Moderation Policy

(Posted in the fervent hope that it will never be necessary.)

1. This is not a list of rules. I have known rules lawyers, and I damn well know better. The Pirate’s Code may serve as a useful model.
2. Consider Wheaton’s Axiom to be the primary guiding principle of discourse here. If you don’t think you can manage that, the Internets are awash in places that will accomodate your preferred mode of conversation. This is not going to be one of them, I’m afraid.
3. There may be contentious or controversial subjects discussed here, some of which will be considered topics that people of good will can disagree on, and others not so much. In any case, try to remember that people with differing viewpoints have not always reached their conclusions as a result of being stupid, evil, or easily manipulated by extremist propaganda. That said, I fear some ideas and ideologies are inevitably going to be less well-received here, per the leanings and subjectivity of the management and commenters, and the host feels under no compulsion to maintain the appearance of equivalency on all subjects. Also, obvious regurgitated talking points run the risk of being interpreted as trolling, and may be met with a proportionate deficit of mercy.
4. There are many matters of aesthetics and popular culture about which it is tempting to confuse one’s particular tastes or opinions for virtues. Please try not to do that. Violators of this guideline may not be trolling as such, but they are unlikely to be adding to the world’s reserve of joy and delight, and may well be depleting it. IOW: hipster, please.
5. The host resolves to make a reasonable good-faith effort to cultivate an atmosphere of inclusivity, acceptance, and mutual goodwill, and hopes you will too. However, readers and commenters may find that this site fails to meet the standards of a safe space in the sense that online communities generally understand the term – though it is hoped that it provides something like the next best thing. To any who find that this distinction makes visiting or commenting here too difficult to sustain, the host extends his very sincere regrets.
6. The host reserves the right of fiat on the interpretation of whether any particular comments detract more from the energy, happiness, and/or erudition of a conversation than they add to it. Such comments may be subject to moderator intervention, ranging from loving-but-stern correction to disemvowellment or deletion. If this happens to you, try to remember that it is your words, and not you personally, that are being censured, and that even the best of us are subject from time to time to lapses of temperance or judgment. If the very existence of such policies strikes you as an unfairly draconian curtailing of your freedom of speech, you are gently reminded that the World Wide Web still contains vast swathes of untamed and uncharted wilderness where nobody will dream of telling you what to do.

Certificate of Enlightened Despotism Moderation Authority: