The brain is not a muscle. For proof of that, we turn to the commenting forums of Bodybuilding.com.

The ESPN.com comment section has been described as a both a "cesspool" and "a wretched hive of scum and villainy." Deservedly. Bristol's servers bulge with the ill-considered and perpetually ignored thoughts of the unwashed masses, spouted forever into the ether with recesses only to register new aliases after a…

The Washington Post has a gamer for a 4A playoff semifinal last night, where Wise HS walloped DuVal by 31 points for a major upset. It's of interest only to that very small segment of readership who follows Maryland prep hoops, and of course, family and friends of the players. So while there's only one comment on the…

We hate to use such cliched terms, but it's hard to describe the ESPN.com comment section without words like "cesspool" and "wretched hive of scum and villainy" and "somehow even worse than Yahoo's comment section." But that's an unfair generalization. Not everyone there is horribly racist or a ward of the state or a…

If you've read our previous Discussion Discussions, or the Comment Of The Fortnight-Ish columns before those, by now you're likely familiar with how they work: we artfully (we hope) and circuitously (uh, yeah) lay out an argument for how best to conduct oneself down there, and hopefully by the end you're nodding and…

OK, various malcontents, you've finally broken us down, and we're going to admit something deeply uncomfortable. Here it is:

"Ultimately, who gives a shit?"

A man claiming to be the father of young Jack Meyer, the "Good Job, Good Effort" kid, left a comment on a post at Midwest Sports Fans. In under two hours, two separate CBS affiliates left their own comments, desperately trying to get in touch with the family.

Let's talk meat.

To kick off today's discussion, here are two exceptionally great, fairly recent comments for you to examine:

In recent articles on commenting we've discussed freshness and originality, and now, having tackled those, we're prepared to move on to the slightly weightier topic of race relations in Western culture. Well, not quite. But we are going to talk about racist jokes.

Let's talk about originality. When a joke makes you laugh, who exactly gets to claim credit for being a funny comedian?

OK, we understand there is some anger and confusion about the changes in the comments section, and we want to take the time to explain it as best we can.

"For a site whose taste is questioned regularly, the entry lacked the snark and ridicule the site makes its bones with. When one scrolls down to the comment section, however, humanity quickly fades." boomroasted[HuffyPo]

Greetings. It's the ghost of David Carradine. The Ninjas would like a word with you people. No admonishments, just accolades. So please listen carefully and keep your wits about you. Remember: pet the cobra once, but do not kiss it.

The Hartford Courant's Rich Messina snapped this wonderful photo of last year's controversial squash championship, where Trinity's Baset Chaudry knocked off Yale's Kenneth Chan and then proceeded to act like the most vile human being on the planet after his victory.

Yes. I know. Who's excited about a change in the commenting system? YAY. But, this time, I think you'll find these new additions helpful in your quest to become a commenting superstar. Pickle?

Do you have any questions? It doesn't matter. I'm going to be sitting here with my hand in my pants waiting for you to ask something if you have one. Or we can just "chat."