What Both Shines and Stinks

This linked article drew my attention back to something that I’ve been pondering for some years now. Yes, I am aware this was written by a lady who is an Anglican priest wanting to function within the constraints of historic Christian practice. You can’t have everything, you know. The issue is accountability, in this case, …

Win or Winnow or Both?

Introduction: Sometimes, after I have thrown a Molotov cocktail or two, meaning by this an incendiary adjective, or hot incandescent metaphor, a number of my friends who follow this blog have counted to twenty-five, muttering to themselves all the while that they know there is going to be a follow-up post, one that will seek …

On the Attempted Defenestration of Mablog Through the Overton Window

So then first, what is this Overton Window? That window, named after Joseph “Wiki” Overton — who coined the phrase — refers to the range of ideas that are palatable, thinkable, acceptable, or otherwise within the pale, when it comes to public discourse. Outside the window, you’re just a hate-filled weirdo. In the area of …

Trolls Live Under the Bridge

This post will be part housekeeping, and then some exposition of the housekeeping. First the housekeeping. Under our new system here, comment moderation is managed according to the folkways, mores and customs of Disqus. This system is now necessary because right around the same time I moved to my new theme, the number of comments …