Editor’s Note Re: Comments on this site’s posts

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There appears to be some confusion among folks who post comments in response to stories published on this site.  We purposely have established a delay in publication of reader comments.   This gives us an opportunity to weed out spam, as well as threatening, abusive, and / or profane language. 

  • SPAM:   There is of course, the good old fashioned automated comment spam that is generated by hackers in Russia, China and other points of origin.  Another kind of spam involves people who post political diatribes unrelated to the original story, or who promote their own sites, organizations or projects.  If you want to post here, and you want your comment to see the light of day before the general public, make sure your comment is relevant to the story you are commenting on and is free of abusive, threatening or profane language.
  • ANONYMITY:  A lot of people get really brave posting stuff on The Internet under aliases.  If you’re going to criticize someone, be grown-up enough to attach your real name to the comments.  I post under my real name.  You should too.  I do make SOME exceptions to the rule.  If you have established yourself with me as a credible source, have access to great inside information, and may face financial or employment risks from people finding out you talk to me,  I will let you comment anonymously or under cover of an alias.  BUT I have to be certain WITHOUT a doubt about the identity of the person using said alias.  (For instance, you can leave me an email address that includes your real name.  Email addresses are not published with your comments.  I do have access to them, though.)  In most cases, I would prefer that you post under a real name.
  • DEBATE:  You will not be censored for daring to disagree with me.  We are champions of the First Amendment here, and welcome spirited debate.  If you disagree, we ask that you do so without resorting to name-calling, cursing, or any other sort of threatening or abusive tactic.   (Believe me — I have enough detail to give law enforcement so they can track you down, should the need arise.)

Again, there is NO NEED to repost a comment multiple times.  It may take an hour or so for your post to show up on the site.  If you post a comment late at night, it may not appear on the site until business hours the following morning.  So, don’t fret.  Keep reading.  Keep debating. Keep learning.  And let’s have some fun  while we lead the way toward positive change.