Writer's Guidelines and Policy

Banned Words, Censorship

Banning a few words pushes some buttons. Sure the potential for censorship should raise your attention. But this is not about talking about ideas.

We reject articles for a lot of different reasons... just like any other competent, professional media operation.

But... because we have a commenting system that anyone can post to, we felt it necessary, after repeated abuses, to set a simple rule that would still allow any writer up to snuff for writing on this site to delve deeply into any subject. Any competent writers who want to get a message and idea across will be able to. Period.

I think it is a useful exercise to require the use of other language. Serious, well intended writers will have no problem. Hateful, bigoted writers will either slink away into the night or will, forced to use other language, reveal their true ugly colors.


After some time, we'll probably switch to a rule that the words are to be avoided, and that they will be carefully monitored, like language profiling, because they are so frequently abused. We may come up with some software to help editors do this job more easily.


Winston Churchill said, "It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried."