Hi awk,
strange indeed.
snackman has kindly contacted me and told me he is certain he didn't do it. abob has never deleted a post of mine in 6 years to my knowledge, and given I was pointing to and supporting his copyright text and encouraging folks to send money to him, I doubt he'd be the one to perform the surgery. I knew you would not even if you retained the authority to do so. ;-)
yet they both disappeared, so it was no accident.
i wonder if someone has figured snackman's password.