>2. use INNER JOIN instead of old WHERE. That makes code more readable:

I know this is an old arguement but...............

readability is in the eye of the reader. I used WHERE for multi-table joins for several years before somebody (I think it was Tamar) showed me situations where JOIN is more accurate. I now use JOIN but find WHERE more readable. I liken it to learning a foreign language. No matter how fluent one gets in a second language, it is always more comprehensible in your native tongue.

There are many valid reasons to use JOINS, but for me (and, I assume, Beth) readability is generally not one of them.