New Comment Policy

When I started this blog, the intention was to provide a community forum for information about things going on in the neighborhood and give people a place to air their views. I was operating under the assumption that pretty much everyone who lives in Shaw was interested in the same basic thing, i.e. to make the community a better place to live. This blog was intended to be a community-building tool, not something that would sow discord and create divisions.

Unfortunately, this blog has become a focus of unintended controversy, most of which seems to revolve around the upcoming ANC election. I have tried to be evenhanded and factual in what I have posted on that subject, but it's evident that there are strong opinions about the candidates which sometimes have been expressed in intemperate language by other people making comments--often anonymously--on my posts. That's pretty much the nature of blogs, and in other circumstances it might be okay, but I think we need to be mindful that in a changing neighborhood like this one, there are strains and tensions that should not be ignored and needlessly exacerbated.

So in the spirit of 'live and learn', I've decided to impose a policy of requiring commenters to provide their names--either a first name and last initial, or first initial and last name, or both names. I hope this will not deter people from making comments, but I do hope it will encourage some reflection before firing off with inflammatory language. So please, everyone feel free to comment, but let's keep it civil and think about the effect your words might have.

I believe strongly in the right to free speech, so I don't want to resort to censorship or shut off this blog, because many people have told me that they are glad it's here. But in the end, we all need to live peacefully together in this community, even if we don't all agree on everything.