At ease, people!

[HairyEyeball]

There have been some 'hot button' topics brought up here - as well as elsewhere on the forum - and some strong opinions exchanged, but too many have been ignoring a cardinal rule of the forum:

Attack the argument, not the poster.

Ad hominem attacks will not be tolerated - by anyone - and name-calling and threats hardly add to the credibility of the individual or the forum. Either we're 'better than that' or this might just as well be some kiddie playground.

None of us is perfect, and sometimes our emotions do 'get the best of' our reasoning, but if an argument is faulty, point out the faults in the reasoning, or in the 'information' the conclusion is based on: It's notoriously easy for 'smart' people to draw 'logical' conclusions from bad data, it doesn't make them 'stupid', just ill-informed. Provide better data in refuting their arguments.

And until anyone here can provide irrefutable proof he is in possession of the ultimate truth, all we can present is our considered opinion of whatever 'information' we base our conclusions on. Keep it civil, keep it as 'heated' as you believe the situation warrants, but keep it confined to the topic, not the individual.