I think of the Mudcat as a virtual kitchen party hosted by Max in his house with some help from his friends -- Joe and the clones. The usual rules of purely social relationships apply: we're here to make friends and be friendly, not to use each other to achieve political or economic objectives.

We come to the Mudcat because it's essentially about music; we stay -- as at any party -- because we find like-minded people here, having a chat beside the refrigerator, or playing tunes, or remembering the words of some ditty Granddad used to sing while weeding the garden.

The BS threads are party chat, started by people going to their friends with some concern or just passing the time of day with a little whimsy. (If you don't want to continue spinning the William Shatner joke, there's no law that says you have to!) In my tiny social world, this behaviour is quite normal. I wouldn't do it at choir practice (which is more business than social) but I would certainly do it at a kitchen party.

Max makes the rules because it's his house. If we don't like the rules, we can have our own party or find another party that's more to our taste. I like this party. Max is a great host, and an unbelievably tolerant and generous one.

Charmion