as one who does indeed shoot her mouth off occasionally on lactnet, and i
admit it, i must say that i fail to see how a company could or would choose to
sue lactnet for slander, what about free speech? anyway, this cutsey
pretending to not names and use initials does not seem to be an adequate way
to avoid such a response, should one be taken by some company. if we are all
to tighten up our comments, and not say anything that might be considered
"unprofessional" by some, then lactnet will change into something less
interesting and less relevant and another list will be started somewhere that
does indeed allow for ranting and blowing off steam and injecting slightly
less professional topics from time to time.

and indeed, if we *are* professionals, then what we choose to say *is*
professional by definition.

some of those who post on this list and think anything that is not completely
mainstream medical might think that those who use homeopathy or tinctures are
"unprofessional," and those who work in hospital settings and accept the use
of ABM and bottles as "necessary" might think that some who believe otherwise
are "fanatics" etc., but i think we need this forum to be as it is so that we
can accomodate everyone and  learn from everyone else.

the nature of lactnet is that it is a natural phenomenon; that is to say, it
has evolved and grown into what it is without much outside shaping. it does
not have much formal structure, so it is an organic entity. trying to
artificially alter it in a very large way will cause it to either diminish or
to show strong resistance.

if someone thinks lactnet is "not professional enough" then perhaps that says
more about their expectations than about the nature of lactnet. it is itself
and undubitably so, and probably cannot be otherwise.

carol brussel IBCLC
reflecting back on her philosophy major days . . . .