Welcome to the DEBATE conference!   
      
    This is a general forum for participants to debate and discuss   
    a wide range of political, historical, contemporary, and   
    philosophical topics. The Rules of Engagement are as follows:   
      
    1. Forceful discussion or debate is encouraged.   
      
    2. It must be clearly understood that personal attacks (flames),   
    remarks deliberately intended to provoke other users ("baiting"   
    or "goading"), and foul or abusive language will NOT be   
    tolerated.   
      
    3. While general religious topics are allowed, "sermonizing"   
    does not belong here.   
      
    4. The posting of articles in their entirety, or in their   
    majority, is not allowed.  Paraphrasing of articles is   
    encouraged.  The article may be referred to as a URL in support   
    of the participant's position, whether pro or con.   
      
    5. Opinions or positions are encouraged.  Bear in mind that you   
    may be challenged to provide the factual source that serves as   
    the basis for your opinion or position.  If you put it forth,   
    it's yours to defend. Should you fail to do so others are   
    justified in considering it refuted or abandoned.   
      
    5.a.  Crowing over a "win" is discouraged as being too close to   
    goading and is singularly unmannerly.   
      
    6. All moderating should be left to the Moderators. While   
    limited inquiries in the echo to moderator rulings will be   
    accepted for purposes of clarification, any dispute over   
    moderator rulings will be taken to private means; either email   
    or netmail.   
      
    6.a. The authority of the Co-moderator is the same as the   
    Moderator.   
      
    7. Participants should not be easily annoyed.  Leave that to the   
    Moderators.   
      
    8. Cross-posting is allowed.  It should be either complementing   
    an existing thread or starting a thread suitable for this echo.   
    See #11.  Do not start dragging personal vendettas ("crap")   
    from other echoes over here. See #6 & 7.   
      
    9. Don't bite on taglines, whether they are on point are not;   
    they are only taglines. Taglines shall not be used as a back   
    door to flames. See #2 above.   
      
    10. Libelous postings are prohibited.  A libelous posting is the   
    defamatory assertion, as a fact and without an indictment, that   
    a person has committed a criminal act.  Or that the person is   
    suffering from a loathsome disease. Where public figures are   
    concerned, the rule for libel is that applied to the press, the   
    assertion must be known to the poster to be false or with   
    reckless disregard for the truth.   
      
    Since it is very difficult to determine what the poster knew or   
    whether he was guilty of reckless disregard for the truth this   
    rule will be interpreted to allow the poster the widest   
    latitude. It will be enforced only when there is very strong   
    evidence of violation.   
      
    Note that the rule against personal attacks will cover most   
    situations between participants.   
      
    11. Please do not over-quote.  Quote enough of the message you   
    are responding to so the response makes sense.  Quoting 25 lines   
    of text for a two-sentence response is an irritant and fuzzes up   
    the message.   
      
    12. Assumption of Honesty rule. Anyone posting in this echo may   
    be wrong on almost anything they post. Anything posted by any   
    participant will be assumed to be believed by the poster to be   
    true. Therfore, anything anyone else feels is wrong will be   
    considered as an honest mistake. Accusations of lying will be   
    considered personal attacks. You may disagree with the post, but   
    not attack the poster.   
      
    Any term such as "made up" or "making it up" or "invented" will   
    be treated exactly the same as an accusation of lying. It will   
    take an extreme case for the moderator to even consider the   
    possibility that an accusation of lying is true.   
      
    Note the following points:   
      
     a. Accusations of lying against public figures, or statements   
     made by those not participating in Fido, are not covered by   
     this rule. However, the rule about libel may apply.   
      
     b. Humor is assumed to be made up, and is not covered by this   
     rule. However, it will not be used for or subject to personal   
     attacks. That is covered under the personal attack rule.   
      
    13. Echo protection rule. Behavior that has the effect of   
    sabatoging this echo, whether in this echo or others, will lead   
    to a ban from this echo. That behavior will be defined as   
    encouraging others to break the rules, or using false statements   
    to convince others that the rules have been changed.   
      
    Any moderator who makes rules for his echo that limit or forbid   
    the participation in his echo of anyone who posts in this echo,   
    based on that participation will not be permitted to participate   
    in this echo.   
      
    This rule will be adjusted as is seen necessary.   
      
    If something becomes an irritant, we'll add it to the rules.   
      
    MOD Bob Klahn, 1:3603/140, bob.klahn@sev.org   
      
    Rules modified 6/22/09.   
      
    Echo protection rule added.   
      
    Libel rule amended.   
      
      
      
   BOB KLAHN bob.klahn@sev.org   http://home.toltbbs.com/bobklahn   
      
   ...  Bob Klahn - Moderator - Debate Echo...   
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