Too Much Heat

It seems like I am forced to remind my readers of this from time to time. The last time I was forced to do so was more than 2 years ago, so we are doing pretty well. We discuss a lot of controversial topics here. Everyone’s opinion will vary on these topics.

I encourage debate here. Whenever there *is* debate, you can expect that people will vigorously defend their positions. That’s the nature of the beast. I allow comments here, even those who disagree with me. It was Ronald Reagan who had my two favorite quotes about disagreement:

“Harmony requires differences to be joined in pursuit of higher ideals.” 

“The person who agrees with you 80% of the time is a friend and an ally, not a 20% traitor.”

So it’s important to remember that as we comment here. I want to maintain a level of decorum and civility on the blog and its comments. That’s why I have established rules for commenting on this blog.

The heat here has been increasing for months, and I have decided that this friendly reminder is needed.

One of the biggest rules here is- no personal attacks, and especially not on the person who is paying the bills here- me.  This is a permanent link to the rules of commenting here at the blog. They are there permanently for your reference. They are simple and easy to follow. I like the way that Miguel over at the now defunct gunfreezone put it: don’t be a dick. If you want to know what it means to be a dick, read on.

The overriding concept here is that I am paying for this server, the software that runs it, and providing the content. Since I am the one paying for it, that makes it mine. Some people have a problem with this and begin shouting about free speech. Free speech doesn’t apply here on my property. Want free speech? Pay for your own blog. I will even rent you some server space. You can say whatever you want on there, including calling me names. Your space, your rules.

I allow comments here because I enjoy the back and forth of a good debate. However, commenting here is the virtual equivalent of talking to me while sitting in my living room. Debate is a good thing. A well reasoned debate changes minds and can influence the opinions of others. If you make a good case for your opinion, you can win over the opinions of others by presenting them with a perspective or situation that may not have occurred to them. Name calling and shouting at people does not change the opinions of others, generates hard feelings, and is nothing more than chimps shouting and flinging poop at each other inside of the monkey house. It accomplishes nothing but the generation of hostility.

If you and some of my acquaintances are sitting with me in my living room having a conversation, there are things that you wouldn’t say without expecting either a punch in the mouth or being asked to leave and never return. Try to think of comments here as a face to face conversation and don’t type a comment here that you would not say to someone’s face while sitting in their own home.

So with that out of the way, here are the rules for commenting on this blog:

1. The owner of this blog (me) has the final say on what you can and cannot post. It’s my house, I make the rules. Content here is moderated, and I will not be approving any comments that I find, in my sole judgement, to be unworthy. If you make a comment here and it doesn’t appear within a few hours, it likely wasn’t approved for some reason. Or it wound up in the SPAM filter for some reason. You can always drop me an email and ask.
2. Deliberately posting statements that are aimed at insulting the blog owner (me) will get your comment tossed in the trash. Feel free to disagree with me, just don’t call names or impugn my character. If I wanted someone to purposely insult me, I don’t need to pay for a blog server, I can just go to my ex-wife’s house for free.
3. Don’t deliberately insult others. No personal attacks. Feel free to attack ideas. Heap scorn on silly or illogical opinions, just don’t make it personal.
4. If you are making a comment about one of my posts, it should be made on the post that you are commenting on, not on another, unrelated post. Offending posts may be deleted or disallowed, purely at my discretion. This is an attempt to both maintain readability and to reduce trolls.
5. No spam. If you come on here to sell your product or website, that isn’t going to be allowed. This is an ad free site, because I hate all of the ads on the Internet. I don’t make money on this Blog, and no one else does, either. Including you.
6. If you demand that anyone provide evidence for an assertion that they are making, then you must hold yourself to the same standard when making a counterargument. It takes time and effort to research sources, and replying with “Nuh, uh, I refuse to believe that” while not providing sources of your own to refute them is how an 8 year old debates. If you demand that the person with whom you are disagreeing show their work, so do you.
7. Usually, I just don’t approve comments that are out of bounds. If you are close to the line, I may approve it with a warning. If repeated out of bounds comments become tiresome, I will warn you.
8. If warnings don’t work and you keep at it, I will ban you from ever posting on this site again. I know that you can pull tricks like IP spoofing, changing your name, etc. So don’t think doing that is going to earn you “I’m so clever” points. It doesn’t make you clever, it makes you an asshole.
9. Too many people using those tricks to circumvent the rules is what got us full time moderation, which is a major pain in my ass, and a major time waster for me.
10. When in doubt, please refer to rule #1. These rules can change with no notice, and rules may or may not apply retroactively. That’s up to me. See rule #1.

Sometimes, your position isn’t based in facts. Some arguments, by their nature, can’t be based upon facts. They are opinions. Opinions, being not factual, can vary widely. Yours can be true for you while not being true for others. That doesn’t mean that you get to insult others for having an opinion different from yours.

Look, I work a full time job, run 2 businesses, and I am now back in full time college student mode. In my remaining time, I have husbandly duties, household maintenance, personal maintenance, the duties of being a grandfather, and I still need time for hobbies and sleep. The maintenance of this blog takes time from all of that.

I have always said that, should this blog become too much of a time waster and no longer be fun, I would pull the plug. I have also said that too many people dodging the rules would result in me requiring registration of user accounts. I don’t want to do either of those, but I can’t let arguing with strangers on the Internet become a full time job.

I have locked comments on the most recent post that has been generating overheated comments. Don’t try to dodge the lock by commenting on that topic on other posts. That comment will not be posted, and you may catch a warning or a ban- even a ban without further notice.