diff --git a/Gemfile.lock b/Gemfile.lock
index aee31ee6c..9dad0ac08 100644
--- a/Gemfile.lock
+++ b/Gemfile.lock
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ GIT
 
 GIT
   remote: https://github.com/SamSaffron/message_bus
-  revision: e5654728b1c1b97fa5c7bb79fd689b31cec3f01d
+  revision: 031a107bbe6e468caa67ff540485d70230d1c362
   specs:
     message_bus (0.0.2)
       eventmachine
diff --git a/app/models/user_tracking_state.rb b/app/models/user_tracking_state.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..110c6bc21
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/models/user_tracking_state.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+# this class is used to mirror unread and new status back to end users
+# in JavaScript there is a mirror class that is kept in-sync using the mssage bus
+# the allows end users to always know which topics have unread posts in them
+# and which topics are new
+
+class UserTrackingState
+
+  CHANNEL = "/user-tracking"
+
+  MessageBus.client_filter(CHANNEL) do |user_id, message|
+    if user_id
+      UserTrackingState.new(User.find(user_id)).filter(message)
+    else
+      nil
+    end
+  end
+
+  def self.trigger_change(topic_id, post_number, user_id=nil)
+    MessageBus.publish(CHANNEL, "CHANGE", user_ids: [user_id].compact)
+  end
+
+  def initialize(user)
+    @user = user
+    @query = TopicQuery.new(@user)
+  end
+
+  def new_list
+    @query
+      .new_results(limit: false)
+      .select(topics: [:id, :created_at])
+      .map{|t| [t.id, t.created_at]}
+  end
+
+  def unread_list
+    []
+  end
+
+  def filter(message)
+  end
+
+end
diff --git a/lib/guardian.rb b/lib/guardian.rb
index 6e2ec95d6..fb7595ec3 100644
--- a/lib/guardian.rb
+++ b/lib/guardian.rb
@@ -109,11 +109,9 @@ class Guardian
   alias :can_activate? :can_approve?
 
   def can_ban?(user)
-    return false if user.blank?
-    return false unless @user.try(:admin?)
-    return false if user.admin?
-    true
+    is_staff? && user && !user.staff?
   end
+
   alias :can_deactivate? :can_ban?
 
   def can_clear_flags?(post)
diff --git a/lib/topic_query.rb b/lib/topic_query.rb
index 4b733e1bd..17602c7d7 100644
--- a/lib/topic_query.rb
+++ b/lib/topic_query.rb
@@ -190,6 +190,19 @@ class TopicQuery
     create_list(:new_in_category) {|l| l.where(category_id: category.id).by_newest.first(25)}
   end
 
+  def new_results(list_opts={})
+    default_list(list_opts)
+      .where("topics.created_at >= :created_at", created_at: @user.treat_as_new_topic_start_date)
+      .where("tu.last_read_post_number IS NULL")
+      .where("COALESCE(tu.notification_level, :tracking) >= :tracking", tracking: TopicUser.notification_levels[:tracking])
+  end
+
+  def unread_results(list_opts={})
+    default_list(list_opts)
+      .where("tu.last_read_post_number < topics.highest_post_number")
+      .where("COALESCE(tu.notification_level, :regular) >= :tracking", regular: TopicUser.notification_levels[:regular], tracking: TopicUser.notification_levels[:tracking])
+  end
+
   protected
 
     def create_list(filter, list_opts={})
@@ -240,18 +253,6 @@ class TopicQuery
       result
     end
 
-    def new_results(list_opts={})
-      default_list(list_opts)
-        .where("topics.created_at >= :created_at", created_at: @user.treat_as_new_topic_start_date)
-        .where("tu.last_read_post_number IS NULL")
-        .where("COALESCE(tu.notification_level, :tracking) >= :tracking", tracking: TopicUser.notification_levels[:tracking])
-    end
-
-    def unread_results(list_opts={})
-      default_list(list_opts)
-        .where("tu.last_read_post_number < topics.highest_post_number")
-        .where("COALESCE(tu.notification_level, :regular) >= :tracking", regular: TopicUser.notification_levels[:regular], tracking: TopicUser.notification_levels[:tracking])
-    end
 
     def random_suggested_results_for(topic, count, exclude_topic_ids)
       results = default_list(unordered: true, per_page: count)
diff --git a/spec/components/guardian_spec.rb b/spec/components/guardian_spec.rb
index 07aa73181..648c114fd 100644
--- a/spec/components/guardian_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/components/guardian_spec.rb
@@ -4,14 +4,14 @@ require_dependency 'post_destroyer'
 
 describe Guardian do
 
-  let(:user) { Fabricate(:user) }
-  let(:moderator) { Fabricate(:moderator) }
-  let(:admin) { Fabricate(:admin) }
-  let(:another_admin) { Fabricate(:another_admin) }
-  let(:coding_horror) { Fabricate(:coding_horror) }
+  let(:user) { build(:user) }
+  let(:moderator) { build(:moderator) }
+  let(:admin) { build(:admin) }
+  let(:another_admin) { build(:another_admin) }
+  let(:coding_horror) { build(:coding_horror) }
 
-  let(:topic) { Fabricate(:topic, user: user) }
-  let(:post) { Fabricate(:post, topic: topic, user: topic.user) }
+  let(:topic) { build(:topic, user: user) }
+  let(:post) { build(:post, topic: topic, user: topic.user) }
 
   it 'can be created without a user (not logged in)' do
     lambda { Guardian.new }.should_not raise_error
@@ -22,8 +22,8 @@ describe Guardian do
   end
 
   describe 'post_can_act?' do
-    let(:post) { Fabricate(:post) }
-    let(:user) { Fabricate(:user) }
+    let(:post) { build(:post) }
+    let(:user) { build(:user) }
 
     it "returns false when the user is nil" do
       Guardian.new(nil).post_can_act?(post, :like).should be_false
@@ -220,6 +220,9 @@ describe Guardian do
 
     describe 'a Post' do
       it 'correctly handles post visibility' do
+        post = Fabricate(:post)
+        topic = post.topic
+
         Guardian.new(user).can_see?(post).should be_true
 
         post.trash!
@@ -613,6 +616,7 @@ describe Guardian do
       end
 
       it "returns false when trying to delete your own post that has already been deleted" do
+        post = Fabricate(:post)
         PostDestroyer.new(user, post).destroy
         post.reload
         Guardian.new(user).can_delete?(post).should be_false
@@ -642,7 +646,7 @@ describe Guardian do
 
     context 'a Category' do
 
-      let(:category) { Fabricate(:category, user: moderator) }
+      let(:category) { build(:category, user: moderator) }
 
       it 'returns false when not logged in' do
         Guardian.new.can_delete?(category).should be_false
@@ -667,8 +671,33 @@ describe Guardian do
 
     end
 
+    context 'can_ban?' do
+      it 'returns false when a user tries to ban another user' do
+        Guardian.new(user).can_ban?(coding_horror).should be_false
+      end
+
+      it 'returns true when an admin tries to ban another user' do
+        Guardian.new(admin).can_ban?(coding_horror).should be_true
+      end
+
+      it 'returns true when a moderator tries to ban another user' do
+        Guardian.new(moderator).can_ban?(coding_horror).should be_true
+      end
+
+      it 'returns false when staff tries to ban staff' do
+        Guardian.new(admin).can_ban?(moderator).should be_false
+      end
+    end
+
     context 'a PostAction' do
-      let(:post_action) { PostAction.create(user_id: user.id, post_id: post.id, post_action_type_id: 1)}
+      let(:post_action) {
+        user.id = 1
+        post.id = 1
+
+        a = PostAction.new(user_id: user.id, post_id: post.id, post_action_type_id: 1)
+        a.created_at = 1.minute.ago
+        a
+      }
 
       it 'returns false when not logged in' do
         Guardian.new.can_delete?(post_action).should be_false
@@ -732,6 +761,8 @@ describe Guardian do
     end
 
     it "allows an admin to grant a regular user access" do
+      admin.id = 1
+      user.id = 2
       Guardian.new(admin).can_grant_admin?(user).should be_true
     end
   end
@@ -750,6 +781,9 @@ describe Guardian do
     end
 
     it "allows an admin to revoke another admin's access" do
+      admin.id = 1
+      another_admin.id = 2
+
       Guardian.new(admin).can_revoke_admin?(another_admin).should be_true
     end
   end
diff --git a/spec/models/user_tracking_state_spec.rb b/spec/models/user_tracking_state_spec.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..b466a3cb7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/models/user_tracking_state_spec.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+require 'spec_helper'
+
+describe UserTrackingState do
+
+  let(:user) do
+    Fabricate(:user)
+  end
+
+  let(:post) do
+    Fabricate(:post)
+  end
+
+  let(:state) do
+    UserTrackingState.new(user)
+  end
+
+  it "correctly gets the list of new topics" do
+    state.new_list.should == []
+    state.unread_list.should == []
+
+    new_post = post
+
+    new_list = state.new_list
+
+    new_list.length.should == 1
+    new_list[0][0].should == post.topic.id
+    new_list[0][1].should be_within(1.second).of(post.topic.created_at)
+
+    state.unread_list.should == []
+
+    # read it
+
+  end
+end