It's really quite simple: if a troll tries to provoke a fight and nobody responds, the troll gets bored and goes away. Trouble is, it's almost inevitable that some self-righteous prig is going to take the troll's bait and turn the remark into a brawl. Guess who are the two biggest suckers in this forum, the two most likely to bite on the trolls' bait. Believe me, those who self-righteously bite the bait are much harder to deal with than are the trolls themselves.

If a troll tries to provoke something, I can delete his message when I get to it. If it becomes a brawl, I have to mutilate an entire thread or delete the whole thing to stop the mess. In the process, a good discussion may be ruined.

And I'm sorry, I'm much rather help people with music questions and learn things about music in the process. This forum is operated by volunteers, and it's paid for by volunteers. Max makes up the difference from his own pocket, so there's never extra money for significant improvements. We do it for fun, for the love of folk music, and because we like the people we meet here at Mudcat. We don't do it because we enjoy settling petty squabbles.

And you, Clinton and Brucie, are the pettiest of the petty.

-Joe Offer-