Why I deleted 30+ comments this week, latest Turner Report/Inside Joplin news and top posts for the week

I hate deleting comments.

That being said, I have had to delete quite a few recently. At one time, I did not use comment moderation on the Turner Report and I got burned a few times because of it.

The biggest problem in those early days was the spam. That is still a problem, but for the most part Blogger, the platform I use, has done a good job of reducing the junk comments.

After that, the biggest problem I had was with people who wrote things that I knew could not possibly true about the subjects I was writing about, people who used profanity and people with a clear dislike for me who, for some reason, thought I was going to let them post lies.

You would not believe how many reasons were provided for why I was fired at the Carthage Press in 1999. That is something I have written about in detail, but I will admit the actual reason is not as colorful as the stories the commenters, all anonymous, of course, created.



Eventually, I enabled comment moderating, meaning that I have to approve any comments before they are posted. Even doing that, some comments slip through, but most of them that have no business being posted never see the light of day.

Recently, I have deleted many comments, some of them bordering on lunacy, concerning the Jayda Kyle murder.

Perhaps there is one more comment I should have deleted. It was in response to the post concerning the federal grand jury indictment of a Joplin man on child pornography charges. The probable cause statement revealed the man told investigators he could not even put a number on how many children he had sexually abused.

It was a frightening statement, matched by one of the first commenters, who indicated that perhaps children should be able to consent to sexual activity with adults since we value their opinions in other areas, such as on guns.

It was a horrible comment and it brought a torrential downpour of responses.

I agreed with nearly every one of those and many of them made it into print, but others did not.

I made it clear several weeks ago that I was not going to allow profanity to appear in the comments and I have stuck to that decision In this case, nearly every other comment used the F word. So I ended up removing many comments that were nowhere near as deplorable as the one I allowed to remain.



It made me think twice about my decision to print that comment. As some commenters noted, it was clearly a troll getting his jollies by watching as his comment angered Turner Report readers.

At the same time, the original comment also indicated there are a lot of sick people in the world, but then again, we already knew that. Should I have printed the original comment?

Another comment that drew some attention came on the column I wrote about the two-year anniversary of my open heart surgery.

One commenter said he wish I had died.

While I definitely disagreed with that sentiment, another comment suggested that the only reason I published it was to gain sympathy.

That reader would probably change his or her mind if I printed all of the horrible comments about me that have not made it to the blog.

Should I have printed that comment?

There are many times I have to put considerable thought into whether a comment should be posted. Often, the decision is not easy.

The comments are important to this blog, though. I have always made it open to those who disagree with me and have allowed much criticism of me and my writing. That is not going to change.

At the same time, it is important that a welcoming atmosphere be encouraged and sadly, there are many people out there who either no longer have the ability or never had the ability to discuss an issue without name calling and bullying.

Let me know what you think.

The sale on my books continues through May

My books are on sale this month at Always Buying Books and Changing Hands Book Shoppe in Joplin and Pat's Books in Carthage.

-Buy a copy of 5:41: Stories from the Joplin Tornado, Spirit of Hope: The Year After the Joplin Tornado, or Silver Lining in a Funnel Cloud for $15 and you can get a free copy of Scars from the Tornado: One Year at Joplin East Middle School.



-Buy two of the three books at $15 apiece, and you can get a free copy of Scars and a copy of any of my other books for $5.

Great time at Crowder Local Authors Symposium

I enjoyed returning to my alma mater (at least one of my alma maters) Crowder College Wednesday for the Local Authors Symposium.

I had the opportunity to network with my fellow authors, get a good look at a campus that has changed greatly since the last time I visited, and read selections from Let Teachers Teach and Classroom Confidential.

Nancy Hughes, whose devotional columns run each week on the Turner Report, took the photo accompanying this post as I read from Let Teachers Teach.

I look forward to returning next year.

No Sales Pitch This Week

I have spent a portion of this weekly update each week providing a pitch on why you should subscribe to the Turner Report/Inside Joplin. While this has brought a small amount of money, I am concerned that those who have been contributing have done more than their share to help this news operation survive and grow and that, sadly, there is probably going to be little that can be done to convince people who have not contributed to consider doing so.

So, there are no PayPal buttons under the links this week. If you want to subscribe or contribute, there are buttons on the top right hand side of this page. Those who would prefer to send their contributions through the mail can also find my address on the right hand side of this page.

I guess that was a sales pitch. Sorry about that. I will try to do better.

Top Turner Report/Inside Joplin Posts

1. Joplin man: I have sexually abused so many children, I can't put a number on it

2. Probable cause statement: Carthage man told girlfriend if she opened the door "they'll find you dead in the hallway"

3. Federal grand jury indicts Joplin men on child pornography charges

4. Joplin man who admitted sexually abusing so many children he could not put an number on it" pleads guilty

5. Should I be offended by this?

6. Probable cause statement: Security cameras catch Joplin woman driving drunk in Mercy Hospital parking lot

7. So you want to be a Seneca superintendent

8. Jason Smith: President Trump responsible for the comeback of rural America

9. In jailhouse letter, accused Jayda Kyle killer says, "I've never been a part of anything so wrong and so corrupt

10. Lawyers for former East Middle School nurse to depose Tina Smith in age, disability discrimination lawsuit

Inside Joplin

1. Leggett and Platt official to serve as speaker for MSSU Commencement

2. Joplin Police arrest Webb City teen in connection with Charlie's Chicken armed robbery

3. Joplin Police Department makes six felony drug arrests over weekend

4. Jasper County Dissolution of Marriage Petitions

5. Joplin Police arrest man in stolen Newton County car with stolen Monett license plate reaching for stolen Carl Junction gun

6. Joplin Police Department Arrests May 2-3

7. Joplin Police Department Weekend Arrests

8. Jasper County Marriage Licenses

9. Funds being raised for gravestone for Neosho infant

10. Joplin Police Department Arrests May 3-4

Inside Joplin Obituaries

1. Dawn Burks

2. Tyler Land

3. Peggy Esch

4. Dorothy Faubion

5. Carl Bailey

6. Jerry Wells

7. Pamela Krtek

8. Janice Robertson

9. Carolyn Goodwin

10. Hunter Keeling