I was out of town for several days and not monitoring the comboxes. Unfortunately, Blogger’s overzealous spam filter kept busy while I was away and it seems some readers had trouble posting their comments. Sorry about that.
In general, if you post a comment and it does not appear, it has no doubt ended up either in the spam filter or the moderation box. Rest assured that I will get to it, though on days that I teach it may take me as long as a few hours to do so. I understand why some readers would try to repost their comments in these circumstances, but if this does not succeed after the first attempt there is no point in trying again (much less trying 30, 40, or 50 times)! Please be patient – again, I will get to it.
While on the subject of comments: To state the obvious, I moderate with a very light hand. Many uninformed and obnoxious remarks are allowed to stand, even when they are directed at me, as long as they are minimally substantive (and sometimes even when they aren’t). My aim has been to allow freewheeling discussion, but I know that some readers think that I have been too tolerant, and over the last several weeks I have come to agree with them. So, please keep your comments substantive. I don’t care if things get heated between disagreeing commenters now and again, and I also don’t care if some commenters want to make it clear that they don’t like me. Goody Two-Shoes I ain’t, and I don’t expect anyone else to be. But exchanges between commenters that consist of nothing more than the trading of insults will be summarily deleted, as will any other remarks that are excessively or gratuitously nasty (toward me, but also – what seems to be more common – toward some other commenter).
Finally, as always I thank my readers for their comments, questions, and kind words, whether expressed here on the blog or via email. I read and appreciate them all even when I can’t respond. My remarks of a year ago still apply.
