now, you see, I have no idea whether 'Martin Gibson' is replying to me, or someone else..it resembles Martin Gibsons remarks, but could be one of several...so I don't know who I am replying to, and this complicates what I might choose to reply.

"Members do this quite often as well..."

no...members do NOT do it to the degree that anonymous "guests" do it! Members sometimes have flamed each other and disagreed and bickered, but the serious, nasty, hateful, hurtful remarks are usually from people who are not using a member ID. In a couple of cases, members who did cross the line found themselves NOT members, I believe. In a couple other cases, people 'hiding behind the curtain' were surprised when Toto pulled the curtain aside (IP adresses) and they were (privately) unmasked.

"It is no one's responsibility but your own to edit what you don't want to read online. Don't like it? Don't read it. Period."

...and how are you supposed to know it is unpleasant crap BEFORE you read it? We have had threads where someone was discussing the loss of a loved one, or their serious health or weight problem...and getting helpful advice...when some idiot drops a truly nasty remark into the thread and really hurts a good person.(there has been one ongoing example of this for years!)
Don't give me BS about "don't sweat small stuff" just because YOU don't take it personally or feel threatened or insulted...YOU are not 'everyone', and evidently YOU have no idea what it feels like to be hit with nastiness when you are vulnerable!

"Why would it make you feel safer or more at ease, knowing the name of the person who insults you?" It is not a matter of "safer" in most cases, but it would sure give me a better idea of whether I needed to respond, ignore or call the cops! If I know poster "X" is usually just a smart-alec loudmouth who flips off remarks he 'thinks' are funny or cute, I might shrug and ignore; but if I realize this person is not only serious, but knows me or lives near me and knows my friends and is trying to do damage to my reputation (yes, we just had some posts like that!) then I'd feel a bit different.

Human beings, as we know them today, have been around for about 35,000 years, 6000-7000 with a written language, but the ability to make remarks this widely, and with almost total anonymity is only 10-15 years old, and many of them have not figured out how to adjust to it yet.

(oh, and I beg to differ, Clinton, about your claim...."just about anyone with the intelligence of the average brain- damaged monkey can find your IP number, trace it to your internet provider and find out exactly where you live..." That requires at least a savvy Orangutan!

They might get your bank account, find your credit rating, and discover what brand of guitar strings you buy, IF they know who you are to begin with. (you and I make no secret about where we are-- 'Martin Gibson' chooses a nickname, and I'd find it a LOT of work to idenitfy him...so I wouldn't bother without good cause, and being outspoken is not 'good cause')
----If you do nothing to protect yourself, you can be traced by some means, by those with **access** to IP numbers, but you surely know that it is possible to post either here in Mudcat, or in USENET, or to send email, so that it would take an enormous effort to find you! Spammers and hackers do it everyday, and they are only identified when someone thinks it is serious enough to spend LOTS of time poring over ISP logs (IF you get a court order and have the computer time). Serious death threats and national security 'might' get the attention; hateful remarks to a folkie wont.