Hello everyone, I didn’t think I would need to put up an extensive comment policy so soon, but this is so needed right now. Yes, I am happy that my blog is getting a lot of attention and some posts are generating a lot of comments but I am certainly not happy when the comments have little or no relevance to my posts. It seems some of the commenters are more interested in creating a battle ground than they are in listening to what I have to say.  Since I am more interested in quality than quantity, I will have to moderate my blog. 

 First and foremost, I appreciate all constructive comments, criticisms  and diverse views.

 Hate comments are not welcomed on my page; I have zero tolerance for hate speech.

 Personal insults are a BIG NO.

 Bullying is not allowed on my blog. This is not a space to practice your high school bullying tactics. You will only get one warning and any repeat would earn you a permanent ban.

 Hostility is not appreciated. I would appreciate if my blog is not used as a meeting space for old time enemies to spar or continue their enmity.

Do not derail my posts with irrelevant comments. If your comment is not relevant to my post, please don’t bother to leave it. Do not use my post as a place to renew any drama. 

Slimy comments are not welcomed; please leave the hideousness in the pit where you crawled from. I ain’t got no time for your shit, dump it in the pit. 

 Anti Atheism+ commenters, please bear in mind that I am not interested in the story of how much you hate Atheismplus, I have heard enough of that to last me a lifetime.  I do not want to read comments detailing how your hate was triggered by “arrogant, atheists’ feminazis”, please spare me the details, I am not your shrink and this is not a ‘Dear Abby’ blog.  It is outrageous to regularly hang on a blog just to express your hate for the blog. 

 Anti FTB commenters,  please do not drag whatever baggage you have with other FTB bloggers into my space.

 The judgment call I will make concerning any commenter on my blog  will depend on their actions on this blog. I will treat and respond to you  according to your comments on my blog.  However, if you are a known hater or cyber bully, and so much as attack any commenter on my blog, you won’t be given a warning before I slam you with a ban.

 An important thing to note when commenting on my blog is that I prefer discussing ideas to discussing people. As Eleanor Roosevelt said:  “Great minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people”. I cannot waste my precious time reading your gossips, so please, keep to the ideas in the blog post and espoused yours as long as they are related to the topic of the post. Gossip is not an endearing trait, don’t spread it here.  

 Trolls and Spam– Please do not derail my post threads. Don’t spam my posts with unrelated comments, ads and serial blog links to irrelevant blog posts.

 My Poems– I am a poet, I write poems and I post my poems on my blog. I appreciate that not everyone is going to like my poems, it might not be to your taste but remember, this is my blog, my own space and you have to treat it like you are a guest in my home.

 Responsible adults know that manners are very important when one is a guest in a home. We teach children to behave properly especially when they are guests in other peoples’ homes. You do not have the right to be mannerless in my space. Yes, my blog is visible to the public and my posts are open for comments, but that still does not mean you have the liberty to come in and rain abuses on my poems or throw insults at me.

 When at an open, free buffet, it is not OK to come to the dinner table, smell the food, taste it, turn to the host/hostess and exclaim, “This food smells horrible, it makes me wanna puke, how dare you serve such horrible food?” Every responsible adult knows that such action would be considered ill mannered. If you do not like the food, you should not eat it, you should just walk away from the buffet. My blog is like a restaurant, if you do not like what I am serving, feel free to leave.

Also, if you saw a picture or artwork of your host/hostess hanging in the hallway or proudly displayed on the mantelpiece, even if you think the work of art or picture is ugly and ghastly, you do not go announcing to your host/hostess. “How dare you hang that ugly thing in the house, it is so disgusting!” You do not scream “You call that a piece of art? It is horrible!” Now, that would be considered rude, wouldn’t it?

 Remember, my poems are my works of art, this blog is my space, you are a guest, therefore you must mind your manners.  

 You are not forced to like or comment on my poems, you are not forced to buy it as it is not for sale on this blog, I am serving it as a free buffet, therefore throwing tantrums or insults at not just the poem but also the poet is ill-mannered and will not be tolerated. 

 Constructive reviews of my poems are welcome, but also bear in mind that I am not posting the poems to seek approval or get a pat on the back, I am posting because I love my poems, many others identify with my poems and they love it. I have been paid for a few of my poems, there have been requests for some to appear in reputable anthologies and a collection of my poems will soon be published. So, unless you have something of value to add to my work of art, don’t even bother to leave veiled sneering or jeering remarks because your approval is not needed.

 Again as I said in my first post ‘Welcome To My World’: Do enjoy my blog, your constructive comments and suggestions are welcomed. And if there are issues you’d like me to write on, please feel free to let me know.  I appreciate diverse views but I have zero tolerance for hate comments. Actually, it is a health issue; I am truly allergic to self-inflicted ignorance especially when it attacks in the form of hate speech. In such cases, I won’t hesitate to use the block button.

I am interested in providing my guests a great, friendly place to interact without fear, please don’t make it an unsafe or unfriendly place.

I love hearing from you and i do not wish to ban anyone, however flouting the rules will get you blacklisted.

I do appreciate your sincere comments, if you have something to say about my posts that do not flout any of the above rules, please do not hesitate to leave your comments.  Thank you and enjoy my blog.