[pct-l] Gear Test Notifications - Tabulations to date

[yumitori at montana.com (Ron Martino)]

Slyatpct@aol.com wrote:

> Maybe so Ron, but I don't make any money discussing hiking or 
> environmental topics that may not be exclusively pct related.


    I'm afraid you've lost me, Sly. If 'not making money' makes posts 
acceptable, then the notices Andrew offered to post would be okay, given 
that everyone at BGT are volunteers. If fact, Jerry Goller's had to sink 
quite a bit of his own money into the operation, which he originally 
created because he saw a need for objective reviews of outdoor gear and 
not as a way to make money. Perhaps you misunderstand the process.

    On the other hand, posts from some very nice folks who have set up 
their own small businesses creating gear that fulfills what they see as 
a need should them be banned. Yet I've seen no outcry when their 
announcements come through occasionally.

Ilja Friedel wrote:

> It is fairly easy to create a new list whose only purpose is to post
>
>once-a-month announcements. 
>  
>

    That's true. It would be equally easy for the folks who want to 
endlessly debate bear canisters to create a list for just that purpose. 
But bear canisters and regulations concerning them have application to 
the PCT, just as outdoor gear does.

>>    In a 'vote' reminiscent of the mandate received by George W. Bush,
>>    
>>
>
>You might be walking on thin ice.
>

    Not the way I see it. This thread was started to 'show' that more 
people did not want the postings than wanted them. Yet when several more 
posts in support of the proposal were made, no 're-count' was done. No 
updated tabulation was made. We were left with a small group who got 
their way simply by complaining early and loudly.

> The difference is that people make an effort and spend their time writing
>
>down opinions on those topics. I honor their efforts of sharing
>information. This is different from using mechanized means of filling as
>many channels as possible with the same posting. (For the same reason I
>believe that Andrew does this list a service, if he answers a question to
>a specific piece of gear with a link to the testing website.)
>
>Ilja.
>  
>

    As opposed to people who make an effort and spend their time writing 
down opinions on the latest gear?

    Have you actually looked at any of the reviews on BGT? I 'honor' 
those efforts much more than someone's flippant whine about 
environmentalists.

-- 

It is our attitude toward free thought and free expression that will determine our fate. There must be no limit on the range of temperate discussion, no limits on thought. No subject must be taboo. No censor must preside at our assemblies. 
	William O. Douglas 

yumitori(AT)montana(DOT)com