Real Lebo Blog is Back, But Read-Only

I am pleased to report that the Mt. Lebanon blog Real Lebo is back in business!

The bloggers there went silent about a week ago, after they reported receiving threatening comments. Now that they are back, they have announced that they will no longer be accepting comments from readers:

What's really happening in Mt. Lebanon is that the signal-to-noise ratio is way out of whack, which is why we'll no longer be accepting comments at Real Lebo...

Welcome back, Real Lebo.

Mt. Lebanon Bloggers Report Being Threatened

Yesterday, the bloggers at Real Lebo reported that they had received threats and may stop blogging:

Some sad news to report: the torrent of expletive-filled comments that we’ve been receiving on this blog for many weeks now ... have turned to more serious threats.... Thanks to those who have offered their support and encouragement. We’ll see you around.

This is indeed sad news. The cornerstone of any community is its conversation. When part of that conversation is silenced, through threats or other means, the entire community loses something vital.

I have urged the folks at Real Lebo to involve the police. If there are bullies in our midst, they deserve to be held accountable for their behavior. As a community, we must not tolerate threats to our freedom to speak with each other openly and honestly.

Joe and I wish our neighbors at Real Lebo all the best and hope that they will keep their blog going. On their right to speak, we support them in every way.

Read more:

• Chilled Speech (Suburbia Calling)

Updated 2010-03-08 15:04 to add Read More section and link to Suburbia Calling’s post. —Tom

Real Lebo

I'd like to welcome fellow Mt. Lebanon residents Elaine Labalme and Kristen Linfante to the Lebo blogosphere with the launch of their web site "Real Lebo" this past Tuesday.

Their site description, "RealLebo.com -- A blog about what's really happening in Mt. Lebanon, PA.", is interesting considering that it is the same description that Mike and I used for this blog for years except for the "really" that has been added. Not "really" sure (pun intended) what that's supposed to mean, but I'll make sure to follow their blog and see what they post!