The thing I've come to understand and appreciate about the Forum (and that means discussion, for heaven's sake, which implies some disagreement) is that it seems to be a self-correcting mechanism. People may go off a bit here and there, but when they get out of line, they also very quickly get spanked (ooh) and get brought back to some sort of Golden Mean. I hate rudeness in any form, but sometimes what's rude to one person isn't rude to another, and we need to be reminded when we've overstepped the bounds. For instance, the thread on "Republican" sentiments. I had been reading the most-recent Irish thread and was aware of what that meant, but others immediately assumed it meant the American version, as in "opposite of Democrat." So that generated some controversy, but as the discussion went on, correction was put in and some understanding achieved. And in the "Bluegrass songs" thread, I said something characteristically tactful like, "Ugh. What's the point of singing in exactly the same way to exactly the same people...." and I got corrected with a very nice discussion of tradition and the importance to some people of a very rigid interpretation of the music. So I learned something from each of those, and I'm glad to have been a part of the process. It serves me, not only on the 'Cat, but in my personal life, because I am more aware of those sensitivities and why they exist. So, let's not shy away from controversy, but let's treat each other, always, in a respectful, decent way (not ruling out the occasional stray into bawdiness, of course). WW