Notice of Comment Policy Change

If you’ve been out and about on the interwebs you may have noticed that many websites have shut down their comment sections. I’m sure there are many reasons for this development. Spam, trolls, flame wars, and the ongoing time demands of moderation are no doubt among them.

As of today, the Bovine will no longer be posting comments, except in exceptional circumstances. However, readers are still welcome to use the comment process to message the Editor. In fact, since we don’t check our email that often, “posting” a comment is probably the best way to get  a message through. Just don’t expect it to appear on the site.

If you want a public forum to discuss material which is posted on the Bovine and you don’t have your own blog or website yet, there’s always social media — ie Facebook, Twitter etc.

Thank you,

– Editor

Until this time — well, at least for the last few years — the Bovine’s comment policy had been as described below:

The comment section on The Bovine is intended for civil, respectful discourse on topics related primarily to raw milk and related matters, as represented in the content of the posts. Any digressions into ad hominem (against the person) attacks, or other offensive content may result in removal of comments.

Comment moderation may periodically be enabled according to whether it seems to be needed. When moderation is enabled it may may result in your comment not appearing until it can be reviewed by a moderator.

Regarding freedom of expression, folks are free to start their own blogs. Editorial discretion on The Bovine will be exercised here in an attempt to keep the discussion relevant and friendly.

For now, all comments will be moderated. By submitting a comment here you agree to be bound by  the terms and conditions of this site. You agree that comments may be edited for length, content, and embedded links, and that we may decide not to post your comment at all if we feel it doesn’t meet our guidelines.

We regard commenting on this blog as being a guest at our dinner party. If you come across as unpleasant and disrespectful or as an embarrassment to your host, you may not be invited back. As for freedom of speech, everyone is free to write their own blog. We’re not undertaking to provide a platform here for anyone to endlessly declaim their own views on the issues we present, as though we had an obligation to publish them.

In particular, threatening to sue this website is a good way to get yourself excluded from future postings. If there’s something posted about you that you find libelous, the polite course of action is to write to us in a comment or email and ask that it be removed.

Thank you,

– Editor

P.S. Sometimes the reason for  not posting a comment is that it includes a video that I don’t want to take the time to watch first.