Here’s how IT works:

1. If you post a comment with an invalid email address, it gets deleted instantly, so don’t bother. E-mail addresses are not published and not shared with anyone, but they are required. If your e-mail is fake, your post is gone.

2. If you use an e-mail that’s from an open proxy OR you post a comment from an open proxy, WordPress will automatically delete it.

3. If you’re gonna post something just to sling insults and it’s off topic, it will be deleted instantly, if it makes it to IT at all.

4. If you post something completely off-topic regardless of its “insult factor,” it will be deleted instantly.

5. The first time you leave a comment, it will be held in moderation automatically by WordPress. Them’s the breaks. Please don’t keep posting the same comment 50 times with words slightly altered in an attempt to “get it in” as soon as possible.

6. Comments are not deleted simply because the commenter disagrees with me or my readers (ask Balbulican, Stageleft, Jeff, RKB, Spencer, Geoff, Gordon, or any of the other myriad of people who have taken issue with things I’ve written in the past).

7. Don’t bother trying to communicate with me through comments if you’re constantly being moderated. I promise you nobody is paying any attention if the comment is in violation of any of the prior rules.

If you don’t like these policies, go troll elsewhere or pay the hosting bill. Your choice.