> This is not a public forum that goes to thousands of people.  It is a private
> forum that we all sign up for.

this is public forum (anyone can sign up for it) that goes directly
to ~630 email address and is publicly viewable to anyone in
http://lancaironline.net/lists/lml/ and is searchable via google
and other web crawlers.  

so it counts as a source of prior art and yes, slander. Infact
Marv and I could be liable for  "publishing" the "defamation".
The truth is not always a defense in a libel action. The court
can find against you even if you tell the truth if the damage can
be proved.  But there is "Qualified Privilege"
(a) Performance of a duty (to your fellow list members)
(b) Protection of an interest (statements made in self defense)
(c) Common Interest (your fellow list members needed to be warned)
(d) Public Interest (Very good in the USA not so good elsewhere).
(e) News "There is no stopping the publication of accurate
news"-*Flemming the Law of Torts.544 para 4)

Its very hard to prove damage from a defamation.

plagiarized from: http://www.spawn.org/marketing/slander.htm

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The moral cannibalism of all hedonist and altruist doctrines lies in the
premise that the happiness of one man necessitates the injury of another