3 Simple rules of Club Stogie...plus 1 +1 + a few more

[pds]

With the desire of making your experience at Club Stogie an enjoyable one, there are three simple rules that can help new members in the forums.

1) DO NOT ask how to buy Cubans in the United States. Cuban cigars are illegal in the U.S., end of discussion. We suggest reading through the forums for more information, or you can check out the following link from the United States Customs Department.

http://www.treas.gov/offices/enforcement/ofac/programs/cuba/ccigar2.pdf

Along these same lines, please don't ask which retailers ship to the US, how they perform, etc., again, Cuban cigars are illegal in the U.S. We do delete posts related to these subjects. If you happen to live in a country where Cubans are legal...you have many envious friends!

2) DO feel free to use the search function. There are a ton of questions already asked and answered. You may be able to save yourself some time by searching for the answer before asking it. At the same time, don't feel bad if you ask a quetion that has been asked before...it happens!

3) DO enjoy yourself and practice respect and tolerance with others. Respect is the key word. There are people that join this forum from other forums for the sole purpose of starting flame wars. It won't be tolerated. We are all here because we enjoy cigars.

4) Club Stogie can not allow threads involving the sale or trade of Cuban cigars. There is a quote below from the user agreement all members agreed to when registering.

Due to continued abuse of this policy, and the legal exposure to CS we have been forced to adopt this new rule since we are a United States based forum. This was not done to the actions of any single member. There will be no exceptions to this rule, and continued violation is grounds for loss of membership.

Quote from user agreement:

You also agree to not use this site for any illegal activity including, but not limited to the trading, selling, or exchanging of cigars in locations where they are not legal.


Of course, always remember...

CLUB STOGIE STRICTLY ADHERES TO THE 1997 "NO CIGAR SNOB" TREATISE DEVELOPED BY TOP 25 CIGAR.
- circa 1997 Top25Cigar.com

(AKA...If you can taste hints of burnt 7-year old Madagascar Vanilla...smoke elsewhere! :D

Thanks
Club Stogie Staff

[poker]

At this point in time, there is also need to add one more to our short list of non-negotiable rules.
This involves pictures, detailed descriptions, and even sometimes packaging pics.

If you have not already read the "A little discretion--please" thread, here is a copy & paste of the original post by Mo.

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I've been following quiet a few threads in the Habanos lounge lately.

I congratulate the all the brothers & sisters on all their newly acquired Habano acquisitions. Welcome to the darker side (LOL) of the slipery slope, I remember my early Havana acquisitions as well.

BUT, we may need to become much more discreet, at least for the next few weeks & months.

Here's what's got me worried. Every day I'm seeing 2 or 3 new threads about box purchases, many persented with pictures. All good. BUT, this is going on EVERYDAY and I fear that it's ony a small matter of time before we start attracting unwanted attention, I'm talking about the OFAC and US Customs. I've been watching these threads go up and everyday I worry that we maybe attracting unwanted attention.

Club Stogie is a BIG discussion board, we're an easy target because of the number of the sheer number of members here. We could readily attract unwanted scrutiny that could hurt or cause a lot of grief to a lot of members.

A couple of stories to illustrate. Back in Christmas '04 some nimrod of a newbie on another board (CW), in all his enthusiasm, blabbered very openly about EXACTLY how he was acquiring Havanas from overseas & getting them shipped right to his house in the US. Well, needless to say, that havana merchant was nearly out of business for three months as everything he was sending to the US qwas getting seized. On top of that, another two merchants had to slow their shipping quantities as well till this blew over.
Now, it didn't all end there. Here's the second part of the story: The letters from the Office Foreingn Asset Control (OFAC). Here we are a couple of years later and all of a sudden it seems that the justice department is just getting started. Beginning sometime late last October ('06), many Havanophiles I know who were buying cuban cigars around that time (X-mas '04) started receiving letters from the OFAC requesting (no, demanding) an explanation of transactions appearing on their bank statements around 12/04.

No CHIT! This is serious stuff. I know dozens of brothers & sisters who are sweating it out waiting to see what happens next. Not a good thing to have.

.
.
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So, in order to pervent a potential problem, I'll be scrutinizing posts in the Havana Lounge more closely for the next few months. I'll be doing some editing and deleting pictures if necessary. Honestly, I just want to keep things low key. Don't ask, don't tell is a good philosophy to live by.



Now, I'll apologize in advance if I'm ruffling people's feathers a bit here. I'm alerting all the mods of this action - many of them know people first hand who've received those dreaded letters from the OFAC. My actions may have to be modified or reversed, we'll see, it'll depend on the consensus.

DANG!! You know, I should be one to talk. Heck, all you have to do is take a look inthe gallery at all the pics I've posted . . . there's plenty stuff there. BUT, despite everything, I luike to keep a low profile, keep under the radar, something I'm afraid we're not doing too well right now.

Thanks everyone for your attention.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now, anyone who dosent know of the new letters being seen, trust me they are out there & people I know personally have recieved them. The new letters demand that you disclose what what purchased and attach legal ramifications. Its a no win situation. If you disclose what you purchased, you can & probably will be fined by OFAC. If you dont & try to fight it, you end up with a large legal fee. If you fight & lose, you pay both the fine & legal fees. Like I said, theres no winning once you get this letter.

Lets not draw more attention to Club Stogie that what is necessary. The owners, admins, and moderators ask for your cooperation with this.

[poker]

Members here may not:
Post links to sites that sell Cuban cigars.
Post requests to buy or sell Cuban Cigars.
Club Stogie adds a bit to things you may not do:
Post requests or hints for sources to buy Cuban Cigars.
Post pictures or words that depict how Cuban cigars were illegally shipped or received.

If you choose not to follow these guidelines, it can result in the loss of access to areas of Club Stogie, and potentially loss of membership.

[poker]

Club Stogie members:


As a result of the increased percentage of political & religious based threads as of late & how they usually end up, the Moderators and Administrators of Club Stogie ask you not to post or start any threads that are political or religious in nature as of now. They will be shut down and removed immediately before they get out of hand.

Unfortunately, we have come to this decision due to the high maintenance nature of these types of threads. These create more problems than they are worth usually with folks calling each other names, arguments, baiting, problems when the moderators step in, and folks asking to have their accounts deleted. Many here have already witnessed this behavior.

Rather than selecting which of these threads to close, all of them will be removed as they are noticed by the moderation team. Threads that will be removed by the moderation team for this reason will be done so without any prior notice and without warning. Please do not PM a moderator asking that a deleted/closed thread be reopened as this will not happen.
If a non political or non religious thread takes a turn and gets political/religious in nature, the entire thread is subject to removal.

Yes, we know it starts innocently enough. It begins quite civil. Yes, we also see how well the following 3 pages go too. What you do not see is all the reported posts we have to deal with, dozens of PM's saying how "it wasn’t my fault", or "he started it", or "what about that other guys thread". It’s just too much work and most times it damages Club Stogie for what it is first and foremost....a cigar message board. It’s not a "post whatever you like" board. It’s not a "political agenda" board. Its not a board to debate about other religions either. It’s a cigar board. Let me repeat...it’s a cigar board.

We appreciate your understanding our position on this. If you feel you must participate in political or religious banter/debate, there are hundreds of other places on the internet you can go and have your fill. Club Stogie is not, and will not be one of those places. The Administrators and Moderators at Club Stogie are some of the best around and they already have their hands full as it is, and these types of threads are seriously high maintenance. Remember, you may not have to open and skim over every thread posted, but the moderators do, all 97,000+ of them.

So please, cut the mods a little slack. They work their asses off so you can be a member of the best place on the web for cigar enthusiasts.

So once again for those that are thinking they can do what they want here:

A new Club Stogie policy is now in effect: No threads that are political or religious in nature is allowed.