Stepping Up Security Somewhat

A few minor changes to the blog.

After a series of unfriendly-in-tone comments and what seems to be a testy exchange developing, anonymous comments are no longer permitted; you must now log in to comment. Disagreements with opinions expressed in the blog itself continue to be welcome in the comments -- but you must at least identify yourself so that the Loyal Readers can keep track of who is trolling who.

That's not to say that comments and dialogue are not welcome. Hopefully some intelligent thoughts can be exchanged. I'm not sure this comment qualifies, though. Contrary to the anonymous commentator's claim, not one or two, but four (4) U.S. Presidents' last names have ended in a vowel, and all with the same vowel, "e": Calvin Coolidge, Millard Fillmore, James Monroe, and Franklin Pierce. If you count "y" as a vowel, you'd add John F. Kennedy and William McKinley to that list. As for the substance, it's evident that the commentator does not share my enthusiasm for Rudy Giuliani, which is certainly the commentator's prerogative; it's disappointing, though, to see no reason offered for why the commentator finds the Mayor unsatisfactory.

Also after a creepy comment about a personal friend, profile pictures are turned off for comments until further notice.

I cannot determine whether the creepy comment was made by the same anonymous commentator as the one who forgot two Presidents or the one who got involved in the start of a dust-up over the Establishment Clause versus the Declaration of Independence. (I'm not sure they are really in conflict, myself, but if they are, the Establishment Clause wins since the Declaration of Independence is not the supreme law of the land and the Constitution is. But that's besides the point. The point is, seeing that exchange left me wondering who was saying what and generally displeased with the tone of the discussion.)

So, you're still welcome to express yourself, but please leave a name to go with the comments; an alter-ego or pseudonym is fine but please only use one. And hey, if you have a blog of your own, maybe it will lead to more traffic for you, too.