Well it was bound to happen sooner or later, but if we are going to stay on the up and up, then it’s time to get the Legal Mumbo Jumbo out of the way. The REAL Government made a law saying we have to, and while The Smithocracy is a household government, with it’s own set of laws and rulers, we still have to bow to the actual Government. The USA one, just in case you have no idea where we are. So here it is.
1. The Smithocracy is run by The Smith Family. It consists of the 4 individuals of our family; Dan, Tannie, Austin and Logan. The Voice of The Smithocracy is Tannie Smith. Sometimes you will hear from Dan Smith. As the kids get older, I hope that they will contribute to the blog as well. However, as it stands for now, Tannie is the Author of the blog.
2. We do a lot of things. We DIY, we food review, we product review. Whatever catches our fancy. Each thing we do, we do our own way. We are not professionals. Well Dan is a professional CPA, but that is all he is professional at. I WAS a professional Graphic Designer, but I hung that hat up. So what does that mean? It means that not all things turn out perfect, and sometimes things go wrong. If they do, we try our best to share them so it won’t go wrong for you. But remember, The Smithocracy believes fully in Free Agency. No one here made you try it, and you are the only one responsible for you, and your own decisions to follow, or not follow our advice. However, if you try something on here, and it doesn’t work for you, like it worked (or did not work) for us, you or someone else gets injured, or something you own gets damaged, we are in no way responsible or liable.
3. All photos, content, text, etc. on The Smithocracy are rights protected. Please link back and give credit, as we do the same for you. That way no one violates any copyright laws. That would be really sad. Anything not credited to someone else, belongs directly to The Smithocracy. If it is not by The Smithocracy, it is credited and appropriately linked. If something is missed, it is by pure accident and will be corrected once brought to our attention.
4. Don’t steal my stuff. Seriously. I don’t mind a link back, or a summary of what I have written, in your own words (as long as I still get the credit.) But do not copy/paste. Do not use my photos without credit. And do not use my ideas without credit. I am an Artist and take this stuff VERY seriously.
5. At this time, we do not accept advertising, of any sort, on this site. If a product is mentioned, it is because I like it, not because I was paid to. If a store is mentioned, it is because I really shop there. If I say food is good. It is because food is good. As long as this site continues to cost us nothing, we will continue to do it for nothing. We want our opinion completely untainted. If a product has been donated for our review, we will clearly state so. But we will still give our full opinion, whether it be good or bad. If a restaurant has invited us to review their place, we will state so. However, mostly we just crash and review.
6. Giveaways are items that have been freely donated or have been created by Tannie or another of The Smithocracy family. We will not accept payment to give a product out. But we will accept the donation of a product. And only products that we feel will appeal to our readers. If the item has been donated, it will be stated as such. If it was created by The Smithocracy, it will be stated as such.
7. Your contact information is safe with The Smithocracy. It will not be sold, handed out, copied or misused in any way. We may, at times, contact a person directly to get an address in order to send a giveaway, if you have won said giveaway. But that will be the only purpose of obtaining that information.
8. The Smithocracy is all about being nice. It is not about mean-ness. Therefore if you post something crabby, mean, malicious, insensitive or negative in any way, it will be deleted or not approved. All comments are held in review initially. If you are a previous Positive Commenter but turn negative, you will be deleted. There is Zero Tolerance on this issue. I guess in a small way that means we do not believe in Completely Free Speech. We believe in Positive Free Speech. We follow the motto, “If you can’t say something nice, then don’t say anything at all.” Let me put it another way, if I don’t let my kids say it, I won’t let you say it either.
9. This is my blog. Which means I will move stuff around if I feel like it. I may delete stuff if I feel like it. I may post if I feel like it and I may not, if I feel like it. So things may change sometimes, and may not other times.
Phew! Well that was tedious. Good to finally get it out of the way. If you fell asleep, I completely understand! But now we have some Rules and Regulations to follow, and if anyone knows me, they know that I am a Rules kind of gal!
The Smithocracy 