At 6/14/2002  05:05 PM, you wrote:
>There have been a lot of posts recently that have not had anything to do
>with Paleolithic food and eating. This is not a Paleolithic lifestyle list.
>This is a "Paleolithic Eating Support List." All posts must have some
>connection with food. For example, how paleo food affects working out would
>be okay. But workout routines by themselves would not. And labeling an
>off-topic post OT does not make it acceptable.
>
>Don.


Don and I have been discussing this. The list is not a democracy. The
listowners have to make various decisions about what goes on concerning the
list. If you have some requests about the list, you should send them to us
off the list rather than sending them to the list. Every message goes to
the archives and it is more important to have our paleofood discussions
there as a reference than list management issues. Not everyone wants the
list topics expanded,Don has received some messages thanking for keeping
the list more focused. First let me explain why we care about staying on
topic. We are as much a member of the community as each of you. We are here
because we have some of the same health problems. However there are some
realities to list operation. It is easy to start a list on the internet
these days. There are various places such as Yahoo groups and topica where
you can set up a free list with advertising or a paid for list without
advertising. St Johns University provides us with free list facilities and
no advertising. However they seem not very interested in new lists at this
time. Don might be able to slip in a new list but it might not be easy.
That said we have this list now and can we make it accommodate our needs.
Keeping a list going takes a certain amount of work behind the scenes that
none of you see. We are busy people and would like to do less work rather
than more. It is amazing how much spam, worms and viruses is sent to the
list that only I get. When you subscribe to the list you receive a Welcome
message explaining the list rules explaining how to do things on the list
and when you signoff you are automatically sent a Farewell message asking
you to comment on how you liked the list and if you have any suggestions.
Most do not  respond but of those that do complain about the volume of
daily messages. For this reason I limit the total number of message that
the list will process each day and also limit how many messages from each
subscriber can send. Our primary list purpose is to provide support and
discussion about how can we eat a caveman style diet in our civilized world
and hopefully avoid some of the diseases that have become so common in our
modern world. Just discussing food aspects can provide a lot of daily
messages. If we add in lifestyle messages then the volume may drive away
members of our community that really need the support in food areas. Should
we abandon them? My opinion is of course not. How do we balance this? This
is what Don has been trying to address. It is less work for him as list
moderator to just say food only. However this solution does leave out a
segment of our community. How much can we have without turning into a
flood? I am proposing a trial solution. We will allow some lifestyle
discussion but with some restrictions. Toiletries are simply non paleo as
are most supplements. Herbs have been used by Hunter/Gathers so could be
ok. Sources of omega -3 fatty acid such as fish oil capsules would be
reasonable also. H/G's did not lead our sedimentary lives so some
discussion of exercise could be ok. We also don't want the list to get into
farming and animal husbandry. By definition that isn't paleo, but
Neolithic. Get the idea? Use good judgement, I have faith in you. Be
considerate to your other list members and try to not extra work for Don and I

Your listowners,

David Karas [log in to unmask]

Don Wiss [log in to unmask]

Also [log in to unmask] comes to me.

The archive page not only has the past list messages but also subscribe and
signoff links. Plus you can change your account there.
http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/paleofood.html