Encouragement to the participants o

[nin@xxxxxx]

Dear All,

The following is the excerpt from one of the online forums 
which I attend. When I read it, I thought, wow! 
What a good stuff for our Burma Forums. 

If somebody recently or constantly getting criticism for his/her 
English writing/speaking or whatever, please don't be discouraged 
and read the following.

With metta and solidarity,
NiNi

Excerpt begins:
     I had offered the thought that, if the Internet is to 
     realize its vast potential for sharing the world's 
     knowledge--and particularly the best insights on how 
     public POLICIES are working and have worked in the 
     various countries--we must try harder to get a higher 
     rate of participation from the members of the various 
     lists.  

     I worry, for example, that many members with a deep 
     knowledge of their own country's economy--knowledge 
     that could greatly enrich our discussions and provide 
     important insights for policymakers around the world--
     may be deterred from speaking up by a fear that, say, 
     their English may be less than perfect.  
     Nobody's English is perfect. (I've been a professional 
     editor for some 3 decades and I routinely review papers 
     written by scholars with 3 university degrees that 
     would get their authors an 'F' in a freshman English 
     class.***One looks for the substantive core, not the
     verbal gloss--for real-world experience and solid 
     empirical data, not the verbose theories of those 
     "academic scribblers" Lord Keynes reminded us of.)***  

     Which brings me to Rodney's suggestion:  "Perhaps 
     at some point we can all be invited to express what 
     we wish to get out of the list." Exactly.  
     What do we want to "get out" of the list?  
END EXCERPT
      
     The above discussion note was written by
     Charles Mueller, Editor
     ANTITRUST LAW & ECONOMICS REVIEW
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