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						Scope
					
				 
				Barbecue is a Southern icon with a variety of culinary, social, and cultural
				attributes.
				Accordingly, all attributes are appropriate subjects for group
				discussion. Specifically,
				they include:
				
				
 For purposes of discussion, barbecue is defined as meat cooked by the direct action of heat resulting from the glowing combustion of hot coals in a pit or other appliance designed and constructed for the purpose. As such, indirect methods -- typically involving offset cookers and flaming combustion -- are not considered traditional. However, for purposes of comparison, limited discussions of them as deviant methods are permissable. Because of their close relationship to barbecue in manner of cookery, foods grilled more quickly, or smoked more slowly, than barbecue are appropriate subjects for side discussions. 
					
						Code of Conduct
					
				 
				Few subjects elicit more emotion and difference of opinion than barbecue. And,
				yet, these are two of barbecue's most interesting and endearing traits. It's also
				the source of most of the unpleasantness that arises from time to time in
				virtual communities dedicated to barbecue. Accordingly, the foundation of the
				code of conduct for the Society for Preservation of Traditional Southern
				Barbecue are the old-fashioned Southern principles of civil behavior and good
				manners.  Adoption of these simple concepts by the membership is essential for
				minimizing the unpleasantness and maximizing the
				"signal-to-noise ratio" of these unmoderated discussions.
				Good netiquette is also imperative. Particularly important are: 
 
					
						Governance
					
				 
				Given free rein, virtual communites (particulary, it seems, those associated
				with barbecue) are prone to anarchy. To avoid that unhappy state, the Society
				for Perservation of Traditional Southern Barbecue is governed under the
				benevolent dictatorship of the list owner in accordance with
				the provisions of this charter.
				Constructive comments and suggestions are always welcomed from the membership, and due consideration will be given to each of them. However, no claim -- explicit or implied -- is made of democratic governance. 
					
						Membership
					
				 
				All members are subscribers to the
				
					barbecue@sptsb.com				
			 list. This list is open to public
				subscription.
				Experienced and inexperienced members are welcomed alike to join the group. Learners, lurking in the background and asking occasional questions, appropriately constitute the majority of the membership. It is primarily for their benefit that the community exists. Members with pertinent knowledge and/or experience are a minority and provide a majority of the postings for the benefit of all. Instructions for subscribing and unsubscribing are provided in the list operations and functions page. Further information is available from Smokey Pitts, the list owner. Violation of the letter or spirit of any provision of this charter is cause for the summary expulsion of the offender from the community. Smokey Pitts, List Owner 
					
						Appendix
					
				 
				Published on January 17, 2001. Revised on January 25, 2001 for typographical errors. Scope revised on February 4, 2001 to explicitly include side dishes in the list of appropriate discussions. List ownership transferred to Smokey Pitts and subscription changed to open status on October 30, 2001.  | 
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