Paul.

Date: Mon, 13 May 1996 17:44:51 MDT
Sender: HERB.TREARNPC.EGE.EDU.TR
From: Michael Moore <hrbmoore.RT66.COM>
Subject: ...the trouble with Paul

The GOOD thing about having Paul Iannone in the group is:

a. He knows what he is talking about.

b. He HAS opinions on many things, and is willing to share his knowledge.

c. He states his knowledge clearly, precisely, and oftentimes (if one looks with an open mind and thick skin) is TRYING to help others.

d. He beggars no fools.

The BAD things about having Paul Iannone in the group is:

a,b,c and d from above.

e. He has an abrasive way of arguing, sometimes disagreeing in the manner of a true and sensible debate, sometimes resorting to personal and arrogant dismissal.

f. He is NOT a NewAger, and feels no need to cloak his opinions in gentle sophistry...or even courtesy.

g. Personally, I get tired of having everything restated in his sophisticated but sometimes pedantic TCM model (but that's a personal observation only, since I must admit to getting glassy-eyed when exposed to TCM...a personal failing of sorts)

In summation, he BOTHERS to share his not inconsiderate opinions (if sometimes irritatingly), he has something SPECIFIC to say (if sometimes arrogantly), his suggestions, MOST IMPORTANTLY, represent personal experience and synthesis, NOT simply class-room restatements or book learning.

He is an original, if abrasive voice...I just wish he wasn't so QUICK to retort and argue EVERY DAMN POINT with EVERYONE, especially women.

Who said that an important voice had to be a NICE voice, anyway. Sufi Sam was a cranky old card-playing rude quasi-clown (when not dancing), and Rolling Thunder is a crude-speaking old railroad grunt...but they are both worth listening to when speaking of the not mundane.