Ron, I have answered all of those in a serious fashion as well as a smartass one and it makes no difference. But.....once more for you....totally serious.

1) There are other ways of changing the posting policy that are probably being looked into as well. Without going into all of them, I'd simply say that a change will undoubtedly be made from the status quo. I think you can take that much to the bank. Is it needed? Certainly. Mudcat has become far too large to go on the way it has. The trick will be.....and I have faith that both Max and Jeff will pull it off.....to retain some of the flavor of the old Mudcat and the things which we have all valued such as free roaming discussions from cooking to condoms and a lot of good music as well!

2) Mods are almost always members of the forums they moderate but in the larger forums they are almost always anonymous, known by only their Mod name when they are "working" and their usual handle otherwise. This is done so that all complaints are not sent to individual Mods but the admin instead. Admin can and sometimes does replace Moderators who step over the line and that is as it should be. As a Mod you wear two hats and your "job" is to enforce the rules and wishes of the admin.

Additionally, no forum of any real size allows long running discussions about policy. I think Max will always allow that to some degree. But I also believe he will join with the larger forum thinking in halting threads like this one at their inception and taking action against posters who insist on complaining. No one minds constructive criticism or suggestions but when they become whining complaints or angry critiques, they stop. The posters responsible are asked first to tone it down and or other action may be taken.....and it is, no quarter asked and none given. Just ZAP!!! Generally, these threads and posts are deleted from the forum with no explanation. If we all know the rules then we don't need an explanation do we?

Again, I don't know how far Max and Jeff will go in that direction but I'd be pretty sure it's a helluva' lot further down that road than we are now. I imagine he'll use the same Mods as he does now as he shows no sign of finding their work unsatisfactory. And do note that he finds (from his public postings) Shambles to be a pain in the ass and someone he has already politely asked to leave. The Mods will continue as they have and I see no problem either except that so many are known and Sham has used this against them.

3) Over the past 8 or 9 years I have fought with Joe, laughed with Joe, fought about Joe and for Joe and laughed about Joe and at Joe. I have at turns loved him like a brother and wanted to kick him in the balls. He has a tough job which at times is made harder by Joe's own sense of doing the right thing as he sees it. Many times this means trying to explain when I think he just needs to say nothing! Shamby has pushed him over the edge a few times and then exploited the results. Joe tries hard to be fair....it's the midwestern "right" thing he grew up with. Ya' know, the only times I think Joe causes a problem is when he tries to explain some action when in fact NO EXPLANATION is needed or should be given. Joe cares very much about this site and the people who come here and THAT more often gets him in trouble than anything else.

That's a little long for 2 cents but wtf...........

Spaw