[Fists] Delay posts, etc

[Nancy WZ8C]

All the qth.net reflectors are set up in such a way (by Al) that messages
with CC's and/or BCC's are not automatically posted to the reflectors. They
go into
a "holding pen" until the list manager can log into the 'holding pen", read
them, and OK them for posting or reject them.

The purpose of this is to keep replies that would be more appropriately sent
directly to the person who wrote what you are reponding to, from cluttering
up the reflector and causing threads from degenerating.  These sort of
replies range from  "thanks for the info" emails to personal bickering type
back-and-forth things that have no relevance to the general subscriber
population, no matter how clever or entertaining we think we're being.

It is also to stop spam-posting and cross-posting: sending the same email to
numerous reflectors.

Most of these emails are whooshed off in the heat of the moment. Email makes
it much to easy to lash out or retaliate with purely emotional reaction. I
would bet that most of the time, if you had to sit down, write with a pen
and paper, put it in an envelope, stamp it and take it to the mailbox, most
of the flaming that goes on wouldn't happen because you would have calmed
down before actually mailing that letter.

I haven't been removing any posts that end up in the "holding
pen" for CC reasons, but please count to ten and take some deep breaths, or
walk away from the computer for a moment and consider whether we all need to
read your comments and whether the email contributes information to the
group.
If you're sending the comments to the person directly, most of the time it
doesn't need
to go to the reflector also.

Many people have unsubscribed from this reflector because
of the flame wars that get started. That defeats the purpose of the
reflector, which is to distribute info about FISTS activities and items of
interest to FISTS members. The more people who unsubscribe, the less people
we are reaching.  That is my fault because I'm not censoring the posts.
If name calling, personal attacks, and general flaming persists, I will be
forced to start doing that.
Please don't let it come to that.

The licensing issue is a very emotional topic, I don't think anyone knows
that better than I do. But, lets try and keep it civil, and if you can't,
keep it private and don't CC the reflector.

By the way, if you write to the
person directly and also CC the reflector, the directly addresssed message
is delivered immediately, it is only the post to the reflector that gets
diverted to the 'holding pen".

Thanks,
Nancy WZ8C