First the good news you've been waiting for. No more Pop Up ads.
Now for the news some might not like as well but ya best heed regardless. This Forum has been abused more than use of late and that changes as of January 1, 2011.
Moderators here and elsewhere will strictly enforce the Rules regarding name calling and personal attacks. Ya might want to read that part of the rules again cuz if ya do it the moderator will delete your entire post even if the attack or name calling is one percent and the other 99% are relavant and on topic. If ya don't want your posts deleted then follow the rules.
I've moved the POLITICS and the NEWS Section way up higher on the list of forums. It follows GBO Classifieds and is prior to Handgun Forums. I have added new forums in this Section and changed some old forums down in the Miscellaneous Section.
There is now a Separate Forum for Off Topic Discussions placed in the Politics and News Section and Humor is a stand alone forum still in the Miscellaneous Section. Put your jokes, cartoons and funny photos in the Humor Forum not here. The Off Topic Discussion forum now in Politics and News Section is for general discussions where the subject matter just plain fits nowhere in particular.
ALL DISCUSSIONS and arguements regarding Islam vs. CHRISTianity go in the Political Issues Discussion Forum. They will be moved there by the Moderators for about two weeks. After that if the moderator is in the mood he can move it or just delete it if they prefer as by then you should have figured it out. We do NOT have a Religion Discussion area on this site anymore because folks could not behave themselves and follow the rules so it had to be deleted. If you abuse the priviledge to discuss your concerns of Islam vs. CHRISTianity as stated above then we'll completely stop that as well. Politics and Religion are two topics I honestly feel need to be discussed face to face rather than anonmyously via the internet so don't make me regret allowing open discussion of it here.
Discuss the topic and talk to the subject matter. DO NOT address your comments directly at another member here. Do not call any member of this site by other than their real name if the two of you are on such a name basis or by the full and proper GBO user name. Violations of these will result in deleted posts and if you just absolutely cannot stop doing it then I'm gonna hafta remove some of you from the membership roles. Don't make me do that. There are probably less than 20 of you I even have to say this for and I believe you ALL know who you are. If you have any doubt PM me and I'll tell you if you are one of them but NOT on open forum. I will not tell you who else this applies to as it applies to EVERYONE even tho there are only a few of you who constantly violate this rule.
I've split the former dual topic Forum into Second Amendment Issues and Political Discussion even tho there is a lot of over lap in them. If it's strictly a Second Amendment or Right to Keep and Bear Arms issue then post it there. If it's other political discussion or you concerns, fears, feelings or issues with Islam vs. CHRIST then keep it in the Poltical Discussion Forum NOT on the Pot Bellied Stove Forum.
There are several other changes likely to occur in 2011 in the Forum line up. I'm not completely satisfied with the current Section break down and the specific forum placement within those sections. I know everyone wants their favorite forums and sections at the top. I wish we could accomodate that but realisitically it can't happen. I have tended in the past to keep the sections that get the most traffic near the top and the lesser used ones near the bottom of the forums index. Is that good or bad I dunno some of both I guess. I don't have a better plan and within Sections Forums are generally aligned either in alphabetic order or by which is most used or has a sponsor near the top. That isn't the case in all sections but is the general plan I follow.
So what is the Pot Bellied Stove Forum for you might ask. Quite honestly I don't know the answer to that any more now than I did when it was requested and established. Originally the NEF/H&R guys who came here in such large numbers after Marlin shut down the Marlin Talk and NEF Talk forums wanted a place within their own section to talk general topics as they were more comfortable within their own group than with the entire site as a whole. It has LONG since lost that distinction and application. It is now used more by folks who never post to anything else in that Section than by those who do.
I'm not going to more narrowly define it than the current and original description of it reads. BUT understand that I expect all the many posts that are striction Political in Nature to go to that forum and the posts on Islam which have come to dominate it to also go to the political forum as Islam is really a way of life and a political structure as much or more than a religion as I understand it so that seems to me the proper venue for such discussion if you wish to discuss those issues and it sure seems a lot of you do. BUT not everyone wants in on those discussions and they have detracted from the intended purpose here. We'll all feel our way along as we move thru the new year. If you have questions ask them and we'll try to figure out an answer.
If you don't like the changes place the blame on me as it's my idea and my new plan and no one else is to blame for it. Well OK those of you who have been abusing this forum can shoulder some of the blame as that's what I'm making these changes to address.
Those of you who miss Michael and Michelle will have to watch them on TV now I guess. I'm sure their many fans here will morn their passing from the site at midnight.
