MARK SCHUMANN

InsideVero.com initially requested readers submitting comments to provide their first and last names.  It was and is our belief that the practice of asking commenters to identify themselves tends to improve the level of discourse by discouraging the mean spiritedness, sarcasm, rudeness and incivility sometimes expressed in comments posted anonymously on other websites.

Unfortunately, contributors to InsideVero.com who use their first and last names can and have been tracked down through Facebook, and perhaps through other social media, and have been sent unsolicited and unwelcome messages.  One such message raised the subject of libel.  Given the source, it was an incredibly absurd accusation to make.  Just the same, because commenters to InsideVero.com should not have to fear being stalked on Facebook, we will now accept comments posted under pseudonyms.

We continue to encourage contributors to exercise a generous measure of civility, and we reserve the write to withhold comments that a rude, mean-spirited and/or unnecessarily personal.