It appears from the comments in this thread that the event of my DSL connection being out has spared my seeing my own words edited out of their original context, put back into play with an intentionally nasty spin, and posted here in an attempt to pre-emptively win a new verbal battle. I still don't have the high-speed connection, so will slog along on dial up to make these few remarks before going back to my weekend chores.
I recognize the "verbal violence--verbal aikido" line from an article daylia posted on another thread as a way to somehow imply that I was responsible for her bad behavior. So I must assume I was the target of this thread, however much the originator might plead an interest in altruism.
I have never initiated a thread here to start or to continue an argument. My thanks to whichever clone went ahead and removed the remarks that were so ungenerously posted by daylia. Judging from the reactions here, she got more carried away than usual.
My reaction to all of this? Given time to think, I'd say that daylia is lucky I didn't see it. When I am actually angry (and that doesn't happen often), I have been known to pull out the double-sharp words and compose a response that, when read by those who don't know any better, sounds like a mere rebuttal, but to those with the intellectual capacity for puns and double entendre, is a series of pointed and usually funny insults. Those kinds of responses take time to craft, usually shred the target, but never really serve anyone's best interest and they're in the long run a waste of time. It's overkill--the bazooka to swat the mosquito syndrome.
Now I'm going to mow my lawn before the local mosquitoes get to be a nuisance. I don't think the DSL is going to be up until late Sunday at the earliest, so I'll just have to see what evolves here at a later date. It would be nice, however, if this thread were to slip below the line and go away.