Repeating: An Update On This Blog Regarding Posting Comments

On July 11, 2020, I posted the following guidelines:

“I am asking for the following:

1.  No more yelling. Make comments without capitalization.
2.  No more hogging. Try to get all your thoughts into one post.
3.  Be concise in your thoughts. F. Scott Fitzgerald who knew something about writing once wrote a letter and at the end he added: “I am sorry my response is so long but I’ve been rushed lately and haven’t had the time to put my thoughts together and write a more concise letter.”   On second thought maybe it was James Joyce who said it. In other words, even though in Dedham they have the James Joyce Ramble, try not to ramble on when you write. As Professor Strunk said we should all seek: “cleanliness, accuracy, and brevity in the use of English.”
4. I try to limit my posts to six to seven hundred words. I should do better and bring them down to 500. No comment should exceed that length.
5. Of course, you may respond once if you are referred to in another comment but only briefly and directly.
6. No more ad hominem attacks.  Discuss the issue. Don’t discuss the person writing the comment. ” (emphasis recently added) 

Unfortunately, some have ignored my requests. Some want to tell others what they think I think. Others have run on and on past the 500 word limit up over a thousand words. Even others bring up subjects that have little to do with the matter at hand or anything relevant to past blog postings.

As a result I find that my best practice is to police the comments. I do not like to do this but I am left with no alternative. Hopefully I will only have to do it for a short while and then I can open the sluice gates again without sitting in the gate house deciding whether the comments pass muster.