Hi XP.

The editing business you were referring to, I think was mainly about the claim that amounted to declaring the forum is a public domain [public property] and all the material in it could be copied and sold as a book . I think Neil was pointing out the obvious for anyone reading the post now or in the future, that in no way is this a 'public forum' but a privately run commercial operation that to become members off and use, members have agreed to 'term and conditions' of use.

I imagine that posts asking for explanation are [usually] not answered because explanation inevitably leads to more posts and even possible argument. I guess moderators have better things to do with there time than justify themselves or their actions and if we don't understand them, 'tuff luck' would be the expression that is probably on their lips :-)

As far as ratings go, they are only another tool, a piece of the jigsaw puzzle we are trying to fit together in finding winners, hopefully with more value than their SP suggests. By themselves they are useless.
No ratings, regardless of how well put together they are will put food on the table without some handicapping effort involved as well or are used as an ingredient in a profitable system. The top 5 selections in good ratings might have 85% of all winners among them, but so do the top 5 newspaper form prices which can also be used as a guide to handicapping and in systems just as readily.

When accountants are working out tax returns they use a calculator or adding machine of some sort, not because they are incapable of doing all the calculations themselves without one, but because it saves them time, money and contributes a great deal to the overall efficiency of their business operation. Good quality calculators cost peanuts. So do good quality ratings.