Guidelines

This blog is intended for a mature audience, since I regularly discuss violent crime in some detail. As such, those under 18 should not be here at all without parental consent.

I do not moderate blog comments, because I want to encourage ongoing healthy debate and discussion. As such, your comments are posted immediately. The only exception is if the comment is caught in the spam filter; the most common reason for that is that the comment contains multiple links. If that happens, I will approve your comment when I see it; I check the spam filter every day.  If you think your comment is time-sensitive, feel free to post another comment letting me know that it didn’t post, and I’ll check the spam filter immediately to release your comment.

I will never censor anyone just because I disagree with their opinions. There’s plenty of room in this world for all manner of opinion, after all. I respect your right to your opinions, so please respect the right of others to have their opinions, even if you disagree with them.

While profanity does not offend me, please use it sparingly. I do not and will not edit comments in any way, so you can rest assured that what you post is what others will see. At the same time, if I believe that a particular comment is overly offensive for any reason, I reserve the right to delete it. Don’t let this stop you from speaking your mind, though, because I am not easily offended and therefore very rarely exercise that right.

Don’t post spam on this blog, and do not promote illegal activity or pornography. I do check links to names, so you’re not going to get it past me by embedding it either.

I don’t care if you use your real name, or if you use a nickname.  Don’t post under another name to pretend as if someone else agrees with you, though.  I will know if you do that, and I will release that information on the blog so everyone can point and laugh at you.

Please do not post your name as “Anonymous”, since it causes confusion.  It’s easy to just make up a nickname, so please do that instead if you don’t want to use your real name.
While I actively encourage healthy debate and discussion even on controversial subjects, don’t insult or otherwise attack others commenting here.When you comment on my blog, I reserve the right to reproduce your comments in a blog article. That’s rare, and I haven’t done it so far on this blog, but I might see a reason to do so. If you don’t agree to that, don’t post here.

If you have a blog or website of your own, please leave your url. Don’t worry, I’m not going to harass you in any way. However I would like to return the kindness by visiting your blog to read what you have to say, and by adding you to my blogroll, and possibly also to my RSS feeds if I find your blog interesting.

That probably covers it, though I do reserve the right to change the rules if I find it necessary or appropriate.