Ok, Bertrand, after years of reading insults on this list, I wanted to at least model some insults that could be amusing, in at least some way. Eric's utterly-in-earnest character assassination of Ken was horrible to read, day after day; it was also horrible to see Ken attempt to engage with it when it so patently could not be engaged; it has been awful to see the repressed mr tamas mistake bile for freedom (it must be that repressive school system--); it has been awful to have mr death spewing away and awful to see the resemblance his automatic negativity had to other nastiness in the past on the list. So truly, perhaps allen acted peremptorily and perhaps the list should now reconsider, but I would say that such reconsideration should be based on what the individuals in qustion have contributed (or not): Could we do a search of the archives and post on a site the "collected works" of each, and, reading them through in their totality, determine whether either has ever said anything on the list that was not self-interested to the point of obsession, thoughtless, or vengeful? I am ever so willing to be proven wrong. Could we do this, and then vote on the question?
I think, myself, that both of these characters should be, and perhaps will be, ashamed to read the sum total of their posts to this list. If I had written what they did, I certainly would be. It's not a question of "sounding different." It's a question of taking away others' powers of expression through slander, insult, innuendo, and other verbal nastiness. And by the way, "curdled" usually refers to milk--when it curdles it goes off, it spoils. Metaphorically in context it means when something good is transformed into something bad--also, incidentally, goes from liquid to solid. Turns lumpish. AK
