Welcome To The CROSSFIRE Echo   
   =============================   
      
   [RULES] Last Revised: 05/08/2009   
      
   The CROSSFIRE echo is meant for the discussion of political, social and   
   everyday concerns that affect society at large.   
      
   The topic matter of this echo is not one to be taken lightly, it is not    
   for example as easy to discuss as lets say a shared hobby, like ham radio,    
   hunting and fishing, stamp collecting or wood carving. People whom discuss   
   the topic matter can be laid back all the way up to extremely passionate.   
      
   [Religion]   
      
   Political discussions often touch on or are affected by religion, the    
   CROSSFIRE echo is not a safe haven for those with faith or those    
   claiming to be without faith. Neither is it a safe haven for those whom   
   fall onto any one spot of the political idealogical spectrum.   
      
   Discussion of religion is not forbidden here, but it should not be the sole   
   constituent of your debates. Nor should message threads be started in    
   which religion is the sole topic and it starts to dominate the echo.   
      
   If your intention is to **only** discuss religion be it for or against    
   then you might want to seek out another avenue, such as HOLYSMOKE or    
   EDGE_ONLINE.   
      
   Religion is often and sometimes best kept as a private matter between the    
   individual and their GOD, Church, preacher and family. No one    
   practices the same, much less perfectly if at all.   
      
   [Religious Preaching]   
      
   If you are including Quotes from the Bible in your discussions, then    
   you are preaching, this is not a religious echo and it is not allowed.    
   Please take and initiate those discussions elsewhere.   
       
   [Names]   
      
   Aliases/assumed names, handles are forbidden.   
      
   For purposes of this echo, the first and last name as presented in the    
   message headers are the acceptable names to refer to others.   
      
   Exceptions might be the normal dimunitive of some names such as but not    
   limited to:   
      
   Robert: Rob, Robby, Bob, Bobby   
   Daniel: Dan, Danny   
   Richard: Rick, Dick, Ricky   
      
   So long as they are not used for demeaning purposes.   
      
   [Imported Content]   
      
   If you post a article of interest from elsewhere, the internet et al, do   
   not post without including or following it with some commentary and make   
   sure the source gets properly creditted. Posting the source URL is a   
   very good idea and in many cases preferable over posting the (entire)    
   article itself.   
      
   When posting Internet URL's if it cant fit on one line, try using one of   
   the URL services, like Tinyurl.   
      
   When posting articles, please make sure you format or reformat it so its   
   easily digestible by every ones readers.   
      
   When using a source, especially from the Internet, to support or make a   
   point, please keep in mind that one can find content anywhere on the   
   Internet to support their own point, position or idealogy. Dont expect   
   that any reference you cite to be taken as the gospel truth, remember   
   this hard truth, your opponent can also cite content to refute the point   
   you tried to make or to simply support his/her own point or position.   
      
   [Message Quoting]   
      
   When replying to messages in the open echo, you should quote back those   
   parts of the original message to remind the person and the other echo    
   participants of what you are replying to. Please do not over-quote    
   messages if you are not addressing every point the original poster made.   
      
   *DO NOT* change the wording of any quoted text that you decide to include    
   in your reply to make it appear that the original author said something    
   that s/he did not..   
      
   BE VERY MINDFUL of nested message quotes, how various mail readers or    
   online editors do it, vary. On a routine basis, you will encounter a    
   message you want to reply to in which it contains quoted message text   
   from someone other than the person you are replying to said, especially   
   in a message thread that has had alot of life. If at all possible, unless   
   doing so would destroy context or render your reply meaningless, try to   
   not include nested quotes in your responses.   
      
   What you post versus what someone replies to, is beyond your control,    
   this means that no one is required to address every single point that    
   you might bring out in your messages. If you talked about A, B and C and    
   someone only replied about B, then so be it. Get over it and get over    
   yourself. No persons prose or point of view is so golden as to require    
   100% attention. No one is "running away" if they choose to not address   
   everything you say.   
      
   [Taglines And Signature Lines]   
      
   Echo participants are not to be mocked in, by or otherwise be the   
   subject matter conveyed via taglines or header/signature/footer lines.   
                                                                             
   [Carbon Copying and Privacy]   
      
   Posting a identical message to multiple recipients in the open echo is   
   forbidden. This wastes bandwidth and confuses message threads. If the   
   need arises, post a message to one recipient and reference any other    
   individuals names in the message body.   
      
   Since by its nature, the echo can be read by all whom choose to take it,    
   every message is readable by all. John Doe can as easily see messages    
   addressed to him as he could for messages addressed to All. Do not    
   complain when you address a message to one person and another chooses    
   to reply to it.   
      
   There is no expectation of privacy in the echo as far as the content of    
   the messages you post or have posted to you, if you desire privacy then    
   use private methods of communication. If there is information you do not    
   want publically known then do not post it or make it known how to access    
   this information. If you know intimate details about another participant    
   that you had knowledge of in which the participant did not want revealed,    
   do not reveal it. The exception being knowledge freely obtainable as    
   having been dessiminated publically, such as another echo, BBS or Internet   
   website.   
      
   Messages addressed to you are fair game for anyone to reply to, remember   
   this is an open echo, not a private netmail or email inbox. However if    
   you do respond to a message that is addressed to someone else, do not    
   pretend to speak for or as that individual.   
      
   [Messages to 'ALL']   
      
   Messages posted to 'ALL' must meet and pass at least one of these tests:   
      
   * Posting a article or other missive to introduce a topic for debate.   
     (See the rule regarding imported content)   
        
   * Posting information which is conveying information relevant to the    
     entire echo membership or making an announcement.   
        
   Messages addressed to 'ALL' in which said message is technically a    
   message reply to an individual are forbidden. These messages are in    
   most cases an attempt to make the person whose name should have been in    
   the TO field, the topic for debate. In nearly every case, it is usually    
   because someone has another twitted and the twitted still wants to get    
   in the last word. Being that this is a public echo, twitted or not the    
   entire echo membership will still get to see your "last word" even if    
   the person twitting you will not, therefore altering the TO field,    
   changes nothing.   
      
   [Open Doors]   
      
   Due to the nature of this echoes topic, there is going to be in most    
   cases an adversarial footing, meaning that your opponents will seek to    
   probe and prod you to find out your weaknesses or your strengths, but    
   more often the former. On any given topic whether it is about you or not,    
   you are responsible for the doors you open. If you say you did this, are    
   on that, then that is your problem if the information gets turned around    
   on you or turned on you.   
      
   When debating a opponent, for petes sake, have a leg to stand on when you    
   do so, we dont need bank robbers calling shoplifters, thieves.   
      
   The moderators in this case cannot be your Holy Protectors in this    
   instance.    
      
   [Truth, Lies And Those Not Here]   
      
   The moderators are not responsible for arbitrating or deciding the    
   factuality of any statement one member might make to or about another    
   fellow echo member or non-member.   
      
   The moderators are factoring in that the written message is not the best    
   form of communication, that each member comes from different beliefs    
   and lifetime experiences and that each and every one is an adult.   
      
   If you are slighted by another member with incorrect facts or outright    
   lies, there is no expectation that the person whom slighted you will    
   retract or apologize, hounding one for same will be considered    
   disruptive to the echo if said hounding starts dominating echo    
   discussions. If it comes to this point, both the accused and accuser   
   in addition to anyone else whom have chosen sides, will be asked to    
   stop the discussion with said discussion becoming off topic.   
      
   [Behavior]   
      
   Unfortunately, some will flame, be flamed or "feel" flamed, its how you   
   respond to them is what counts, ignore the person or ignore the flame.   
   Politics are a passionate topic for all those who take the time to   
   discuss it. (See tail end of this section)   
      
   With that said..   
      
   The CROSSFIRE echo IS NOT a FLAME ECHO! (MATZDOBRE echo is)   
      
   This echo is not a platform for the sole purpose to cast insults onto    
   another participant.   
      
   If you need to do so, take it to the MATZDOBRE echo.   
      
   The common list of swear words are not forbidden especially if used to   
   reinforce emphasis. However using them for the sake of using them can   
   discredit your post. Spit spewing tirades will be dealt with on a case   
   by case basis.   
      
   Messages that only convey a personal slam are off topic, but will be   
   dealt with on a case by case basis.   
      
   If you are spending time retaliating against what you perceive as    
   attacks,do not expect moderator protection, sometimes a reprisal    
   often exceeds the level of the offense? When one wrestles with pigs, by    
   the time its over, all are so muddy that you cant tell the pigs apart.    
   The key is to not let everyone else know which of your buttons can be    
   pressed in which the pressing of them positively reinforces the idea in    
   their heads that they are getting to you. If you are truly the victim of    
   a flame or personal attack, then play that part and do not retaliate, do    
   not even respond to the attack. If you retaliate then chances for a    
   remedy are diminished. An analogy if you will, for those of you whom    
   are involved with or are fans of High School, College or Pro Football,    
   in many cases when a player is flagged for a personal foul up to being    
   ejected from the game, it is more often than not the player whom    
   retaliated that gets flagged and caught, not the player whom started    
   it. It is not always fair but it happens because as mentioned earlier    
   the retaliations often reach a level that is more severe than the    
   initial offense.   
      
   [Twit Filters]   
      
   Twit Filters, if ones reader is so equipped, can block out the messages   
   of those whom might be irritating, abrasive, abusive etc. You are    
   encouraged to employ one if you can, if it means enhancing your own    
   usage of this echo and to prevent you from surrendering to the natural   
   temptation of sinking to the level of behavior as what your opponent   
   might be partaking in.    
      
   A word to the wise on using a twit filter:   
      
   * Dont let your antagonizer (twit) know that you are placing them into    
     your filter. For that matter, do not let anyone else know that you are    
     going to put someone into your twit filter or have already twit filtered    
     someone. Simply quietly do it and be done with it.    
          
   * Despite popular belief, twit filtering someone is still a two way street,    
     this means that if you are using a tool to prevent yourself from seeing   
     someone elses messages, you yourself cannot take pot shots at the person   
     you have filtered in messages to others, knowing full well that you wont   
     get to see their responses. DONT DO IT!   
        
   The moderators recognise that you will be able to see messages addressed to   
   a person you may have twitted and you might see parts of their messages   
   included in quoted message replies. However once you cross the threshold   
   in twitting someone, that person should no longer exist as far as you are   
   concerned. When in doubt, just remember that this echo is not for flames or   
   a platform to take potshots. A twit filter is to protect you from abuse,   
   not a shield to hide behind so that you can hurl it back with impunity.    
        
   A word to the wise if you know or think you are in someones twit filter:   
      
   * Do not do anything to defeat someones twit filter, up to and including    
     the spelling of your name.   
        
   * If someone stops replying to your messages, take it to heart that they   
     do not want to communicate with you.   
        
   [Fidonet Policy]   
      
   Fidonet Policy defines echomail as a different flavor of netmail, to    
   that extent, that is the only binding thing Fidonet Policy has on this    
   echo.    
      
   Nothing that gets said in this echo can be used to file any Fidonet    
   Policy Complaints, except in rare cases in which someone is posting or    
   formatting messages in a way that is known to crash the messaging    
   processing software of one or more systems, because the message was too    
   large, a specific size or some other deliberate malformation of message    
   control fields or lines.   
      
   Nodelisted sysops cannot use Fidonet Policy against non-nodelisted    
   individuals and non-nodelisted individuals cannot wield Fidonet Policy    
   at all.   
      
   [Moderator rulings and echo moderation]   
      
   Leave the moderating of this echo to the moderators.   
      
   DO NOT publically call upon the moderators to enforce the rules, the    
   moderators are not your Holy Protectors and are the sole interpreters of    
   the rules and as to what will be acted upon and when.   
      
   The Moderators reserve the right to determine the rules for this echo,    
   when a rule has been broken, whether or not to enforce a rule, when in    
   doubt, leave the moderating of the echo to the moderators.   
      
   This rule set cannot possibly cover every possible scenario or event that   
   could be defined as disruptive to this echo, therefore the moderators are    
   not confined to only those things elaborated on in this rule set. If the   
   need arises, the moderators reserve the right to act upon and rule out of   
   bounds any activity that disrupts the echo, challenges moderator authority   
   despite not being spelled out within this rule set.. Meaning the rules are   
   subject to change at anytime with or without warning. Translation, the    
   rules are dynamic, not static.   
      
   Coming into the echo to complain about it or how it is moderated is    
   forbidden, entry and usage of this echo is voluntary, if you dont like what    
   you see, then use the same freedom of choice to go elsewhere.    
      
   Putting conditions on the moderator in order for you to control your own    
   behavior is forbidden, this means you cannot demand the moderator do a    
   specific thing you demanded in order for you to stop a certain    
   behavior. Make a demand like this and watch your access go away.   
      
   If you are a moderator of another echo in which you proclaim to have a better    
   echo, rule set or style and you behave disruptively in here that contradicts   
   your own posture and philosophy from your own echo, then you will be held to    
   the standards you demand in your echo. The rule of thumb here is to    
   follow this echoes rules and worry about your own echo within your own    
   echo.   
      
   Disciplinary actions taken because of a rule violation will be   
   determined on a case by case basis and by the moderators. Do not expect   
   or demand a particular punishment for any rule violation you might   
   witness. It is hoped that only warnings are necessary, such warning or   
   other moderator actions to be either or both dessiminated publically or   
   privately.   
      
   Your moderators are:   
      
   Ross Cassell, 1:123/500 or 1:123/456 E-Mail: rcassell[at]gmail[dot]com   
       
   **NOTE**   
      
   References made to 'email' mean that mail which is privately distributed   
   over the internet. The moderators recognise that email, being a shortened    
   version for 'electronic mail', could be defined as any type of message    
   dessiminated electronically, such as but not limited to a public fidonet   
   echomail message. However, in this case these definitions apply:   
      
   Netmail:    
      
   System to System messages, semi-private, meaning that if the message is   
   written by a non-sysop, the message is readable by the sysop of the    
   system a user wrote the message from and if sent to another non-sysop,    
   the sysop of the system the message was sent to. Due to the way netmail    
   is transported, often routed through intermediary systems, netmail can    
   be read by the sysops of the systems that message traverses and at a    
   minimum by the sysops of the source and target systems. Ordinarily you    
   wont have too many issues here but you should be aware that you do not    
   have total privacy here and that netmail messages are readable by others    
   under certain scenarios. The exception to this would be if a sysop sends    
   a netmail message directly to another sysops system in which the sending    
   sysop is the the author and the receiving sysop is the intended recipient    
   of the message, in this case there is privacy.   
      
   Echomail:   
      
   Publically readable messages. Anyone can read these messages whom take    
   the echo area they are in. These messages are why you are here. In many    
   cases users can access older messages that exist in an area before they    
   joined said echo area. There is no expectation of privacy when writing    
   messages in this form.   
      
   Email:   
      
   Internet Email (Hi BK)... If you want privacy, then use this!   
   ---    
    * Origin: The Moderator (1:123/500)