As the moderator here, I've deliberately employed a light touch, but fully admit that things have gotten WAY out of hand a few times, especially in the last several months, and I totally see how any newcomer could not help but be horrified. From the first, I've made it a point to remove the following:

--Any actually offensive language. (I've deleted swearwords, but probably missed some, and, sad to say, let stand some namecalling. When verbal slings and arrows were flying too thick to edit each individual instance, I posted a reminder not to call names, to which no one responded.) Just because some namecalling was let slide in the process of what was politely termed debate does not mean namecalling is tolerated on this board. Any abusive, obscene, or otherwise offensive arguments directed at individuals or groups is not allowed. In other words, expressing that a particular group should or should not receive certain treatment such as government compensation is allowed, (although off-topic and therefore not encouraged) but expressing derogatory opinions of that group in general or attacking people in favor of that group specifically will be, and has been, deleted.
--Any non-allowed items such as off-topic spam or advertising.
--Any attacks on Ray Bradbury, period. Criticism (sometimes valid, sometimes harsh) of aspects of his work or viewpoints has been let to stand as this is not a "censor-run board," but any outright examples of personal slander or unfounded demeaning of his work are immediately and permanently removed. Also, anything which is not an attack on Bradbury but is too much a personal, privacy violation, is removed or altered. (I'm glad his family is being so gracious in informing us as to his health, and not objecting to discussion of his wellbeing on the boards.)
--Double posts or other things of no redeeming social value.
--NEW POSTERS PLEASE NOTE: Subhead on double posts. If the exact same topic is posted more than once, I'll try to delete all but ONE of it, BUT if I am not quick enough, and come back to find several duplicates in the same forum, one or more of which has drawn replies, I will leave ONLY the one with the most replies! For anyone who replied to one of the others--it is not a conspiracy, you are not being picked on, there was nothing wrong with your post, BUT--if you like your reply well enough to repost it under the remaining heading, fine, if not, it goes, sorry! I am not encouraging posting duplicates in different forums, either, but I am posting this in all four so EVERYONE has a chance to see it!
--In addition: since this just came up. If two identical threads both receive replies before I can delete one, I will post a request under the one with the least replies that anyone wishing to keep their posts there will have, oh, say, a week, to copy and paste them to the other thread, or lose them, then LOCK the thread with the least replies before it takes on a life of its own! If a message is from the sort of person who only posts once and never looks again to even see if anyone replied, their message will no doubt prove no great loss to them. (Several posts were deleted in this way recently, and no one has said anything about it. None of them were of substance--in other words, all statements which have been made here before.)

Sometimes certain members thought certain items should be removed. I thank them for pointing out a few I may have overlooked, or did see but was unsure as to the concensus on editing them, but sometimes things they considered frivolous but I considered harmless were left. On at least two occasions, threads went wild way faster than I could read them, and I had to post apologies for any editing I may have neglected to do on those.

Please try to respect Mr. Bradbury at ALL times, but especially now when he is not feeling his best, and please respect each other and his loyal fans who have been faithful here for so long!

[This message has been edited by dandelion (edited 09-30-2004).]

Before I have time to read every word of the latest Fahrenheit 451 flurry fest, time to bump this up again.

While not forbidden, posting original fiction and poetry are strongly discouraged. Short quotes from other works are allowable if not too offensive. Any entries violating the rules by being actually offensive, or meeting or exceeding 1,000 words, will be deleted.

To the best of my ability, I've covered content here, though probably by not specifically forbidding something no one has thought of yet, I've still missed something.

Many boards outright forbid any discussion of politics and religion, while this one has always allowed it. Be thankful for these freedoms and please observe at all times the warning as to namecalling. If someone calls members of an opposing political view by derogatory terms, makes unkind judgements about another poster's position or station in the next life or afterlife, or any other violation of rules stated or implied, then calls the moderator a censor for deleting them, that is namecalling.

If asked to either refrain from a certain type of posting, or to move it or continue it on another, already-existing thread, so flocks of nearly-identical threads don't multiply (HAL, on the new board, having effectively solved the actual duplicate-thread problem) it is not necessary to burst into tears, threaten to take your great superior intellect and pearls of wisdom to the "other board" or elsewhere on the internet, question the intellect, moral integrity, mental sanity, rational judgement, racial or ethnic background or prejudices, or personal hygiene of the moderator, or the olifactory qualities of the board in general. (This is known as overreacting, and, while possibly mildly amusing to some, is a breach of netiquette.)

In four years of this board existing in one form or another, NO ONE has been outright asked to leave. If they ever are, they will KNOW IT. Please don't assume you've been "asked to leave" unless told. If you "can't stand the oppressive atmosphere" here, please see above--it's worse nearly everywhere else that I've seen, and I've been actively online for six years now.

If people want (but only if they REALLY must) I can post the URLs to discussion boards for some fandoms, which, though the subjects to which they are devoted are perfectly fine, are run by people who make Nazi Germany look like a haven of tolerance. I DOUBLE DOG DARE anyone to set foot in one of these and see if they can so much as sneeze without being called an enemy of the people and a threat to the state!