Reminder to read the Roolz

If you’re new here, please read the “Da Roolz” commenting guidelines, available at either this link or on the left sidebar.  Having read comments over the past few months, I just want to remind you of these five rules:

4.)  If you try to post under more than one name in an attempt to circumvent moderation or pretend you are more than one person, you will be banned. Stick to one name. If you have to change your posting name for a good reason, let me know by email.

7.)  Do not insult your host. Pretend that you’re speaking to me in my living room which is, in a sense, what this website is.

9.)  Try not to dominate threads, particularly in a one-on-one argument. I’ve found that those are rarely informative, and the participants never reach agreement. A good guideline is that if your comments constitute over 10% of the comments on a thread, you’re posting too much.

18.)  If you post a link to your website, referring us or asking us to read something you’ve written on that site, the site cannot be anonymous; there must be a real named person who writes it. You have every right to keep your site anonymous, but I don’t have to link to it, for I believe people should stand behind what they say publicly. That said, I’m not demanding that commenters on my own site reveal their real name.  Further, I will not allow “pingbacks” in my site if your site, which has referenced this one or reposted part of one of my posts, cannot be linked to a named and real human.

I will add here that I reserve the right to remove links to websites in which the owner or proprietor hides their real name. You can post here pseudonymously, but you can’t direct traffic to your site unless you have the moxie to run it under your real name.

And as the site grows more popular, this next rule has become more pressing.

22) .  Finally, do not cry “censorship” if I don’t post your comment. I reserve the right to trash comments that are hyperreligious, hyper-creationist, uncivil, trollish in nature, or otherwise inappropriate.  There is no “right” to have every comment you make published on this site. If that is “censorship,” then it’s also “censorship” when the editorial section of a newspaper doesn’t publish some readers’ letters in the interest of keeping a civil and interesting atmosphere. I try to use as light a hand as I can consonant with keeping an atmosphere of civility and sanity. If you have something to say that I won’t go along with, you are free to start your own site. Readers who are obnoxious and keep making the same argument again and again, adding nothing new, will be considered trolls and subjection to sanction.

Most important BE CIVIL to me and to the other commenters. I find I’m having to admonish people or even trash comments because they’re intemperate. Some of this may be due to people being used to intemperate behavior on the Internet, which is common, but I try to keep this site readable and open for civil discussion.

And finally, don’t take issue with any of these rules in this thread. They have been tested by time and found to work.

Thanks!