Whew! OK, now let's see what I can do to bring people with equally important views to some kind of amicable understanding of each other, and about this forum.

Firstly, I think it is important for everyone to feel they are valued, and have a right to come here and express thier views.

Secondly, I have always been most impressed with members here for their ability to discuss issues which are sometimes contentious in an atmosphere of mutual respect and tolerance.

Thirdly, this is a support group, in which members come to give and receive mutual assistance for their low-carbing way of life and other LC issues. We have enough to put up with from people outside this support group, as earlier posts here clearly indicate, and it is important to keep this as one haven we can come to without the prejudices and vitriol of the outside world creeping in.

Having said that, there are a few actual points to comment upon, and I shall try to keep these as impersonal as possible.

It is a scientific fact that people who are overweight do not, in the vast majority of cases, overeat. If required, I can produce evidence that being overweight is not a result of over-indulgence, lack of willpower, gluttony, or any similar stereotype, but is in fact caused by a metabolic deficiency. Couple this with modern over-refining, and you have an all too familiar situation, hence the presence of all of us here.

I, too, feel terrible about the starving millions in the world. But I am not able to fight all the ills of the world on my own, and all I can try to do here is make a small difference to others like me who have suffered discrimination and similar experiences.

And I agree that Wendy Bailey summed things up beautifully.

It is always possible to start up a new thread. Sometimes I read posts in which it is obvious that a whole topic could be sparked off. It is always worth considering a new thread. When I started this one, I could not foresee more than half a dozen replies, and 20 or 30 views. And here we are, pushing towards 2,000 views and around 80 replies. And what about Mari (Otenn)? When she started up the now famous triple digit thread "Who has 100 pounds to lose?" did she think for one moment it would have well over 6,000 views, several hundred replies, and spawn a whole sub-forum? Did she think that until it was overtaken by Nat's journal, it would be the most viewed and popular thread on this entire site? I expect not. Being able to cause controversy with an idea or a way of expressing it is a good indication of a theme which can run and run. So, it may be that this particular thread has just about outrun its course, fulfilled its destiny, reached the end of the road, and it may be that another new and vital thread is waiting to burst forth upon the scene from one of these contentious themes (or the members posting them) which are now beginning to show themselves here.

Andy