General Forum Rules. Please Read.

[Marc]

There have been some questions as to what the rules are in these forums. This announcement is an attempt to state some of the general rules that apply at most any forum you will visit on the Internet. When in doubt, either ask myself, a Moderator or simply use good common sense.

1. Freedom of Expression and Respect

First, is the free exchange of ideas. This is something that I believe strongly in and why I started the site in the first place. Following are some simple guidelines taken from a previous announcement and post:

Let this be a reminder to all that the most effective political discussion involves the exchange of ideas and concepts, as well as the critiquing of other people's ideas.

It does not involve personal insults and attacks!

Simply because you do not agree with another person's ideas does not mean that the person is bad or deserves to be insulted. We all come from different perspectives and these perspectives help shape and determine how we see things and what our thoughts are on specific topics.

You may not understand why a person has a certain opinion or does not agree with your own because it is so logical of an opinion to you. It is important to remember that it is their opinion and their experiences in life have helped to shape that opinion, experiences you may know nothing about.

As such, it is not fair to attack the person for having ideas/views that differ from your own. The United States was founded on the principles of liberty, one of which is the right to free speech/expression. I strongly support that right, whether you reside in the United States, Russia, France, Germany, or China. Therefore, in order to allow people to maintain that right on this forum it is imperative that the environment continue to be inviting to such liberties.

Political discussion/dialogue/expression is the means to which people should agree/disagree/debate, not personal insults and attacks. That accomplishes nothing and only makes the person using such methods look like they have ran out of arguments to further their point of view on the issue.

In order to make certain that this liberty continues to be enjoyed by all that post here I will not tolerate continued personal attacks and insults aimed at the poster or another member here at U.S. Politics Online. If a member does continue to violate this simple request then he/she will no longer be given the privilege to post here as it is infringing on the rights of the rest of the members.

2. Copyrighted Material

As alluded to many times, I am working on an extensive archives section so this site can act not only as a place for debate, but also as a resource to anyone and everyone.

A paramount concern of mine is the placement of copyrighted material on this site. In no way is it my intention to violate any copyright laws and I will be careful once I complete the work on the archives to avoid this.

In addition to the archives, the posts themselves should not be simple "copy and pastes" of other people's work. If you have seen something at another forum then I encourage you to contact that person and ask them to post the same ideas/information here. If this is simply not practical, then you may quote from somewhere else, as long as you include the source, author and the URL when applicable.

3. Multiple Posts

Please do not post the same post in multiple forums. People will often visit the different forums looking for new posts. It is a waste of their time to have to read the same post twice.

Also, what about when people decide to reply to it? How is a discussion going to take place if there are two identical threads but different replies? It simply adds confusion, irritation, and wastes people's time, including mine and the moderators.

One person was banned from this site because they would post the same post in several of the forums all of the time. After repeated warnings and requests to cease this behavior, I had no choice but to end his posting privileges.

My interpretation is that either they are not here to debate the issues and do not care about what other people think but only to go around the forums posting their own thoughts/ideas or that of other people; OR they simply have written a post that they feel will not get attention enough to warrant replies unless it is in every forum.

My experience has been that placing the same post in multiple forums has the opposite of the intended effect. It conveys the message that the post is not good enough to stand on its own in a single forum. If this is the case then try to make the post better as placing it in multiple forums will simply irritate people.

4. Off-Topic Posts

Do not post off-topic posts in an unrelated thread. While a comment that is off-topic here or there may be okay once in a while, there should never be an exchange that is off-topic between members. It is best to start a new thread or PM amongst yourselves as it is rude and disrespectful to take-over someone else's thread.


End of all of that Stuff.

That is all I can think of for now. As previously stated, I do plan on making some changes in the coming months. There will be an updated version of the forum software, an extensive archives section, as well as new features.

Most likely these additions will not happen for 2-3 months due to some time constraints I am under currently.

As always, your posts are greatly appreciated. Your contribution to this site is what is making it better. I am glad to see new faces here, as well as the older ones.

Feel free to share your ideas with me, as well as any and all suggestions you may have for making this site better.

Thank you.


Very Respectfully,

Marc

[Marc]

Just to add to the forum rules a couple of things:


Consequences of continued violation of forum rules.

As with most rules in life, there can be both minor and more serious violations of the rules. If a member violates the rules and it is deemed as a more serious violation by at least two moderators then the member will be subject to the following consequences as such violations take away the rights of other members here who visit for the free exchange of ideas.

The number of offenses will be reset to 0 on the first of each month if the total number of serious violations of forum rules is under four for that month.

If it is greater than four then a member can reset his/her number of violations to 0 by incurring 0 violations for a period of not less than 15 days once posting privileges have been restored.


First Offense:
A warning will be issued to the member via PM.


Second Offense:

A 2-day suspension will be issued for the member that has violated the rules. At this time the member will not be able to post any messages to the discussion forum.


Third Offense:

A 5-day suspension will be issued for the member that has violated the rules. At this time the member will not be able to post any messages to the discussion forum.


Fourth Offense:

A 10-day suspension will be issued for the member that has violated the rules. At this time the member will not be able to post any messages to the discussion forum.


Fifth Offense:

A 21-day suspension will be issued for the member that has violated the rules. At this time the member will not be able to post any messages to the discussion forum.


Sixth Offense:

A 60-day suspension will be issued for the member that has violated the rules. At this time the member will not be able to post any messages to the discussion forum.


Seventh Offense:

A 6-month or greater suspension will be issued for the member that has violated the rules. At this time the member will not be able to post any messages to the discussion forum.


In addition to the suspenions listed above, if I feel that it is necessary I may also moderate posts once a member's suspension has been lifted for a period sufficient to ensure that the member has come into compliance with the forum rules.

Other options if the above consequences do not seem adequate include placing the member on the global ignore list while on suspension. Being on the global ignore list means that every post you ever posted will not be seen by other members here until you have been taken off of the global ignore list. Individual members may place other members on their personal ignore list if they are simply unable to ignore his/her posts.


I may modify these rules at any time, but have implemented them as a result of recent activity on the discussion forums leaving me with no other options.

Keep in mind that the moderators and myself all have certain political beliefes and biases. We will post in threads according to those political beliefs and biases as we desire. However, when applying the rules (moderating) threads/posts we will remain as neutral as possible. If you feel this has not been done you are encouraged to contact me via PM.

Also, as stated many times before...we do not have the time to read every post and as a result will not do so. If there is a post that is in violation of forum rules then it is your responsibility as a member here to report that post and include a sufficient explanation as to why you believe that post has violated the forum rules. Appropriate action will be taken as necessary and your name will remain anonymous.


In order to remain fair since these consequences of violations of the rules have just been posted, everyone starts with 0.

[Marc]

For more information on placing people on your ignore list please visit this post.

[Marc]

I am not sure if it has been made clear before or not, but you may not register twice here. That is, one person may not have more than one username (account) at these forums. If it is found out that this is the case, one account will be deleted and the other one will be placed on suspension for a period of no less than 15 days.

If you are currently using a second account cease doing so immediately and ask me to delete one of the accounts. I will do so without any consequences to you as long as you are forthcoming with the information.

As always, thank you for your cooperation.