I think Chris has a valid point here. Occasionally, there may be a good case for starting an off-topic thread. Most of these die a natural death. I guess the mods don't need to be putting out spot fires all the time - best example here is when things degenerate along political lines. The recent thread about global warming/climate change obviously has a lot of passionate contributors. I find it interesting (and sometimes amusing) to hear other peoples views, but at the end of the day I can choose to stay away. I guess I form my opinions of what other members are like by how they post - I wouldn't want it to be too sterile. As an aside, there is no doubt that the forums are functioning better since it has been possible to send feedback to other members. They are not popularity counters - we ALL get neg feedback if we step too far out of line.
If one were to look at the new threads posted, it would make sense that the majority were aviation related. That's the thrust of what Chris is saying...
Perhaps I might add one more thing - before posting a new thread, it's a good idea to use the "Search" function and see if the topic has been posted before. If it has, please don't start another thread along the same lines. Honestly, if I see one more Boeing versus Airbus man thread....