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All questions should go to bears-digest-approval@queernet.org.
[Last updated on: Wed May 2 3:57:04 2001]
Welcome to the Bears Mailing List.
Read everything in this message, and then SAVE IT somewhere. You *WILL* need this information later. The moderators reserve the right to not answer any e-mailed questions that are answered in this message.
Depending on the moderators schedules, the Bears Mailing List may take a short break from time to time we'll tell you in advance if digests will be on short break.
SECTIONS:
WARNING ABOUT EXPLICIT CONTENT; THOSE UNDER 18 MAY NOT SUBSCRIBETHE BEARS MAILING LIST
WHAT IS A BEAR?
THE RULES
ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS
SUBSCRIBE
UNSUBSCRIBE
CHANGING E-MAIL ADDRESS or INTERNET PROVIDER
WHY DID THE DIGESTS STOP?
I'M A MEMBER BUT YOU RETURNED A POSTING SAYING I'M NOT A MEMBER!
YOU HAVE TO POST MY MESSAGE - I'M PRESIDENT OF XYZ BEARS!
I SENT A MESSAGE BUT IT DIDN'T APPEAR IN THE DIGEST ...
MODERATOR MAIL
POSTING MESSAGES
POSTING ANONYMOUSLY
BACK ISSUES
RELATED RESOURCES
MAILING LISTS
WEB SITE
FILE ARCHIVE
A BIT OF HISTORY
WARNING ABOUT EXPLICIT CONTENT; THOSE UNDER 18 MAY NOT SUBSCRIBE
The content of this mailing list is created by and for adults; the content may include frank discussions relating to sex and male anatomy. Those under the age of eighteen may not subscribe to the bears-digest; subscribers who are found to be (or suspected of being) underage will be unsubscribed from the mailing list.
THE BEARS MAILING LIST
The Bears' Mailing List (aka BML) is an Internet mailing list in digest format for gay and bisexual men who are bears themselves and for those who enjoy the company of bears. It is hosted by Alex Schell, Dave Wilson and Roger Klorese. The BML is designed to be a forum to bring together folks with similar interests for conversation, friendship and sharing of experiences. Since it's beginnings in August of 1988, it has grown to a community of more than 2,700 men (and a few women) world-wide. On average, a new digest 20-30K bytes long arrives via email several times daily.
WHAT IS A BEAR?
There is some controversy over what makes a man a "bear," and there are no fixed criteria. First and foremost is a cuddly demeanor, followed by a cuddly body. Body or facial fur can be important, since they are some of a bear's identifying characteristics in the wild. Bears have been found with heavy to stocky to medium builds; very slender individuals are generally thought to be some other, closely related species ("otters"). For the purposes of this list, we encourage the participants in this forum to use their own definition, using this paragraph as a guide.
THE RULES
The ground rules for the BML are loosely based on those used by other sexually-explicit lists:0. This is a list devoted to the care, feeding and appreciation of ursine[1] men; please post with that in mind. It is directed to all gay and bisexual men who are bears, arctophiles[2], or both. Others, including womyn, who have an interest in this topic are also welcome, although the list is decidedly oriented towards gay male topics.
1. Contributors to the list are expected to be responsible in their contributions. Messages consisting primarily of personal attacks, or which have little or no relevance to the group or ongoing discussion(s) are not appropriate and may or may not be returned by the moderators. There is no charge for BML, but communications are not free, as it costs most universities and companies real money to stay on the net. Please be concise and to the point in your postings, showing respect for other members of the list. ASCII art and long signature files are also discouraged and will be removed from messages forwarded on to the digest. We strive to keep the BML pleasant and enjoyable to read.
2. We will not edit the text of submitted articles without the author's approval. Articles may be reformatted as necessary to fit into the digest format.
3. There are no subjects relating to bears or beardom taboo on this list. The tone of the BML will be determined by its members, but people uncomfortable with discussing sexually explicit topics via electronic mail should not subscribe. That said, the moderators may limit or end discussion on topics that are going 'round and 'round with nothing new, interesting, or relevant being said.
4. Please don't post the BML to any USENET news group or BBS echo; also, please don't forward it on a regular basis to others not on the list. You may not make back or current issues (in whole or in part) available via your web page. (Sharing it occasionally with folks with similar interests is fine, but we prefer regular readers to subscribe directly.) This is a private e-mail digest, not a USENET news group. If you DO forward on or repost the digest and its contents without permission, you will be unsubscribed. We may also contact your ISP and inform them of the copyright infringement. (See #15 for copyright information.)
5. We don't post third party messages, except in very rare circumstances. For example, we don't post submissions for a friend who isn't on the list, isn't on the net, etc. There are many free email services available, and if someone can't take the time to join the list, he shouldn't expect to have anything posted here.
6. New subscribers should post an introductory bio (which may be anonymous if you wish) within one month of subscribing. It may be as discreet or as descriptive as you like.
7. The moderators will work to keep the complete list of members confidential. Since electronic mail is not itself secure, members should not assume their identities are completely secure from discovery.
8. Subscription/unsubscription requests are managed by an automated server called Majordomo. It is VERY IMPORTANT that you follow the directions below for sending postings and administration requests. Sending the wrong requests to the wrong places delays processing and annoys everyone. Requests which don't follow the procedure may not be processed or acknowledged.
9. We expect folks to be germane in their contributions ... keeping in mind the usual netiquette rules. Posting messages which read essentially "me, too!" ... and posting off-topic items are discouraged. No MIME enclosures, please; no enclosed JPEG/GIF images, Microsoft Word documents, HTML, etc. No ASCII art, and limit your signatures to five lines maximum. Many users cannot read or process files in other formats, and HTML, MIME, and the like make the digests many times larger than they would be otherwise.
10. Messages must have a subject to be published; messages which are received with no subject or with a subject of the form "RE:Bears Digest vNN nXXX" will not be returned or forwarded to the digest. Similarly, messages with more included text (from earlier messages) than original text will not be forwarded to the digest.
11. We do not repost copyrighted material. It is illegal. Don't send us an article from another source, such as the New York Times, Time Magazine, NEWS.COM, etc. We won't post it. If you think it is important, summarize the article and include the URL for readers to go to.
12. The operating language of the bears-digest is English. This is a practical matter; the moderators are Anglophones, and (while they may have working knowledge of other languages) they cannot effectively read messages in other languages to determine whether or not they meet the guidelines shown above. Messages in languages other than English which are intended for publication in the digest will be accepted if they are accompanied by a reasonably-accurate translation of the message in English language and if they meet the other guidelines shown above.
13. Postings to the digest must be sent from the account that is sub- scribed to the digest. Our mailing list software screens out mail from non-subscribers; it's how we keep the spam out. If your e-mail address changes you will need to unsubscribe your old address and subscribe your new address. If your ISP makes changes to mail addressing, you must change your subscription address.
14. Bear-related businesses and clubs are welcome to promote their organizations' products and activities on the bears-digest within reason (keeping the length and frequency moderate); clubs and organizations may NOT gather e-mail addresses, URLs, and the like from bears-digest postings for the purpose of creating unsolicited (by the recipient) mass mailings and marketing schemes. Members of the digest who are found to be mass-mailing unsolicited messages to other bears-digest members will be removed from the list. If you include a URL that uses a verification service, please indicate this as a courtesy to readers.
15. We hold what is called a compilation copyright on material appearing in the digest. This means that anything that appears in the digest is the property of the moderators. You hold a separate copyright on your postings. No one may repost or reprint the digest in any form without explicit permission of the moderators. You may, of course, repost or reprint your own contributions without our permission.
16. The moderator's decisions are final.
Welcome to the BML!
Your hosts,
- - Alex, Dave and Roger
Footnotes:
[1] ur.sine \'*r-.si-n\ aj [L ursinus, fr. ursus bear - more at ARCTIC]:
of, relating to, or resembling a bear or the bear family (Ursidae)
[2] Arc.to.phile \'a:rk-to*-.fi-l\ aj : markedly friendly to bears or
arctic culture - Arctophile n
ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS
The Bears Mailing List is moderated; it is our intent to provide a place to discuss various issues 'bear,' and we expect folks to behave (as discussed above). This does not mean the BML runs entirely on autopilot; we do read the stuff, and will provide assistance when necessary.
This list is currently only available in digest format.
Subscription/unsubscription requests are managed by an automated server
called Majordomo. It is *very* *important* that folks use this to
subscribe and unsubscribe, since we do *no* manual subscriptions to the
list.
SUBSCRIBE:
Send a mail message to The first (not subject) line of the message should be- subscribe bears-digest
UNSUBSCRIBE:
Send a mail message to The first (not subject) line of the message should be- unsubscribe bears-digest
CHANGING E-MAIL ADDRESS or INTERNET PROVIDER:
Wait until you've had your new account for a full 24 hours, and then send a mail message to majordomo@queernet.org FROM YOUR NEW ACCOUNT with these two lines in the body of the message:-
unsubscribe bears-digest old-address@goes.here
subscribe bears-digest
We ask you to wait 24 hours because it takes your ISP some time to get all
the bits for your e-mail account in place, and they're not always in place
when you get the notice from your ISP. If these details aren't all in
place when you subscribe you make extra work for us and you won't be
subscribed to the digest.
WHY DID THE DIGESTS STOP?
If you stop receiving digests you should first check with your Internet Service Provider to determine if there have been any problems with e-mail. Having received their assurance that there have been no problems, you should simply resubscribe using the directions above. We remove you from the list if we receive bounce messages; since those messages are bounce messages, we don't try to write you at that address since it would probably bounce.We also unsubscribe you if:
- We receive a message that your mailbox is full.
- We receive more than one message saying that the digest can't be delivered due to a mail/network problem.
- Your mail program sends us messages indicating that the mail we send you has been received.
- You forward your mail to another account (because you are on an extended trip, at a Bear function, etc.), and your forwarding instructions are incorrect.
I'M A MEMBER BUT YOU RETURNED A POSTING SAYING I'M NOT A MEMBER!
YOU HAVE TO POST MY MESSAGE - I'M PRESIDENT OF XYZ BEARS!
Majordomo said you're not a member. It doesn't matter if a moderator knows
who you are, it doesn't matter if you are known in the "bear community."
If the Majordomo program can't match the address to one in the
subscription list, we won't post your submission. And don't, please, send
us mail telling us that we HAVE to post it, we'd BETTER post it, etc.
We'll work with you to try and resolve a problem, but we don't deal with
threats.
I SENT A MESSAGE BUT IT DIDN'T APPEAR IN THE DIGEST ...
There are several possibilities: you could have sent the message to the wrong address, your ISP has had a delay in sending outbound e-mail, queernet was unavailable to take your message (rare, but occasionally possible), your message had a subject line resembling "Re: Bears Digest V..." or your message featured an incomplete URL (complete URLs begin with a protocol name like "http://" or "ftp://"). Ensure that none of these is true and try again.
MODERATOR MAIL:
Other administrative questions and requests should be sent to the e-mail address bears-digest-approval@queernet.org. Items sent to bears-digest-approval are read and processed by people, so it may take a while to respond. Do NOT send requests to the individual e-mail addresses of the moderators; it delays service, and annoys us. Also, do not phone the moderators or email them at their personal email addresses. This is very, very annoying.
POSTING MESSAGES:
Anything sent to bears@queernet.org will be forwarded to the entire membership of the list in the next available digest (after reviewing it to ensure it meets the guidelines).
POSTING ANONYMOUSLY
Subscribers may post anonymously if they wish. When posting anonymously, you MUST use the special posting address bears-anonymous@queernet.org. You should also use a unique pseudonym in either the text or the subject of the message; this helps make discussions clearer. We will remove headers and obvious identifying information and post your anonymous message with your pseudonym.. Messages posted anonymously should not solicit e-mail replies.
BACK ISSUES
You may retrieve back issues of the digest with this procedure: Send mail to: with a line in your message for each issue of which you are requesting a copy, in the format- get bears-digest vXX.nYYY
- get bears-digest v02.n123
RELATED RESOURCES
The details about sites and services described below are provided on an "for your information" basis. The folks who operate these facilities support them; contact them directly for assistance.
MAILING LISTS
- Bears Den: email bears-den-approval@queernet.org for info. The Bears Den is an unmoderated companion list to the BML. It provides its subscribers with an unmoderated forum in which to discuss any subject. This site is supported by those who support Bears-Digest-Approval.
- BearSoup: check "bearsoup" list on http://www.onelist.com/ for info. The BearSoup list is a moderated list devoted for humor, jokes, and "any matter of fun stuff". This site is *NOT* supported by those who support Bears-Digest-Approval.
- EveryBear: check "everybear" list on http://www.onelist.com/ for info. The EveryBear list is a moderated list devoted to those who want to explore the concepts and ideals that differentiate Beardom from mainstream-gay culture. This site is *NOT* supported by those who support Bears-Digest-Approval.
- Game Bears Mailing List: The GBML is a moderated list devoted to those bears and other gay men who enjoy role-playing games - both computer and table top, science fiction and fantasy movies and media, and gaming in general. Sign up by sending an e-mail to majordomo@queernet.org with subscribe game bears in the body of the message. Contact owner-gamebears@queernet.org for further information. This site is *NOT* supported by those who support Bears-Digest-Approval.
WEB SITES
- Resources for Bears: http://www.resourcesforbears.com/ This site is *NOT* supported by those who support Bears-Digest-Approval.
- Bear Networks: http://www.bear.net/ This site is *NOT* supported by those who support Bears-Digest-Approval.
- MuscleBears.Org: http://www.musclebears.org/ This site is *NOT* supported by those who suport Bears-Digest-Approval.
- Bear-Pics: http://www.bear-pics.com This site is *NOT* supported by those who support Bears-Digest-Approval.
FILE ARCHIVE
The file archive is, alas, no more. See BML v04.n059 for details.
A BIT OF HISTORY
The BML was started in August of 1988 by Steve Dyer and Brian Gollum. Later, Henry Mensch became the moderator and administrator of the list. In 1996, Bob Thurman and Steve Arrants joined as moderator/administrators. Henry stepped down from his list duties in May of 1997. In October 1998, Steve Arrants also stepped down from his duties and Alex Schell joined as moderator/administrator. Bob Thurman retired from his duties as moderator/administrator in October of 1999 and Dave Wilson filled the position.END
[The above text is copyrighted © 2001 by the Bears Mailing List.]
      
      
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