[TalnSG]

Derailing discussions into off-topic bickering sometimes reaches the level of a fine art around here, and that is just where this seems headed, too.

Regardless of why a thread is closed, or by whom, I think it is best for the last post before it is closed to be the mod's explanation for the closing - no matter how blatantly obvious it should be.

Reason 1 - it makes it clear to all involved in the discussion up to that point and then the cause can be disputed, if anyone feels it is necessary.

Reason 2 - Having been a mod for various forums since the early 1990s I learned one thing that doesn't seemed to have caught anyone's attention here. When you close, but do not delete a discussion it means that every time someone opens the thread to read the most recent comment, they usually see the most offensive post of the discussion. Is that really what you mods want users to see first? Especially new users? Better that there are only two options: read from the beginning and perhaps understand the digression; or read from the most recent - the mod's explanation of why it was closed.