Nan:2010-10-02-rfd-rec.humor.jewish

From: Alexander Bartolich <alexander.bartolich@gmx.at>
Subject: 2nd RFD: rec.humor.jewish moderated (remove)
Date: Sat, 2 Oct 2010 08:27:35 EDT
Message-ID: <i86u89$8ug$1@news.albasani.net>

              REQUEST FOR DISCUSSION (RFD)
              moderated group rec.humor.jewish

This is a formal Request for Discussion (RFD) to remove moderated
newsgroup rec.humor.jewish.

RATIONALE:

On 2010-07-25 the moderators of rec.humor.jewish publicly announced
that they would like to close the group due to ever-decreasing popu-
larity. In the resulting thread no one volunteered to take over.
> >Message-ID: <8101365755684323B2912264851AD9FA@phil>
Phillip Sego asked the B8MB to close the group, and declared that from
2010-09-08 on the moderators will reject all submissions. However, on
2010-09-11 two posts were approved. According to Phillip those were
already in the queue and submitted before the deadline.
> >Message-ID: <Zv2dnfsMR8fitA_RnZ2dnUVZ_gOdnZ2d@earthlink.com>
David E. Ross raised concerns about the speed of removal proceedings.
He suggests to stick with the standard timing for processing RFDs, i.e.
six weeks between MVA and LCC.
> >Message-ID: <aPednSQpMMmMvhXRnZ2dnUVZ_hWdnZ2d@iswest.net>
NEWSGROUPS LINE:

rec.humor.jewish	Humor and the discussion of humor, mostly Jewish. (Moderated)

DISTRIBUTION:

news.announce.newgroups
news.groups.proposals
rec.humor.jewish
rec.humor.d

CHARTER OF REC.HUMOR.JEWISH

The Jewish people have always been able to laugh at their lives and
culture. This proposed newsgroup, rec.humor.jewish, is for anyone who
wants to share and discuss humor, primarily humor as it pertains to
Jews, their culture, Israel, and the Jewish religion. Non-Jewish humor
will also be accepted. The whole idea is to make people laugh!

Unacceptable postings: (Postings *must* follow these guidelines. Posts
which do not will be returned to the sender with a copy of the charter
and FAQ.)

1.) Anti-Semitic - i.e. those which call for genocide and violence
against Jews, and derogatory or false characterizations which would
tend to perpetuate anti-Semitism.

2.) Revisionist - i.e. those which deny the Holocaust

3.) Postings from individuals and/or groups who, in the newsgroup
rec.humor.jewish, have openly advocated harm against the Jewish
people.

4.) Website announcements which are not related to Judaism, except for
website announcements for "not Jewish, just funny" (NJJF) humor,
unless those websites feature anti-Semitic "humor".

5.) Excessively crossposted Articles - articles posted at the same
time to four or more newsgroups

6.) Trolls and off-topic spam - messages which, in the moderators'
judgement, would have the primary effect of disrupting the newsgroup.

7.) Conversionists - Posts which offer or promote conversion to
another religion. This would also include posts which promote so-
called "Messianic Judaism" or "Hebraic Christianity"

8.) Any of the following: Large binaries; posts over 400 lines long,
or more than 75 characters per line of original text, or those with
executable or macro attachments; and other non-standard formats which
are incompatible with robo-moderators and/or most newsreaders. PGP-
type signatures would be permitted.

9.) Postings with explicit sexual content (XXX-rated), or which imply
access to explicit sexual content are unacceptable.

General Behavior (All postings are *encouraged* to follow these
guidelines. Postings which fail to follow these guidelines will be
forwarded a copy of the FAQ and charter, but the message *will* be
still be posted.)

1.) Posters are expected to maintain a basic tone of civility

2.) Posters should not make derogatory remarks about religious
practices or the lack of them

3.) Posters should refrain from making derogatory comments about other
religious, racial, or ethnic groups.

4.) Identifying Tags: Posters of the following categories are
encouraged to use the following tags:

NJJF - Not Jewish Just Funny
MCOL - May contain offensive language
ANNOUNCE - Announcement
If posters fail to use these tags, the moderator(s) reserve the right
to insert them without prior consent. Additional tags may be created
should the need arise.

Rejected Messages and Appeals

The Board of Moderators will try to make sure that actions listed
above will not be applied to users who commit infractions
inadvertently or because they have misunderstood our policies.

A poster whose post has been rejected or whose name has been placed on
the auto-reject list has a right to appeal to the moderators of this
newsgroup. The poster may then e-mail the moderator(s) at the stated
address. The decision of the moderators is final.

Moderation Policy

The moderation policy will combine robo-moderation and a moderation
panel to set standards for civil discourse and provide guidance for
newcomers, but also allow express posting. The group will provide a
supportive atmosphere for newcomers to RHJ and/or Usenet by issuing
monthly postings listing the groups charter and posting guidelines.

The robo-moderator shall search every submission to rec.humor.jewish
for certain trigger words, forwarding any submissions containing these
trigger words to the panel of human moderators for review. The list of
trigger words is maintained by the moderators, who will add words as
needed.

Submissions from people on the express poster list will be scanned for
trigger words, as described above. Any messages including such trigger
words will be referred to a moderator. All other posts from express
posters will be accepted and posted by the robo-moderator without
human review.

Submissions from those not on the express poster list which clearly
fall into one of the categories referenced in the Charter under
"unacceptable postings" will be automatically rejected. A note will be
sent to the author (or apparent author) including the rejected post
and explaining the reason(s) for rejection. All other submissions from
non-express posters will be referred to the moderation queue.

Posters can get on the express posting list two ways. First, they can
choose to register by sending e-mail to the newsgroup address listed
in the trailer attached to all posts, agreeing to follow the posting
guidelines. Second, they can simply post to the group; their posts
will be reviewed by the moderation panel, and after four acceptable
posts they will be placed on the express posting list and sent a
notification of this change in status. First time posters will
automatically receive copies of the FAQ and Charter.

If a moderator accepts the article, it is posted to the newsgroup. If
the moderator feels the article should be rejected, that moderator
writes a comment explaining why and re-queues the article for review
by a second moderator. If the second moderator concurs that the
article should be rejected, that moderator adds another comment and
returns the article to the poster. If the second moderator feels the
post is acceptable, it is posted to the newsgroup. Any moderator who
is unsure about the appropriateness of a post may poll the moderation
board for additional opinions.

The number of active moderators in the moderation panel will initially
be 9. Additional moderators may be recruited from the readership as
demand warrants. If a moderator wants to retire from the moderation
panel, he or she agrees to make a public statement at least one month
prior to retirement so that a replacement moderator may be found. When
vacancies occur, anyone may volunteer to become a moderator or advisor
with the consent of more than half of the current moderation panel.
Moderators or advisors may be removed by a vote of two-thirds of the
moderation panel. Moderators may request to be put on inactive status
due to personal demands. If this inactive status exceeds six months,
the moderator position will be considered vacant, and a replacement
may be sought.

Disclaimer
- The moderators of this newsgroup are not responsible for
  truthfulness or legality of any of the posts.
- The approval of a post by a moderator is NOT an endorsement by the
  moderator or board.
- Posters assume full responsibility for the content of their posts -
  Readers using information that appears in the newsgroup do so at their
  own risk.
- Posters agree that by posting items to this newsgroup they indemnify
  and hold harmless the directors and service providers.
- The copyright for all posts remains with the poster or in the public
  domain as appropriate.

HISTORY OF THE GROUP:

rec.humor.jewish is a moderated newsgroup which passed its vote for creation
by 395:27 as reported in news.announce.newgroups on 21 May 1998.

PROPONENT:

Alexander Bartolich <alexander.bartolich@gmx.at>

PROCEDURE:

Those who wish to comment on this request to remove this newsgroup should
subscribe to news.groups.proposals and participate in the relevant threads
in that newsgroup.

To this end, the followup header of this RFD has been set to
news.groups.proposals.

In the course of the removal process two formal announcements are posted
(1st RFD and LCC), each taking two weeks. At the end of the
process the B8MB will vote on the issue.

Available options for rec.humor.jewish are:
- leave the group as it is
- remove the group

For more information on the removal process, please see 

http://www.big-8.org/wiki/Group_Removal_FAQ

CHANGE HISTORY:

2010-09-06	1st RFD
2010-10-02	2nd RFD