In reply to yet more comments on this amazing thread...
GP-UK is not moderated, so this ain't censorship, and as a result (sorry to
disappoint the conspiracy theorists here) we are not going to point the
finger however much we are pushed to do so. All we want to do is to remind
people of what we see as a potential problem, so we can avoid it.
What is important is that this list doesn't come under fire and have to be
disbanded. If that happens there won't be any free speech at all. In the
time GP-UK has been running, countless other mailing lists sharing similar
or related topics have been started - in almost every case they have lacked
the vital spark, and are either dead or moribund. There is a lesson to be
drawn from this, I think.
It is interesting that this thread not drawn any female list members' views,
and with notable exceptions there are few active female participants in
GP-UK, something I would like to encourage. One of my concerns is that we do
not unconsciously drift into becoming a comfortable but sterile closed shop
of male doctors into which few women wish to tread. I don't think there is
any particular danger of this happening, but along with dealing with all the
bounced messages, joining people who can't work out how to get onto the
list, and doing the housekeeping, the three of us actually work quite hard
at keeping this thing on the road in some kind of shape. Part of that work
involves making sure the whole thing doesn't lurch down some unexpected
pothole.
Now, if sexual innuendo is such a vital part of your lives that you want to
keep it as part of GP-UK, fine, but (a) remember this is 1998, not 1898, and
(b) remember the potholes, and (c) pardon me while I go outside and pinch
myself! So far, out of 680 list members, I count only three or maybe four
people who have any problem with our advice.
And that really is all I have to say on the subject.
Andrew (-:
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