Issues Forums and Guidelines

[dirtydog]

The "Issues" forum section is for more serious, in depth discussion of issues, for comments and responses which are reasoned, on topic and respectful of others.
Please comment with goodwill towards other posters, make an effort to understand what is being said before responding and keep in mind the variety of backgrounds we come from regarding language, education, religion and so forth.

TD forum rules apply, and this forum is further moderated to ensure a conducive environment for exchanges and discussions.
Moderators are ordinary members who volunteered to help make the forum more enjoyable.
While not perfect, moderating is done in good faith - please respect moderators' decision.
If you are unhappy with a particular action, please try to resolve the issue via pm.

Starting topics:
Please attribute the specific source for newsclips and anything else you quote, and add a personal comment to indicate the issue to be discussed.

Pictures and visual material:
Topic-related material is welcome, but keep in mind that visual material may have a profound impact on the viewer, specially when war & gore are involved. In such instances, use your good judgement and post a link rather than the pics, or mods will edit posts accordingly. Also refrain from posting lengthy series of pics, limit it to samples and provide a link for those who are interested in more.
Off-topic pics will be deleted.

Insults and offending:
We do not tolerate direct personal insults and foul language directed at members. This material will be deleted, repeat offenders warned and eventually have their posting rights compromised.
Public figures in politics and public life are fair game, but please keep in mind others' sensitivities and don't knowingly make false statements.
Indirect insults of individual members in form of questions, insinuations etc. are assessed on a case by case basis, also taking reports about a post into account.

Racial, religious and gender slurs:
We do not tolerate outright racist remarks nor religious or gender related slurs. However, we welcome discussion of controversial topics, and do not ban all negative comments regarding race etc.

Off-topic posts: It is recognised that threads may evolve into a different subject or sidetrack to related topics, specially after several pages of discussion.
Intentional diverting or "hi-jacking" of threads are not ok.
Comments may be deleted or moved to a more appropriate thread. The thread-starter's expressed wishes have a bearing on moderating.

Personal banter:
...is part of the fun of participating.
But it will be deleted if it is distracting from topic discussion too much, i.e. if it spreads over an entire page or more, or if it consists of unrelated flaming and inciting.

"Taunting":
Frequently making provocative or offending remarks to a specific poster in several threads. Will be assessed individually, reprts of posts have a bearing on this.



Mods will usually inform you and give a brief explanation when deleting your posts. However, don't expect a courteous explaination for an offending or off-topic one-liner.

Moderating actions:
Editing, deleting of posts, moving, deleting or closing unsuitable threads, - at the discretion of any mod; suspending posting rights for up to 7 days - requires 2 mods to agree; suspending for up to 30 days, or banning - requires agreement of the majority of mods.

"Moderating will be as little as possible, as much as necessary."

[Jet Gorgon]

OK....

[stroller]

Interesting new rules...

[Boon Mee]

What's different?
Same common-sense stuff...