This place has never had a formal comment policy. But some think that it should. And maybe ‘policy’ is too strong a term. So, let’s use the following as guidelines for comments. They are effective as of 10 Jun 2022. They may be revised at any time.

One of the attractions to this place is the wide variety of comment subjects. And there are a wide variety of views about those subjects. You are welcome to comment here, but we ask that you be respectful. Don’t write anything that you wouldn’t say to your best friend, religious leader, school principal, spouse, mother, or grandmother (assuming that you like those people).

Comments may be removed (or hidden from public view) by the administrators here at their discretion. Administrators may also decide to redact portions of a comment; that may be indicated by the text ‘[redacted]’.

If you have concerns about these guidelines that you wish to remain private, you can use the new Contact Us form. That contact will go to the administrators of this site, who will reply privately.

If you have comments about these comment guidelines, then comment in the comments to share your comments.

• The first rule of commenting is to refrain from attacking others. Intelligent dialogue is encouraged—winning a fight is not. Do not attack, insult, or defame or use jargon, slang, or abbreviations when referring to people or groups or to anyone contributing to this blog or the community to which they belong. Rude or disrespectful speech will not be included for public viewing.
• Use facts, not conjecture. If you have a valid source for an item in your comment, please include it.
• Comments including profanity may be deleted. (An option is to ‘asterisk’ profanity.)
• Comments containing language or concepts that could be deemed offensive may be deleted. Note this may include abusive, threatening, pornographic, offensive, misleading or libelous language.
• Comments that attack an individual directly may be deleted.
• Comments that harass other posters may be deleted. Please be respectful toward other contributors.
• Be civil to and respectful of other commenters. No ad hominem attacks. Discuss or argue issues, do not attack people. You can disagree with another commenter, but you don’t have to attack their views.
• When in doubt, use the Living Room Rule.
  • If you come into the house and behave rudely to a guest at the nice party in the living room, I will ask you to stop. If you continue, you may be escorted to the door, and I will tell the big, bad, heavily armed bouncer not to let you back in.
  • Basically, the living room rule means that you should behave as if you’re an invited guest in my living room. Don’t monopolize the conversation. Be civil. Don’t attack people personally. This is a dinner party. Not a food fight.
  • And just to be clear, if someone attacks you, you don’t have permission to start throwing crockery back. Ignore them. We will deal with them—either sooner or later. Use the Contact Us page to send your concerns privately, if you like. If you both trash the living room, I won’t care who started it. Both of you may get tossed.

The comments here are a big attraction of this site. Don’t write comments that will cause problems with others. State your opinion clearly, without attacking others. Use facts, not conjecture.

Play nice. All of you.