Comments policy on this blog
I don't like blocking comments on this blog - I originally ran it without comment moderation for a long time.
However, although I do not believe that insulting people should be illegal, I am not obliged to publish insults. I will usually allow comments left on this blog to go up as long as they confirm to three simple rules
1) I will not knowingly or deliberately post or allow anything which I think is libellous, actionable, or otherwise liable to give rise to legal problems.
2) I will not post or allow others to post anything which I think is offensive. Although I will not guarantee to remove anything which anybody else finds offensive - that would be a recipe for making the blog so bland it became meaningless - I have on more than one occasion taken down or reworded something which I had initially thought was acceptable because one or more readers of the blog told me they found it offensive or in poor taste.
3) When I post an obit I will not accept comments critical of the dead person. Nihil nisi bonum ...
If someone posts a comment which is a reasonably constructive contribution to debate, I will usually allow it to go up, even if it is critical of me, of the Conservatives, or of the blog, or if I disagree with it. But childish insults against me, the Conservatives, or this blog, will probably be deleted.
Examples of the sort of comment I will usually allow even if I disagree with it:
* Posts which point to a specific clause in a Conservative manifesto, and then refer to a specific action of someone elected on that manifesto and produce an argument that the two are in conflict
* Posts which refer to something I have criticised or praised on this blog and ask if the same principle should not be applied to another specific action to which you could make a reasonable case that the principle concerned is relevant.
* Other posts which contain some semblance of a reasonable argument.
Of course, if I do disagree I will probably post a reply explaining why!
Examples of the sort of comments I will usually just delete
* Personal abuse
* Anything which in my opinion is racist, sexist or gratuitously offensive
* Kindergarten insults e.g. "all Conservatives are dishonest"
However, although I do not believe that insulting people should be illegal, I am not obliged to publish insults. I will usually allow comments left on this blog to go up as long as they confirm to three simple rules
1) I will not knowingly or deliberately post or allow anything which I think is libellous, actionable, or otherwise liable to give rise to legal problems.
2) I will not post or allow others to post anything which I think is offensive. Although I will not guarantee to remove anything which anybody else finds offensive - that would be a recipe for making the blog so bland it became meaningless - I have on more than one occasion taken down or reworded something which I had initially thought was acceptable because one or more readers of the blog told me they found it offensive or in poor taste.
3) When I post an obit I will not accept comments critical of the dead person. Nihil nisi bonum ...
If someone posts a comment which is a reasonably constructive contribution to debate, I will usually allow it to go up, even if it is critical of me, of the Conservatives, or of the blog, or if I disagree with it. But childish insults against me, the Conservatives, or this blog, will probably be deleted.
Examples of the sort of comment I will usually allow even if I disagree with it:
* Posts which point to a specific clause in a Conservative manifesto, and then refer to a specific action of someone elected on that manifesto and produce an argument that the two are in conflict
* Posts which refer to something I have criticised or praised on this blog and ask if the same principle should not be applied to another specific action to which you could make a reasonable case that the principle concerned is relevant.
* Other posts which contain some semblance of a reasonable argument.
Of course, if I do disagree I will probably post a reply explaining why!
Examples of the sort of comments I will usually just delete
* Personal abuse
* Anything which in my opinion is racist, sexist or gratuitously offensive
* Kindergarten insults e.g. "all Conservatives are dishonest"
Comments
I'm often critical of blog entries but you always know from whence such criticism comes.
By the way, see what i did here?
Jim
Also is it just me or are the captia thingys getting much harder these days?
Yes, I sometimes wonder why I allow anonymous comments. Thing is, quite a few of them are interesting or constructive and I don't want to throw the baby out with the bathwater, which blocking all anonymous comments would do.