[Leica] good taste - was Hg Batteries

["Jacques Bilinski" <jbilin@axionet.com>]

>
>so you must
> wrap your dead Hg batteries in tin foil & send them to Iraq where
> they are used for "prayer beads".
>
> Mary Grace
>
Mary, it would be apreciated is such controversial barbs were left out of
your posts in the future. You undoubletly find this statement witty and
clever, but in some circles people find it tasteless and silly.

Apart from the gulf war itself, this statement touches on developed
countries' practice of disposing of toxic wastes overseas, and it refers to
religous artifacts in a disrespectful way, all 3 controversial and
off-topic. In addition the bringing up of heavy metals in connection to Iraq
could be a very sore point to the US service men who fought in Iraq
believing they were using Pb ammunition.  Many in the medical community
believe that their higher incidence of lung cancer is related to the use of
ammunition containing heavier spent uranium instead of Pb. I hope none are
subscribed to the LUG.

Needless references to controversial offtopic subjects like politics,
religion, gun control, etc are counter productive in a diverse international
list like the LUG. They often cause others who disagree to knowingly post
off-topic replies causing threads to deteriorate into shouting matches.

There are of course some grey areas where a subject is both controversial
and Leica related, such as the thread relating to the wartime history of
Leitz we witnessed it the last few days. I'm of the opinion that such topics
are acceptable if the posters make an extra effort to keep the posts
respectful and on-topic and that the subject line accurately reflects the
content.

Jacques Bilinski