OK, I’m going to put this very plainly this afternoon for everyone that reads the Anvil, but mostly for a tiny few commenters that in recent weeks have spun more and more out of control.
If you come here and curse like you are in a sports locker room or the local pool hall, I will immediately delete your post. Your time will be wasted and I will not blink an eye.
If you continue to attempt to do so, or worse, if you show me or my readers utter lack of respect by dealing in personal attacks, especially, just for instance, believing you can come here and start calling me an ass#!$% or any other similarly “lovely” title, I will perma-ban you from the Anvil. Again, I will not blink an eye.
This is my work here, folks. This is duty. I do not take this lightly. If anyone attempts to defame me by treating the comments sections here like a spittoon, my reaction will no longer be tolerant. I’ve seen what such tolerance has gotten me.
Finally, as I have stated quite clearly and in bold and italic print right below the comments box — but yet not read by far too many people that apparently believe paying attention is above them and that I exist like some sort of omnipotent presence to extract their every word when they type it and wave judgement upon them — these comments are protected by automated defenses as much as by myself. Do not assume that simply because a comment does not appear instantly for you every single time you post, or even the very first time, that it is because of something that I have done intentionally or not. Learn to exercise some patience and also learn how blogging works. WordPress.com might be an excellent start for the very curious. It might also create a few monsters.
That’s it. Get back to bickering; just do it with some level of maturity above a 7th grader.
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Foehammer, I’ve been going round with commenters about all of these same issues. I’ve posted a blog comment policy, there are plenty of comments, but it’s a rare day when the blog stats show a hit on the comment policy page.
Same as at the Anvil, obscenity and ad hominem attacks are not allowed. We also deep-six commercial spam, repetitious material in general, and senseless, incoherent rambles.
People demand to know why comments have to be moderated at all. (Just TRY blogging about the Balkans without moderating the comments!)
I have to explain, over and over and over and over, that the blog would otherwise turn into a bathroom wall, that readership would be driven away, and that censorware companies would use the garbage comments as an excuse to ban my blog.
But some people accuse us of censorship and say that they should have the right to post anything they want. They certainly do - ON THEIR OWN BLOG.
You’re right - a lot of people seem to be only dimly aware of what blogs are and how they operate.
The comment policy makes clear that blog comments are moderated and that this takes time. But I get commenters who mistakenly believe that if their comment does not display immediately, that I have either banned them personally (in fact, no one is banned at 1389 Blog at this time), or that I am refusing to accept comments on that particular topic.
The fact is that I can’t get to the moderation queue 24×7. I might be working to make a living. Or I might not be feeling too well at that particular time.
Or I might be trying to eat a meal. 
Also, I do try to get a few hours of sleep at some point during the night, 
and I might be in a totally different time zone from the commenter.
And then, sometimes a perfectly acceptable comment arrives that merits a complete answer that should be delivered in a separate article, rather than as a comment buried deep within a lengthy thread somewhere. Here’s an example of what we mean. This takes some time and thought, so we withhold the comment for later use. If we instead were to post the comment and leave it unanswered in the comment thread while the answer is being prepared, it would give the impression that we are unable or unwilling to provide a proper answer.
I also warn everybody that if they want to pick an argument with us, they’d better be loaded for bear.
We expect to see sound logic based on verifiable evidence and expressed clearly and coherently. Some other sites believe in giving people the benefit of the doubt even after they clearly demonstrate that they are not arguing in good faith. I saw this mindless mudslinging on recent posts at Atlas Shrugged and at GOV. So when they fling poo, I fling nukes. Notice that the shrieking bigots became noticeably silent in both cases after I had my say. 
Whenever these leftist lies go unanswered, they become the basis for bad policy decisions, and many innocent people die. There are some truly evil people in the world, all too many of whom are on the Internet. Some of them show up as commenters. It is my intention to expose them for what they are, in no uncertain terms, and discredit them immediately and irrevocably.
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Mr. Foehammer:
Doesn’t Germany have the guts to outlaw Islam?
http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2007/12/07/scientology-germany.html
Does any nation for that matter?
But it does prove a Western nation can ban a “religion” if it deems fit.
I agree with Foehammer that profanity plays no role in a public forum. It does play a significant and important role in the military but even that is now forbidden from what I understand. When I was in the US Army in 1958 to 1962 basic training was studded with it. I do believe that we are raising a nation of “sheeple.”
At any rate, I remember Winston Churchill well. He died in 1965. I have read his 6 volumes on WWII. I bring this up because in Frontpagemagazine.com, there is a lead article posing the question “Where is our Winston Churchill today?”, or a query to that effect. My answer would be that all conservative bloggers, talk show hosts, pudnits, and commenters here form a sort of collectivist Churchill. How so? Because until the advent of mass communications such as the Internet and the death of the Fairness Doctrine, there was no collective voice of the people such as this. Technology changes so fast that keeping up with it requires some degree of mental elasticity at least so far as seeing it from an historical perspective. After living so long, I can honestly say that such a site as this and many, many others provide a forum that could save our country. And Churchill never relied on profanity. Actually, I can not be held to this standard, 24/7/365, but I know when and when not to. Here is not to!
Well done Foehammer! Keep going.
@1389: Your well-conceived remarks just increased the value of this thread tenfold. Thank you.
@The Resistance: A very good question. I was quite disgusted with how Mitt Romney lumped Islam into his “religious” speech yesterday. At this point I am teetering on the edge of a precipice when it comes to my hard-line stance against Islam because 99.99% of our elected leaders lack the will, the nerve and the wit to actually say — “Islam is no better than Scientology.”
At least Romney helped me shorten my list of possible candidates to support for Presidential election. He’s off.
@Elric66: The will isn’t there yet, but the possibility does still exist.
@Mosmomzazionstho: Good points all around. I doubt I will ever reach the status of Sir Winston, but I do my best to live up to his standard whenever possible.
No battle is won without taking those first steps forward. That much I knew before I ever created the Anvil. If it were left up to the lemmings, the American dream would be extinct in 100 years or less and the human race quite possibly not long after that.
Here is what I have to say about blog commenters who give aid and comfort to the enemy by spreading disinformation on behalf of AQ: Attacking genuine evil in the blogosphere
Well, to be fair, I hardly ever read the comment policy pages. When I do, it often stops me from commenting as I hate being censored.
Any person who is serious about his opinion and getting it noticed should not want to foul language or ad hominems, as it will undermine his/her credibility.
A harsh opinion may be offensive to some, but that’s a basis for serious debate. Once criticism, well voiced, leads to censorship, I don’t want to be associated with that site anyway.
Should I revert to obscene language or ad hominem attacks, it would says tons more about me than about anyone I was attacking. Admittedly, sometimes it really itches. But even then I try to avoid the reflex.
Thus I hardly ever feel the urge to read policy pages. Once a reaction gets deleted (or not approved) I know there’s no point for me in returning to that site. Waste of precious time and effort.
I hear you Mr. President… I see your middle finger
Question:
Has any poster here have been censored on Robert Spencer’s website?
I will be the first to raise my hand.
Any others?
What troubles me is that Mr. Spencer will not endorse this site on his website we all know as Jihad Watch. I find that the comments here and opinions expressed by the future president himself are appropriate…
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Hartman, you need to understand that a blog is the intellectual property of its owner, much like a “dead tree” newspaper or magazine would be. A blog owner or newspaper publisher may publish outside material with the author’s permission, but the blog or periodical, as a whole, is the intellectual property of the owner. This also means that the owner must deal with any negative consequences, such as loss of readership, that may arise from the content that that the owner chooses to publish.
If you went up to a newspaper and demanded that they print a letter from you, and they refused, and you started to complain about censorship, and if you were to accuse them of censorship if they refuse, what do you suppose would happen?
Most likely, the editor would tell you to go start your own paper - perhaps using somewhat less polite vocabulary than that.
Now suppose you take the editor’s advice. You start your own local paper, and you put a lot of work into promoting it and making it a good paper. Would you want a bunch of strangers ordering you to publish whatever suits them? No, you’d tell them to - you guessed it - go and start their own paper!
True, you yourself might be capable of writing acceptable comments without referring to the comments policy. People with common sense can look at a blog and get a pretty good idea of which kinds of comments would be acceptable there.
But then, a lot of people in the blogosphere seem to have no common sense whatsoever - they scarcely comprehend what a blog is. Most of them won’t read the comment policy, even assuming they are sober enough to find it.
Nonetheless, a written comment policy helps me to offer a sensible explanation when I find it necessary to delete a comment. It helps me show why the comment failed to pass muster. I can write back, “We don’t post anti-Semitic or other racist comments” or “Swearing is not allowed here - your vocabulary would embarrass a pirate’s parrot” or, all too often, “We did not post your comment because we could not figure out what you are talking about.”
@The Resistance: I have been censored at JW several times over the years. I probably deserved it at least 50% of the time.
Discussion without vulgarity is always more constructive anyways.
I was censored twice on Jihadwatch comments for saying “flush the Quran”…they will delete it everytime now.
On a side note Myspace is hyper-sensitive in protecting Muslims. They recently deleted one group I was in “world without Islam”…and also deleted the leader’s account. No one was “threatening” Muslims in any way, strangely it was more of a case that Muslims joined and started topics like “how many of you would kill Muslims?”…as if trying to bait us into saying something that could be used against the group. One Muslim even outright called for the destruction of Israel.
Yet Myspace saw us as some sort of threat. Utterly pathetic.
Well I have never been censored at JW/not. Yep, you have to be careful what you say and how you say it over there. I will have to admit that a few times I knew I would be censored even before posting. I find that occasionally I will get caught up in a thread that is using curse words if I’m not careful but I try to avoid it. I rarely follow blog links on large sites I have found that individual bloggers/smaller sites that I like usually have links to other smaller sites that I would find interesting. These smaller sites have more originality than most of the larger ones.
You can get a daily dose of targeted vulgarity at AOSHQ among others if that’s what floats your boat. I happen to be a dirty joke teller from way back so there is little that I find offensive if I don’t include islamists, leftards, traitors, women sporting moustaches, and such. On many occasions I don’t even post an already written comment I realize that a blog is sort of an extension of the owner and I think to myself, maybe they don’t really want comments except from known associates. I try to use the same manners that I would if I came to visit you in person it doesn’t always work out that way but I try. A comment section is sort of like a party there are many different people who don’t always agree. Sometimes fights break out other times there are arguments profanity might be used. And occasionally the crashers show up, their job…to ruin the party.
The Resistance: How does one know if JW has banned you? Every time I go to submit a comment, I get a web page that states that my comment will be posted after review. I do not know how I offended them. At one point, I predicted that a bloody conflict between West and Islam was inevitable unless Islam reforms. IMHO, reform there will happen when water runs up hill and pigs fly. I have given up on JW. The site makes a good read, especially Fitzgerald. But they are too squishy. I like this site for its Patton-like quality. Islam is the enemy! Wade into them!
Most commenters here are very thoughtful and informative. Foehammer you have some very good ones on board indeed. That’s a big plus for the Anvil.
We do see some undesirables show up here from time to time and some who simply want to fight. All this does is take away from the ‘mission at hand’, so to speak.
Overall, I personally have learned lots here from FH and from other very informed fellow commenters and that is very much appreciated!
I’ve been censored a few times at JW too- I had no problem with it since it is their site and most likely it was merited. However, I think at times their system has the hiccups and will delete posts (it even happened to Hugh once) which makes people think they’re being censored needlessly at times. I’ve noticed some people there seemingly being banned for being too abrasive, which is why I agree with others here that JW is a bit less beligerent than this site. That’s fine though-variety is the spice of life-and anti-jihadism too
Mosmomzazionstho based on what you described to me, it sounds like you were banned. Come up with a different name, and email address to post again on jihad watch. I wonder if Naseem has been banned? I don’t see her posts anymore.
I think Naseem is still around, only not as active (they must be in the UK-they’ve indicated they go back there every now and then). I say “they” because I suspect Naseem is at least two different people-last week I saw one post that was well written under that name-none of that “Amerikie” foolishness. At least one other poster thinks Naseem is more than one person as well.
Scientologists need to become less of a “financial enterprise” and become more like a “jihad enterprise”, then maybe the German government would give them some respect. Might even help fund a scientology church or two.
Most of the Western Muslim establishment is comprised of Islamist groups claiming to be moderates. True moderate Muslims reject Islamic supremacy and Sharia; embrace religious equality and democracy.
What is a moderate Muslim? According to a dictionary, a moderate is a person who is opposed to radical or extreme views or measures, especially in politics or religion. Yet, majority of the public seem to be struggling with the definition of a moderate Muslim. Perhaps we can make this task easier by defining a radical Muslim and then defining the moderate as an opposite of the radical.
Muslims Against Sharia compiled a list of issues that differentiate moderate Muslims from Islamic radicals. Hopefully you can help us grow this list.
http://muslimsagainstsharia.blogspot.com/ 2008/01/what-is-moderate-muslim.html
Poll: Who is a moderate Muslim?
http://muslimsagainstsharia.blogspot.com/ 2008/01/poll-who-is-moderate-muslim.html