These are the rules of the blog. Please remember to follow them when commenting; I don’t really expect them to be a problem.

There are three tiers of rules, with corresponding levels of reaction from me.

Tier 3

These are minor infractions. I will warn you for each tier-3 infraction, and a pattern of these will result in banning.

  • Ad hominem arguments. Note that this refers to the actual ad hominem fallacy, not just insults. Insults are fine, but see below.
  • Derailing. I’m fairly strict about this one. This is a statistics blog, and while I talk about stats in the context of politics, discussing politics is derailing. For example, it’s reasonable to discuss how polls might be flawed or how we might interpret polls. It’s not appropriate to argue for or against a candidate or political position.
  • Ignoring previous posts/comments. If you ask the same questions every comment even after they’ve been answered, you’re JAQing off, and that’s not okay.
  • Trolling. Spirited discussion is fine. Stirring up fights is not.
  • Correcting spelling or grammar. I’m a recovered grammar Nazi, and this is a pet peeve of mine. The only exception is when spelling or grammar errors create a genuine chance of misinterpretation, in which case you should ask for a clarification. If you notice spelling or grammar errors in my posts, please do email me, though.
  • Subtle bigotry. This includes sexism, racism, ethnocentrism, homophobia, cissexism, ableism, ageism, and any other -isms I haven’t thought of.

Tier 2

These are more serious infractions, warranting an insta-ban.

  • Egregious or malicious tier-3 infractions. I am the blogger, and I get to decide which are egregious or malicious.
  • Sockpuppetry. Seriously, this is never okay.
  • Posting what you know to be false. This also includes things that any marginally reasonable person would know to be false, like that George W. Bush is a lizard.
  • Obvious bigotry. This includes sexism, racism, ethnocentrism, homophobia, cissexism, ableism, ageism, and any other -isms I haven’t thought of.

Tier 1

These are the most serious infractions. Commit one of these and you will be banned and your comment deleted or modified.

  • Impersonation. If you claim to be PZ, you better be PZ.
  • Spamming. You can have a small link in a “signature” of your comments to your site, but I’d really prefer if you just put that into the form you fill out when you comment.
  • Violating privacy. This includes posting personal information of any person who is pseudonymous, and posting phone numbers, email addresses, or home addresses of any person unless they’re freely available online.
  • Slurs. Including racial, sexist, cissexist, ableist, and others. Most of these will go straight into moderation and won’t come out, but if you try to get creative your comment will be deleted and you will be banned.

Unlike other pages, this one has comments enabled. The only ones allowed here are questions about the comment policy.