I agree, of the house.

And Shambles--your original post was in bad form, but it was classic Mudcat member trolling. Thanks for illustrating what those who have cared enough to be constructively critical of this forum, have been saying for well over a year now.

BTW, I also agree with your assessment of unmoderated usenet groups in your 2:33 post Shambles. What I don't agree with is your belief that Mudcat is any different. In my view, this place really isn't any better or any worse than unmoderated usenet.

However, that said, in my opinion both Mudcat and unmoderated usenet ngs are considerably worse than well moderated usenet ngs, and many many private mailing lists. You just don't get the riff raff, the duffers, the trolls and flamers, in moderated forums that you do in unmoderated ones.

Which is why the people who love this place the most likely don't spend any time on moderated forums. They don't want to be held accountable for their way-off behaviors which definitely would not be tolerated in well moderated forums. I really do think it that simple.

I find Mudcat and uk.music.folk to be the most unwelcoming of strangers of all the unmoderated folk music forums on the internet. Rec.music.folk, like rec.music.celtic, just doesn't see much traffic at all anymore. I believe that is because those who "rule" uk.music.folk are so cantakerous, obnoxious, and argumentative, that they have argued and bullied and harrassed decent, friendly, and knowledgeable folkies right out of the unmoderated folk forums, destroying other folk forums in the process.

They are quite smug and complacent about that right now over in uk.music.folk. They've driven virtually all the Americans out of uk.music.folk, to be sure. And left both rec.music.celtic and rec.music.folk smoldering shells of their former selves. Not an uncommon sight if you've had any dealings with left leaning political movements, where people destroy what is successful, in order to take power in the vacuum they create once the successful endeavor has been destroyed by their own hands.

Sad, but sadly predictable too. Same thing seems to be happening here. Question is, who will win the battle of Mudcat--the Brits or the Yanks?