New UseNet newsgroup

Anne Kilmer viceroy at gate.net
Wed Nov 25 08:52:14 EST 1998


A.P.K.Torry wrote:
> 
> I have been wondering how comes this stuff about setting up a 'Rival' to
> the s.b.e.l newsgroup and consequently the leps-l list, has come up so soon
> after the debate about commercial stuff appearing on the list. Maybe we
> have an ulterior (Have you any idea how long it took me to find out how to
> spell that) motive here in that this person wants a forum for commercial
> activities (If you read the charter proposal it does not rule out
> commercial advertising, only minimises it).  The kind of activity we
> frowned upon here some weeks ago.
> 
> Just a thought, I think UK readers should post more often here.
> 
> Andrew T

Yes, I wondered about that, too. I notice that Neil's nemesis Dao Lu is
back. :) 
I enjoy the UK postings, although my Irish house is in the Republic, so
gee, I guess I wouldn't be welcome. (Kidding, I'm kidding, I had a
wonderful time exploring the North of Ireland with some British
Butterfliers a few years ago. Butterflies don't seem to notice those
borders. 
	What I hear people saying here is that we'd love to hear whatever these
guys are saying, are afraid that if they go off and chat privately we'll
miss something interesting, and hope that at least they will post us
copies of everything they say among themselves. This is because, as
world citizens, we are attached to them. 
We're all involved in conservation, habitat preservation etc., each in
our own way, and by comparing notes we can fine-tune our techniques.
Persuading people to be kind to bugs is a difficult task, and
butterflies can be a way to soften hard hearts. 
	Where I live, in South Florida, the nurseries advertise butterfly
plants; they're for sale in Home Depot, labeled as such. (Right next to
the bug poisons, I have no doubt. But it's a start.)
	   The schools all have environmental gardens, native plants are widely
used, and bug spray is not used... or so I'm told. Well, there are those
fire ants ... 
	It helps me, in this endless battle, to get the wise advice of friends
in the UK who are in the same war. If we all go off and wage our private
wars, consulting only with the  folks nearby, we may win our own fight,
while the sky falls all around us. 
	Besides, wasn't it the Brits, with their passion for clean green lawns,
that got us into this chemical disorder? ;) Maybe they'll have an idea
that will extract us. Rent-a-sheep instead of a lawn service ... 
	As for Sci-bio-homoptera, I have been lurking there for a while hoping
to find out what a homopteran is, as I am too lazy to look it up. I see
no evidence that anybody posting there has the faintest idea either.  
Oh, I looked it up. aphids and stuff. Ah yes, it all comes back to me.
Anyway, people who really want to chat about them hang out at entomo-l
and, as you suggest, at sci-bio-entomology-misc. 
	Any grouping that separates amateurs from professionals also destroys
the whole point here, doesn't it? The profs need the raw data; the
amateurs collect it, and there we are. and everything in the garden is
lovely. 
Cheers
Anne Kilmer
South Florida


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