The thing that amazes me in all this is that since both the active principles in this story are on the net(and were before any of this ever happened) it is possible for us, who were once only able to hear what the news media had to say, to get the story direct from the people involved themselves--

I take your point, Sorefingers, and will be sorry to see you go, but rather than subjecting yourself to the vagraries of what are now somewhat moderated discussion threads(not a new thing, there have always been groups that where ever post is reviewed before being added to the threads) , maybe you should consider setting up a blog of your own--it looks like it is the next wave--