I guess I have a different take on moderators because I am a moderator on a different board, Sheryl's board on priceline tips.

I agree with Punki that we should all moderate ourselves. Unfortunately, not everybody agrees with Punki... which I've learned by reading her thoughtful posts is usually a stupid thing not to do.

A moderator should not edit posts unless they are profane, or give out information such as the UA 1K telephone number or a FTer's home address or frequent flier number. I hate the autocensor on UBB, because it appears to only censor American phrases, but in all contexts including non-American contexts.

If a post is offensive in the moderator's opinion, the moderator should add a reply explaining his/her opinion, and cc the overall Administrator, in this case Randy.

The concept of "American" vs. "Global" standards of offensiveness... I find that very troubling. I need to think about it some more. At the very least, Randy should use it as guidance in selecting a set of moderators.

Posts about illegal tactics are a trickier one. We've had a couple of them about deliberately using expired credit cards. Another example is that some people may consider award selling illegal, some may not. Since the moderator isn't judge or jury, the moderator should only point out his/her belief, and again contact the administrator about whether the thread should be locked.

Meandering threads... well, they happen and are often useful. Still, a moderator should at least chime in and remind everybody that they're off tangent and that maybe it would help the rest of the FT community if a new thread was started.

The bigger job of a moderator is to help out newbies. You know, the folks that get electronically yelled at when they post a question that's asked 15 times a year, or that post a general question in FT Community because they don't know any better.

Moderators should welcome newbies with a reply to the thread, and suggest that they reply to the current Who We All Are thread as well as reading any FAQ.

I don't think moderators will hurt FT if they do not abuse their powers. I hope that Randy will select a global mix of FTers of sufficient moral competence "intuitively obvious to even the most casual of observers" that fear of abuse will be non-existent.

But, I don't know if moderators are the panacea that some people think they will be.