Fidonet POLITICS Echo Policies
Updated 18 November 2021

Moderator: Echo Participants (1:18/200)
sysop@fido.net

POLITICS is for the discussion and debate of everything under the
sun, including whatever floats your boat, primarily involving one's
own point of view. Due to the nature of these discussions, emotions
can and will run high. Which is to be expected.

The following policies are in place to keep the heat in here as high
as possible. Your participation in this echo is strongly encouraged,
although not mandatory, as lurkers are always welcome to remain on
the sidelines (at least until they man up and join the fray). This
implies implicit agreement to abiding by all these policies, without
exception. Those who do not abide or wish to abide by this agreement
can eat a bag of dicks.

# Real names are *not* required to be used in this echo. Aliases
and/or handles are strongly encouraged. If your BBS software will
not allow you to toggle between real name and alias/handle in the
message header, sign your message with your own preferred name of
choice.

# We are all actors on a stage. That is what the B'ard has taught us.
In politics, the world is our stage. And we are the actors. Free to
say and do whatever we want, or could ever imagine. If that is not
"free speech", I do not know what is. So let us all practice what we
preach. By using our own free speech for whatever it is worth.

# No participant or lurker has to agree to anything presented in
this echo. All are welcome to express themselves in the manner they
wish.

"Discretion is the better part of valor" -- William Shakespeare

Of course, we all know that line was taken out of context.
This is only a small part of what the corrupt knight Falstaff
uttered in Henry IV, Part One, 1596.

The B'ard never penned the original phrase. Nor did he ever say
it. He did crib it, however. Comes from a poem, by Charles Churchill,
penned in 1762, entitled "The Ghost" -

"Even in hero's heart,
Discretion is the better part."

Oh, the B'ard was such a card. Here are Shakespeare's words,
as spoken by a very corrupt knight by the name of Falstaff -

"The better part of valour is discretion; in the which better
part I have saved my life."

That line is just a summation of Falstaff's words, as coined
by Shakespeare. To understand Shakespeare's meaning, one has to
read the entire play. Or at least the section where the quote
can be found.

Did you get that? Remember, Falstaff is a corrupt knight.
Not even close to a knight in shining armor. This dude fakes
his own death on the battlefield in order to survive an attack.
But he does not fake his death just to save his own sorry ass.
He does it to falsely claim victory over the rebel leader known
as Hotspur (who was actually killed by Prince Hal), and thus
got himself bestowed with undeserved fame and glory by King
Henry IV. After revealing he is alive, this is what Falstaff
says -

"To die is to be a counterfeit, for he is but the counterfeit
of a man who hath not the life of a man; but to counterfeit dying
when a man thereby liveth is to be no counterfeit, but the time
and perfect image of life indeed. The better part of valor is
discretion, in the which better part I have saved my life."
~ Falstaff

The dishonorable Falstaff did not exactly behave bravely.
This was clearly shown by Falstaff's actions and his deeds.
As told by the B'ard, who really did know how to entertain
the crowd.

We really should thank Sean Dennis (and Mike Powell) for including
that quote in their postings about POLITICS Echo Rules.

# Resistance is futile. Don't know what is the Borg?
Ask Jean-Luc Picard.

# Pants on fire. If a lie can be told, make it a good one. Othersise,
some fool will start crying PUSU. So. What is the news? The news is
whatever the news media wants to tell us. So how can anybody shut up
what they know nothing about? Sheesh. Facts? There are no facts ...

# Participants can discuss religion in here and also everything
else under the sun. Even if participants do not believe a single
word of what they write.

# No cussing. However, cursing is strongly encouraged. Those who
cuss wind up embarrassing themselves, so no action will be taken.
And those who have yet to learn the fine art of cursing only wind
up embarrassing themselves, so no action will be taken. So go ahead
and do whatever floats your boat. Even if it embarrasses yourself.

# Imitation is the highest form of flattery. And imitating politicians
and the speeches they make is very much game. So feel free to do your
best imitating the likes of Huey P. Long, David Duke, George Wallace,
Donald J. Trump ...

# Quotes of politicians and political figures are strongly encouraged, including use of swear words.

# Participants are free to bang their keyboards all they want.
And also to blow off steam. As long as it is all done offline,
and never in cyberperson.

# Have an excuse for everything. I was only joking.

# Sources should be cited/credited, if to be taken seriously.

# Messages can be in any language, including English.

# Participants are free to post on any topic of their choice.
After all, that is why participants participate.

# Fidonet politics is a subset of politics, and therefore is
a topic that can be discussed by any/all participants.

# This is a Fidonet echo, owned by the participants of this echo.
No individual person, group of people, or other entity can gate this
echo or make any claim to it or its content. NO PERMISSION WILL BE
GRANTED. And nobody has any authority to grant such permission.

This is a Fidonet echo and will remain a Fidonet echo. Forever.

# This echo does not recognize P4 or any local or regional echomail
policies. Nor does this echo recognize any "echolist" - regardless of
where said "echolist" originates from. This echo originates from all
four zones in Fidonet, and as such sysops everywhere are free to
interpret whatever rules they go by to run their own BBS.

# The participants of this echo own this echo. No self-appointed
"moderator" will ever be recognized, as the term itself is in total contradiction to the philosophy of Fidonet itself, as participants
post their own messages directly with no prior screening.

# Nothing is OFF-TOPIC, as all participants are free to post whatever
they wish to post - without prior screening. As such, everything is
ON-TOPIC. What a wonderful world.

# The self-appointed "modertor" claims he {wishes to do as little
moderation as possible in here" - which is why I am relieving him of
his duties, effective immediately.

# This document is alive and kickiing and is subject to change
with or without notice whether it is needed or not needed.

# This document will be posted whenever I feel like posting it.

# There are no moderators in Fidonet. And there are no moderators
in this echo. Just participants. Who are free to do whatever the fuck
they want.

Thank you for your participation (and future participation)
in the wonderful world of POLITICS!

--Lee
POLITICS Moderator (along with all other participants)

--
Probably the best beer in the world

--- MesNews/1.08.05.00-gb
* Origin: news://eljaco.se (2:203/2)