Bring your perspective.
Respect the people.
Reader comments
You can create a reader account with a username and password, sign in, and comment under that username. Reader accounts do not require Google or ChatGPT. Member labels mean the comment came from a signed-in reader account; they do not verify a person’s real-world identity. Guest commenting is also available with an optional name. Guest names are not verified. Comments appear immediately under the post and are public. The site owner can remove comments to moderate discussions.
Thoughtful disagreement is welcome. Keep comments relevant. Do not post threats, harassment, private personal information, spam, or material you do not have permission to share.
Reader accounts
We store your public username, an internal account identifier, creation time, a salted password hash, a hashed recovery code, and hashed sign-in session tokens. We do not collect an email address for reader accounts. Save the private recovery code shown when you register; it is the way to reset a forgotten password. Resetting your password replaces the code and signs out your other sessions.
An essential, HTTP-only cookie keeps you signed in for up to 30 days. Sign out using the button at the top of the website. Temporary attempt counters help prevent repeated sign-in attempts; they use hashed network identifiers instead of storing raw network addresses. The Creator desk has a separate ChatGPT sign-in reserved for the site owner. Reader accounts do not grant editing access.
What is stored
We store your comment, public display name, posting time, the post it belongs to, and a hashed guest-browser identifier or your existing site-specific account identifier. We do not store your email address in the comments database. Guest commenting uses a secure, essential browser cookie lasting up to 30 days so you can remove comments from that browser. Clearing cookies, changing browsers, or expiration removes that ability; the owner can still moderate the comment. Comments remain until removed.
Basic spam controls limit repeated posts and check for automated submissions. When the hosting service provides a network address, we use a minute-specific hash for a temporary posting counter; the raw address is not written to this counter. Expired counters are cleaned up on subsequent comment submissions. Guest posting cannot prevent all spam.
Other websites
Video thumbnails may load from YouTube. Playing a clip loads YouTube’s embedded player; following a source, video, or product link takes you to another service with its own privacy practices. Hosting and sign-in services may process technical information necessary to provide this website.
Website analytics
If you choose Allow analytics, we use Google Analytics to measure visits, pages read, engagement, and links followed. Google receives browser and device information and uses your network address to derive approximate country, region or state, and city. Location is approximate, not a street address. We do not send your comment text, display name, email address, or form entries to Analytics. We remove query strings and fragments from the page and link URLs we send.
Analytics cookies help distinguish visits. Your choice is stored in this browser for up to six months, and you can change it here. Declining does not prevent you from using the site. We honor Global Privacy Control by keeping Analytics off. We do not enable Google signals or advertising personalization in this Analytics setup. Advertising and affiliate services have separate choices described below.
Read how Google uses information from partner sites.
Analytics is off in this browser.
Advertising and affiliate links
We promote our founder’s books, films, merchandise, and other projects. Google AdSense display advertising is turned off on this website. Previously stored advertising cookies can be cleared through your browser settings.
Some product links are Amazon affiliate links. We may earn a commission on qualifying purchases. Clicking them takes you to Amazon, whose own privacy practices apply. See our recommendations and disclosures.
Our news desk
News briefs carry publication dates. The news desk checks for developments on a recurring schedule; verification and publishing can take time. Articles may be corrected or removed, and automated coverage is labeled.