Words of criticism from people who don't know what they're talking about, and confuse reality.

First, if BaNosser were banned, it would HAVE TO BE BY AGORA. Just as AGORA banned Wolf and Brian. HL's cannot unilaterally ban anyone of VP status or higher, period. We can recommend Agora action, and that's it.

Did they (Air and jumpingtown) cross the line? Of course, or we would not have taken action. And, speaking for myself, I've only banned a few folks in my entire tenure, and typically only after REPEATED violation warnings go unheeded, or unless the poster essentially asks for it (e.g., acknowledging within their post that the post is in violation, and the violation is significant. When someone says in their post "I'll probably get banned for this", they know they've crossed the line, yet proceed to hit the "submit" button. And then it's a big surprise?).

Unlike certain other HL's past and present, we try very hard to perform with integrity. It is not a pleasant job - nobody likes being a policeman here (well, most don't like it), but that IS the job. I personally cut people a lot of slack, even writing pm's to folks advising of why they received a warning. But some people just refuse to recognize the Rules.

Balance? Tom and I versus Pete, Ron and BaNosser. Yup, that's balance!

And where were the cries for balance in the past, before I was appointed HL? I don't recall any such cries coming from you when previous HLs clearly acted independently, banning people left and right for being "disruptive" - which is NOT a violation of the rules and is purely subjective. That word by its very nature suggests that the supposed violating post was perceived as "disruptive" to THAT HL, i.e., he simply didn't like what was posted even though no real rules were violated. This while allowing clearly valid violating posts to stand.

Until very recently, my approach to handling obvious violating posts was to report them, but then allow another HL (a second set of eyes) to process the reported violation to avoid any appearance of bias. The problem that I encounter - and will no longer put up with - is that a certain other HL will process the clearly violating post with an Ignore Violation. There's your abuse of the system. Once processed with an ignore, the post can no longer be acted upon (other than by Agora, which does step up occasionally and overrides the HL) - and the clearly violating post stands.

I too would like to see the Manage Violations section opened for read-only access by all users. This would promote HL integrity, because people could then see the non-sense that goes on behind the scenes. I have made multiple requests to Agora management to consider enabling such visibility. My hope is that they will. It might put a stop to abuse.

Please note that your post is a clear violation of the rules. It was reported, but I processed it with an Ignore - which is not proper, but in this instance offers this reply. Thus, this response is probably a violation as well. And please note I don't have to explain my actions, but wanted to. People criticize in complete ignorance, so IMO some education may be necessary. HL101.

FWIW,

SGE