A Star staffer just shared this interesting take on posted comments at news-oriented Web sites. As I've written before, I hear from readers fairly often about offensive and rude behavior on KansasCity.com's comment.

I know it can be extremely annoying, and we all wish people would behave civilly -- but this is an issue that's been around since bathroom walls began. Anonymity leads people to do things they'd never consider if their names were attached.

You can always report an offensive comment with

A few notes from today's 10:00 news meeting and critique:

The room liked photographer David Pulliam's photo of an old picture of Benjamin Ranch hung so that readers can see what it looks like today. This was a rather unusual way to illustrate the story, as photojournalists don't normally alter the appearance of their subjects. In this case, the caption notes that David put the old photo there, so it's kind of a photo illustration.

An editor noted that the lede (first paragraph) of the A-1 story about Super Tuesday has two dashes in it, which he found distracting. Actually, another pointed out, it has three.

An e-mailer points out that this AP story about yesterday's hearing about the Overland Park Planned Parenthood clinic mentioned that the judge said previous Attorney General Paul Morrison should not have issued a letter clearing thea agency of altering records. Current AG Phill Kline contends that Planned Parenthood has changed them, and the agency denies it.

The Star ran a short story last night after the hearing, and a much longer version in this morning's paper and online.

Chris Pettman sends an e-mail with a point that I find absolutely fascinating:

"With reference to the article on Edmund Hillary in A12 of 1/13/08, the late mountaineer is quoted as saying (para. three) '...dozens of aluminum ladders...'. Hillary was from New Zealand and they spell and pronounce aluminum as 'aluminium' in the same way as the British do. Whilst this may seem a niggling point, I am bothered by the need to Americanise spelling for home consumption. Why can't someone from another culture be valued for the way the say and spell words in the same way they are usually respected for many other differences? This trend towards altering spelling for the home market is now common in the book world (though so far the classics have been left alone) but it is one that newspapers can and should resist."

Several of you noticed that Tuesday's Watchdog column in the Local section and the At Your Service column in FYI both tackled the question of where business white pages and government blue pages are in the AT&T phone directories.

The Watchdog said, correctly, that they moved to the Yellow Pages book, while At Your Service pointed readers to the White Pages. A correction today set the record straight.

This was one of those bizarre times when the Metro and Features departments didn't realize they were working on the same info -- made even stranger by the fact that one got it wrong. Calcu

Several e-mailers have asked why The Star hasn't run anything about questions over the effectiveness of widely-prescribed heart drug Vytorin. A new study released Monday showed it has little effect on plaque in the arteries, as other news sources have reported.

I've passed along reader interest in the topic to the editors who put together the A and Business sections. This is definitely an issue that may affect a lot of people.

I just got off the phone with a very nice caller who doesn't think today's A-1 story on "The Scary Guy" belonged on the front page. "I have a few tattoos and had my ear pierced," he said. "My mom had eight tattoos and my dad has twelve, so this is familiar territory. But I don't know where it belongs in the paper. He got some good press and that's good for his career, I guess."

It's a fine story, but I share my caller's concern about its play. The Scary Guy makes a living based on his appearance (and the story does note that his seminars can cost $5000 a day), and it's not as if he hasn't appeared in The Star many times in the past.

Two readers noticed a problem in a Web-only story about a body found over the weekend. One wrote:

"Someone seriously needs to do a story regarding how the local media (all local TV stations) and the KC Star constantly confuse North Kansas City and Kansas City North. They are two completely separate cities and are not interchangeable."

They certainly aren't. As both readers reminded me, North Kansas City is a separate municipality with its own government in Clay County. It isn't interchangeable with the portions of Kansas City, Mo. that lie north of the river -- which should be called Kansas City North. That's where the body was found. The original story has since been corrected.

I had a thoughtful e-mail over the weekend from a reader suggesting ways to look at the various terms surrounding the abortion debate, such as "pro-life" or "pro-choice."

In the news sections of The Star, this isn't really a question, since the style book says "anti-abortion" and "abortion rights" should take the place of the loaded terms above. Editorials and opinion columns can use the terminology, though, as they're always allowed greater leeway in language use.

Political stories will sometimes use the shorthand terms, too, especially when a candidate uses them him- or herself -- though I'd prefer if they were restricted only to direct quotes. Many readers have told me that they believe one can be "pro life" yet believe in abortion rights, so I see their point. And of course, I realize the other side will disagree here vehemently -- hence the reason to avoid the terms completely.

Several of you have called and e-mailed today to request that The Star look at the Real ID Act in Congress, a Homeland Security initiative which has been controversial lately as several states have rejected it. There was a meeting at the Uptown Theater last night of citizens concerned about the act, which they fear may lead to identity theft and other security problems.

As with all story suggestions, I've passed the interest along to the newsroom. I can never promise anything will be covered, but it's good to hear the recommendations. For the record, The Star's written about the act seve