There has been some concern expressed lately that I am not intervening enough when the insults and flames start to run high in the Middle East forum. And that's probably true, because lately I haven't been reading every post in the forum, particularly in threads where each post is 10 scrolled-down pages long. However, when I do notice the occasional "off" post, I mention it.

I've had complaints from both sides of the issue that I'm letting too much slide from this poster or that poster. I think what's been happening is this: the Middle East forum is a very contentious one because of the subject matter. And I found at first when I was moderating the forum, that I was admonishing people left, right, and centre. And then people started to get annoyed with all the interference, and saying that I was enforcing mealy-mouthed "politeness" on the forum, and that people should be able to be passionate.

So I loosened up somewhat and let it go here and there when posters who normally debated well and didn't regularly mudsling lost their temper and wrote some throw-away comment that wasn't quite within the bounds of civilized debate. And then, it got to the point where I was letting too much go, on both sides, and then both sides felt free to be insulting and abusive.

The result has been that the Middle East forum has turned into a free-for-all.

So from now on, I'm going to try to get back to enforcing babble policy in the Middle East forum - on BOTH sides, as evenly as I can. Here are some guidelines.

1. I will be the moderator. If you have a problem with someone's post, please let me know in a private message and I will deal with it. This goes for "the regulars", too. We don't need 5 or 10 people jumping all over someone who breaks the rules in the forum, or lecturing them on babble policy, or swearing at them. And I will do my best to enforce this on both sides of the debates, and with "established" posters as well as "newbies".

2. If you have a complaint about the moderation, either complain to Audra or me privately, or if you feel the need to do so publicly, start a thread in rabble reactions about it. Don't derail already-running threads with arguments about whether this decision or that decision was unfair, or about what kind of moderation you want to see. That's not what this forum is for. If you do so, I will simply direct you to take it to private mail, e-mail, or the rabble reactions forum. If you persist in the Middle East forum, I will consider that trolling, and you'll get a warning.

3. Calling people names and using ad hominem attacks are not acceptable, no matter what the provocation. If someone pisses you off and what they've done is against the rules, send me a private message with the link to the thread, the quote, and the name of the poster, and I will deal with the discipline end of it. If you want to tell them that what they've done is inappropriate and you don't like being treated that way, great. If you want to call them a fucking asshole who doesn't have the sense God gave a duck, please refrain. It makes it much more difficult for me to moderate if I have to wade through your insults on top of those of the instigator, and that way I don't have to deal with a bunch of kiddie-school playground "he did it first" "yeah, but he said this" "yeah, but then he said this" crap.

4. Baiting and trolling (e.g. "I'm posting this article, not that anyone here will give a damn about Israeli lives anyhow," or "Gee, I wonder what Macabee/Starbuck/whomever will have to say about this - aww, guess it doesn't matter since it's only Palestinians") is not allowed.

A final note: I'm not going to be able to catch everything that happens. So please don't get your knickers in a twist if you think I've admonished one person and let another person off. It's most likely because I didn't see what the other person said, and if you don't bring it to my attention, then please don't complain later.