Guidelines for posting on bangordailynews.com

The Bangor Daily News encourages comments about stories, but you must follow our terms of service.

In brief:

1. Keep it civil and stay on topic
2. No vulgarity, racial slurs, name-calling or personal attacks.
3. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked.

The primary rule here is pretty simple: Treat others with the same respect you'd want for yourself. Here are some guidelines (see more):

It should be noted this is not a comprehensive list.

• Don't insult one another or the subjects of BDN stories. You may be ticked off at what someone did or said, but you can explain that without resorting to name-calling or obscenity. Remember that young people are on this site too.
• That nasty line that makes your buddies go "haw, haw"? You're better than that.
• Comments should be your own work, not copied and pasted from elsewhere, though brief quoted passages to make your point are fine. And please don't use all capital letters. There's no need to shout.
• Stay focused on the issue in the article. Off-topic posts will be deleted.
• This isn't a forum to chat about your personal life.
• Some ideas — the fate of the earth, abortion, gun control, the nature of God — aren't going to be resolved in a reader forum, so no need to get frustrated if others don't see your point of view. State your position once and leave it at that.
• If you mouse over each comment you will see a "Flag" button. Please use it if you feel comments on the site are out of line. Quite often, we won't see a comment until it's reported.
• Questions about why a comment was — or wasn't — deleted? E-mail us at web@bangordailynews.com and let us know your username and where you posted or saw the comment.

That's about it: Stick to writing about the stories; be civil; be kind; enlighten your neighbors. And we'll keep moderating posts to try to ensure everyone meets those standards.

• Anonymous

  They would not need federal money if they had court cost on top of fines like they do in other states part of each court cost could go to the police like 20 bucks for each fine.

• Anonymous

  they are getting low on ammunition, so this comes just in time for the next suicidal standoff.

• Anonymous

  Santa had better stay away from that eggnog,
  on that cold and crispy night,
  they’re gonna set up roadblocks,
  oh, what a fright.

  They’re looking for some reindeer,
  and an old man in a sleigh,
  he might be carrying contraband,
  or he might need to be weighed.

  the APB is out,
  and all will be there,
  swat teams and tactical, 
  state police and DARE.

  TSA will have scanners, 
  the sheriff will have guns,
  ICE will be ready,
  for all of the fun.

  DHS will have drones,
  flying in the air,
  armed with big missiles,
  and heat seeking flares.

  the radar is ready,
  and they got the green light,
  to ruin Santa’s efforts,
  on christmas night.