A Question (and an Answer) On, But Not In, the Monthly AMA Thread

I've been privately asked -- more than once and not just lately -- why I answer (or even put up with) nasty, personal, fake "questions" in the monthly AMA thread, and why I don't just ban those who show up to flood said threads with said questions.

The answer to the first question is simple: An Ask Me Anything thread is not an Ask Me Only Questions I Like thread. I've advertised the former and intend to keep to it.

The answer to the second question is that I do sometimes ban people here ... after answering their questions.

The ice is not especially thin here, but if you stomp too hard and break that ice, you're going to disappear beneath the surface of the commenting water into cold, black silence. So you might want to keep that in mind.