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Health & Fitness

E-mail Etiquette and Nom d'Plumes

If you have something to write, you must be willing to be known!

Etiquette in business e-mail is as standard as in other business correspondence. So, one does not wriite in all caps as that shows anger and/or shouting. Is there any reason for writers to The Patch to ignore basic civilities?

A nom d' plume in publishing throughout history is a device which had very  real protections for the author. Political pamphleteering could lead to a death sentence in 18th century Europe and in the colonies it could lead if not to death at least to  imprisonment. In modern times, we have nom d' plumes for commercial reasons. Stephen King's "Richard Bachman" is entirely a marketing strategy.But, in other parts of the world, one can still be sentenced to a jihadist death sentence, sort of like an omerta death in criminal organizations. Otherwise, there are few valid reasons for a nom d' plume. So, why does anyone use that device on the internet? More pointedly, why is there a need to mask one's self on The Patch?

The Milford Daily News will not print a letter or publish an article from an unknown. One cannot write a blog article in that capacity. So, why can anyone write a reply as a masked person? The only reason is cowardice. Why reply as  a masked  thought pirate? Is the writer a coward? Is that person a criminal of some kind? Would we recognize the writer as some how unstable or venal if a real identity was used? Posssibly so. I have challenged several masked men, most notably the widly egotistical Mr. Milford, to an intellectual or a physical duel in person. He is a coward and has kept his anonymity. The Scarlet Hawk has been flushed out and will not dare show his/her tainted face or scribblings for all to see. I have used humourous handles as an e-mail address. I would not use that handle as an author of a blog page or for any other meaningful essay.

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Other sites have been successfully sued for harboring repliers like those above. I know that it is a difficult task to monitor all the crazies out there. But , fundamental civilty and intellectual honesty militates against nom d plumes. As a blogger with some thing to say, no matter how unpopular that may be, I and no other blogger should be submitted to masked retorts just as we should not be submitted to masked bigots in person.

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