>I think that if you take a serious look at the threads that have been started and are continuing on the VFP forum you will see action is needed. In my opinion there is nothing that can come from them, even the original posts that can contribute to the VFP community. I have not and will not claim to have read all of the rule of conduct, but I am sure that there have been many times that they have been broken just within these messages. It is very hard for me to say this, know the excellent input that is given by most or all of the people involved, but I must say it. Once again my opinion is that John Peterson, Ed Raugh, and Walter Meester should be removed from the forum for the conduct within this thread and there complete lack of respect for those who are looking for real assistance and looking to give real assistance to others here.
>
>Thank you,

In addition to what Mark M. said...

The Sysops are watching, and have consciously and collectively decided to take a passive stand.

Most of us (Sysops) have pretty strong feelings about the proceedings here, but realize that intervention can cause more trouble than it's worth. Past brushes with bans, thread freezing, and thread removal have shown that a policy that utilizes these powers upsets many more people than officially ignoring this garbage does. This is apparent from reaction here, as well as threads in other VFP forums and personal conversations with former members at VFP conferences.

For the most part, the people involved in these recent threads have involved themselves in the 'action'. The parties that do not wish to participate can duck out, and before long, the fire dies out. The 'offenders' are left to be judged by the public on the basis of their actions and words, and this is the way it should be.

Recent enhancements to the UT interface allow non-technical categories to be ignored. Given, the most recent thread in question started in a technical category, but I moved it to Chatter, where it belonged in the first place. If you don't like it, ignore it- that's what this feature is for.

I first disagreed with this standpoint, but after the ability to ignore non-technical categories was implemented, those of us who are less tolerant really have no room to complain. Freedom of Speech is a powerful right that comes with a cost- sometimes you'll hear things that you don't want to hear. It takes a measure of responsibility on both the speaker and the listener's sides: the speaker should do his best to govern his words because he yields a powerful sword, and the listener should learn to ignore, or to take a statement for what its worth: sometimes nothing.