track genetic traits.  I do enough
database programming to do it 'right' and be able to add more trackable
elements as things progress.  I've 'lucked' into the right equipment and
skills to be a good choice.  Now can we put aside politics and insecurities
long enough to give it a try?
 
>All attacks and hate mail does is drive the mistake underground;
>they are never reported but hushed up, allowing the mistakes to be
>made over and over again.
 
This is very true.  Whoever does this will have to do everything they can
to make sure it can't be used by some folks to destroy the competition.
 
b&d
[Posted in FML issue 2808]