Donald,
It's really very easy - you state your opinion about a person's work,
rather than the person themselves. EG: In the case where Tim said "John
Millar is, to say the least, a bit
'flakey'." - this is an "ad hominem" attack on a person, in other words, it
says something about the person themselves. If, instead, Tim had said
"John Millar's work is a bit flakey" this would not have been an personal
attack but rather casting aspersions on the person's work. This is the key
difference. Say what you feel you need about a person's work, but don't
say it about the person themselves.
Hope that clarifies
Milamba
>John and Tim,
>
>You are both synonymous to the list in my mind and the loss of either
>would be tragic. Can we not reach an accord here somehow for the sake of
>us mere mortals?
>
>Donald Sinclair
>Alberta, Canada
[ This is the Sinclair family discussion list, sinclair@mids.org
[ To get off or on the list, see http://www.mids.org/sinclair/list.html