Some good points, and glad I was not the only one to dislike dismissive and demeaning terms like "kiddo".

And Cactus Pete please do not overlook you were in the very midst of many of the wild threads, and as I recall a good number of users got time outs, including some you sided strongly with, so fault and blame clearly lay in many places. Those days are past, and Moderators are here. I think there is a feeling from the few posts before this that those who moderate must be even-handed and transparent and VERY careful with their wording. A tough call, but they all volunteer and were not forced to take on the job, and therefore accepted those responsibilities with eyes wide open.