I have a suggestion for Admin.
1. Reopen P&R to READ ONLY for EVERYONE.  
2. Let those who want to post request permission to post.
3. If posters violate posting rules for the P&R Board, suspend their POSTING privs but not their READING privs.
4. When their posting privs are restored, they will, I hope, avoid violating the rules.  
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By allowing READ ONLY for all P&R posts, violators who want to get to get back into the P&R fray ("I have to reply to that topic with a different opinion!!") will learn to adhere more closely to the rules and avoid the violations.  
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I am assuming that there are a lot of non-posting READERS who just to see what the hot topics are and see different opinions about those topics ... but do not want to post or get drawn into the discussions.  

They felt it was so toxic and contentious it wasn't worth the time it took. I'll step up and admit to adding to the negativity there. But it's hard to disagree the place did nothing to contribute to TER's overall mission and it's hard to justify the time and money spent to manage it.
That said, I'll miss it and will definitely be spending less time on TER.

All it was was a convenient way for a handful of people to insult each other.  It was impossible to have a reasoned debate based on facts because it was clear many of the participants wouldn’t recognize a fact if it hit them in the face. I stopped posting there a long time ago… it was a waste of time that was better spent on other things… like having sex!