I removed the confusing "captcha" challenge phrase so commenting on this blog should be easier now. Comments are filtered by a spam-checking service so you do not see the half-dozen or so a day posts with links to porn sites...

In addition to endeavoring to be respectful in your conversations, please consider these suggestions for posting:

To comment on a post, click on the text below the coment that says "add new comment" or "7 comments." This will take you to a page this lists all the comments and at the bottom, includes a form for you to type your own comment. Here is how to fill out the form:

• Your Name. This defaults to "Guest." Please type something else. If you are not comfortable giving your name, at least give a first name or something.
• Email. Don't worry, your email will not display to others. But I can access it if I need to.
• Homepage. If you want your name to link somewhere, type a website address here. Otherwise leave it blank.
• Subject. Please type something short as a subject line. Otherwise the first few words of your comment will be the subject.
• Comment. Type the comment here. Keep it short and simple. If you feel a desire to write something long, consider registering on this site or contacting me directly so I can help you with that. I would love to see more people writing things about stuff other than the most controversial topics...

Ignore the unhelpful information about formatting that is below the comment box. Again, if you want to draft a major contribution, let me know and I'll help get you started.

If you want to preview your comment, click the Preview button. The next screen can be confusing...it will show you the preview first, then redisplay the form for editing. If you are ready to post, just click the post button below the comment form. Or make changes and preview again. DO NOT HIT THE BACK BUTTON.