Commenting rules

I have rejected a large number of comments lately, and rather than respond to each rejection, I decided to post my commenting rules to show commenters why their comments were rejected. Comments containing any of the following will be rejected:

(1) -- nothing but name-calling or scoffing (a comment containing nothing but scoffing will be accepted if really hilarious)

(2) -- deliberate lies about objective facts

(3) -- gossip about my private affairs

(4) -- disparagement of anyone on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, religion, or sexual orientation

(5) -- attempts to identify an anonymous commenter

(6) -- threats of violence

(7) -- anything illegal

I consider these rules to be quite liberal.

A reminder of the following statement at the head of the blog:

My non-response to a particular comment should not be interpreted as agreement, approval, or inability to answer.

I will respond to some comments by saying, "don't feed the trolls."

Unlike a lot of other bloggers, I do not ban commenters. All comments will be considered on a case-by-case basis. Commenters need not change names when submitting comments.