prodigal1 wrote:

... [rant snipped] ...

Maybe I'm just old-fashioned, but it occurs to me that the level of
discourse hereabouts is tending toward Paris Sewer levels. One possible
reason is that there are quite a few folks posting under anonymous monikers.
As many long-time readers know, this occurs here from time to time,
characterized by a frequency on par with sun spots and US general elections.
Though rare, it's still a bit unnerving.

If I didn't know better I'd suspect these nameless wonders do this because
they are not quite forthcoming enough to post their sentiments under a name
that other readers could associate with a real live human being. (BTW, the
"spam avoidance" excuse doesn't work here, or haven't you heard about
"munging" and Mailwasher?) There are any number of possible reasons for
this character-less activity, but none of them pass muster as evidence of
responsible behavior.

There are many of us who've been writing to this group over the years who
have always signed our names. There's also a large group of anonymous
posters whose behavior is impeccable. We've all said and done stupid things
and made mistakes, but this missive is not intended for them. It's
directed at the "others."

The "others" contingent hides behind some "nom-de-Usenet" and never crawls
out from under the rock they currently inhabit. They and their ilk have
origins that can usually be traced to other newsgroups where their behavior
is the norm rather than the exception. They seem to be prone toward
political rants and broad generalizations, and quite often show little
evidence of schooling beyond fourth grade (on a good day). They are quite
certain that "grammar" is an actor in a TV sitcom

These are _not_ the folks one wants to share an anchorage with, although
it's unlikely that they will wander far in their 18 foot runabouts..

Hey, I'm just an old-fashioned guy, I guess, but would these "phantoms" give
some though to backing up their rants with their real names? As the song
goes, "let the sun shine.".

--
Good luck and good sailing.
s/v Kerry Deare of Barnegat
http://kerrydeare.home.comcast.net/