Still I did suggest that ALL could be configurable on a per user basis. But what the initial state of that feature should be is unclear (on or off for newbies).
I will send John Robinson a private reply that this seems to be an issue. I think John and Jim have done a great job with FreeRepublic. In my humble opinion, I think the Founding Fathers of this great nation would be very proud to see what John and Jim (and many others have done) with FreeRepublic.