Acq.... Hub leaders do not have access to personal information. They only have opoortunity to manage violations, which was intended to keep boards from deteriorating to Stockhouse levels.

This has worked quite well over the past two and a half years. There have been a number of times where posters were "clipped" for inappropriate language, some off-topic, etc. Anyone can flag a violation, but it is up to the hub leaders to manage the violation (or Agoracom admin will do it when the post in question is a person with title, or it is a more serious infraction).

I have pretty much had the role of managing the violations as no one else seems to want to step up to the plate to do it. No wonder - it is never a fun role to have -- the person whose post is clipped in pretty much always ticked. I have been maligned for processing the violation. I have also been maligned for processing one post and not another. I have been complained to about being too rigid and not cutting enough slack. I have also been questioned as to why I was not dealing with stuff as it showed up. So, in effect, it really doesn't matter what I do, it will be wrong to someone.

So, in an effort to tread a reasonable middle ground, I have backed off and let things go for awhile, dealing only with flagged stuff. When it was flagged, I have tried to be objective -- it either was or wasn't an issue as per Agoracom rules. I have avoided playing favoritism (that's tough when you clip guys you otherwise have high respect for), and dealt with it on the basis of whether it was a violation of the rules or not.

As it is, this latest escapade has gotten everyone riled up. The reaction and counter-reaction to the violation processing has far exceeded the distraction of the original posts. This is way out of hand. It is time to say "done"... and let this board return to posts about SGR - not about another company and not focused on sorting out who said what and whether the next person was out of line.

I have let everyone pretty much say their piece... I guess everyone likes to vent at some point, but we really need to be done with this, IMO.

No need to respond to this post with more posts - that just enlarges the issue. Anything further that "must" be said should should go to the off-topic forum. Let's please get ourselves and this board back under some sense of civility and order.

NL