I guess I'll respond to my own question about how much time and effort BG puts in- since the company clearly is not going to post an answer. However, they seem to have responded in other ways. I guess it struck a nerve- and for good reason. Not that anyone should necessarily have taken notice-but - a while ago I had about 1600 points and a vote score of 4.5- thanks. But shortly after the newuser episode- suddenly my points dropped to just below 1500- the number needed to be a moderator- and my vote score dropped to 3.2- also disqualifying me from being a moderator. Then, after raising my points to above 1500 again- points again magically dropped to 1490. Now- after this question to Tracy/BG- my points are suddenly down to 1394 and vote score to 3.1. Now points apparently can be deducted as a penalty for violations of TOS- but there have been none and, I have received no notification of such- nor any communication - for that matter. I have queried Agoracom about this, but to no avail. Of course, in and of itself this is clearly not of great import- and- this should not be about me- but about Liberty Star- and,frankly, I could care less whether or not I am a moderator/Hub leader. It is definitely not a major goal in my life. But- I suspect this is clearly the work of the Company and it is sad that Agoracom- which I had assumed was straight shooting and trying to promote honest discourse is collaborating in this. Most importantly, it is illustrative of and consistant with other actions taken by Brett Gross and Liberty Star- in the name of we shareholders. What is he trying to hide? Such unethical, unscrupulous behavior can not be in the Company's best interest. It is a sign of pathetic defensiveness and weakness. And instead of trying to quiet shareholders and lashing out with self serving law suits, limited time would be better spent trying to advance the interests of the company. We really should be better served by our BOD- and hopefully, in addition, Agoracom will once again allow a free expression of opinion.