I suppose if that were true, then no outside pressure would have been applied to our respected forum owners, nor would our forum owners then have decided to delete a thread and post new rules. But did some of the best minds and most well respected "family" among us actively contribute to that now-defunct thread over "irrelevant things"? Something in all this was quite relevant to many.
I personally wish to keep family first, outsiders second. As such, it should not be any secret as to the real reason for the thread deletion and new rules. If outside pressure was the key, as I suspect it was, let it be revealed and we then shall move on. Otherwise there will always be lingering suspicions and perhaps even genuine fear that other threads may face the same fate because "outsiders" can make a big deal about "irrelevant things" and get what they want.