Rule Zero: Appeals, protests, complaints, etc. If you think that you have been wronged, do not, repeat, NOT, email me about it. I simply don’t have time for that. Email the person in charge of moderation, Herb at this email: saker-webmaster@yandex.com.
Again, do NOT NOT NOT NOT NOT NOT NOT email me. No. Don’t. Just don’t.
Next,
Any comment in violation of the following rules will be immediately removed:
1) Absolutely no use of CAPITAL LETTERS (as this is considered SCREAMING). Abbreviations (DPRK, USA, UN, BBC, etc.) are, of course, allowed. If you have sight problems, you can use caps, but please indicate at the end of your comments that you had no other way of posting.
2) All comment have to be courteous to me, the blog’s author, moderators, any guest author and all the other commentators. You are welcome to criticize and even attack ideas, but not people. You are also not allowed to try something like “you are only saying this because…”. You are not God, so you don’t know why a person writes something.
3) Any comment designed to make me angry will make me angry and will be removed in anger. Any comment deliberately and grossly mis-representing what I write will be immediately removed. I shall not answer any “straw man” arguments. Repeated attempts to misrepresent my views will result in a ban.
4) All racist comments are banned (including of the Nazi racists and Jewish racist type).
This is my definition of “racist”: Racism is, in my opinion, not so much the belief that various human groups are different from each other, say like dog breeds can be different, but the belief that these very real differences between humans groups pre-determine individual actions/choices/values in life. Second, racism often, but not always, assumes a hierarchy amongst human groups (Germanic Aryans over Slavs or Jews, Jews over Gentiles, etc.). I believe that God created all humans with the same purpose and that we are all “brothers in Adam”, that we all equally share the image (eternal and inherent potential for perfection) of God (as opposed to our likeness to Him, which is our temporary and changing individual condition).
Note: tribal affiliations and ideological positions are, in contrast to one’s genetic make-up, the result of choices and choices are legitimate targets for scrutiny and criticism.
5) Criticism of religion. Fundamentally, the religion we profess is the result of a personal choice. As such, I consider religions as legitimate targets for scrutiny and criticism. However, I also think of this blog as my “virtual home” and of commentators as guests in my home. My guests need to know that I, their host, am a traditionalist Orthodox Christian and that I consider traditionalist Muslims (i.e. non-Takfiris) as my friends. You want to think long and hard before insulting my faith or my friends in my home. Atheists and agnostics are welcome here as long as they know where they are and what I expect from my guests. If you can offer a well-informed and logical criticism of Christianity or Islam, that is absolutely fine. But please aware that the minimum to qualify as “well-informed” is to understand the differences between the main Christian and Muslim branches/denominations/sects. Also, here is a rule of thumb: avoid quoting authors, (even if they fancy themselves as “theologians”) who were born after 1900.
6) Any comment stating or implying that homosexuality is a “normal and natural variation of human sexuality” goes to trash; this blog has decided to emulate the city of Moscow and has therefore banned any types of (virtual) “gay-pride” (aka homosexual dysfunction) “parades” in the comments section, also for the next 100 years. Simply put: take your propaganda of homosexuality elsewhere :-P
7) Any comment demanding that “the Ukraine” be written just “Ukraine” without the definite article “the” will be sent where it belongs: to the trash bin.
8) Off-topic comments are banned and should be redirected to the “Movable Feast Café“.
9) The cut-n-paste long segments of texts into the comment section is banned. Use your own words and your own thoughts and, if needed, add a short quote or a link to an outside source.
10) People from other blogs or their mates have been using the Saker blog for self-promotion in the comments. Once every now and again putting a link which is credible and adds to the discussion is permissible, but not a pattern of this type of self promotion behavior. This includes having private discussions about another blogs comments in the Saker site comments – go to that blog to discuss! If you want to promote your website, then please email me first.
11) Self evidently stupid, nonsensical and otherwise idiotic comments will be removed with no right to appeal. Frankly, idiots have been the plague of this blog and I am tired of them. From now on comments posted by people who are self-evidently stupid will be banned and their authors warned that a ban is next.
12) Punitive measures: first, your comment(s) will be removed with or without an explanation from the moderators (who are all busy folks and don’t have to explain their decisions). Second, you will be temporarily banned (the moderators will decide this jointly with me). Finally, you will be permanently banned. This ban if final.
13) I am banning any and all references to use of tactical nuclear weapons, including alleged use of tactical nukes by Israel in Syria or Lebanon, or by anybody (including the USA or Israel) in Yemen. In fact from now on, I am the ONLY person allowed to report the use of tactical nuclear weapons.
14) Q-anon: This Q-anon nonsense is literally polluting the comments section. There are plenty of terrific websites to discuss the “oh so amazing” Q-anon statements, there is NO need to do that here. So, from now on and until further notice any and all comments including “Q-anon” or any references to “Q-anon” are to be immediately intercepted and those who posted it warned that the next time around, they will be banned.
15) Sigh, I have to ban yet another silly non-argument: putting brackets around things Jewish. I do understand that considering the suppression of any discussions about things Jewish (unless, of course, it is to express love, loyalty and admiration) some folks thought that putting brackets to indicate something Jewish is a very slick way to bypass that censorship. I don’t think that this is very smart at all, but regardless of that, this is only applicable on websites who do not allow a free discussion of Jewish topics, not the Saker blog. So, as a result, I am now banning any posts which will use these ((())) brackets instead of spelling out their argument.
16) One more: arguments about global warming. First, I take no position on that issue. Second, this is hugely controversial, which is fine, but also totally outside the scope of this blog. Simply put – whatever the merits of your position on climate change are, the Saker Blog is not the place to discuss them. So don’t. And yes, I am also officially banning this topic.
17) One more: posting the same comment verbatim in two different threads is banned trolling technique those doing so will be banned. Simply put: say what you have to say, do it ONCE, and in the correct location of your choice. Then stop!
18) I am banning any comments which mention, even indirectly, the medical aspects of SARS-COV-2/COVID19 including, but not limited to: origin, prevention, effects on health, treatments and putative “non-existence” (including the “its just like the flu” kind). However, I am specifically ALLOWING comments about the political, ideological, social and economic aspects of SARS-COV-2/COVID19. Any attempt to “smartass & bypass” this ban will result with an immediate removal from the infringing comment. A second attempt will result in a permanent ban. The “Cafe exception” has now been canceled and this rule applies to the entire blog!
19) New! Okay, I am fed up with all this idiotic “there is no pandemic” nonsense. So, from now on, any post denying that there is a pandemic will be removed and its author banned.
20) I am now also banning any advocacy of the following ideologies: 1) National-Socialism (Nazism, Fascism) 2) Wahabism (Takfirism) 3) Zionism (rabbinical “Judaism”, aka “Phariseism”) and 4) Latin Christianity (Papism, including the propaganda of the so-called “Marian apparitions” including the Fatima hoax) 5) Wokeness in all its forms 6) Homopride in all its forms. These are all messianic ideologies with a fantastic propensity (and, I would argue, a proven record) for deception and violence. Frankly, I consider them all evil and even demonic in nature. Discussion and criticism of these ideologies remain allowed, but direct attempts of advocacy/propaganda is from now on banned. Adherents of these ideologies are welcome to conclude that I am a “censoring tyrant” who is afraid of their “truth” – that is quite fine by me since I truly don’t care about their opinions anyway. If they don’t like it – let them open their own blogs :-) From now on, any attempts to peddle these ideologies on the Saker blog will result in 1) the comment being removed and 2) the author permanently banned.
21) Please do not post slogans (once sentence posts), but please refer to some facts and then maybe add a few comments illustrating their relevance to your opinion. BTW – a sequence of several slogans do not qualify either. Please write at least one full sentence combining facts and logic.
22) Whom to contact for an edit: If you are a guest author and you need an edit or correction to be made to a text you submitted, please do NOT contact the moderators but email me directly at vineyardsaker@gmail.com. If you are a commentator and need an edit or correction to be made to your comment, please do NOT contact me, but contact our head of moderation Herb at saker-webmaster@yandex.com and ask him.
