I came along here in the wake of that thread, so I never knew the Mudcat in it's more innocent days. In fact I haven't read the thread, though I've heard enough references to it to know I'd better nerve myself up to read it.

I'm a believer in airing and exploring differences here, where it can't get too physical if we disagree. But I think we owe it to each other, and to the people out in the world who are directly involved in these awful affairs, to keep it level and reasoned and learn from the people we disagree with, and read what the say with some attention before jumping in with our response.

And a lot of the time we do that, and I think we do it better now than we have. And sometimes I haven't done that too well myself.

I'm glad you had a great time in Ireland, Ro1sin Ron. The thing is, at the end of the day, there is more in common between people there than there is divides them, even when it doesn't seem that way. And that's true in most places and most conflicts. Especially here on the Mudcat when at times it turns a little uglier than it should.

I just put this through my spellchecker, as I need to. When it came to "armorlite", it suggested it ought to be "infirmity" - a wise choice maybe. (And when I tried the official spelling "armalite", it suggested "almighty" - it's a very cynical spellchecker sometimes.)