Reminder General Rules for posting in forum

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bruno

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I believe that it is time for a quick reminder of the general rules for posting on the forum which can be found in this link: http://www.serviceacademyforums.com/showthread.php?t=7976

The overarching rule here:
Please respect your fellow posters
Other key points to keep in mind:

- Do not attack or insult a person in an effort to elicit a negative response. You have a right to disagree, but you must do so in a respectful manner.

- If you are here only to start trouble, please reconsider. This is a patriotic website where we love our country and hold the members of the Armed Forces in the highest esteem. While you are free to discuss and debate policy, tactics, trends, and so forth, posts which criticize the United States in general or the Armed Forces in particular may lead to a ban if the only reason for posting them is to insult or belittle. If you are not an applicant, parent, current SA student, or alumni, the latitude granted to you will be extremely limited.

- The purpose of this site is not to discuss politics. Political discussions should be limited in context and scope, and our nation's elected officials respected at all times.

-This site is intended to allow Service Academy Candidates, Cadets, Midshipmen, their parents, and Alumni a little corner of the web in which to converse and share information and fellowship. However, it is open to all active-duty and reserve military members as well as all veterans, and for that matter anyone who has a sincere interest in the Academies or the Armed Forces and who wishes to find out more about them.

The rules are there for all. Being an alumnus or non alumnus, veteran or non- veteran; parent or nonparent, current Cadet/midshipman or non- Cadet/Midshipman is not a criteria for posting. There are times and topics when personal experience obviously lends credibility to a point of view in a discussion, but at no point is personal status or experience the criteria for posting, nor is it ever justification for the disrespectful treatment of others opinions.

Bottom line folks- the forums in the General Discussion section of this site, are all complimentary to the overall purpose of the forum. This is especially true of the Academy/Military News forum and "Life after Graduation forum. Postings in these forums will be conducted as if you truly respect those whose opinions are expressed here- REGARDLESS of whether you agree- or the right to post will be restricted. When posting- keep in mind that old Aretha Franklin tune: "RESPECT" ("All I'm askin is just a little respect....")http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DZ3_obMXwU

Carry On:rolleyes:
 
bruno said:
Bottom line folks- the forums in the General Discussion section of this site, are all complimentary to the overall purpose of the forum. This is especially true of the Academy/Military News forum and "Life after Graduation forum. Postings in these forums will be conducted as if you truly respect those whose opinions are expressed here- REGARDLESS of whether you agree- or the right to post will be restricted.
The overall purpose of this forum should be to assist candidates in making informed decisions about attending a service academy and a life in the military. While it is both necessary and beneficial for them to understand all the issues involved in these decisions, undue, unsupported criticism of current policies can be detrimental to the mission of the forum. We all have our opinions on diversity, the role of women in the military, whether or not the administration is effective or not, and various other issues, but is any forum other than “Other” the proper place to interject our opinions on these subjects?
 
While it is both necessary and beneficial for them to understand all the issues involved in these decisions, undue, unsupported criticism of current policies can be detrimental to the mission of the forum.

Oh, bull****. :rolleyes:

First off, you contradict yourself within one sentence. Either it's important (and thus has a purpose here), or it's detrimental. It can't be both.

Second, if people who are preparing to someday go into battle can't handle some intense debate, then maybe they need to reassess their career choices.

Third, this is the GENERAL DISCUSSION subforum. If shooting matches were breaking out in the USxA subforums, then I'd agree.

But hey, WTF do I know? :rolleyes:
 
Mongo:unsupported criticism of current policies can be detrimental to the mission of the forum.

Who determines what is unsupported criticism of current policies on this forum, you, me? IMHO it is subjective...isn't that what criticism is? A subjective point of view? What you see as criticism, I may not. Vise a Verse.

I think it is important to grasp what Bruno was saying in his post...RESPECT EACH OTHER.

I take it a tad further, we should always be mindful that we are mature adults. If you lower yourselves to slandering another poster, you degrade yourself, You also degrade the branch you are connected with.

We all have opinions, some of the topics are emotional hot buttons, but we should always keep in mind this is not about our opinions, it is about assisting cadets on how to navigate the waters. Many do not have parents who have military experience. Enough with the A team B team. We are here for the cadets. If you feel the need to call a poster out, do it through a PM. THIS SITE IS for future cadets, cadets and their parents. The last thing we should do is create an illusion we are fractured within the military.

Every poster should realize what they post has an impact on applicants, cadets, parents and lurkers.
 
Who determines what is unsupported criticism of current policies on this forum, you, me? IMHO it is subjective...isn't that what criticism is? A subjective point of view? What you see as criticism, I may not.

The example that comes readily to mind is that, yes, the Supt of the US Naval Academy allowed a midshipman to remain at the Academy who he felt, unknowingly smoked marijuana. That is a fact.

That the Supt was an ignorant idiot incapable of leading midshipman and personally driving the Academy to irreversible ruin is unsupported criticism and belongs in the 'Off Topic' thread, not in the 'Academy News' thread. Just my opinion.
 
Although it appeared to me that reiterating the rules with a gentle reminder of the importance of civility and respect would be almost inarguable- several of you have managed to create controversy where none existed.
PIMA thanks btw for understanding the gist of the original post exactly.

This thread is closed.
 
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