The contents of this web site are © MMIX, Andrew W. Hagen.
All rights reserved. Content on this site that is the copyright or
intellectual property of other persons,
such as some images, comments by other persons on blog posts, quotations,
documents, and excerpts are, of course, the intellectual property of their
respective owners, and not that of Andrew W. Hagen ("the Site Owner").
This web site, andrewhagen.com ("the Web Site"), presents opinions of
Andrew Hagen, speaking as an individual. These opinions are his own,
and do not represent
the opinions of his employer or anyone other than himself.
Nothing on the Web Site written by Andrew Hagen
is intended to provide legal advice. While legal
topics may be discussed on this web site, such discussions are
of a general nature. No conclusion should be drawn by any
visitor to the Web Site that any statement posted on the Web Site
is legal advice. It is not. Legal advice
is confidential and is not posted on a publicly-accessible web site
such as this one. If you seek legal advice, you may consult with
the attorney of your choice directly.
The Web Site contains links to other web sites. The purpose of these links
is to provide a convenient way for visitors of this site to find content at other
sites that they may be interested in. In no way does a link constitute
endorsement of a viewpoint, a person, a group, a party, a cause, an institution,
or anything else. To restate, the sole purpose of a link is to share
information that visitors to andrewhagen.com may be interested in.
Blog posts at the Web Site may contain comments made by people other
than the Site Owner.
These comments are entirely the responsibility of their
respective authors. Opinions and statements are the responsibility
of the author of those opinions and statements. Allowing
comments to be posted does not constitute endorsement of the opinion stated
or position taken in the comment, or of the person making the comment. The
purpose of hosting comments here is to provide a forum for discussion. As
John Stuart Mill argued, a free discussion is useful as it uncovers errors,
sharpens thinking, and helps society. Moreover, it is simply interesting
to hear the different opinions of people.
Certain blog posts allow people to make comments and have them posted on
the same web page as the blog post. It is the policy of the Web site to
generally allow any comment to be posted. This policy has exceptions.
If a comment falls within any exception, it is against the policy, and will
not be allowed.
- The first exception is lack of relevance. Comments must be relevant
to the topic at hand. If they are not relevant, they will not be allowed.
The rules of political correctness do not control this web site.
Nevertheless, comments must relate to the topic at hand.
If a comment is intended to be inflammatory, it is not relevant. If a comment
is intended in good faith to be topical, but becomes inflammatory due to its
nature, it is relevant. While inflammatory comments are allowed if they are
made in good faith and are actually relevant, they are not encouraged.
Comments that add to the discussion are relevant.
Comments that contain nothing more than "Vote for Candidate XYZ," for example,
are not relevant.
- The second exception is spam.
If you post a comment that you would otherwise not post
except that it is intended to make you or someone else money or income,
the comment is spam.
Spam is not allowed. Spam includes commenting for the purpose of
search engine manipulation. If it contains
only a link, it is probably spam. If a comment discusses
companies or products, but
the comment is not tied to financial compensation, the comment
is not spam. Of course, the comment
must still meet the other requirements as stated here, including relevance.
It is not spam, however, to post a link to another blog post
at another web site if that blog post contains relevant discussion.
If the link is primarily posted to extend relevant discussion, it is not spam. If
a link is posted to promote a business, for example, and the comment
and link has little
or no content that is relevant to the
discussion at hand, it is spam. Any comment that is paid-for is spam.
- The third exception is for comments that are illegal under
the law of the United States of America. For example, a comment about troop
movements would fall under this exception. Comments that contain threats
do as well. Comments that violate intellectual property law, or are
tortious (such as an invasion of privacy) also fall within this exception.
Any comment that violates the law of the USA will not be allowed.
- The fourth exception is for comments that are defamatory statements. This only
includes factual statements that are false. If a factual statement is true, or
if it is an opinion, it is not defamatory. The Site Owner is not
responsible for the comments of other people. See U.S. Code,
Title 47, Section
230. Defamatory material is
off-topic, not relevant, and not allowed.
- The fifth exception is for statements that deceive.
Astroturfing is not allowed on the Web Site. It does not matter what
the purpose is. Any comment that is posted must be something
that the author of the comment personally believes in. If it is discovered that
the comment is astroturf, was posted dishonestly, or otherwise falls
under this exception,
it is not allowed, and will be removed. If you want to mention the
point of view of someone else, when you do not believe in it yourself, you
can do so, as long as you clearly indicate that the viewpoint is not your own.
Plagiarism is also not allowed
on the Web Site. If you want to post the work of someone else because it
is relevant to the discussion, please post a link to it. Do not post a copy
of someone else's work under your own name. Please cite sources and
authorities whenever you can. If you want to mention the work
of someone else, but you do not have a link or the name of the source or
other information, please inlcude whatever citation information you can and
indicate what you do not know. The general rule of this exception is:
do not post anything that is deceptive.
- The sixth exception is for comments that are personally abusive or
profane. This exception is intended for extreme cases of abuse or profanity.
Political discussions, for example, can get emotional. If you wish to rant
about someone,
that is allowed, although it is inadvisable because it is unlikely
to do much good. If you are trying to ruin a person's life through
your comment, or if you are posting incredibly reprehensible profanity, that is
not allowed. A comment containing profanity might be allowed, but the profanity
within the comment could be censored. For example, a four-letter word in a
comment could be displayed as "#*@!."
- The seventh exception is the catch-all. I, Andrew Hagen, own and operate this
web site. I intend to foster good discussion here. If I see a need to disallow a
comment for any reason, I will disallow it. I am under no legal obligation
to allow any comment to be posted here. Nevertheless, as I strongly
dislike Internet censorship, including when it goes by the pretext
of "moderation," I promise to be liberal
in allowing comments. For the information of those in less-free countries, there
are a few other items to note. I have
specifically chosen a web host that allows, in its
terms of use, a wide range of freedom as to what content it will host. The
web host is based here in the USA. The Constitution of the United States
is strongly protective of the freedom of speech. Furthermore,
I believe that the right of people to be free is inherent, regardless of
what any law or powerful entity may say.
As one devoted to the First Amendment
and to human liberty, I have every intention
to fight for the freedom of expression whenever necessary, no matter what
the circumstances may appear to be.
Comments that are removed are not retained in any database, data store,
or in backup copies. The policy of this web site is that such
comments are deleted immediately.
As this is an American web site, the applicable
law is that of the USA. The laws of other nations are without effect
here.
Andrew Hagen has no personal
financial interest in anything bought or sold that may be
discussed on this web site. No compensation is accepted
in return for content posted on andrewhagen.com.
This policy includes any form of compensation, and affiliate links.
Whenever a potential conflict of interest arises between a matter under
discussion and Andrew Hagen's personal financial interest, the conflict
is publicly identified and noted in a prominent manner nearby.
This has always been the policy here, and it always will be.
The Web Site is a personal, non-commercial project of Andrew Hagen.
Republication policy. All material on this web site that is copyrighted by the
Site Owner may not be published elsewhere without the express
permission of the Site Owner. The only exceptions are for the following:
(1) Internet search engines that cache content and display it for search
engine users, (2) non-profit digital archives, (3) non-profit educational use,
and (4) "fair use" as defined
in the U.S. Code,
Title 17, Section 107. To the extent that your use meets one or more of
the exceptions, you may republish content.
The content of this site does not provide any investing advice or
recommendation. Any purchases or sales of securities or investments are
solely at the discretion of the reader.
HTTP®, HTML®, XML®,
XHTML®, and CSS® are registered trademarks
of W3C, the World Wide Web Consortium.
Perl® is a registered trademark of The Perl Foundation.
Javascript® is a registered trademark of Sun Microsystems, Inc.
Firefox® and the Firefox® logo are registered trademarks of Mozilla Foundation.
Internet Explorer® is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation.
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Fox News® and the Fox News® logo are registered trademarks of Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation.
PGP® and the PGP® logo are registered trademarks of PGP Corporation.
Yahoo!® is a registered trademark of Yahoo! Inc.
Other trademarks that may appear on this site are the property of
their respective owners.
For the Oxford font, thank you to the font author,
Roger White.
For web hosting services, thank you to Hosting Matters.
-- Andrew Hagen
