>[Moderator's note: I'm not yet recovered from the last round of "heated
>debate".  I think I need a longer rest or I may start to forget my good
>nature and accidentally lose a few posts ;-)  BIG]
 
As a usual lurker, I feel compelled to add my two cents worth at this time.
I have been a subscriber to the FML since issue #961.  In that two year plus
period, I have never seen so much animosity, name-calling and general
disrespect on the FML.  In case any of you out there don't recall, there was
a discussion about creating a Ferret Net-News Group going around about one
and a half years ago.  The (pretty much) unanimous decision was to not
proceed with a Net-News Group because there was no way to control
undesirable posts.  Instead, we now have a FML where there are frequent
posts taking aim at various people, and lots of arguments about petty crap.
I used to read the FML daily, but now I frequently delete it unread due to
the UNDESIRABLE posts.  Bill, you are definitely a BIGger (pun intended) man
than me.  I would have *lost* many of these argumentative posts long ago.  I
will let you know in the future if I decide to drop off the FML.
 
[Moderator's note: I think the FML is a haven of civility - relatively
speaking, that is.  The good of our ferrets is a common goal uniting us.
 
Yes, of course, sometimes people momentarily have other agendas - even the
the happiest and most compatible people in the world will occasionally
bicker.  But overall I think we do very well here compared to some other
much smaller lists.  And though some people seem to be afraid of BIG, I
think I'm pretty tolerant of what gets posted.  Maybe TOO tolerant, so some
fine tuning might still be in order.
 
Remember that in the days of issue 981 there were under 600 subscribers.
There are 4 times the number of personalities on this list now.  So rather
than complain about how horrible we've become, I think congratulations are
not entirely out of the question.  BIG]
[Posted in FML issue 1633]