[OBW]

I note that this is not the first era of contention on this forum. The first one was nearly catastrophic. I did a postmortem on a particularly ugly thread some time back with someone else and we both learned something. Mostly that we all had things we intended to say but it was not quite what was actually said. And we all read things the way we thought they were rather than how they actually were. Fault was everywhere. One post would say one thing and an immediate reply to it was sometimes almost unrecognizable as talking about the same thing.

And there was unwillingness all over the place to see things other than in each of our own ways. There was little willingness to understand each other but instead lay out accusations. Several long-time participants left and never returned.

And every few months, someone new would find that thread, read the last few posts and take off from there with some question or comment that would soon turn into a repeat performance. We are human and frail. It included me.

There have been a couple of lesser events, but they were all marked by one thing — a "let's get the $*&@^#'s" attitude that became infectious. Rather than challenging positions, we began to challenge each other.

The LRC is a volatile topic for some. I believe that once a thread begins to have too much heat, there needs to be some water thrown on it in some way to keep it from spontaneous combustion. When KTS and Igzy start to say there is a bad actor in the house, it is probably serious. KTS doesn't say much about anyone unless truly provoked. I've accused him of being too soft on everything, so when he speaks out like he just did, take note.

But at the same time, the fact that it got this way indicates that we need more control. And if we can't control ourselves, then we need better moderation. And our current Topiq Nazi does not have the time for what we just might need.

And I really don't think you want me to do it. That could be bad. So who will help Unto with the job? Who can remain detached from the personalities and content enough to be even-handed? The only person to ever take it on and do it as well as required is among those no longer with us. It is unfortunate. But he probably didn't have the time for it then. Surely not now. And neither does Unto.

So how do we solve this?