‘The Rules’

In response to hysterical demands that people are being kicked off Peoria Pundit for violating rules that aren’t written down anywhere, the administrator of this blog has decided to actually write down the rules. Folks with common sense and manners will have no problem following these rules, as they simply require people to behave as if their parents taught them manners.

There are two versions: Short and long.

Short version:

Don’t swear, don’t lie, don’t threaten or intimidate, don’t post dirty pictures, stay on topic, don’t violate people’s privacy and don’t insist on having the last word. If you can’t handle criticism, blog elsewhere. Anyone can post and anyone can comment, but the administrator can take away that right. He isn’t inclined to be a blog dictator, and doesn’t want to be a nanny, so everyone needs to play nice.

Long version:

Answers to general questions about Peoria Pundit policy and procedures

Who can post articles?

If you are interested, contact me. I’ll probably tell you to get a blog.

What subjects are allowed?

Authors can write about any subject they wish. Management prefers posts be related to Peoria, but it’s not an iron-clad rule. Feel free to comment on world news, events, culture and politics, as this presents Peorians’ views on these subjects.

Who can comment?

Anybody. The site allows anonymous commenting, but it does require that all commenters use a valid email address. The admin reserves the right to delete comments posted without a valid email address. The administrator recommends that commenters register and sign in before commenting.

Who does the editing?

Peoria Pundit founder Billy Dennis is the administrator, and may edit posts and comments for grammar, spelling, etc. He does not, however, proofread others’ posts prior to publication. Please make use of those spelling, punctuation and grammar skills taught back in junior high school. Individual blog authors have the right to edit their own posts after publication. Sports Pundit is also a full administrator on this blog. Individual authors can write, edit and delete their own posts. Authors may also upload images and moderate comments, and are encouraged to do so.

Why does Peoria Pundits allow anonymous commenting and posting?^[1]

In a perfect world, employers and the government would honor the spirit and the letter of the 1st Amendment of the Constitution of the United States, which prohibits the government from infringing on freedom of speech and freedom of the press. In reality, bloggers are fired quite often for commenting on their workplaces or because they employers conclude the content of the employees’ blogs reflects badly on them. Politicians to this day try to control the content of blogs by declaring them a form of campaign spending, ans subject to campaign finance legislation. In this hostile atmosphere, allowing bloggers and commenters to remain anonymous is a necessity.

Peoria Pundit admin Billy Dennis has editorialized against unsigned newspaper editorials, and it has been suggested that this is inconsistent with allowing anonymous comments and posts. However, the two situations are vastly different. Copley Press isn’t going to fire a member of the Journal Star’s editorial board for having written the anonymous editorial he or she was assigned to write. But Copley might very well fire a reporter or editor for blogging about conditions at the newspaper.

What is the privacy policy?

The registration process requires that a valid e-mail address be submitted. This is intended to deter trolls and make it easier to revoke commenting privileges. Members will NOT receive bulk emails from this site, nor will their email addressed be sold. Members’ email address will not appear on the site, unless they are approved authors.

Member’s IP addresses are considered private. All member data acquired via membership in Peoria Pundit is the property of Peoria Pundit, specifically William B. Dennis II. Members’ email addresses will not be sold or given away. While the management of Peoria Pundit is willing to go to jail for refusing to comply with subpoenas, the hosting company and Internet provider are not. So be careful.

Any author or editor who reveals a member’s email address or IP address, or the identity of any anonymous author or commenter will be banned from this blog, permanently. Period. This may happen retroactively.

What behavior is allowed and disallowed?

The management of this site expects all participants to be civil. Do not resort to name calling. When insulting someone in jest, use an emoticon like this: to ensure that the readers know it was intended as a joke. Sarcasm and “just kidding” doesn’t come over well in print.

It is the nature of blogs for readers to have strong opinions and to express those opinions strongly. Authors of posts need to be aware that to post on a blog that allows comments is to invite criticism. If you are thin skinned and cannot respond to critics without getting into a virtual screaming match, then do not blog. Or blog elsewhere.

Still, this blog will attempt to promote a small measure of civility through the following rules:

• Threatening other commenters, authors or anyone else with harm can lead to the deletion of the comment and possible banning.
• Any comment intended to degrade any other other commenter or author can also lead to deletion and possible banning.
• Commenters are encouraged to remain on topic. If a thread starts to drift, please announce that the conversation has been moved to that day’s open thread post.
• Comments that are libelous will be deleted. I am not required by law to do so, since this is a public forum and the onus is on the commenter to avoid libel. Still, if you do it, assume I will delete the post.
• Trolls will be banned. Typical trolling behavior includes, but is not limited to: Excessive number of comments, especially negative comments; trying to “police” the blog or a thread; demanding authors and commenters reply to ones questions or requests for information; combative tone and continuing to argue one’s point after rational people would move on; paranoid ramblings, such as insisting anyone who disagrees must be working for the other side or has been threatened into compliance. Still, in many ways, troll behavior is in the eye of the beholder. If I think you are a troll, I will ban you.
• As mentioned earlier, any attempt to “out” an anonymous commenter or author will result in the blog member being banned. Pay attention to this one. I WILL BAN YOU.
• NEW: I will put into moderation ANY comment that identifies someone as gay, speculates whether someone is gay or states that they “don’t care if someone is gay, but … ” This includes public figures and private citizens. Anyone doing this repeatedly will be banned from Peoria Pundit. Period. End of story. If you don’t like it, start your own blog. Seriously, people don’t do that because they are being helpful. They are doing it to be hurtful and I won’t have it on my site.

What are the rules regarding language and adult content?

Please do not use obscenity, as children DO read this blog. This site will NOT post a list of banned words, as there might very well be times the use is justified. And seriously, people. Anyone who doesn’t know what the dirty words are is too stupid to be allowed near a computer. If a commenter is unsure of whether a word is too dirty to use, just go ahead and use it. If the comment is removed or the user is banned, then that means the the word is off limits. Honestly, cursing almost never helps a commenter or poster make a point and anyone above the age of seven should already know which words are not to be used in polite company.

This site does not post images that contain sexual activity, and very rarely will it post images containing nudity. Images of women and men wearing little clothing, but short of nudity, are allowed, and is generally labeled “eye candy.” In these cases, it is policy to protect from violating their workplace’s Internet usage rules by arranging for these images to NOT appear on the front page of this blog without warning. This policy is NOT strictly enforced. Consider it serendipity.

What do I do if I am attacked because of a post?

First, let’s be clear on what “attacked” means. As stated before: Criticism, even strong criticism, is NOT an “attack.” If you’ve been threatened with physical harm, contact the blog administrator or contact the police. If you think you’ve been subjected to a bigoted comment, contact the administrator. It is not the policy of this blog to enforce political correctness. One person’s brutal honestly might be another’s racism. Still blatant racism, as determined by the admin, can leave to comment a post deletion, as well as banning.

If you are someone who cannot let go of a slight and believes all insults must be punished, then blog elsewhere.

A final few words

The administrator of this blog has no intention of spending time all day supervising the behavior of commenters and authors on this blog. The admin seriously advises commenters and users to relax, take a deep breath and realize this is not real life. It’s just a blog.

The administrator is not a referee. Do not complain to the referee because commenter A got away with something commenter B did not.

There’s nothing in these “rules” that is not common sense. They exist simply to give the admin something to point at after he lowers the boom on some knucklehead.

UPDATES:

[1] While I allow anonymous commenting by others, I give my absolute 100-percent guarantee that I never, ever, ever post a comment or make blog entries here at Peoria Pundit under a pseudonym. My real name is on everything I write here. If you see something here with someone else name on it, I didn’t write it. I hope this clears up any confusion some readers have.