Reply to: The need to educate I have taken advantage of a little know option in the ListServe software to exclude Mr. Aho from this message. He won't be able to claim harassment since I'm not directing this message to him. I can appreciate Linda's frustration for having to endure Mr. Aho's rantings, just as I can appreciate *his* position. He believes everything he hears, and if he perceives that anyone is sending him any message other than a complement or praise, as we have seen in the past, he immediately takes offense and responds accordingly. This is a predictable pattern, we know he behaves that way, and as a public forum we have to tolerate it or get off ourselves. The problem we are faced with is education. If we don't try and address Mr. Aho's ignorance, like Sharon Freeman did, he will continue to gullible to prank e-mails, and we will have to endure more of his messages about Bill Gates' $1000 or the next "Don't open your e-mail if..." hoax that comes along. Then there was Mr. Anonymous with the address of MERoots214@aol.com. I didn't have to exclude him from this message since he has unsubscribed anyway. His message started off just fine and then he went into the exact kind of ranting that he was criticizing. As if his whole world revolved around this mailing list, he became offended, too, and we shattered his impressions of all of the recipients. Of course he had to tell us he was leaving before he left. Curious... So, I congratulate Sharon in her attempt. The message was not offensive in any fashion, she referenced a credible source of information on the particular topic of interest, and she did not broadcast it to all within the mailing list. Mr. Aho, in turn, took offense, and as promised he forwarded it to the List. Mr. Anonymous will not be missed since most of us aren't overly enamored with those that slam the door on their way out. And now we can get back to the business at hand. This happens on every list in the free world and it will happen again. Guaranteed. It's part of the List culture that we have to live with. scud -- /-----------------------------------------------------------------\ | Mike Scudamore, SPARTA, Inc.| mailto:scud@huntsville.sparta.com | | 4901 Corporate Drive | Voice: (205)837-5282 Ext. 1504 | | Huntsville, AL 35805 | We may doze, but we never close! | \-----------------------------------------------------------------/