Comment Moderation Policy
Last update 22 September 2016
The rules are:
- This policy applies in every area where I publish online and can control the comments. If you have come to one of these areas expecting free and unrestricted speech, then I am sorry to say you’ve come to the wrong spot.
- But you’re in luck. I’m the best kind of dictator – a benevolent dictator!
- I use a mostly Laissez Faire policy to govern those who respond to me.
- I won’t block a comment merely for insulting me or using coarse language
- “Yes Men” get on my nerves, so I often seek out opposing opinions.
- Still, I’m not interested in allowing you the freedom to run amok. If you continue to be a jerk then I’ll decide you will probably be happier commenting elsewhere. I’ll help you out by making it impossible for you to comment in an area under my control.
- No multiple posts of the same content. I’ll warn you the first time you do it, and I may or may not warn you a second time – depending on your post.
- I encourage pseudonymity. If it was good enough for Publius then it is good enough for you. You can also use your real name if you wish. However, if you are truly anonymous then I may not allow your comment to go through, at my whim.
- Sock Puppetry is not allowed. If I discover you are a sock puppet, I will ban you.
- Spam – Do not spam my blog. That’s an automatic block
- I actually don’t mind link-whoring if you can do so as part of the point of your text. If you are trying to explain something that is already well explained on your blog, as part of your response to one of my blog posts, then by all means, link to it!
- But being clever about link-whoring may get you banned. If your link doesn’t contribute to the discussion, I get to play with it. Maybe I’ll edit the link to actually make it relevant. Maybe I’ll delete the link but leave the words. Maybe I’ll just play with you. I might not ban you, just to see how you react.
- If you actually want to advertise on my site, send me an email. You can find my info on the “about me” page. I’ll have my people call your people!
- Robots – Don’t be a robot.
- (See rule 6)
- Do not plagiarize! I hate that. If / when I discover it, I’ll give you one warning. After that you risk being banned. I consider Copy/Pasting to be plagiarism, so if you wish to reduce the chances of being banned you should only copy and paste text under the following conditions:
- You must give full credit to the original source. You are not required to actually link to the source, but a mention of the website name would be appreciated. If you do feel like linking, I may require you to use the “nofollow” attribute – especially if I find the source personally odious.
- You do NOT “quote mine”. You will be banned instantly, and will deserve it for being dishonest!
- You are NOT allowed to “argue by proxy”! What I mean by this is that you cannot just copy & paste arguments into my site, even if you wrote them originally. If you are not interested in actually interacting with me, then I’m not interested in interacting with you. Go play Solitare.
- Try “link-whoring” instead, as shown in rule 6. Link to your text as a smaller part of your overall reponse.
- Psychosis. Yes, sometimes psychotic people post in comments. If it becomes obvious to me that you are operating with some form of psychosis then I will block further comments. I may even delete previous comments
- I feel for you – I’ve known people who suffered from various degrees of psychosis. But if you are having difficulties with reality, if logic and reason escape you, then I won’t allow your comments.
- This policy is subject to change at my whim. You don’t get a say in that.
- See rule 1.
- After all that has been said here, I still encourage you to have fun! Relax, say something rude if you like.