Joe, if we don't know that individual messages have been deleted, and certainly don't know why, how in the name of God do the Mods expect those deletions to 'settle things down'? You and I have had this conversation before - it's sloppy, lazy moderation, nothing more, nothing less.

In the thread in question, there is nothing untoward going on (except for one aggressive USA-Ian post which, I believe, everyone ignored.