User Discussion forum

Anything goes within reason. Must be legal and non-pornographic. Have your say, be prepared to back your claims. No personal attacks. To participate in this forum you agree tha tyou have read and will abide by the rules posted here: 1) Always remember that you are an INVITED GUEST to this forum.... try to act accordingly. The Golden Gavel of Power is welded by the owner of this forum. The owner is the one in charge. What the ownersays goes. DO NOT presume to talk for the owner. The owner is a bright, intelligent, articulate individual who can make his opinions, comments, and rulings on the content of messages etc. by himself. DO NOT make him re-enact the Nutcracker Suite with the gavel there guys, or a version of the song "Wipeout" on your head ladies. 2) Do not sh*t in the sandbox or pee in the pool. As with all forms of communication there will be time when you are tempted to really let fly with a personal verbal jab, barb, taunt etc. because of something that is said in this forum. It may be against your personal beliefs, your morals, your way of looking at things.... however it does not mean that the opposing statement has any less merrit than your own. Common respect for another person's opinion should be exercised at all times. Debate the position held by someone in the forum and not the person themselves. 3) No personal attacks against another person in or out of the forum. The purpose of the forum as I see it is to have lively spirited conversation in the spirit of fun and camaradery. Keep your discussion based on the topic being debated. Back up your position by stating facts and convince us by the reasearch you have put into the topic. If you want to just give an opinion then give it. If you want to rebuff an opinion or a comment made in the forum then try to do it in a reasonable fashion backed with information and the sources of the information whenever possible. 4) IF someone does make a personal attack about you that leaves you feeling hurt, try to resolve it privately if you can. The airing of dirty laundry in public is not what this forum is about. IF you feel the need to vent then please take a self directed timeout and carefully consider your words and your actions before contacting another member of the forum privately. IF at all possible try to rise above the desire to retaliate in the forum. IF it continues then talk to the owner of the forum about it. He has the final say. PLEASE make sure it is alegitimate complaint before you bother him about it. 5) No personal, barbs, insults, challenges, trolling for reactions etc. If you find yourself on the losing end of a discussion than try to learn from what the other person has shown you is flawed in your position on a subject. Admit when you are wrong, it shows maturity, class, and intelligence. When you resort to insults because you believe you have been made look like a jackass, opening your mouth and resorting to baiting or arguing with someone else confirms it. Walk away from situations where you can see that it has disolved to a matter of arguing only and dialogue and conversation have ceased. When the situation is resolved to the point where yu can have intelligent conversation again then get to it once more. Remember that some times there is no winning, sometimes you may have to agree to disagree, it does not necessarily mean that either one of you is right or wrong. 6) IF you are unsure about a person's point of view then ask. The more information that is exchanged between participants in the forum the more clarity. Try to be as clear as you can as to what your position is in as few words as you can. Try to make your postion as readable, and understandable as you can make it. 7) Be careful with your joking and kidding if it is a new person that is engaging in the debate. What you might consider funny may not be held in the same light by someone else. Yes people coming to this area need to have thick skins, but get to know a person a bit first before you start to hurl any one liners... and always make sure they know it was meant in jest and fun. IF you do know you have hurt someone's feelings please try to apologize and get back to the fun of debating. 8) Be passionate in your arguments, stand your ground when you can... but remember not to belittle anyone or try to show mental or intellectual superiority. Remember the purpose of this forum is get get people discussing issues IN the forum NOT scare them out of it. 9) Try to stay on topic, wandering about in a discussion that flips from topic to topic just dilutes the effectiveness of the discussion. If a topic seems to peter out then suggest a new one. It would be nice if for every topic your respond to you could add a new topic of discussion. Topics are easy to find. Look at the paper, listen to the radio, watch TV, discuss on the internet, find something that makes you feel strongly about a subject and consider if there is an equal or opposite point of view. Try to make it as relevant to as many people as possible. 10) Have fun, try to make this a place where others can have fun and they want to get back to as soon as they can.