LIST POLICY

[Jeffrey Martz <martz@holly.ColoState.EDU>]

      For any recent subscribers who haven't been on the list recently, I
have been compiling a list list of guidlines to help follow along with
some of the list discussions.  

1) The Laws of Physiscs only apply to modern animals.  Dinosaurs were so
   cool they could do whatever they wanted.

2) What we know on modern animal osteology and how it relates to  biology
   and biomechanics is not neccessarily suggestive toward interpretations
   of dinosaur biology and biomechanics if it depletes coolness or casts
   unfavorable light on a radical new theory.  Just take our understanding 
   of _Protoceratops_, a vicious predator with a taste for
   _Velociraptor_...     
 
3) Any attempt at moderating anything (such as, say this list) or
   regulating anything (such as fossils); in other words, not letting
   people do anything they feel like, is called FASCISM.  Regulation of
   fossil resources has figured prominantly in to policies of repressive
   governments in the past, so make sure you inlcude abundant references
   to Nazi German and Red China.  Canada and Australia, which regulate
   vertebrate fossils to somewhat more stringent degrees the the US, are
   clearly on the downward spiral into fascism.   
  
3) The whole idea of a critical thinking and careful and in depth
   research in the natural world being the basis for good
   paleontological research is a lot of hype. Casual observations around
   home (i.e. running around in your yard to study acceleration and
   inertia in large theropods) , you can make amazing inferences about
   dinosaur behavior and biology far superior to that done by
   paleontologists and thier silly obsession with research and peer
   reveiw.  
 
4) Only good references: a) The DInosaur Heresies
                         b) Predatory Dinosaurs of the World
   Alternatrive perspectives and subsequent research can be pretty much
   ignored.       

5) Paleontologists, like all scientists, are hysterically repressive of
   new thinking that threatens established dogma. This repression of new
   and novel thinking is intended to protect thier precious, carefully 
   reasearched and well-evidence theories from dangerous new ideas that
   threaten them (See #s 3 and 4a) Any idea presented that is criticized
   or discarded by most is probably right, and the person who thought of
   it realizes this the most. 
 
LN Jeff
O-