Lost and missing comment posts.

It has been brought to my attention, by a blog reader from America, that comment posts are going missing.

This reader said she had written three comment posts which had not been posted - and was rather put out by it. Well, as I wrote to her, the explanation is simple: I never received the comments. Now this poses the question: how many of your comments are going missing? Is this a general phenomenon? Are people getting frustrated with comments not appearing?

Well, all I can say is that this is the second time someone has asked about comments which I have never received. There is no telling how many people might be affected by this. I post all comments unless they are mad, rude, or likely to pose a problem if read by children. Thankfully, very few posts come into those categories - so almost all comments get posted. If yours has not been posted - and it is not one of those three kinds - then it is probable that I never received your comment post.

I do not know what the problem is - but it seems that, sometimes, blogger does not pass comments onto me. It could be that the commenter is not following comment protocol and is failing to register the comments, properly. Or it could be that blogger is simply losing the comments. I do not know.

So, if you have commented and it hasn't appeared - try again - or email me with the comment and I will see if ever received the comment post in the first place. Thanks.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged seven years and ten months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, four years and three months, and Tiarnan, twenty months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)

Policy on comment posts

This is a family blog: an innocent enough type of publishing exercise one would have thought. However, it has received a wide range of reactions. Some are kind and supportive. Some have been helpful in their advice - particularly one reader who has emailed me privately (she will know who she is) and I am thankful for that. Some express understanding and share their insights into gifted parenting. Some are thankful to me for the help that I have rendered them. However there is another category of posters I need to address. Some are argumentative and some are critical. Some are negative and some are simply angry. A small percentage of posters can only be described as hostile - or worse. I have no idea why: they really take exception to my effort to communicate my experience of my children and their gifts. Most of them appear to be from the land of free speech (the US), as far as I can gather from their IP addresses. All the others so far noted, who have been hostile, come from advanced democracies (such as Holland) where free speech is the norm, and people are supposed to be allowed, indeed encouraged, to speak their mind. It seems that the posters have not absorbed the culture in which they reside - or perhaps that culture is not truly as free as advertised. I don't know which - I can only observe what they do.

As I have said, this is a family blog. My children read it on occasion. My wife does too - and my friends. I cannot therefore allow the posting of hostile comment: it not only upsets me, but upsets my family and friends, it they should read it. Therefore the policy of this blog, on comments, henceforth will be to post all the humane ones, and none of the inhumane ones. The divide is clear because I find that the negative posters tend to the extreme: they stand out by the excessiveness of their expressions and statements. None of this type of post will be posted on my blog - it would not be fair to me, to my children, my wider family nor my friends. Furthermore, I don't think it is fair to my readers to be reminded of all the hate there is in this world. I want to see a world of kindness in which all men and women treat each other well. By enforcing this rule, I make a contribution to that kinder world, here on this blog. Thanks.

(If you would like to read about my scientific child prodigy son, Ainan Celeste Cawley, or his gifted brothers, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of child prodigy, child genius, adult genius, savant, the creatively gifted, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)