hi all:

regarding the suggestion of setting up another list using one of the hostserv or listserv systems, my experience of late with them has been poor. spammers and other neer-do-wells seem to thrive on nettling the folks on those lists. some of the sexual suggestions offered as services on a couple of the other lists i subscribe to are probably not physically possible. thus, it appears that _all_ messages have to be screened by someone. the fact this list goes through the univ and is moderated makes such things unlikely, going to yahoo or aol or some other such service is another kettle of fish. taking on the task of running a new list is probably not something to take lightly.

with regard to mention of other critters on this list, i don't mind. for fifty years or more the suggestion the birds and reptiles should really be in one class has always had adherents. as was also pointed out by others, it really is not possible to think about birds without thinking of relationship to the rest of the creatures and things on the globe. the notion that the only thing that should be addressed on the list is what bird somebody saw where seems a bit sterile to me. further, taken to its extreme, that position seems to me to outlaw discussions of subspecies and variants by us. one might mention "i saw a blah-blah as described by so-and-so on page x of his/her book _____", but stating any personal thoughts would violate the 'i saw' rule, it seems to me.

i've only been on the list this year, so i probably am not entitled to an opinion, but i've offered it anyway.

regards,

dave t
crazydave65atcenturyteldotnet

> -----Original Message-----
> From: downess at charter.net
> Sent: Wed, 23 Aug 2006 17:26:41 -0700
> To: tweeters at u.washington.edu
> Subject: [Tweeters] re: off topic nature issues
>
> Tweets,
> Something Dennis said caught my eye and thought I'd respond.
>
> He stated "Sadly, there is no local listserve for discussing other
> aspects
> of nature (there is one on butterflies, I believe), so tweeters fulfills
> an
> important need. As Brian Bell wrote, the breadth of discussion on
> tweeters
> is what makes it a unique resource."
>
> I don't intend to comment on whether certain discussions belong on
> tweeters
> or not. There are listing rules and whether you like them or hate them,
> by
> being on the list means you are in some form ok with them.
> What I would like to offer is an idea; with different services like Yahoo
> groups or other listserv hosting places its fairly easy to set up a
> listserv, all you need is someone willing to serve as manager and enough
> people interested to join. If enough people would like to debate
> northwestern ecology or herps etc.. maybe some people may be interested
> in
> getting together to form a separate listserv for such topics. Just a
> thought, I'm by no means offering to do it myself and not commenting on
> whether these issues should be on tweets or not, just providing an
> alternative.
>
> An interesting discussion on herps and native fauna.
>
> Scott Downes
> downess at charter.net
> Yakima WA
>
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