Arch,

Thank you for your input. Your post pretty much confirms my curiosity regarding the potential for favoritism towards certain members. It would be *nearly* impossible to avoid.

My comments are in no way meant to implicate you...only the system. My POV is that there is a conflict of interest issue here. That's ok. At least now I know what we are working with. I can live with that.

I did feel that the deletion of the thread was rather extreme. There were several contributions to the thread, none of which violated the TOS, that were deleted along with Takolas. She could have simply removed her contributions if she no longer chose to participate. The other posters were not given a choice. Their posts are gone too and none of them violated TOS.

Anyway...enough of that. I just wanted to know if the rules changed. Apparently, they did not...there are just a few that appear to be unwritten.

Thanks again,
ba109

Tak, Thanks for clarifying the fact that it was you, the original poster that requested the thread be deleted. This I did not know and being of a curious nature, was just wondering what happened.

Arch, thanks for explaining in detail what happened. The logic makes sense why some threads would simply be locked and others deleted.

My curiosity has been satisfied, thanks.

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial"> Sometimes a thread initiator wants their post deleted, but the thread is many pages long and contains an incredible amount of caring input by other posters. </font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Was that not the case with this thread? And no I didn't have a dog in the race other than a "lurking" one. What 3 pages and some people responded and answered the question directly with nothing but kind words. IMO there was some valuable (at least caring) posts and input that was deleted.

More often than not, I have seen many ask that a thread be deleted and told that it could/would be locked but not deleted because of others input. But you know what, consistency is hard in all aspects of life.

Moderators, I do thank you for your efforts and time in keeping this board running smoothly (most of the time) and available.

To ba:

You said "My POV is that there is a conflict of interest issue here. That's ok. At least now I know what we are working with. I can live with that."

Ok...now my personal disclaimer. I'm not a moderator at all on any MB boards or anything remotely related to MB subjects).

But this is pretty common throughout the net. MOST moderators are recruited from memberships, and as they generally aren't paid, that's how they are found. Good, caring people dedicated to assisting with the goals of the forum. Such people sometimes do have their own questions they'd like to post, as they (obviously) care about the forum's subject matter. Admins usually ask that it occur with seperate screen name.

It's not unique to MB. It's standard operating procedure for the net.

Arch, I think you guys do a great job here btw. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Smile]" src="images/icons/smile.gif" />

ba,

If it's any consolation....I did a search on the Internet about how to become a moderator in a forum. Evidently it is STANDARD practice for the moderators to be members of the forum they moderate....in fact, it is a prerequisite for all the ones that I read about. If there is a conflict of interest....then to a degree....it's a relatively universal one. My impression is that when a mod leaves, or another opening occurs, that mods are recruited both from the people who other mods have noticed are knowledgeable, fair and experience....or they are advertised on the net and encouraged to participate in the forums and fill out applications once they have done so.

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">And, just in closing, FYI, I've never scolded myself...myselves? </font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial"><img border="0" title="" alt="[Big Grin]" src="images/icons/grin.gif" /> <img border="0" title="" alt="[Big Grin]" src="images/icons/grin.gif" /> <img border="0" title="" alt="[Big Grin]" src="images/icons/grin.gif" />

I have never laughed at a Moderator before. I hope that's ok?? <img border="0" title="" alt="[Razz]" src="images/icons/tongue.gif" />

You know .. even the sight of your nick Arch brings a little chill to me... lol

BTW .. thanks! <img border="0" title="" alt="[Smile]" src="images/icons/smile.gif" /> ... I never realized you guys (or is it a girl?) don't get paid.

I don't think MB could pay me enough to do your job. For real.

Dzzz