Jim is entitled tohis opinions and everyone else is enrirled to theirs.

what's difficult about that situation?
I think that on this point, Al, you are missing the point. Of course, Jim is entitled to his opinions and I cannot see anywhere where this entitlement is rejected or even questioned. The objections are to the way he goes about stating them with unsupported authority that seems to raise the hackles. His opinions come over as authoritative facts rather than the opinions which they actually are. To challenge his statements is to open your own statements to denigration.... and as you say, we are all entitled to our opinions.