RT, you call me anything you want, just don't call me fishless. Call me silton, call me bob, call me anything you can think of. Though I answer well to Fishmaster...

That's a joke, son. :-)

By the way, I think the UBB gremlins are for wimps. Learn to use the darn keyboard. Smilies existed for a long time before this BB software did.

Moving on, I think you support my point. What I wrote as humorous, and clearly labled with a smilie, you think might be inflammatory. Therein lies the rub. It's ambiguous as to whether I intended to insult you. Be advised that I did not (though there might be just a little tweak in there :-)). I intentionally used exaggerated words that appear to have caused your feathers to ruffle. The whole point of the line "practically bursts into tears" line is that, precisely, you weren't moved to tears. It's sarcasm, exageration, extremism, to cause the reader to notice and laugh. Whether or not a reasonable, objective reader would think I crossed the line between humor and abuse is open for debate. For the record, please let me state that my intent was to create an exaggeration for humorous effect.

It's a delicate line. We as humans, are imperfect, and more to the point, we differ from each other. What each of think is funny, and what each of us will think is insulting, will differ.

The essence of the point is, I made a what I thought was a joke, I labeled it as a joke, you made a comment that I am interpreting as you not taking it as a joke. I chose words that I think are useful, in a literary fashion, to make a point. You think they are inflammatory. _WE_ have a difference of opinion. We need not come to blows over it. I don't think you are a bad guy, in fact, quite the opposite. Just to be clear, let me say that you have clearly demonstrated yourself to be 1), a heck of a fisherman, and 2) a pretty public spirited guy. I like to think of myself as the same, though maybe not up to your caliber as a fisherman. But I disagree with you. We have to be able to differentiate between the two postures. We can like each other (or not), and still think each other has his head buried in the nether regions, as regards a certain idea.

And that, my friend, is what makes debate fun. It also creates colorful debate on a board that, once in while, someone is going to think is over the top. The fact that you think my previous line is over the top reinforces my belief that the line is being drawn way too conservatively.

Part of the weakness, and the same time, the strength, of forums, is precisely the lack of editorial control. We get to learn each other as people, and editorial flaws expose us to each other. If we are mature, we realise that we are flawed, and that others are flawed as well, and we that we shouldn't get too exercised about it.

Now, this all said, Bob is the big boss, this is his forum, and you are moderator, so what you guys say is law, is law. But I can't say that I think that you, or we, are well served by even attempting, AS BOSSES, to lay down a law. In my experience, the simple abuse of malefactors by board members at large, is a much more effective medium of civil control. The metric of benefit to the sponsors of the board is visits, and that is driven by interest. Censorship will decrease interest, even if that censorship is only disapproval by the membership.

So I simply suggest that when someone goes over what we think the line is, we pile on, and we'll all learn where the line is. Once in awhile, someone will go over, and that will be instructive as to where the line is. And we should all be cautious about voicing our disapproval too freely.

Kind of like having kids, isn't it?

I suggest that anyone who wants an education to what forums can be like, check out rec.outdoors.fishing.fly, rec.sport.golf, the bulletin boards at www.akflyfishers.org, and www.virtualflyshop.com.

On the the rec.outdoors.fishing.fly, aka ROFF, do a search for posts by George Gherke, yes, of Gherke's Gink fame, and you will never again complain about jerks on this forum again. This is a pretty darn civil place, almost too much so.

Finally, is your email up to date in your profile? I'd love to send you a comment privately, but I sent you a message on another topic with no response, and so have no confidence in that mechanism.

Again, Merry Christmas to all.