Over the many months I have moderated this forum, many rules and guidelines have come and gone. There was or is a reason for each of them. The key thing that you need to realize is that these rules are not really here to be enforced to the letter. This is a reletively open forum for discussion of issues relating to News and Politics. The \"rules\" are here for those of us who are incapable of being civil and/or logical.


Here are the rules which are applicable to all forums on Englishpractise.net

NO SPAMMING

NO ADVERTISING

NO POINTLESS THREADWASTING

NO DUPLICATE TOPICS

NO POSTING IN WRONG FORUM

NO \"EXCESSIVE\" OBSCENITY
This includes excessive swearing, flaming, posting of pornographic images
Racism, Homophobic, sexist remarks or bigotry of any sort.

NO CROSS-POSTING THE SAME TOPIC


Here are the Rules that are specific to N&P. For the most part, they just elaborate upon the above and are not 100% enforceable in all cases. The moderators have final judgement on how and when these rules can be bent or broken.

Things You Just Can't Do:

1.) Post topics to get more friends. We really could care less about you.

2.) Post topics to get people to join your group. We probablty hate your group more than we hate you.

3.) Its a known fact that party-line Republicans and Democrats are morons. We don't need you to remind us of that. Yes, we already know about the \"Guns for tots\" program as well.
3-a.) Seriously, being a partisan hack only anatagonizes people and at some point, your fellow party members will throw you to the wolves or push you in front of a bus.
We are here to discuss News and Politics. We are not here to discuss how one party is the can do no wrong and the other is the filled with satanists and perverts. Most of us already have our minds made up and by continually posting the same biased viewpoint, you are either preaching to the choir or antagonizing the natives. All I am saying is that you should try something new from time to time. Open your mind a little.

4.)If you are going to create a joke thread to lighten the mood - try to make it a good one otherwise we will just laugh at you. You might even cry.

5) Don't Feign idiocy. If you aren't stupid, don't play dumb. If you think that other people here are too stupid to realize you are playing dumb, you will probably be made fun of and generally regarded as a hack.
Most of us are intelligent people. If you get someones point but don't agree with it, just say so instead of saying \"(insert key political-figure here) says this but then he does this. I just don't understand.\" There is a bare minimum IQ and EQ required to get any respect around here. If you can figure out why a Gay Republican would sponsor the Federal Marraige Amendment, then you can figure out why a senator would vote for one bill but then vote against another or why a president would say one thing but do something contrary to that statement. I don't care if you think you are smart because you are in med-school. Just don't be suprised when your patients start dying.

Presentation Guidelines:

1.)In order to prevent topic duplication about an article, when posting a topic that focuses on an article or column, please use the title of the column as the topic title. If you use a title that is intellectually dishonest, the thread will be deleted without question... unless of course you are showcasing an intellectually dishonest article. The point being, use the article title for the thread title and be honest about the information you present and I won't delete your posts.

2.)On the subject of articles or columns - please do not copy/paste an entire article. You may list the first 3 paragraphs of an article followed by trailing periods and a link to the article below and/or above what you have copy/pasted. You may also differentiate the words from the article in italics or in a different color. As lazy as some people are - please do not copy/paste out an entire article for them as it is plagiarism and deprives the source of website visits.

3.)Post a source. If the work you are copying/pasting is not your own or heavily derived from other works, provide a link to the original piece(s). Point us to where you got your article/information so that we all can discuss the issue in the correct context.

4.)In regards to articles and columns - this is a discussion forum. Please formulate some kind of coherent thesis to be discussed. Posting an article as the finality end/all of a discussion doesn't necessarily warrant nor in most cases receive anything less than stinging retorts and flames. A simple open-ended question such as \"What do you guys think?\" opens it up for discussion. Although it is prefered if you sumarize, link to the article and add a bit of your own oppinion. Not because we are format Nazi's here but it is nice to have a debate that is framed well.

On Quoting

1. You DO NOT need to quote the entire initial post with your response. More importanly, you DO NOT need to quote it on the 1st page. Everyone knows what you are referring and responding to.

2. You CAN edit your quotes. If there is only one point that stands out and is the basis of your response, you can just quote that point by simply deleting the rest of the post. Just don't mess up the [QUOTE] tags.

3. You DO NOT need to quote pictures and/or other media files. If you are responding to a picture, there is no need to quote the picture again and again. A simple reference is all that is need.

4. Multiple quotes. When quoting someone who quoted another person, please try to limit it to a 2nd generation quote. Meaning...only 2 different quotes. More than that, and it all gets bunched up and is not that reader friendly. It's not anyone's fault, but rather just how the quote function and the formatting of the forums work.

Basicly, if you make modern art with the quote boxes or screw up the tables, you will anger the gods... not to mention everyone at their computer going blind trying to read your post. Obviously, there is a certain amount of leeway granted if it is in the spirit of preserving continuity.

And Finally, How to get banned... for those who really really want to.

These are not the only ways to do it but here are a few good examples on how to get banned.

1) Posting porn or spam.

2) Posting the same topic every day... or several times in a matter of minutes (topic flooding).

3) Do nothing but hijack threads with idiotic responses. At first I will only delete your posts. After a certain amount of time (which may or may not be extended or shortend, depending on how much I have had to drink), I will ban you without warning.

4) Do nothing but malicously bait others with views opposing your own. This includes bringing aspects of their personal life into a thread or discussion which ultimately are non-sequiter or none of your business.

5) When reading a topic you don't like, typing a bunch of verbal diarrhea as a response on how stupid the OP is. All I am saying is that you should have a little respect and if all you can do is shit all over a topic... well, you are not long for this world.

6) Create a fake profile which impersonates someone who may or may not have a certain amount of authority, then actively try to moderate those with opposing political views by spamming threads and trying to upsurp what little authority the acutal moderator has.

7) Piss me off or bait the mods. Especially if we are hungry or hittin the bottle. Lets face it, I am not perfect and if I'm hanging around waiting for someone to get their shit together so we can go eat, I get pretty fuckin pissey. So if you annoy me when I am hungry, I will be that asshole and ban you just because you are being a dick.

8.) Use someone else's personal information to bait attack or attempt to discredit their arguments. Your suspicions or specific dislikes of other myspace users is not a topic of discussion in these forums. Involving somebody elses personal life in these discussions where it is not appropriate (ie other than anecdotal evidence etc.) will get you banned without warning.

9.) Create a thread for the sole purpose of degrading or attacking another forum user. Unless the person in question is a complete tool or you have consistantly provided HIGH quality and informative posts & topics, you will be banned without warning or second thought.

10.)Degrading or insulting use of the terms \"fag\" \"queer\" \"gay\" etc. or \"nigger\" \"spic\" \"kike\" \"dune coon\" \"wop\" \"gook\" \"chink\" etc. gets you banned without qualm, question, care or even a second thought. Race-baiting specifically gets you a swift kick to the nuts... or head and occasionally sodomized with garden tools.

As a final note for all the n00bs, every forum has its own dynamic and its own unofficial hierarchy. Nobody can just walk in and suddenly have the respect and credibility that they want. It all has to be earned.

All deletions and banishments are final so try not to bitch about it too much because there is nothing I can do about it on this bullitin board system.