I don't want to step on any moderator's toes, but I have to admit that I've been a bit surprised at the quality of the moderation of late. Some threads that really haven't seemed offensive at all have been locked by some moderators while other threads that definitely seemed to be beyond the perview of this forum are allowed to go on. And I really dislike it when any thread is completely deleted. Even if a moderator completely disagrees with what has been said, it should at least be placed in the Penalty Box so that the rest of us can see why it was locked and avoid that in the future.

But what what bothers me the most is the apparent lack of any real consistency in which threads are locked and which aren't, as well as which threads/posts are deleted. I know we have a set of rules outlined in the FAQ, but those don't seem to be applied in a consistent manner.

I'm not a Mod so I have no power here. But perhaps a meeting of the Mods to go over what is and is not allowed, as well as what actions are appropriate, is in order. That way all the Mods can use the same criteria and the same methods for the moderation of this forum.

Also, I really like the way some Mods give us warnings in a thread before they lock it down. That should always be the modus operandi for a Mod. There are lots of times that a thread has a useful purpose or is very educational, but has started to veer over the line. A warning is great because it reminds our members what our limits are. But I find it very frustrating when a Mod just swoops in and locks the thread. It's like the Mod doesn't trust the rest of us Xmarkers to pay attention to a warning and clean up our acts.

Well, that's just my suggestion on how to moderate. As an active Xmarker, I hope that those suggestions will be at least considered since I think that they are reasonable and would definitely increase the enjoyability of this forum for all.