Greg

Goodbye mockingbird, you are now banned from these forums.

It was certainly a low blow and unworthy of a diginified response. Can we not have a discussion that doesn't dissolve into a partisan pissing match?

First off, cut the insults out. It wasn't a stupid remark, it was a valid point. The posting of a full article, regardless of whether you provide the authors name or not, is copyright infringment. If you're not aware of the rules and guidelines of this forum, please be advised, ) feature to highlight the important parts of the article and provide a throughout summary for others. You must also provide sufficient credit to the author and a link to the original article in your post. If the article cannot be found online, then at the end of the post provide an appropriate cite using any of the available citing formats, MLA, APA, etc. Find out more information on Fair Dealing in Canada. http://www.robic.ca/publications/Pdf/032E-LC.pdf

The recent bannings were exactly as Kimmy pointed out, the result of a banned troll returning under a different pseudonym. The only other long time posters that were recently banned were MapleSyrup and Mirror. Both bannings were well documented and deserved. Also remember, being banned for trolling doesn't result from one post, it is the results of repeatedly poor behaviour and annoying troll-like posts. The forum rules and guidelines,

Come on guys, lets stick to serious political discussion and avoid the jokes about other people's appearances.

PocketRocket, there was not one particular incident that caused Mirror to be banned. It was a culmination of many different incidents that justified his removal. Follow the guidelines and rules, and you'll be fine. Remember, I always give fair warning (via PM) to everyone that crosses the line. Most members who do get banned probably see it coming, and they choose to ignore the signs. If in fact Mirror, Bigdude, and MapleSyrup where the same people, their IPs did not give it away. I do monitor everyone's IPs to make sure that multiple accounts are deleted and that banned members don't return. But as others have mentioned, it's hardly an exact science, so people can if they are determined enough evade the restrictions on IPs. So if Mirror does return under a different IP address, sooner or later I'll catch up with him - I always do. catch-as-catch-can, thanks for readily admiting your breaking the rules. You're now banned, again.

This thread is dangling very close to being offensive and I think it is in everyone's interest to let it die or get to the point. Pettigrew's sexuality should not be the issue.

I’ve got an idea - leave. Please do me and everyone here a favour and go find somewhere else to discuss politics. You know it is funny; there are forum participants from both sides of the political spectrum that I have never had to talk to about insults or poor behaviour. Do you want to know why? Because they know how to discuss a topic without appealing to petty slurs and insults. They also know how to take the high road when someone hurls an insult at them. These are the people I prefer in these forums and I will do everything in my power to see that those that fail to head the warnings and repeatedly ignore the rules and guidelines of this forum are shown the door. If you don’t like it, leave - simple as that.

I have not problem with people criticizing the policies of Canada or any foreign country for that matter. However, please do it in the proper forum and don't attribute every single political event in the world to those ill-placed criticisms. I fail to see the connection between Germany elections and Bush's response to the disaster in New Orleans. Because, as was the case with most of Mirrors postings, there was no connection. He was using his anti-bush rhetoric to disrupt an otherwise interesting topic.

Mirror, Did you start this thread to comment on the upcoming German elections, or to simply bash American domestic policy?

Sorry for the late reply, but to be completely honest with everyone - I just don't have the time to deal with this type of tripe. If you honestly believe I'm biased and that you're not getting a fair shake in these forum, then leave. No one is begging you to say, certainly not me. I am also getting really really tired of all the insults, complaining, and partisan bickering that infests almost every thread in this forum. It has gotten to the point that I'm considering shutting the doors to this forum completely. As I've said before, my job description said nothing about babysitting a bunch of ignorant partisan hacks, who have nothing better to do than wreck it for everyone else. So if a few of you find that suddenly your account is inactive over the next few days, you'll know that you're probably the hack that was indeed ruining it for everyone. If a few of you need to bite the dusk to save the integrity of the forum, then so be it. Play time is over - this is a forum for serious political discussion, not childish tantrums and mud-slinging.

Anal or not, these are the new rules. There was a time when I would let these types of third-party insults slide, as who are they really hurting? But in the interest of keeping the debate civil and respectable, I'm clamping down. Besides, do you really need to use this types of words to make your point? Is your argument so limp that you need to resort to a snide nickname? True, the "Mr Dithers" name originated in an article that was published in the Economist, but the article was about Prime Minister Paul Martin's and what the author considered his, "faltering leadership." I don't have a problem with that, as the article was directly related to what the author saw as the dithering state of the prime minister. However, no where else in the publication do they use the term Mr Dithers - because that would be inappropriate. There is a difference between "[having] fun with the language" and using snide nicknames for scoring cheap partisan points. Unfortunately a few participants in this forum seem only happy to appeal to the latter and ruin it for the rest of us.

Remember the new rules about using insults against third-parties. Libranos, Mr Dithers, CONservative, Wacko Jacko (Layton), Dumbcruds, etc. are all off-limits.

Once again, what's up? What this basically says is that you cannot unilaterally decide one day that you want everything that you've posted in these forms removed. By posting in these forums, you're granting us the right to display your postings publicly, without compensation. We're publicly stating our position, so I wouldn't call it sneaky. It's doubtful anything you say in these forums is going to hurt any career in politics, but that isn't why we've decided to make this rule. The rule stands to protect us from unreasonable and unwarranted requests, not to stop you from saying stupid things that may or may not hurt your future career prospects.

You're free to leave anytime. In the future, don't waste everyones time and our resources with your complaints. If you've got a problem, contact me directly.

Sorry folks, we will not be allowing avatars in these forums. Why? Bandwidth is expensive, and we're already burning up a considerable amount of it. If we allowed avatars, it would place an even larger strain on out budget.

I've made a few changes to the rules and guidelines. The changes are reflected below. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ BE POLITE AND RESPECT OTHERS Mapleleafweb operates these forums in the hopes that they will promote intelligent, honest and responsible discussion. We encourage you to speak your mind on relevant issues in a thoughtful way. Please respect others using this board and treat them with respect and dignity. NO TROLLING/FLAMING Do not post inflammatory remarks just to annoy people. If you are not bringing anything new to the argument, then do not say anything at all. Some messages are not so much offensive as simply nuisance value. An example would be a person who persistently creates conflict without contributing anything useful. In newsgroup circles, such a person is known as a "troll". We define "trolling" as a message that serves no constructive purpose and is likely to cause offence or arguments. 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shoop, if you've got a problem with Mirror and you want to comment on him personally, then do it over PM or report the post directly to me. And this is your last warning - call someone a troll again, and you'll be taking a timeout. Mirror, your above the law attitude is growing thin with me - particularly after everything that has happened this week. If you continue to pick fights with other posters, you may find yourself taking a timeout too. Keep the petty infighting outside of the forum.

Enough with the bashing of TheLiberal. He's gone for good. Lets leave it at that.

Here my friends, is a perfect example of trolling. What exactly is this thread contributing to in this forum? Nothing - except partisan chest-beating. THELIBERAL, perhaps you'd better read over my previous statement from yesterday

BHS, Blackdog - both of you better cool down. Take a deep breath and quit treating each other with disrespect. Also, I am the only one who has the right to label someone a troll. So get back to the topic of the thread and avoid disrupting everyone's discussions with your petty infighting.

A couple of things, 1) Starting a thread that isn't centered on an political issue and it actually directed at an individual poster is against the rules and just plain stupid. Anyone ignorant enough to do it again will be taking a break from these forums. 2) Enough with the word "fascist". I'm afraid those who have been using it lately, have absolutely no idea what fascist actually means. 3) Statements such as, "Conservatives are all fascists" or "Liberals are all theives" or "NDPers are communists" will no longer be tolerated in these forums (these are just a few examples). The rule against using insults against individual posters has now been extended to include third-parties, such as nationalities, political parties, etc. 4) Give your partisanship a break when contributing to these discussions. If you're nothing more than a mouth-piece for a political party, and you're not contributing anything of value to the discussions, I reserve the right to remove you from these discussions. As I've said in the past, this isn't a democracy - no one has a right to participate in the discussions and certainly no one has the right to say whatever they want. If I have to remove someone because they're being disruptive, and uncooperative, then I will. I'm really getting tired of some of the childish behaviour in these forums. I simply cannot comprehend why some of you are unable to conduct yourself in a respectable manner. I guess I've been too lenient with the rules and now some of you think you're above the law. This is going to change however, let this be everyone's last warning. Greg Admin

A couple of things, 1) Starting a thread that isn't centered on an political issue and it actually directed at an individual poster is against the rules and just plain stupid. Anyone ignorant enough to do it again will be taking a break from these forums. 2) Enough with the word "fascist". I'm afraid those who have been using it lately, have absolutely no idea what fascist actually means. 3) Statements such as, "Conservatives are all fascists" or "Liberals are all theives" or "NDPers are communists" will no longer be tolerated in these forums (these are just a few examples). The rule against using insults against individual posters has now been extended to include third-parties, such as nationalities, political parties, etc. 4) Give your partisanship a break when contributing to these discussions. If you're nothing more than a mouth-piece for a political party, and you're not contributing anything of value to the discussions, I reserve the right to remove you from these discussions. As I've said in the past, this isn't a democracy - no one has a right to participate in the discussions and certainly no one has the right to say whatever they want. If I have to remove someone because they're being disruptive, and uncooperative, then I will. I'm really getting tired of some of the childish behaviour in these forums. I simply cannot comprehend why some of you are unable to conduct yourself in a respectable manner. I guess I've been too lenient with the rules and now some of you think you're above the law. This is going to change however, let this be everyone's last warning. Greg Admin

bump

Hello all, I know there has been some discussion lately about the quality of the discussions in these forums. Some of you feel that there are too many off-topic postings, while others are worried that some posters are being too aggressive and insulting in some of the threads. One suggestion has been to invite forum facilitators to monitor the discussions as they take place. A facilitator is not a moderator - as I've said in the past, I'm not a fan of having certain posters moderate the discussion. A forum facilitator would not have any direct control over the forum and would only be able to suggest actions to the Moderator (myself). The facilitator would also be free to post in the forums and would only be expected to provide direction and advice to other posters in the forum. Basically, they would oversee the discussions and if they saw a problem they would notify me before it gets out of hand. What does everyone think? Do you think a forum facilitator would help?