UPDATED: I have removed a set of comments that had devolved from a mere discussion.

About thin skins: Somervell County Salon has gotten comments for years (we've been doing this since 2005) that have tried to attack, bully or wheedle to have us stop posting about particular subjects. Such as

    * "If you would just be more like THIS, your site would be better"
    * "Ir you would just stop talking about THAT, your site would be better".
    * "Your (insert perjorative political party here) sucks.
    * "You are a (insert perjorative) and yo mama is ugly". For that type, if it appears to be from a particular person over and over, I simply ignore the post so that it is never seen. Certainly personal attacks are almost never posted. I also had a very recent commenting relay that had devolved into such and was removed.
    * as well as threats. I always save the IP addresses and other identifying information in the case of that type.

It's as if a few people think that the constitutional right to free speech is only for some, and only for those you agree with already. Our principle here for posts is that, per the comment rules, I expect that people will try to be reasonable in the sense of considering items pro and con and stay away from emotional, non-factual diatribes.I don't think of our skin as being particular thin but also don't believe I should have to allow personal attacks on my own website.

About sources for news and opinion. There isn't one size fits all in this county for how news should be presented, nor is there a monopoly on who gets to do it. Somervell County Salon's philosophy is that the more people that are actively involved in reporting what is going on, the better informed citizens are. I have seen information from the Chamber of Commerce, the Somervell County Networking Group, as well as a lot of other sources that arrive not merely in paper but via the internet /email. That includes the governmental websites, notices of meetings through email, the excellent Tiger High School newsite (really good and I have complimented it before), and other newspapers, blogs, and video sites. I feel lucky that we live in the age of the internet, where information is ubiquitous, easy to find, and readily available from multiple sources. I also believe that there should be reliable sources for what is posted, or that sources be posted for some *facts* which may or may not be. I also have my own  imperfections and when called on them, have quickly updated the information

Somervell County Salon has no designs on being *the* news source for everything that goes on. I am not going to start a paper. For one thing, I believe philosophically that newspapers are expensive to run, that the internet is a very satisfactory way of getting out timely information, and that information can be added to or modified with updates in a quick manner, which is not possible with weekly newspapers. For a second, I like doing multi-media and being able to have audio, video and extra photos for what we're interested in.  For another, I have no intention of attempting to cover all the community actitvities that go on (that is what the newspaper is for). I  usually only cover activities that I already have an interest in or would be attending anyway, such as government meetings or some festivals, bike rides, etc. In other words, if someone came to this site expecting to find out everything that is going on in every sector, he or she would be disappointed.. and U have continually referred people to the Glen Rose Reporter for that, including a prominent link on the front page.

I  also feel no compunction to write our information in a particular way. Have read books about the press at the founding of this country and it was quite wooly and partisan. So am I . And I  find nothing about freedom of speech in the constitution as written that requires, for example, that I  can't ask questions as titles, or write them as I prefer.

Anyway, I  have no intention to offend and I am going to continue to write about subjects that interest us without reservation. If a comment thread degenerates into an offensive diatribe, it will be removed. And will continue to enjoy my subscription to our local newspaper, The Glen Rose Reporter