There IS one thing Mudcat could do without any major change of policy - and that is to have moderators identified in some way. It's no accident that the police wear uniforms to remind everyone that they do have powers, and that their 'suggestions' do carry extra weight. I've been in and out of here for a few years now and the only Mudcat officials I'm aware of are Joe Offer and (now) Big Mick. If there was an asterisk or something to identify those who had power to close threads, then any tactful remarks they might make might be noted by everyone else. There are probably good reasons why this is not done, but I'd be interested to hear them. Perhaps identification might give their normal posts an unwanted edge - in which case maybe it might be possible for them to have two sign-ins, - one for normal chat and one for official activity. Tom