Well, I am confused. All this 'naming of names' and admissions has only muddied the waters further. If there are really "3 Muskets", how is that different from others using regular pseudonyms? Can Steve Shaw convince some assortment of 'Muskets' to use definitive names at all times?

You must realize that for the first 3-4 or so years, there was very little trouble with trolls and anonymous sniping. Nicknames were just 'fun'... some used 'em... some didn't. Once Google found the site and swooped it up in their net, many people other than folkies discovered it and gradually folkies with **opinions** introduced topics far beyond music, and non-folkies searching for their favorite fights joined in.... and awaayyyy we went. It was then that Max decided the moderators were needed....to delete spam and keep SOME semblance of order.

In 1997-1999 or so, it was possible to read... or at least scan... almost every thread, but today that wold require a full time position.

Steve Shaw says:"We have moderators, so-called, who bollock people they happen to disagree with/make them uncomfortable, yet who allow sexists, racists, homophobes and Islamophobes to run riot, untrammelled, unchallenged."

That really is a distortion of the situation. The mods TRY to be fair.... but they are just as human as those they try to gently control. Steve's accusation misses the point about who gets "bolloxed". Opinions are tolerated... even minority opinions that most of us don't agree with... but vicious, nasty, hateful expressions of those opinions are subject to some sort of moderation. How the lines are drawn is the most frustrating problem for any moderator! Just how offensive does a remark have to be to be deleted? Those who call for for censorship of **opinions** they don't like can be far more offensive in tway complain than the subject OF their complaint! Personal insults using foul language to 'make a point' about someone's minority opinion causes 3 times the uproar as the original opinion!

As I have said before, I can't imagine how the poor mods could possibly delete or edit many of the 'problem' posts without making the whole thread confusing... and as all of you have seen, deleting often just leads to new thread complaining ABOUT the deletions and demanding "explanations". And any attempt at explanation just breeds MORE huffing & puffing!

Sheeesh... why do I bother? I will be away at a craft show for 3 days. I hope by Monday everyone will just be playing on the "fluffy bunny" thread and this one will be closed.