Several people have made the point that they learned things from Robert
Cohen.  My question is, "How do you know?"  Just because someone says
something doesn't mean that it's true.  I'm sure much of it was, but in
many cases I'm not sure what to believe.  The inability or unwillingness
to supply references or rationale behind many of the claims should
arouse suspicion.  When Ilya would press for explanation until Robert
responded with an ad hominem attack, some people on the list react with,
"Why doesn't she ignore him?"; others react with, "That was horribly
uncivil of him.".  Am I the only one whose reaction was, "Wow -- it
turns out that he couldn't back up all those claims he made?"