Before some of you are done reading this, I am sure there will be those who will want to see a scarlet “B” permanently tattooed on my forehead.  There are plenty of other blogs to read so have at it.  Or better yet, start your own.

I should have taken the time to write this a couple of days ago, but haven’t been feeling well and let the blog slide a bit.  I first  attempted to do this nicely by sending private emails, but those emails were ignored.  Now I am notifying the entire blog pen publicly.

Unfortunately, for the first time ever, a couple of days ago I had to put a member of the blogpen on “moderate,” meaning their work cannot be posted without my approval.  Please understand that I do not take that action lightly.  However, I expect everyone to follow the rules, especially when failure to do so could get us sued.

I want to make one thing clear.  I do not have an issue with content as long as it is original content and fits the theme of the blog.  I would be happy to have a blogpen writing original material supporting gay rights, wanting to round up illegals, proposing socialized medicine, condemning off-shore drilling, writing from a Republican point of view, or Libertarian, or Socialist, or Communist, supporting abortion, arguing against gun control, or condemning Muslims, Christians, or Jews.

No one reads iePolitics because we are a politically correct, feel-good website.  They read it because we are controversial, put forth information mainstream media refuses to print, and stir the pot as often as we can.  Even those who hate us keep coming back for more.

Content is not the issue.  Presentation and originality is.  So I have had to make some decisions and a list of rules.  For my current blogpen and anyone else who may wish to write for us in the future, as long as you abide by the rules, you will not be moderated.  If you do not, your posts will not be published until they comply.  Here are the rules:

1. All titles must begin with your login name, i.e., “Senor Blogger:  The world is coming to an end.”
2. Please capitalize only the first word of the title and proper nouns.  Do not capitalize any other words.  I have always preferred capitalization of everything but prepositions, determiners, and conjunctions (The Chicago Manual of Style and Gregg Reference Manual) but that is not how newspapers do it.  I’m assuming that the 2010 AP Stylebook is their excuse for the way they do things and we might as well conform.
3. Please fully justify all paragraphs.
4. All posts over one paragraph in length should have a page separator so that the reader must click to read the rest of the story.
5. NOTHING is to be copied from another source without acknowledging the source and providing a hyperlink to that source.  All quotations should be enclosed in quotation marks if short.  For longer quotations, use the “blockquote” function.
6. Articles ARE NOT to be copied from other newspapers, magazines, or websites. Only original material is allowed.  If I feel an article needs to be on the blog, I will make that decision and abide by copyright rules.  The purpose of the blogpen is to provide original material and alternative opinions not found elsewhere.
7. Please spell check your work.
8. Add tags and categories to all pieces.  That’s how they get listed in Yahoo! and Google.

I have some pet peeves that I am also going to address:

1. Dates are expressed as July 23, 2010, 23 July 2010, or the 23rd of July but NEVER July 23rd.  Only cardinal numbers appear after the month.  The number before the month may be ordinal or cardinal, depending on the format.
2. If you do not know proper usage of the word “myself,” please do not use it.
3. Commas and periods ALWAYS go inside quotation marks, such as “myself,” NOT “myself”.
4. Sentences must include both a subject and a verb.  Honest, they really do.
5. Paragraphs should consist of two to five sentences.  One sentence is NOT a paragraph.  It is a sentence and should not stand alone.  Any paragraph longer than five sentences (I prefer three to four) should be broken up.
6. Avoid writing in capitals.  They should be used for acronyms and when the writer is trying to get a point across to thick-skulled individuals only.  (See examples above.)

Some things are changing in my life so there are going to be changes with the blog.  I think they will improve the blog and bring us more readers.  The changes will also necessitate that we do things in a more professional manner.  I have also been lax about grammar and proofreading and will work to be more careful about what I post.  I suspect I will receive more than one email pointing out my typos in this post.

If I did not just chase away all potential new writers, I want to say that anyone who likes to write and writes well on any subject relating to current affairs (not the Mikey type), government, or politics is welcome to an account.  There is no pay but you will have the satisfaction of having your work read by thousands of our readers.

If you have any questions, please email or call me.   Thank you for your cooperation.