More speechifying from Frank

[Guest guest]

Dear Group,

 

This is written so that some of the newer members may have an idea of

the history and development of this group.

 

 

Most of the lists of this size are read only type lists. I have

thought about it many times and I have debated it with other here many

times what direction to take with the list when it kept getting bigger

and how to handle it.

 

There were many problems with the growth of the list. Many new people

meant that we would be going over and over the same material and it

can become drudgery and/or it might displace efforts for new material.

 

As the list grew, more would come expecting to obtain whatever they

wanted. Whether that be research work done by others, changes of the

rules, instant easy solutions for their problems, etc.

 

More new people would come here with an exagerated sense of their own

knowledge and ability in natural health and healing and want to show

how much they know to the group for different reasons of their own,

but usually injecting a mix of misinformation.

 

More spammers who come to push their own agenda.

More people to come who are list junkies who do not contribute much on

target information but use lists mainly for a social intercourse or

outlet.

 

More new people will come wanting us to change to please them.

 

More people coming to this group expecting this list to be like other

lists and acting and using the same things they used in other groups

and we would slowly just become like one more of those groups that we

started this group to get away from.

 

One option was to disband the list.

One option was to try and hold down the size of the list to a small

managable size.

One option was to go to a read only type of list where only a core

group of people would post articles.

 

What we tried to come up with is:

We decided that people that need it or want to learn should be able to

get the information that they needed to obtain health. How were we to

do that and not become some unpaid servant researchers doing the same

work over and over endlessly, as newbies are usually unknowledgable, and because

a lot of people are spoiled and lazy and do not want to do any of the work for

themselves in trying to solve their health problems.

 

We also thought that people that really needed help needed a way to

communicate their needs to the list.

 

Those are the factors which prompted us to try and make information

available in large chunks so that most people could easily find the

information that they are seeking. That is why we have the message

boards, the links library, the downloadable archives, the files, etc.

(Putting that stuff together represents a tremendous amount of work to make it

easier on others.) All are so you can easily obtain much information on almost

any subject that we cover. Needless to say that many will not try to avail

themselves of any of those avenues. They instead want us to treat them as if we

were their mothers and do everything for them. The moderator staff is small and

we do not have time to babysit and coddle all of the members.

 

We eventually went to a system whereby all members start out being able to post

in theory if they posted material of a certain standard within the areas that we

covered. If they continually tried to post things that were unacceptable or in a

way that required much more work in correcting misinformation or in some form

that required constant

editing we would just limit their membership to reading. They could

still get information but they were not a constant demand on time and

resources.

 

We remove some people who just don't get it, and don't want to get it

and so we remove them for the same reason as above.

 

Some people we ban. We ban because something they did leads us to

believe that they are not going to fit in, be it spam or many other

things they have shown unwillingness to belong here and want to use

the group for their own ends. It is better for them and us if they search

elsewhere for what they want

 

Have we found a solution to the problems of this group when it started

getting bigger. No, we haven't and we still may have to choose one of

the other options I talked about above.

 

regards,

 

Frank

[Guest guest]

Hi Frank...

 

I just had to laugh when I saw this comment to you... Your group, your rules...

Wouldn't it be nice if they put this much energy into a group of their own, or

towards healing, or ending war & death...

 

I haven't told you this in a while, but thank you for all your work on AMF...

Both as a reader and fellow group owner... I consider it a role model for a

great alternative health group- something that I strive to emulate...

 

Best wishes,

Misty

John Polifronio <counterpnt wrote:

Frank

I just finished reading your post regarding the history of the list. What

concerns me, is the place and relevance of political matters on the list. I've

taken it for granted that you would make your opposition clear regarding

political disputes on the list, so I've continued responding to posts that I

see, of a political nature that happen to interest me. I do want to point out,

that because I see this list as essentially concerned with alternative health

matters, I have a rule of never " initiating " a political discussion or debate,

but will respond to one that's posted to the list.

John P.

 

 

We are accountable for the knowledge, resources, abilities, etc. that we have

been blessed with. If we have been given much, then we are expected to return

that much more.

http://www..com

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Hi Misty,

 

Thank you for the compliment, but it isn't only me. I want to say what

everyone on this list knows and that is that JoAnn now posts the most

on true nutritional information/knowledge. After 30,000

articles/messages I now really prefer to post on the driving forces

behind a lot of these things that, somehow magically fall from out of

nowhere and, somehow hurt alternative medicine or somehow make fewer

choices available in our lives to where we all keep winding up with a

shorter and shorter end of the stick. Connecting the dots is just like

when you would get one of those puzzlebooks as a child. Also, lets

face it how enthusiastic can you really get after posting basically

the same information, on say vitamin C, for about the two thousandth

time. So it seems like that " my job " has evolved to basically pissing

every one off equally.

 

When JoAnn doesn't post for a short time, people ask things from her,

etc. She has singlehandedly filled up the message boards with info.

When people want some definative answer on a nutritional subject or

research they always address their request to her and not me. HaHa.

 

We also have a great core group of people who take the time and who

contribute great stuff on a regular basis that makes the group what it

is. Without them we would be lost. Cumulatively this is the backbone

of the group.

 

Don't mind John, he has set himself up as the critic of the group for

4 years now (I think that he must feel that it is his calling). I keep

trying to get him to put his effort into posting informational stuff

because his head is filled with it, then I could critique all of his

posts, because of course, I also think that I know best too. Matter of

fact we have extra, even an abundance of that here if you need any

over at your group.

 

I don't know what the going rate for a subscription to " Redflags " is

today, or one of those alternative doctor snail mail newsletters are,

but I know that we are probably one of the cheapest around and not

many deliver the volume of info that people get here. Come to think of

it, I wonder if Redflags gets a lot of complaints too. Hey, maybe you,

me, JoAnn and a few others ought to talk. I just had a great idea. HaHa.

 

fond regards,

 

Frank

 

 

 

, mistylyn trepke

<mistytrepke> wrote:

> Hi Frank...

>

> I just had to laugh when I saw this comment to you... Your group,

your rules... Wouldn't it be nice if they put this much energy into a

group of their own, or towards healing, or ending war & death...

>

> I haven't told you this in a while, but thank you for all your work

on AMF... Both as a reader and fellow group owner... I consider it a

role model for a great alternative health group- something that I

strive to emulate...

>

> Best wishes,

> Misty

> John Polifronio <counterpnt@e...> wrote:

> Frank

> I just finished reading your post regarding the history of the list.

What concerns me, is the place and relevance of political matters on

the list. I've taken it for granted that you would make your

opposition clear regarding political disputes on the list, so I've

continued responding to posts that I see, of a political nature that

happen to interest me. I do want to point out, that because I see

this list as essentially concerned with alternative health matters, I

have a rule of never " initiating " a political discussion or debate,

but will respond to one that's posted to the list.

> John P.

>

>

> We are accountable for the knowledge, resources, abilities, etc.

that we have been blessed with. If we have been given much, then we

are expected to return that much more.

> http://www..com

>

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Mistylyn

Do you regard one small paragraph as, " ...this much energy? " I write a

thousand times as much, daily on dozens of different groups, many of them

devoted to ending the war, fighting the Bush agenda, but most of all, the

alternative health movement, etc.

 

I failed, though I meant the post to Frank, to be sent to him personally, and I

resent your nosiness and sneering presumption. Who the hell are you to question

my devotion to the issues you mention? Additionally, your post was sent in

ignorance of the fact that I've had difficulty, in the past, obtaining

permission, due to my own inattention, to remain on this list.

JP

-

mistylyn trepke

Friday, July 01, 2005 3:38 AM

Re: More speechifying from Frank

 

 

Hi Frank...

 

I just had to laugh when I saw this comment to you... Your group, your

rules... Wouldn't it be nice if they put this much energy into a group of their

own, or towards healing, or ending war & death...

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

, " califpacific "

<califpacific> wrote:

> Hi Misty,

>

> Thank you for the compliment, but it isn't only me. I want to say

what

> everyone on this list knows and that is that JoAnn now posts the

most

> on true nutritional information/knowledge. After 30,000

> articles/messages I now really prefer to post on the driving forces

> behind a lot of these things that, somehow magically fall from out

of

> nowhere and, somehow hurt alternative medicine or somehow make

fewer

> choices available in our lives to where we all keep winding up

with a

> shorter and shorter end of the stick. Connecting the dots is just

like

> when you would get one of those puzzlebooks as a child. Also, lets

> face it how enthusiastic can you really get after posting basically

> the same information, on say vitamin C, for about the two

thousandth

> time. So it seems like that " my job " has evolved to basically

pissing

> every one off equally.

>

> When JoAnn doesn't post for a short time, people ask things from

her,

> etc. She has singlehandedly filled up the message boards with info.

> When people want some definative answer on a nutritional subject or

> research they always address their request to her and not me. HaHa.

>

> We also have a great core group of people who take the time and who

> contribute great stuff on a regular basis that makes the group

what it

> is. Without them we would be lost. Cumulatively this is the

backbone

> of the group.

>

> Don't mind John, he has set himself up as the critic of the group

for

> 4 years now (I think that he must feel that it is his calling). I

keep

> trying to get him to put his effort into posting informational

stuff

> because his head is filled with it, then I could critique all of

his

> posts, because of course, I also think that I know best too.

Matter of

> fact we have extra, even an abundance of that here if you need any

> over at your group.

>

> I don't know what the going rate for a subscription to " Redflags "

is

> today, or one of those alternative doctor snail mail newsletters

are,

> but I know that we are probably one of the cheapest around and not

> many deliver the volume of info that people get here. Come to

think of

> it, I wonder if Redflags gets a lot of complaints too. Hey, maybe

you,

> me, JoAnn and a few others ought to talk. I just had a great idea.

HaHa.

>

> fond regards,

>

> Frank

>

 

I can see my feelings are all summed up in Misty's tagline. Everyone

deserves to know the truth. Whether they accept or reject it is

basically up to them. Our task is to make it known. " Cast your bread

upon the waters, and it will return unto you in many days " .

I can already see the fruits of our labor. God Bless Tom Cruise for

speaking out on mind altering drugs! I hope this encourages others

to speak out on these crucial topics as well. I can see our

influence is growing and this is very encouraging. To the others I

say, " Do not accept the " death sentence " the doctors have given

you " . You deserve much better! There are no incurable diseases, only

incurable mindsets. Basically, with a positive mindset, a good

organic diet and the appropriate supplements, anything is possible!

I never could figure that out either, Frank. Why DO I get all the

questions. You're much better qualified and you have such a way with

words! <LOL>

Thanks, JoAnn