I don't mean to discount Anthea's concerns nor the solutions that have been put forward by the experienced listowners here, but I'd like to at least toss into the discussion another perspective (mine): Who's to say what's garbage and what's the result of a community exercising its will? I wonder if, in cases where a list starts to diverge from its stated purpose, it is more a sign of a community in the process of change rather than a degradation from a static standard. I own a list that touches only occasionally on its stated topic. Some newcomers object, but the list keeps growing steadily in size and traffic, so I conclude that the discussion is satisfying enough to most folks and don't meddle with it. What's 'on task' and what's 'noise' or 'garbage' varies wildly. Depends on who you ask. And on a list of 3000+ you got a whole great big bunch of sensibilities represented. In this case, taking steps to slow and redirect the discussion might be the best thing. I just wanted to note that 'garbage' ain't necessarily fatal to a list. Might be a sign of life, in fact. --Eric Crump