Comment Policy

The webmaster was a younger man when he wrote the below screed. It is preserved, however, for posterity's amusement and yours. The fact is that I am working on a proper comment system, although it is yet to be implemented. For the time being, you are welcome to send me an e-mail at bfswebmaster@use.startmail.com and, if it meets the cogency/decency requirements intuitively understood by the vast majority of our speces' members (make a worthwhile point and don't curse or be vulgar while you're doing it), I may (and most likely will) publish it, although I make no promises. If you email me, you give me perpetual permission to publish what you send, with two qualifications:

1. I will not publish your name unless you give explicit permission (if you send a pseudonym, I'll use that)
2. I will not publish anything clearly marked as not being for publication.

Published on 10 February 2017; Modified on 29 July of the same year to add humor, change the text encoding, and change the preferred file format for submissions; Modified again 28 April 2019 to laugh at absurdity, radically simplify the system, and announce preparations for a proper comment mechanism.

The publisher of this site is a staunch opponent of Web 2.0 content sites (although, if you've gotten this far, it is not impossible that you already inferred as much). He has seen far too many internet discussions degenerate into crass, brain-dead battles of baseless contradiction, invidious name-calling, and other unsavory things. Therefore, there shall be no open comments forum on this site. This is not to say that I am unwilling to publish your responses to my articles. I shall reprint them, however, in the age-old style of letters to the editor. Below are listed the criteria that must be met for your letter to be published:

1) It must be emailed to me himself@bfsparrow.tk. Please attach the letter as a separate plain text document and indicate that you wish to have it published below this week's article.
2) It must possess the double merit of cogency and civility. Whether you agree or disagree, articulate your position well. Frenzied ravings will be discarded.
3) It must be among the first three qualified letters of the week, as I will publish no more than three letters per week.

In addition to the obligation to meet these criteria, submission of a letter for publication entails agreement to the below-listed stipulations:

1) The site owner (henceforth known also as the "arbiter of decency") is granted a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free right to publish the submitted content.
2) The site owner is granted the right to modify the submitted work so as to render it fit for publication. This clause includes but is not limited to corrections to grammer, usage, spelling and punctuation, as well as the removal of curses, oaths, obscenities, and any other content that would make the submitted work unfit, according to the sole judgement of the arbiter of decency, to be printed. This clause does not allow for modifications of intent or meaning.
3) The arbiter of decency may choose to leave anything, even if it meets all stated criteria, unpublished for reasons of his own.