Dear all, The point at issue is quite simple. We all of us have our opinions upon a whole range of topics, will Liverpool Football club ever be any good again, why did Arsenal once more not win the Champions' League, and other matters of equally great importance. I could fill this list with my opinions on these burning questions, as could our American friends on baseball and our Finnish friends on javelin throwing and long distance running.
But this is a lute list. No one, I imagine, wants to hear my meditations on football, nor do I and the rest of us want to hear other people's ideas on politics. We none of are fools, but are here to talk of lutes and music. For those who feel the need to talk politics, there are countless boards where they can do this. Why we should be subjected to someone else's thoughts on what is going on in this or that part of the world is, frankly, beyond me. I don't need someone in Finland nor from anywhere else to tell me what to think, I can make up my own mind. And finally, it is impolite in the extreme to bother American and British participants (If I've left anyone out, sorry) with political and moralising judgements based on assumption of which the writer can have no the slightest idea. Just leave it alone, we're not here for that. And to misuse this list for such a purpose is tantamount to entering someone's house and being sick on the floor in order to protest at some government's policies. It just ain't on, it's insulting, patronising and totally unnecessary. Cheers Tom --
