Dear friends: Well, it seems to be time to get back up on my soap box. The problem with the Olympic swimmer story is not so much that it's a dirty joke, and that people who find that sort of thing offensive should have their privacy respected. The problem is that this mailing list is for *Scottish genealogy*, Inverness branch. That's why people have subscribed, and that's the common factor. Just because we share an interest in Scottish genealogy with a lot of others round the world, doesn't mean that they are also interested in dirty jokes, or in modern Scottish politics for that matter. Even discussions about Hogmanay customs, or recipes for haggis, are a bit dodgy, in my opinion, though at least they're not offensive. The subscribers to this mailing list are not like-minded in every respect. We know almost nothing about one another. We come together for one particular purpose, and no one should presume that a common interest in genealogy means a common interest in everything else. It's an invasion of privacy to drag in other topics. Those who protest that they didn't find anything offensive in the joke may rejoice privately in their broad-mindedness, but they're missing the point - they have no right to tell others what is offensive. I have seen several mailing lists, and more newsgroups and unmoderated discussions, degenerate into "darkling plains, where ignorant armies clash by night", just because a few enthusiasts couldn't keep to the topic. Sincerely, Harry Duckworth