With all the recent hoopla, I thought a bit of clarification was in order. You might have noticed I RARELY comment on posts that take me to task or that praise me. Neither do I usually make a comment on ANY post until I feel the information being relayed is so incorrect that a mention HAS to be made. Almost always, someone else steps into it, and I can ignore the need. The reason is because I am so often confused with someone who might be considered to have some minor degree of knowledge regarding ferrets. That is also the reason why I refuse to describe my many degrees; I REFUSE to swing my post-name alphabet soup in an attempt to win an argument. It is also why I always stop commenting when I notice someone is becoming angry. More to the point, I realise that some people are extremely intimidated by ANY person who argues with passion and an average store of knowledge. I ignore most negative posts BECAUSE I don't want, for ANY reason, to be considered a person who uses intimidation to win arguments. However, I LOVE debate, because it is the flame that burns away the unimportant aspects of a question, leaving behind something that might not be understandable, but it is the best what we can come up with. Debate leaves you with the tools to understand a question. It is pure brain food. Most people either have no interest in debate, or they mistake the friendly type of banter used by debaters during informal argument as some sort of attack. As a grizzled old veteran of many a night drinking beer and arguing the most menial aspects of a question, this type of friendly, teasing debate is second nature to me. You can be sure that when I am in debate mode, I am NOT attacking or trying to intimidiate anyone. Nonetheless, some people DO misinterpret the banter as some sort of attack, or are intimidated by it, and for that, I am sincerely sorry. With an extremely small number of exceptions (I *am* human), I would NEVER try to make a personal attack, or try to intimidate ANYONE, for any reason. If you think I have posted something that was attacking, condescending, or intimidating, email me and I will be happy to set the record straight, apologize, or whatever I have to do to resolve the situation. If you have a question, and am afraid to posting on the FML, I will post it for you anonymously (the Bob C Q&A series). If you take me to tesk privately and are correct, I will be happy to make a public admission, leaving your name out of it. I am not here for my ego, but to help ferrets. If you believe nothing else about me, believe the last statement. Everyone on the FML should know individuals are responsible for their own actions, and no one elses. In other words, even if you are angry about what someone else wrote, you are STILL responsible for that anger. I suggest that if you read something and it angers you, walk away from it. Wait a day or two before you respond, and if you think your post might be strong, ask someone if they think you are over-reacting. In the past, I have made a private note to Bill, asking if the post was too extreme, and if he mentioned it might be too strong, I would remove it and write something milder. You can trust Bill in that regard. I know if you keep the FML a place where people can comfortably share their passion for ferrets, the benefits for all of us will be enormous. Bob C [Posted in FML issue 3951]