I larely support your appointment, Liberty. You have a lot of knowledge, are a well spoken communicator and an active participant of these forums.

My only concern would be your difficulty letting things go. There will always be a few people who like to spout off and rile people up and the ISM debacle, mainly on SH and bled somewhat here, is a good example of what happens. In a forum type environment where written words are the only means of debate, these types of battles are rarely resolved and only result in causing the majority of the forum community to either get involved in a winless battle or withdraw from the forum altogether. In my nearly 20 years of involvement (as participant and moderator) in online forums of one form or another, I have never seen such battles come out with a "winner". Meaningful debates almost always degenerate in to childish name throwing by some or all participants.

I know you mean well and are trying to defend the intellectual integrity of the forums when you try and call out these types by picking apart their posts (I have to bite my tongue now and then myself), but as we have seen time and time again, it produces nothing positive for the forums except inflaming a battle that few of us actually enjoy reading. A quick read through SH is a good demonstration of what can happen.

That aside, you're my pick for forum leader. The appointment comes with some responsibility, and in the future I would suggest it would be wise to avoid these types of downward-spiral debates in order to maintain the correct forum atmosphere. The letters "I-S-M" are and are best avoided and posts pertaining to it should be either ignored or removed if they are merely intended to inflame pointless argument.

I look forward to this forum continuing to be a productive location where we can discuss, debate and commisserate as Liberty Mines continues down the road to success.

Good luck.