On Wed, 29 May 2002, Yigal Levin wrote:

> This morning I received an email list of "Hillbilly Medical Terms" from a
> friend, and since I thought that many of the puns were particularly funny,
> I proceeded to forward it to the Raven list. From the several reactions I
> have received so far, while some people seem to share my sense of humor,
> others were clearly offended by what they considered to be a culturally
> biased and degrading slur.
>
> I wish to convey my apology to anyone who was offended by my post. It was
> not intended as an attack on anyone's particular culture. I will be more
> careful in the future.

Dear Yigal,

I just forwarded your previous message to my son in West Virginia, who
works with the state agricultural and resources bureau.  He will get a
kick out of it.
        Carter Pate

P.S.  Too bad some of us in hillbilly territory haven't learned that
self-deprecatory humor often gets a rise out of "others" and at the same
time lets us get away with poking fun at their ignorance!