FORUM RULES

1) Don't piss off the forum staff.  (This is actually the only rule.  The rest of the rules are just the specific details.)  You get two warnings.  If two warnings aren't enough to make the point, we pull the big red lever that controls the trap door. 

2) Have fun.  If you can't have fun, go see a specialist.  Anyone caught taking themselves too seriously has to send a box of chocolate to the host.  (Dark chocolate preferred.)

3) Be literate.  Read an occasional book.  Preferably something without "... for Dummies" as the last two words of the title.

4) Be intelligent.  If you can't be intelligent, fake it.

5) This is a sandbox, not a litterbox.  Either clean up after yourself, or go somewhere else to dump your poop.

6) NO PERSONAL ATTACKS. NO FLAMES. Attack the words, not the person. Personal attacks will be removed from messages without comment.

7) If a moderator removes a personal attack from a message, and the poster re-edits a personal attack back in, that will result in an immediate ban from the forum, as it will show us that the person cannot be trusted with access.

8) Do not commit violations of Delphi's Terms of Service rules.  This is no joke.  If it's serious enough, you'll be locked out without warning. 

9) Do not threaten people.  Not physically, not any other way.  Do not give warnings, that's our job.  Especially do not threaten people with lawsuits.  Some of our members are actual lawyers and we don't want them to hurt themselves when they fall out of their chairs laughing. 

10) No religious proselytizing.  You are welcome to speak of your own faith, but you may not demean or diminish another person's faith.  Telling people they are sinners is unacceptable behavior in any polite society.  Here too. 

11)  No spamming.  No repetitious msgs.  No advertising without permission from the host. 

12)  You may quote excerpts from news stories, columns, books, editorials, etc.  You may not quote the entire article as this is a copyright violation.  If you post an excerpt, you must post the author's name and a link to the original source. 

13) No hate-speech.  We allow a little wiggle room on this one, but don't depend on it.  Hate-speech is anything that characterizes any category or class of humanity as less than human or targets members of that class with derogatory intent or intimidation. 

14) No taunting, harassing, or abusive behavior.  To be candid, we actually allow a lot of wiggle room on this one, because most of our members know how to bite back -- and they will.  So if you must lower yourself to vicious cheap shots, be prepared to be graded on originality and style and delivery. 

This forum is intended as a place where literate and intelligent people can discuss issues -- not personalities.  This is because not everyone has a personality, but everybody certainly has issues. 

These rules may be amended, changed, rewritten, adapted, adjusted, or interpreted at the whim of the forum host. 

Amended June 12, 2009

(OU was born on August 2, 2003)

Forum Logo by Michael (N1SPIRIT)