The short of it is, rep points don't really mean anything - they don't give you any special privileges. Its just a system that allows posters to rate other posters' comments. On the right-hand corner there are a bunch of icons, one of which are some scales. You click on that icon, and it will give you a little menu that allows you to rate the particular post. The more positive points you get, the higher your over-all reputation score goes. Negative posts will detract from your rep. I've given you some positive ones because I've agreed with a lot of your posts. I have been listening to Howard for 20 years, but over the last few I've really started to sour on him. I've tried to stay positive, but this last year has been pretty bad.