it seems to be difficult for some...members and non-members alike....to accept that their views are in the minority. I do not agree with 'everything' Joe or Max has ever done and said...but I DO accept that they are the management, and I note that a large majority not only accepts that, but agrees with the decisions OF the management.

Shambles, perhaps you have struggled with the PELs thing so long and hard that 'protest' against perceived injustice has become a major hobby. Not that protest is inherently bad, but it can get a bit petty if one is not careful.. The situation in English pubs IS a bit different than how Max chooses to run his own web site, but you seem obsessed with poking and nagging him to do it YOUR way. At some point, it might be well to just accept that you have gotten a LOT of use and mileage from this place and allow Max, thru Joe and a couple others, to operate it with merely 94% of the optimum you have as your goal.

not a bad deal, it seems to me...