The above couple of posts seem to be of the opinion that this was some sortof knee jerk descision on behalf of the moderators. I doubt that to be the fact considering Mikes post at 7:30 this morning and then the on going edits. The fact that a new set of rules has been created is of course Mikes perogative but should there be an implementation of the said rules then carry it equally across the board.
The rule states quite clearly topics on climate change should be taken up on a listed forum, The thread regarding the politics and belief in climate change still seems to be active.
Mike Sidonio was not out of line in my opinion with any of the comments he made and I doubt he actually called anyone a red neck. He used the description as a graphic generalisation, something that happens regularly on this and every other forum on the net.
It does seem a pitty, with a resource like IIS that w have to take a topic to another forum when we have an Australian site here and cannot bring up items of importance happening in Australia, in a general chat forum.
This section in red is from the TOS and allows such posts and threads in the General chat Forum.
3. Posting Topics - Avoid topics about race, politics or religion. These can be very sensitive topics and it can be very easy to take things the wrong way, creating arguments.
- Please keep threads on-topic and avoid spam or "chit-chat" within the specialised forums. The "General Chat" forum should be used for all off-topic posts that don't belong in the specialised forums. Off-topic means posts about stuff that isn't related to astronomy.
- "Spam" is a post with no useful content, no purpose except to get other people to reply with spam, and to increase your post count. Spam is not welcome anywhere on the forum.
- When creating a new thread, please ensure the thread title is descriptive of the content of the post.
Some topics will always become heated on all forums, this is the reason Mike chooses to moderate the forum and not leave himself open to legal intervention.
This thread has been going for quite some time without any explanation from Mike or the moderators concerned. Their absence is very visible and I am surprised this has not been locked.
Respect is something earned not given and as such some explanation as to why the new rules have been applied to one and not to another thread which quite obviously is in breach of the rules would help to earn that respect.