As return readers of this site know, the ability to comment on the blog was recently suspended. A post Pete wrote caused some uncivil remarks and subsequently, we shut down comments while we developed a comment policy. Pete encourages debate and conversation and we feel this policy will allow for both while keeping comments respectful:

Comment Policy: Keep the conversation civil and on topic. If your comment does not add to the conversation, it will be removed. Debate intelligently and thoughtfully. Personal attacks and insults against the author or other commenters will result in comment removal and possible ban. Any links posted with a comment will go into moderation before being posted and anything deemed as spam will not be approved. Typing in all capital letters is discouraged as it is considered rude. Moderators reserve the right to ban and remove comments and commenters that violate this policy without notice. Commenters are encouraged to flag comments that violate this policy if they have not yet been moderated. If you would like to track your comments, sign-up for a free Disqus account or use any of the multiple login options. This policy is subject to change.

We apologize to those who have contributed to the site’s conversation already following these rules before they even posted and thank you for your readership and patience during the brief suspension.