Danny wrote: I am truly glad that there are certain astute individuals who are so absolutely free > of bias themselves that they can share their open-mindedness with the rest of us.

I share your above enthusiasm. Bias is relative to the issues involved. For example the idea of a recusal, is designed for a reason; to limit a conflict of interest, where closeness to an issue presents a potential problem. Recusal, however is not applicable here, even if it should be. - 'Prophet' SV