To REPLY to this message, please be sure to send it to me at [email protected] Dear TXNACOGD friends, PLEASE! The Obits questions is resolved and there is no reason whatsoever for dozens and dozens of controversial letters regarding the subject to continue to be sent to this list. Janie Hinton sent a series of obits from the Houston Chronicle to several mailing lists, including TXNACOGD and EAST-TEXAS-ROOTS. They were a valuable contribution that was appropriate to EAST-TEXAS-ROOTS but less so to TXNACOGD because it is a list that is specifically focused on Nacogdoches County. I wrote to Janie privately, but the email bounced, so I did nothing further. When people began to complain, I wrote again and sent it to the list. Janie Hinton was fully cooperative and very, very nice about it, something which I thoroughly appreciated. I also wrote and emphasized that the Houston Chronicle obits would continue to be posted to East-Texas-Roots. I also gave this list the address where obituaries for Nacogdoches *that are not copyrighted* can be posted. There is also a GenConnect Board for Obituaries for Harris County, TX (Houston). I always hate to jump on people, because I know there are new people who are just starting to use their computer for the first time and all of this is so overwhelming. But the time has come for people to STOP, look and listen. Please, read all the messages from a list before you hit the reply key. There are too many messages that refer to things that have *already* been resolved. THINK about the implications of jumping into the fray with your opinion. There is absolutely nothing to be gained by ventilating your opinion on the list. It clogs up the list and people who have ancestors in Nacogdoches who want to exchange information, and may possibly have the info *you* need will get disgusted and quit. I've had nearly 3 dozen unsubs from this list in the last few days. I think maybe many of the people who are expressing these opinions don't understand the purpose of a county mailing list and/or have confused the two lists: TXNACOGD and EAST-TEXAS-ROOTS. So, please pay attention. EAST-TEXAS-ROOTS was started several years ago, because there was *nothing like it* at the time. It is broadly based and covers ALL of the eastern part of the state. That includes Harris Co, and Houston. It is appropriate for the obits to be posted there and I have asked Janie to continue posting them there, and if she is not too upset by all of this, they will continue to be posted there. Period. TXNACOGD is a *county-specific* mailing list. There is a mailing list for EVERY COUNTY in the state of Texas, so there is no need, nor is it appropriate to put a lot of material not related *directly* to Nacogdoches, on this list. Naturally, there is always going to be some overlap. Naturally, some people in Nacogdoches are going to be very interested in the Houston obits, and as long as there were no complaints, I was reluctant to stop them. But now I have decided in favor of the obits being posted on EAST-TEXAS-ROOTS (if Janie so desires) and not on TXNACOGD. Period. The purpose of TXNACOGD is to discuss the genealogy, families and history of Nacogdoches County. It is a place for all researchers who have ancestry in this county to "meet" and exchange information. If it pertains to Nacogdoches County genealogy or history, it is most likely appropriate here. What's not appropriate is a continuing discussion of whether are not Houston Chronicle obits are helpful or not helpful to YOU, and what other lists are doing about them and what you think of what someone else did or said. What is even *less* appropriate is the rudeness and name-calling that people are getting into. That kind of behavior is *never* appropriate. Period. It comes when people are already tired and stressed and get frustrated with off-topic messages. But it is still up to you to restrain yourselves, to recognize that even if you are frustrated, venting *only makes the situation worse*. Please do NOT hit the reply key. Delete the messages. Get off the computer. Wait a day or so. Write to me privately at [email protected] But don't write an angry, frustrated and frankly rude letter to the list that will be archived for your grandchildren and great-grandchildren to read and wonder at your hot temper. Also, please remember that this list is not moderated, and understand what that means. It means that any subscriber can write any message to the list and I do not see it until it comes in my mailbox, and it already on the list. The only recourse I have is to ask you kindly NOT to post inappropriate opinion messages and not to be rude and not to indulge in name-calling. The only other thing I can do is start putting people on the "reject list". A lot of listowners do this routinely. I prefer to negotiate and explain and educate and work with people. In all my years as a listowner, I have never had to reject anyone, and I do not want to start now. Please use your common sense and good judgment, whether you are new or whether you have been on for a while. When you write your "opinion" about something like the obits question, especially in response to someone else's "opinion" -- you create a situation that is much *worse* than the original situation that you are complaining about. This is really getting out of hand, and I am counting on your common sense, good judgment, and sense of cooperation, fair play and neighborliness to put this behind us and move on. Please do not send any more "opinions" about the obit question to the list. My email is [email protected] Janie Hinton's is [email protected] Thanks in advance for your cooperation. Sincerely, Pam Phillips Email: [email protected] Listowner: TXNACOGD-L