Editor: If most recent comments are placed at the top of 'Popula

We use the Disqus platform to deliver our commenting feature. That program also provides the “Most Popular Threads.” We do not have control over what content is displayed in this block. The exact formula is not provided, but our experience suggests that the five spouts with the most comments within the past few days are featured here. If there are many spouts with multiple comments, a spout with a single comment, or fewer comments, might not make the cut. More importantly, to your assertion that Spout Off is censored by the Herald editorial staff, you need only browse through a few pages of the thousands of spouts published over the years to see the wide variety of opposing viewpoints represented. We don't apply any "agreement filter," but we may edit spouts for readability, and we cull spouts which do not conform to submission rules.