Politics guidelines - read before posting

Starting Threads

Topics should be relevant to the politics board.

Topics should not be verbatim quotes from some article sans comment. Add a comment before or after the post, offering your opinion on the subject, or at the very least, your reason for adding the topic.

Please remeber that we are neither a news channel nor an announcement forum - if you are not willing to discuss what you post, then please don't post it.

If a quoted article is available online, please supply a link to the article rather than quoting the entire article verbatim.

Make sure you prefix a Thread topic with [Article] to show it is based on a existing article from another source.

Continuing Threads
Replies should be kept on-topic. We realise that threads may naturally "drift", but there are limits.

If you wish to discuss a seperate issue which has arisen in a discussion, then take it to a seperate thread, and post a link in the original thread if you feel it appropriate.
When offering an opinion, please state so. Please do not present an opinion as "fact" - it only leads to flamage.

When offering fact, please offer relevant linkage, or at least source. Simply saying "a quick search on google...." is often, but not always, enough. If you do not do this upon posting, then please be willing to do so on request.

Reporting & Moderating

If you have a problem with a post, complain to the mods. Do not respond to the post in question.

If they agree with the complaint, moderators will edit/delete any reported post, or contact the poster via PM, as long as the complainant has not taken it upon themselves to reply in kind in the thread in question. In such a case, action will be at the moderator's discretion.

Moderators may also edit/delete any post/thread which in their opinion breaks the rules, whether it was reported or not.

Moderators may not keep a copy of any edited/deleted material.

When an argument breaks out, we will not care who started it. It takes at least two people to have an argument, and both sides will be dealt with appropriately.

Moderators will warn individuals of unacceptable beheaviour, but not on a repetitive basis. Repeated infractions will result in bans.

The moderators will not discuss their moderating in the Politics threads. Either PM the moderators, or take it to the Admin forum.

Moderators will not moderate anything which is directed at themselves. The issue will be taken up with the individual via PM, reported to another moderator of the forum and/or taken to the Admins to be dealt with.

Civility
Every poster is entitled to their opinion - whether it is ill-informed or not.

Never attack a poster. Attack the content of their post. (You can tell someone that their opinion is based on incomplete or incorrect information, but do not call them an idiot.)

Humour is not unreasonable, but please bear in mind that the written word conveys less information than the spoken. What you mean in jest may be taken seriously.

Also, bear in mind that this is not a comedy forum - so keep it to a reasonable and relevant amount.

Putting a smiley at the end of an insult does not make it ok.

Keep your language civil, particularly when referring to other posters.

While good-natured abuse will be tolerated to a certain level, it is ultimately the moderator's decision as to when abuse steps over the line. Please bear this in mind.

If you are going to level allegations of lying at another poster, please be willing to prove that they are lying - that they deliberately intend to deceive.

Allegations of trollery will not be accepted in-thread - they will be viewed as simply another form of personal attack, and dealt with accordingly. If you believe someone is trolling, and object, then report them as per "Reporting & Moderating" above.

Linking to Journals, Blogs or any other forum to insult people will be taken as if the insult was posted on this forum.

Links to questionable material
Some links to material that some people may find disturbing may arise during the course of a discussion. We (the moderators and admins) reserve the right to edit or delete these links if they are determined to be off the topic or otherwise not relevant to the conversation. We may also pull the link if it is particularly graphic or obscene. If you are going to link to potentially offensive material then be sure to include a clear warning as to the nature of the material you have linked.

For example:
Warning! May be offensive to some.

Your link here.

Warning! May be offensive to some.

It is also advisable to give some information as to the nature of the material to which you have linked. For example, if it links to a video clip, include a brief description of what the clip entails.

If the poster in question has included such a warning, then it is recommended that you do not click on the link if you feel you are going to be offended by it's contents. Nevertheless, if you feel that a link goes too far, despite the warning, then it is preferable to use the 'Report to moderator' link to other means of highlighting this. Also bear in mind that we may not be able to respond to this immediately since many of us browse boards at work and may not have the luxury of viewing potentially offensive material at work.

Any poster that adds a link to an illegal organisation or one that advocates illegal activities will be banned from Politics. This includes any links in users Signatures.

Duplicate Accounts
Any user suspected by the moderators of using a duplicate account on politics will have the duplicate account(s) and their original account banned permanently from the forum. The moderators may also petition the admins to ban the duplicate accounts and original account from boards permanently as well.