jon said:
>   Well, since I sort of initiated this sub-thread

um, you mean since you _hijacked_ the thread...

just had to talk about your shiny markup, didn't you?

what a debilitating distraction...

the need to retain line-breaks has nothing to do with markup.
(and your example, which shows the absurd lengths to which
a markup mentality will drive a person, was very illuminating,
as is all the technoid jargon-jabbering in this "sub-thread".)

p.g. introduces its own linebreaks into its plain-ascii e-texts,
all without ever entering the markup arena.

and i put in my
own line-breaks,
right here in these
posts to this listserve,
again without using
any markup at all,
just the return key.

i'll bring this thread back to relevance starting tomorrow...

-bowerbird