You might as well join, Martin. After all, "Martin Gibson" is a psuedonym anyway, isn't it? As Martin Gibson you are in no danger whatsoever of losing your privacy by posting on Mudcat unless you choose to reveal personal information in some post. But as a non-member you are continually in danger of other people grabbing your psuedonym and pretending to BE you. That's one reason why I joined early on (after a day or two of posting here). You are protected by membership, not compromised by it.

Now I'm not suggesting that this is necessarily of any importance to you, but that's how it is. Members are secure in their identity here. Guests are not.

While your baiting of "liberals" is at time quite understandable, I think the word "liberal" has been getting bad press lately (mostly in the USA). Historically speaking, every authoritarian regime in history has despised liberal forces, persecuted them, and been bolstered up by conservative forces. Thus, if it is your intent to rattle ivory towers, I would suggest that you are far more liberal in nature than you think you are.

But it's all a question of what you think the word "liberal" means...

The fact that it's such a no-no in present day America to be fingered as a "liberal" indicates that present day America is in an authoritarian and paranoid mood. This does not bode well for liberty or freedom.

- LH