Well, Janie, I buy nearly all that. Nearly. I'm not sure that you know that the people you see as forming a new community (not a word I enjoy using apropos of internet matters, but hey ho) have such different values. Speaking for myself, I'm acutely aware that I am associated most with that fringe group of mostly Brits who possess the knack of getting up people's noses. I wouldn't have it any other way, either, though at that point I should like to dissociate myself vehemently from two or three of them who I see as bigots (not now). But, on the whole, my values are strongly defined and are not at odds with most decent people who post here, which means nearly everybody. And that includes some of the most abrasive and sweary people here. They may not have the tactics but they are almost invariably on the right side of things, if you can just see through the insults and the bluster. OK, babies and bath water, but be careful that you're not the one pulling the plug. I'm not trying to defend the indefensible here (I don't hold back in criticising Musket for his multiple identities, for example, and I don't like the worst kinds of sweariness, and I've said so. I've tried to stop calling people names even!), but if it's a community you desire then all I can say is that it takes all sorts, and the strength of any community is defined by how well it can embrace the diversity within it. Trying to achieve a community that you've pre-defined on very narrow, cosy lines won't work when the topics up for debate are as wide-ranging as they are here. Fine if it's a forum dedicated to just knitting or pussycats.

One other thing. This discussion forum is very old-fashioned now (I'm not complaining, by the way). You can't post photos and you can't edit your posts, and it can be grindingly slow at times, it's hard to post links compared to most other forums, and there's a lot of competition from the cut-and-thrust, all-singing, all-dancing social media sites (I hate them and have nothing to do with them). Most other forums of this sort are in decline. Two music forums I'm on are virtually dead and two others are going downhill fast. To some extent, this one almost bucks the trend. But if we fall out over religion/abortion/Israel, let it ride. Bad threads generally burn out fast, and so what if they degenerate into an interminable squabble between two idiots. Leave 'em be. The new Guest-free ethos here will dictate that they will be ignored by almost everybody, and the protagonists will end up looking like fools. All communities contain fools. Best let them make fools of themselves rather than try to do the job for them, I reckon!