The sideways suggestion has been made that it is improper to hypothesise
or opine in this *discussion* list, upon such highly relevant matters as
the decline of interest in, teaching of, and basing of public policies (
such as those which affect our oceans and other waterways, hence the
molluscan populations they contain......) upon solid, relevant science.
I submit that such discussions are indeed germaine to the interests of
such a sceince-based pursuit such as Conchology, and that we shouldn't
steer clear from  potential controversy in the name of sticking
rigorously to a tightly-defined notion of what precisely is "on topic"
for such a forum as this.  Granted, we should rigorously steer clear of
such matters as partisan politics, but general references to "right" and
"left" - leaning ideologies should not be out of bounds so long as the
material being discussed is in fact relevant to the aims and interests
of many on the list.     An overly-strict interpretation of exactly what
is "permissible" to say in any discussion group, tends to send a chill
throughout the entire discourse.  So long as a posting has significant
resonance with the purposes of the group as a whole (for example,
ecologically-based articles on coral reefs, where a large proportion of
shell-bearing molluscs happen to live), i see no cause for taking
offence or accusing people of being "venom-spitting" miscreants for
perhaps stepping on a toe or two. (and "for the record", i do not see
many "left-leaning" folks doing their share  of the heavy-handed
science-bashing going on in our society as a whole.......  there does
indeed seem to be a high degree of correlation between mistrust of and
hesitancy to accept the validity of the scientific method in general,
and certain varieties of ideological stance.)

 From a territory where there are no venomous reptiles at all,
ross mayhew.

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