[meteorite-list] What?!!!

[Walter Branch]

Hello Michael and List,

Your apology was forthright and sincere.  Kudos to you.

I have also put my foot in my mouth many times over the years on this list 
and I should know better.  From recent memory, I owe apologies to Bill 
Mason, Sonny Clary Geoff Notkin, and the entire Jet propulsion laboratory.

I am sure there are others.

Depersonalization is what is it called and what we have to guard against. 
It is so easy to type on a keyboard then hit "send."  Too easy.  Easier than 
regular mail.  We write things we would never say in public, not realizing 
that we literally are writing to a world-wide public audience.

To no one in particular and at the risk of sounding paternalisitc (not 
meanding to) I often tell my patients, "just because you CAN do something 
doesn't mean you SHOULD.  With the privilge comes responsilbity. Don't 
exercise responsibility and you lose the privlige.

Anyway, off soapbox now.  Kudos again to you.  Hope to read more of your 
posts soon.

-Walter Branch