> The blocking is not something that [...has to be done...].

I suppose thats right enough...

>Objectional posts can be deleted.

Yes. Though I have to say that I prefer facing the consequences of my actions rather than having stuff deleted. I guess thats a personal preference. Different boards do things differently...

> Objectionable posts can be reviewed by a group and sent back to the poster before it is left on the board to be modified to meet the guidlines of the forum so that it can be posted.

Yes. Though if you consider how many posts are posted in one day it might take several days worth of reviewing before anything makes it to the boards...

>Objectional posts can be penalized by other means than blocking the poster in toto, such as limiting the number of posts for so many days if a post does not meet the guidlines of the forum.

Yes. Though it only takes one uncivil post...

>And there are other good and just alternatives to ostracism.

I don't think... I don't think that blocks are intended to ostracise people. I don't think blocks ostracise people, either. There are other means of communication open to people. People usually manage to collect email addresses. And if you have a couple it is easy enough to figure out ways of getting in touch with more people (by way of the people whos addresses you have). You can post to another board. You could start your own blog. Or webpage. Or whatever...

But one year is a long time...

But then... It took a while to get up to a year...