reptoman:
o.k.- if you are sincere, and by default I will assume you are,
then I am willing to let it go...with the following caveat, or explanation so to speak, so please bear with me once more:
I saw it as a little more than tongue in cheek. I'm no scientist or biologist by trade, but, I have dealt much with people of a certain type. technical and detail oriented people
like scientists, engineers, aviators, litigators, military, & law enforcement. it just appeared a bit of etiquette I am used to dealing with was violated. i.e., it looked like you not only came in behind the scientific & technical data I suggested, _but_, scowled at the procedure of being technical ( the most offensive to me ). I know that primarily, people in the forum are not such technically detailed with discussion. let me be clear, I have nothing against opinion and guesswork. I use it as well, and, that's where all science starts. though scientists would rather call it "hypothesizing", it is essentially the same thing.
however, if you use an opinion based message to disagree with a technically related message, I feel etiquette and courtesy dictates you should offer counterpoints, at least based on your personal experience, describing as to why you believe your opinion to have merits that challenge the message you're replying to. this could be a simple as just telling us that through your personal observations or experience, " A is different than B _because_... ", and give the _reasons why_ you believe it.
I will concede, this is probably the nicer way I should have put it earlier. in all fairness, I probably would have reduced it to this line of reasoning sooner, but, your private message looked like you were making statements privately that were inconsistent with what your were posting publicly to me. from there it was a matter of principle to me, and, I was on a mission to seek acknowledgement of that, as well as, validation
of my questions and points that I feel were not addressed.
I took issue with your initial reply to my post because you did not read it through, and, thought you were scoffing at the material and approach without offering substance. I take your word now, you didn't mean it that way. I responded to you with a bit of an edge reflecting some offense, and, that apparently offended you, and, you reflected that in your private message to me, which offended me. so on, so forth...
to Cable:
I knew what your intent was with the humor...but I was following principle at the time.
I would agree there are ways to challenge without offending. I thought reptoman offended with his challenge to begin with. my follow up message was merely a _defense_ of my position and methods. it wasn't meant as "mean" like he took it...perhaps because he did not perceive the offense I saw, he therefore could not realize my defensive posture because of it.
I was not leveling an accusation of being "PC" specifically at you, if that's how you took it. you didn't even come to mind.
I did reference generally those behind the curtains only because reptoman brought that into play. but I had no verified knowledge that anyone else indeed was. I wasn't considering any preconceived notions of who might be involved absent them coming forward themselves. that's all I can have respect for. I cast some bait to try an elicit a response if it was true. if you had an opinion though, I appreciate you coming forward about it. I can respect that, and, I respect your opinion. but I can't address, consider, or ponder what is not brought forward by someone.
I don't feel I disregarded any manners in order to avoid anything. it was the very manners you speak of which I felt were violated and was the crux of my argument.
lastly, I don't claim to be more of an expert than you or reptoman on Douglasii or Hernandesi. frankly, you probably know more than I. please for my benefit and the sake of everyone else, do offer sooner if you have an opinion. I wasn't rejecting anyone's opinion because it disagreed with mine. it was the manner delivered, which I used in my defense how I thought was proportional. with that said, I'm willing to consider it a closed matter if reptoman is, and, simply call it crossed wires or whatever, so we can get back to the "technical details" of horned lizards instead of the technicalities of differently accepted etiquette.
thanks for the response
WWW.Phrynosoma.com 
