My friends - Over the past couple of weeks, on various lists which I host, there have been postings appear which are off-topic and are, therefore, in violation of the list guidelines which are in place, and which all subscribers receive when they subscribe to one of the lists. Given the fact that we are currently living in very uncertain times, on a worldwide scale, and all of us are perhaps a little "on-edge" as to what may be facing us in the weeks to come, I think now is a good time to restate these guidelines, and remind all of us that they are in place, and are there for a reason. There are major national issues - some of them very controversial - before all of us right now, and they are all important, but they are not for our discussion or debate here. First, we do try to stay focused and "on-topic". For the JacksonPurchase-L List, "on-topic" means discussion about the history and genealogy of the families of the 8 counties in the region which carried the JP name. We do not discuss other counties in KY, TN or IL, except perhaps in a passing reference noting that a family may have lived in some other county before moving into, or after leaving, the JP region. For the county lists, "on-topic" means discussion of families and historical aspects of the individual counties themselves. Stories and other family "lore" need to go to the KYJacksonPurchase-Lore-L List, which was created for that purpose. Discussions about current national issues, or current religious or political subject matter, are off-topic. Second, virus warnings should not be posted to the lists. About 98% of them have turned out to be hoaxes over the years. If someone has a concern about a virus situation that he/she deems so critical that it is felt it should be posted to a list, send the information to me. I will investigate it, and if it proves to be an immanent danger, I will post the warning myself. Third, we try to stay away from "chatting" on the lists. This is perhaps a little more critical on a larger list, such as the JP List, but it can sometimes occur on smaller lists, as well. Once a posting has been made inquiring about a surname or individual, further back-and-forth conversation between contacts that are made should be done via private e-mail. We have built up an enormous "contact network" among the various county lists, and within the JP List especially, as is evidenced by the "thank-you" posts we see from time to time, reflecting that folks are always willing to help, and we have a lot of family expertise among the subscribers on these lists. I encourage the postings of surnames on which our subscribers are working, about every three months, so that new subscribers can contact, by private e-mail, those folks who are working on the same families. Additionally, we have the JP Surnames website, which contains the e-mail addresses of individuals cross-referenced to the family surnames on which they are working, which should also be a primary source to consult from time to time. The URL for that is: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~kyjpsurnames/ I do over to that site fairly frequently myself. I think it is a great resource. If you do not have your address posted there, and would like to have it included, there is a link to the webmaster on the main page. The information can be sent to her and she will get it posted. Finally, there is a hard, set-in-stone guideline which prohibits "flaming" - the posting of inflammatory, critical, insulting, obscene/pornographic or personal attacks on a list. The same is true for such messages sent privately to list subscribers as a result of posts which a subscriber has made to a list. If a subscriber receives such a message from another subscriber in private e-mail, that message should be sent to me - please do not respond to it yourself - and I will deal with it. Those who engage in deliberate flaming will be removed from the list(s) and will not be allowed to return. We have far too many good things that need doing, and flaming does absolutely nothing good at all. We have very little of this sort of thing that occurs, and, often, when it does occur, it was due to circumstances in which the actual subscriber may not have even sent the message, in cases where others have access to the computer in question. If cases of flaming do appear, please let me deal with it - and I *will* do so as quickly as it comes to my attention. Please do not send messages of outrage to the poster - or to the list - the person being "lambasted" may not be the individual who sent the offending message. These guidelines are generally those used by most RootsWeb based list hosts. They are not, in my view, "hard-nosed" or restrictive, but rather just some common sense things we need to do to maintain, and continue to have, productive and on-topic and focused postings. I am always open to suggestions or thoughts about these, as long as they are constructive and presented in a thoughtful, diplomatic manner. That's the "reminder notice" for this quarter - let's get back to what we do best - hunting down elusive forebears. -B ====================================================================