Gentlemen: I will say this: If the three of you met in person you would like each other. Bobad has been a friend for darned near 40 years; Lepus for about three, and pdq for about the same. I have had the privilege of corresponding with each of you and you have all three been thoughtful, humourous and kind. Thanks to Bobad I got stinking one evening with a friend where I live on garlic that was grown and braided by Bobad. Thanks to pdq I have a book about insects (if that includes butterflies) that allows me to identify specific ones in that beautiful group of creatures, and thanks to Lepus I have a friend in the US who is at once intelligent, witty and occasionally acerbic. At various times I have been the receiver of your wrath regarding things I have said that were thoughtless, unkind or just plain stupid. Occasionally, each of you has been wrong, although I have never been cad enough to point it out to any of you. (Well, mostly you have been wrong when we've argued with me, but let's let that go for now.) I include the three of you amongst my friends, both on Mudcat and in real life. So please, if you are going to disagree, please do so in a manner that is fit and proper. I have always found that 'fuck you' kinda says it all without offending people. Let's give that a try, because it really bugs me to see you guys scrappin' in this manner. You really WOULD like each other in real life, and since this may be as real as we will be able to make it in this life, well--I don't know what to say next except I love you guys for different reasons and I wish you'd stop. For sure, being the type of people you are, fight for your point of view, but don't lose sight of this: we might all be wrong (well, you guys, not me, but you get my drift).

Tomorrow is another day, and we are not setting a good example for the UN.