Hello, David:

Thanks for yours. In response, I would say I tried to measure my words. Note carefully that I said, or implied, that warm water was in fact called for IN NUMEROUS, BUT NOT ALL, INSTANCES. And again, I claimed that there is a CERTAIN POINT at which the Golden Mean becomes de-meaning. Thus, that Mean is not in and of itself de-meaning. Once more, IN CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES the Golden Mean can be "mean." And so, I am not against compromise or reform per se; I AM saying there are circumstances when something else is called for. Do you look back over your life and think that there were times when you "gave in" when you should have said something, rebelled? And did you rebel at others when you should have compromised? I sure do. So it goes.

What I disagree with is Aristotle's idea that the mean is ALWAYS the best.

Bestest, Tom