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Well John, as someone you've helped keep on the butt-end of "citizen journalism", I know well how much you really respect courage, and how you've treated people who do sign their name.

I also know the real names of several of the "anonymous" bloggers in the area. From what I understand, you and/or your technical geeks can at least identify someone's computer everytime they comment. And I expect if you really wanted to know who somebody was, you could track them down.

Last month I watched in horror as a good doctor-blogger pal (Flea) went down in flames . . . after he was "outed" on the stand in his own malpractice trial. He had been brave (and foolish) enough to blog on the trial while it was in play (never giving specifics of the case - just talking about the process) . . . and he thought his anonymous moniker was enough protection. Before the blog was shut down (when his lawyer found out about it several days into trial), it was an amazing, albeit brief glimpse into the doctor's side of a malpractice case . . . something the general public would benefit from hearing. Of course, it won't now.

Anonymity on the web is a myth.

But then, so is citizen journalism.

Sayeth JR to the newbies: "Work hard. Do your job. Obey the law. All will be well."* DMJ

What JR should be saying to the kids is this. You are living with the most corrupt local and national political government on the planet at the moment. The future will not be one of hope for you. You will be loaded with a debt of paper money that will have no value to it nor can it even be pay off in a million years. The promise of peace in your time is a myth and chances are you will be drafted into a phony war on terrorism and lose your life because you were betray by your own leaders. Chances are the job you will get will barely pay the rent and the cost of a family that you cannot afford to have.

You will be worked to death by your employers and you will wonder why the rich and the poor get health care at your expense while your middle class health support becomes a nightmare of unknown debt when real medical expenses appear by private fascist non-profit corporations whose leaders are unknown to you and the public and live a life style that only ancient Roman Senator could enjoy at this villa with the Lobbyists of their time.

And you are told to obey the law and things will work for the common good, you will find your personal life is known to every known government agent on the planet without the rule of law or the Bill of Rights that your founders gave you to honor and defend against all enemies or tyrants that seek to rule your individual life in the smallest point of your life.

You will be tax to death by your leaders for every known trade or good of service you recieved. You will be promise Bread and Circus's by your leaders with the daily Paris Hilton report and a corporate media that marches to the tune of it's political leaders.

Yes! All will be well if you are a good little slave to the elite masters of the Universe and listen and obey to their vast myths that all is well with your career, but should you challenge the system that they rule, they will come down on you like a ton of pyramids gone wild.

Of course! There is that other option. You could fight and expose them and take the risk that you could win like the founders of this great country thought.

Have nice day Grads, you know I am fibbering but who the heck cares anymore.

Connie, you can respond to my blog posts on my blog;) By the way, you pretty much nailed it.

But thanks for the plug. JR is well-practiced at ignoring me . . . even though I sign my name. And, of course, his decisions about what to cover "locally" (and what people really want to see and hear from the press) have translated into HUGE readership gains.

Hi JR, (sorry for the delay...just now making my blog rounds)

As an example...you know who I am. I am not writing for the benefit of many other readers. My typical blog response is normally....not always...but normally meant to be a one on one discussion. I do care ...a little ....what the rest of the world thinks...but not much.

At many public forums folks stand and express themselves without the benefit of being recognized. Why should blogging be different?
Many call in radio shows have questions and comments from "first name from wherever"...etc.

Sometimes I reveal who I am to a blogger so that we can have lunch and develop a real relationship...sometimes not.

In my family I have members that are very visible and in the public eye daily. I hope to never author anything that could cause them harm to their very noble causes. I don't desire my ignorance of a particular topic or sometime silliness blogging to be somehow twisted to cause them any issue. Does this make sense? Therefore I blog using meblogin. For the most part anyone desiring to know who I am can go to my blog and ask.

With regard to fear...sigh...more than once while blogging I would much prefer to "backhand" or meet the "dimwitted slugs that insult many" on some playground so as to settle some of the nasty foulmouthed donkey smelling comments that are made. Why blog hosts permit such absurd obnoxious commenters is beyond me? Of course in the real world we tend not to actually meet on the playground which only promotes more insults from the fearless behind the keyboards. These lowlife slimes understand the norms of blogging. I venture to guess that in a real one on one conversation that most are much more reserved.

Like I have said to several over the past couple of years..."Feel free to plant those lips on the southern side of the northbound mule". I really don't think they understood...smile.

I am interested in your thoughts.

Using a real name doesn't prevent mean-spirited comments, as this post attests. But it does, at least, encourage people to be accountable for what they say. So, if you post something ignorant or silly, why shouldn't I get to know who you are?

More to the point, knowing the writer of comments gives the reader some perspective of where the commenter is coming from. People regularly come onto this blog and post comments under dozens of different sign-ons. While I can determine that they come from the same people, you as a reader can't. Therefore, you might think that, say, dozens of different people don't like what we've written about the Greensboro Police Investigation when, in fact, it all centers on four different commenters.

To me, using a fake name adds to the confusion.

That said, using the same fake name as your pseudonym is a half a loaf to the better.