[meteorite-list] OT posts

[Matson, Robert]

Darren and List,

I sincerely apologize for starting all this mess with my well-meaning,
but certainly off-topic post about the pope election.  I won't try to
defend the post on the grounds of newsworthiness -- as Darren correctly
points out, it is not as if everyone wouldn't have found out within
minutes or hours from some other source.  But I have to say I was
surprised by the vitriol ultimately generated in response to my post.

> ... What is the point of making off-topic posts to announce what
> is one of the biggest news stories of the past few years, that you
> could not POSSIBLY miss if you were to pick up any newspaper or
> turn on any television.  Is it really likely that people might
> not notice this whole Pope thing if he hadn't been so kind as
> to provide this off-topic information to the list?

Well then, by all means, let's not stop here.  Next time planes going
flying into skyscrapers or a Space Shuttle crashes, I hope I won't
have to read about it on the meteorite list.  --Rob