Well, I've noticed that one of the few things that's talked about on the list more than people's health (which I have no problem with; I too may have an issue for discussion someday, and it might be VERY disgusting!) is the state of the boilers in people's houses, and how they're not as good today as the old ones, and how expensive they are to fix, and how they can be taken care of.

It seems to be a subject of great interest, and it's of even greater interest to me, since I've never even seen one, and can no more imagine checking blow-off valves, sight glasses, and pressure gauges in order to heat my house (not drive a Castle Class 4073 4-6-0 locomotive, heat my house) than I would fly to the moon, so NATURALLY I'm interested, and so I make droll comments (that's two today, I'm on a roll!) so as to elicit, maybe, a better understanding of why it all is like it is.

And incidentally, you can see the result when someone on an open, public discussion list, discussing something completely on topic with not even any thread drift, is told to "Button It".

It seems to have exactly the opposite effect. So maybe, if the goal is to have the subject die out, and ONLY comments made in direct support of the way you'd like to see it go, we might try NOT saying "Button It" and see if that has the intended effect.

It might!

Lannis