In my opinion, use of the ranking system messes up the whole point of posting images. Motivation for posting an image should be 1) to share your art with others who may appreciate it and 2) to receive (hopefully helpful) tips and feedback on how to improve your own skills (or at least, to allow others to express their appreciation of your work). Far too often, the motivation is now "I want the best rating I can get"--which, in itself should be an indicator of the quality of work, but that somehow gets lost in the ranking. So, I agree (somewhat) with Rant#1 (that the ranking system is not all it's meant to be), but would take it to the next level, and say the problem is not in the use of 'good' or 'excellent' versus '9' or '10', but rather in the way it warps the reason for posting. As for Rant#2, I suspect it's the nature of the beast. Sex sells. If merchants want to sell their products, they'll use whatever means are at their disposal. Frankly, I see worse on prime time TV. My $.02