I guess we got your attention

Readers of this blog will have noticed some recent flames and counter-flames.
Ladies and gentlemen, please put down your flame-throwers.

We all need to calm down.
This blog was intended to be a positive force for the Spokane theater community. It still could be.
But anonymous, personal attacks undermine its purpose.

The administrator of this blog has disabled comments for the time being. He'll be accompanying that with a short statement.

We are investigating our technological options: No anonymous comments. Filtering-out of destructive criticism by the administrator. Use of different blogging software, requiring logged-in, identified, actual e-mail addresses before comments can be posted. Taking down the blog altogether.

We'd rather not have to do any of that.

But way too many people are spending way too much time speculating about who made this comment, and who said that - with the result that some folks are getting falsely accused, which only fans the flames and makes matters worse.

I'm convinced this blog is, could be, a good thing. Sharing information quickly can only be a good thing.
Opinions, criticisms, speculations -- granted, these are in a grayer area.
But a blog is opinion by its nature. Opinons are subjective. You will not always agree with me, or with people who post comments.
All well and good. If you feel so moved, go ahead and state your objections. But keep in mind that real people, sensitive people, are doing the good work of keeping theater alive in this town.
"I didn't like Z; you should've done Y" is one thing; "You are a worthless ^&%^$%*&" is quite another.

Don't be one of the spammers of the blogosphere.

We've started what could be a good thing here. Just in the last 24 hours, it has taken a dangerous turn. Please be one of the drivers who steers this rig back into its proper lane -- not over the guardrail of discretion and into the ditch of vitriol.

That has to be the world's worst extended metaphor.
But it's my two cents.