Joe , I would like to recommend your post but I need to know first which posts and which topics in your opinion "bring something to the table" and which do not. Conjecture and speculation frankly do little for me , but I have a learned a lot of very valuable  information especially (in my case) from the picks, shovels, and geology guys. That is because I come from a different but professional background. If the purpose is to learn from each other, your point of wasting time wading through posts does not hold water. It takes but a nanosecond to skip over posts or posters  or 'emotion' I consider of no interest or value. I find the Agoracom format far more efficient than threaded boards, because it gives me the poster, the subject and the content in real time. There are a lot of high-value posters to  this board, and often there are many gems buried in their replies to otherwise fluffy subjects. The Agoracom hierarchy has the total power to regulate posts that are detrimental to the overall forum.