I think there's room here for threads sometimes about things that happen in the world where people are likely to disagree sharply. I know there are people who would prefer that not to happen, with us sticking to music related threads - but it seems to me that exchanging our views here can help us understand why other people don't always agree with what seems so blindingly obvious to us. And that makes it worth doing.

But, all too often, instead we get threads opened by people who post in a way that is clearly intended to generate heat rather than light. I'm not going to quote the examples, but the very GUEST names adopted by the people concerned, and the opening posts they use are clear enough.