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posted by martyb on Friday November 27 2015, @12:01AM   Printer-friendly
from the names-are-complex--there-are-real-and-imaginary-ones dept.

The Montana Standard always collected real names from people in their comments section, but until recently allowed them to post under a screen name.

Their new policy is to display the real name.

They will also display the real names of all people who posted pseudonymous comments before the policy changed. This is bad news for anyone who had a good reason to use a nom de plume.

http://pubcit.typepad.com/clpblog/2015/11/retroactive-change-on-anonymous-comments-at-the-montana-standard.html


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  • (Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Saturday November 28 2015, @02:28AM

    by Phoenix666 (552) on Saturday November 28 2015, @02:28AM (#268952) Journal

    Holy cow, you know Butte? Another Montanan? I'm surprised at the relative density of Montanans on this site...

    My father grew up in Butte. He told stories about how frequently they'd find dogs and cats by the side of the creek running through town, dead because they had drunk the water. He swore kids from Butte were the highest performing students in the state, knowing that if they couldn't get the hell out they'd spend the rest of their lives in Butte. The School of Mines and Engineering is still one of the highest rated technical schools in the world, I believe, so that's one other good thing that comes out of Butte.

    When I was a young teen we went to an auction at the old smelter in Anaconda, up on the hill. I remember how barren the hilltop above was--the fumes from the smokestack were so toxic nothing would grow up there. It was interesting to wander through the chemists labs and workshops; A lot of the workmen's lockers still had coveralls and lunch boxes in them from 70-80 years before. Toward the end of the day I tried to push one of those heavy mining carts laden with iron scrap, fittings, and other salvage 20 yards up the hill to our truck. I slipped on the gravel, lost control of the cart, and watched as it rolled all the way down the hill and sailed off into the massive tailing pond below. I was so grateful it didn't kill anyone.

    --
    Washington DC delenda est.
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  • (Score: 2) by aristarchus on Saturday November 28 2015, @07:15AM

    by aristarchus (2645) on Saturday November 28 2015, @07:15AM (#269024) Journal

    Yes, I know Butte. But I am from the Greek island of Samos, in the 3rd Century BC, and so have lived many places. Some of the best years were in Montana, back in the days when Mountain men were men, and Mountain sheep were nervous. (Sorry, couldn't pass on the joke!) Some other interesting stories: The Clark's Fork of the Columbia used to run red with the toxic waste from the Butte mines. At some point, a chemist found a tin can that had been tossed into the river, and realized it was copper plated. So since they were just throwing money downstream, they managed to clean up the effluent a bit. (More history in the deconstruction of the Bonner Dam).

    And then, the hills behind the Anaconda smelters: at one point, the federal government was going to sue Rockefeller for damage to Forest Service land. Ol' Tricky John arranged a land swap that made the damaged land part of the Anaconda holdings. Case dismissed. Of course, the tailing piles and the damage are all still there. Just upstream of Warm Springs.

    My one other story is that only a while ago I was discussing news with a Navy guy who happened to hail from Great Falls. We were considering the claims of the alleged Navy Seal who claimed he was the one who shot Osama, but then it came out that the guy was from Butte. Both of us, at the same time, said, "Liar". Some things never change. But then, some things do.

    I miss Montana. And I too have noticed a preponderance of Montanans, current and expatriot, on SoylentNews. It is the one thing that gives me hope. God knows the Arkansans really don't add much.