Praise, I think the best approach for a highly opionated person on Mudcat is the same as the approach anywhere else in life. Speak when you have something to say. Don't speak when you don't. Treat everyone with repect and dignity. Seek to always speak and hear with integrity. Silly arguments are silly. Personal insults are insulting. Opinions are just that.

My goal is to treat internet message boards and newsgroups the same as I would a meeting of the local folk club. I try to pretend that the people I am dealing with are standing there in the flesh, and treat them the way I would a person who I had to keep looking at and talking to, not like some words on a computer screen.

I don't waste my time talking to idiots, crazy people, or people who attack me for the fun of it. I try to avoid saying things that I know are going to make people angry, unless there is a really big reason to do so. If a debate turns acrimonious I fix it (if it's important) or walk away (if it's not). I try to avoid discussing religion with the religious or politics with ideologues, except in a general, intellectual, non-personal way. I'm not always successful at that. I try to meet new people. If they screw up, I give them a second chance, but not usually a third. I try to always remember the Golden Rule.

John