My conclusion is that the Moderator who approves new member's post has died and nobody noticed??

Sorry if he / she has, but it's so damned annoying!

Me too
 

I have posted "New Thread" twice. I get the "waiting for moderator approval" message also. My pictures got uploaded to the Gallery, but my messages/thread never got posted. Very frustrating. I deleted my pictures from Gallery. About to delete my membership also. I suppose the moderators feel this forum has run it's course and no longer monitor. I also noticed that there was no reply to any of the previous messages discussing this issue.