Greetings All, especially Messrs. Bird and Bush,

I rise in support of collegiality demonstrated by taking the time to
simply be polite and to observe a decent level of mutual respect and
undemanding manners in correspondence. What one wants to say can be
said in ways not patently offensive, derogatory or larded with enough
ad hominems, personal steam and blundering charges to make a post
appear to be a large, raging, insane bull. (Capitalize that last "b"
if you like.)

Many fine examples com to mind of being able to get a point across
without such a mess. Talleyrand and Oscar Wilde shine forth as does
Twain, the latter sometimes perhaps less so but only because he had
the skill to wield a blunt sentence with startling precision.

As a former academic, albeit for the briefest of times, I subscribe
to this LIST not only because of my lifelong interest in Twain but
also to keep my mind attuned to decent discourse, well-proposed ideas
and simply to have something to read that doesn't have an
advertisement stapled into the middle of it all. I've friends aplenty
to talk with on any manner of subjects but it remains something
special to me to be able to read and consider the written word in
what is essentially an unhurried chain of letters.

I would hope that whatever abrasive personal matters a person
entertains, however brusque or ironically-challenged their postings
appears, could be left out of this LIST if only in the greater
service of civilization in general. No matter what one's view of any
particular facet of our society is, civilized and congenial discourse
is worth preserving, perhaps even actually attempting to enhance.

As an old acquaintance of my late Aunt recently said to me, "Honey,
don't let the world harden your heart!" I think Twain might agree
with that suggestion as well as note that the biggest fools  and
insufferable noggins in the world were the ones that had lost the
ability to laugh at themselves and thus become terribly serious in
all things.

Thanks to all and I remain

Yours cordially,
Benjamin van der Wel