WANING: This page is a satire and is not meant to seriously represent the policies of BBC or BBCi or anyone or any group living or dead or otherwise.

BBCi am hosting numerous discussions about the Elephant Sitting In Our Living Room. If you ever want to see your discussions again, be they elephant-related, llama-related, or dung-beetle-related, you'll understand how vital it is that these discussions be conducted responsibly and sensitively, for only eight hours each day. To ensure that debate remains balanced and does not incite the Elephant to visit her wrath down upon us, BBCi have started a dedicated smoke-signal fire on top of Great Debate hill.

Postings and Entries on the subject of the Elephant Sitting in Our Living Room posted to h2g2 will be shovelled away. Please discuss the Elephant via the "Great Debate" smoke signal system.

Discussions are being forcibly resettled, or "concentrated" if you will, in this camp so that BBCi may focus its moderation and hosting resources, ensuring a safe distance between researchers and the Elephant, in case it goes feral and strikes out at researchers. Think of the Great Debate as a strategic hamlet where your discussions will remain safe and you will be concentrated with others interested in this topic.

During the Crisis of the Elephant Rampaging Through Our Living Room, we do ask for your co-operation. The moderators have been asked to err¹. As it is a very sensitive time for those of us who wish to be discrete about the Elephant. For those being pummeled by the Elephant, it may seem like a more sensitive time, but not quite as important as the horror if someone takes offense at BBC allowing discussion of the Elephant.

Naming Species or Genus

Be extremely careful when naming animals with regard to events, because you would be responsible for any plagues of locusts or monkey tossing that erupted as a result.

Viral Propaganda Is Not The Right Propaganda

It's important that rumours and viral propaganda, such as those circulated by email, are not published on any BBCi Community. We will remove anything that appears to be propaganda, unless it comes from government affiliated outlets or multinational media conglomerates, or from BBehemoths that can't really be pinned down as entirely corporate or entirely governmental entities.

Nicknames

In the middle of these guidelines, it has become vital for us not to name the so-called thing allegedly sitting in the room to the south of our Kitchen, just down the hall from the Foyer. We will now describe the entity as a Balrog instead of the usual name refered to above. To any researchers who mention the animal in question by any euphemism other than Balrog, we stand firmly on the Bridge of Khazad-dum shouting "Go back to the shadow! You cannot pass!"

Reading Comprehension Quiz

To ensure that you've read these guidelines and understood them, please take this short quiz.

1. True or false -- the two following statements can be reconciled:

"Postings and Entries on the subject of the war posted to h2g2 will be removed..."

(from h2g2 Guidelines for Discussions During the Iraq War)

"You can create your own Guide Entries containing anything you want, from your opinions of world events to a description of your home town, and it all goes to make up the h2g2 Guide..."

(from DNA's Welcome and Thank-you Message, 8th September 1999)