the good alex said:
>   Looking at BB's email, it's sent in both HTML and plain text.

yeah, the other alex is confused.

the reason the a.o.l. posts break the threads
is because the return-headers are incorrect...
(that terminology is vague because i refuse to
crawl around the muck of the techno-jargon.)

the .html formatting is another issue entirely.

however, i _fully_agree_ legacy software sucks.
how much time has the world wasted on i.e.6?

it's just that the _irony_ of this is so _delicious_
-- the people who say our e-books _should_ be
in .html format and not plain-text are the same
people who _bitch_ because my messages and
e-mails are in .html format and not plain-text --
that i just can't resist rubbing their noses in it...

-bowerbird

p.s.  the listserve software could also be smart,
and put a post into its thread using the subject.
it's just too bad it's not open-source software,
so that someone could make that improvement.

(note for lee: yes, i _know_ it _is_ open-source.
this kind of humor is called "irony" or "sarcasm".
i am calling attention to the b.s. of technocrats.)