What becomes of old 'friends'..

[JayUtah]

I notified the Economist and asked that the content be removed.  I also posted a disclaimer.  I am considering legal action.

[JayUtah]

To answer your first question, no.

To those of us with experience in formally specified languages (i.e., those with rigid syntax), including commas and periods inside quotation marks is uncomfortable when the marks intend to enclose local text to be treated differently and the punctuation applies to the larger sentence.

To answer your second, recast the sentence.

We did that, if only to avoid the awkward punctuation.  Tommy exclaimed, "That's a turtle!"; the result was dramatic became "That's a turtle!" exclaimed Tommy; the result was dramatic.

Since it is correct to essentially use a quoted exclamation point or question mark as a comma in dialogue--"Really?" the group demanded--I suppose you don't really need a comma if you're just using another phrase.

When the punctuation is emotive and applies to the quoted text, including it within the quotation marks seems natural.  And when the quotation ends the sentence, co-opting the internal punctuation also to end the sentence seems natural enough.  It's when you want to apply something like a semicolon -- which has no spoken equivalent and no emotive content, but is instead merely the "sentence glue" you name -- that you begin to distrust your common sense.

I'm also, given how rotten my day ended up being yesterday, a little more pleased than is really merited that Jay is consulting me as an expert in something.

It behooves us all to be gracious with the expertise we have been granted.  Success is not in how much you know, but in what expertise you can bring to bear -- regardless of source.

[gillianren]

To those of us with experience in formally specified languages (i.e., those with rigid syntax), including commas and periods inside quotation marks is uncomfortable when the marks intend to enclose local text to be treated differently and the punctuation applies to the larger sentence.

Well, and of course British English has slightly different rules on the subject than American English.  I don't know why we made the changes, either.

We did that, if only to avoid the awkward punctuation.  Tommy exclaimed, "That's a turtle!"; the result was dramatic became "That's a turtle!" exclaimed Tommy; the result was dramatic.

Perfectly acceptable, though in this particular case, there seems literally no reason to insist that they have to be one sentence.  After all, "The result was dramatic" is a complete sentence in and of itself; that's why using a semicolon is acceptable in the first place.

When the punctuation is emotive and applies to the quoted text, including it within the quotation marks seems natural.  And when the quotation ends the sentence, co-opting the internal punctuation also to end the sentence seems natural enough.  It's when you want to apply something like a semicolon -- which has no spoken equivalent and no emotive content, but is instead merely the "sentence glue" you name -- that you begin to distrust your common sense.

And indeed, so do I, which is why my first advice in a situation like that is always to recast the sentence.  I don't trust my own common sense on the subject, either.

It behooves us all to be gracious with the expertise we have been granted.  Success is not in how much you know, but in what expertise you can bring to bear -- regardless of source.

Quite.  It was still good for my self esteem on a day when I particularly needed it.

[Drewid]

An aside

Patrick turns up at BAUT  (well, Cosmoquest) as 'carboniclight' and is spat out again almost immediately.

Introduces himself as

My friends call me "icy". I am a radiation oncologist just getting started into a year of a much needed sabbatical. From the UK, will be in the states for a year.

Ever the master of impenetrable disguise 

[scooter]

An aside

Patrick turns up at BAUT  (well, Cosmoquest) as 'carboniclight' and is spat out again almost immediately.

Introduces himself as

My friends call me "icy". I am a radiation oncologist just getting started into a year of a much needed sabbatical. From the UK, will be in the states for a year.

Ever the master of impenetrable disguise 

That guy is almost pathological...really disturbing. Combine it with his ranting, furious youtube videos, I start to really worry about his type. He probably think he's clever too.

[ka9q]

I notified the Economist and asked that the content be removed.  I also posted a disclaimer.  I am considering legal action.

I've obviously missed something...

[LunarOrbit]

I notified the Economist and asked that the content be removed.  I also posted a disclaimer.  I am considering legal action.

I've obviously missed something...

Fattydash was posting comments under the name JayUtah, but I guess he realized he could be in some serious trouble because he has changed his screen name to JayKentucky.

[Donnie B.]

Is legal action even possible when one's online identity is stolen like that?  I can't recall any precedents but it's not an area I know much about.

[twik]

Well, I wouldn't lay money on the stability of anyone who writes in Patrick's "HAHAHAHA!!!!" style.

[JayUtah]

Is legal action even possible when one's online identity is stolen like that?  I can't recall any precedents but it's not an area I know much about.

Yes, it's against California state law (Patrick lives in San Francisco) and is a criminal offense as well as a civil tort.  The impersonation must be credible and malicious.

The First Amendment protects practically anything he might say about me, as unflattering as it may be.  But it does not protect him when he pretends to be me, and in that persona to try to cause harm or defamation to me or others by uttering statements likely to be attributed to me.  The law was originally intended to punish cyber bullying, but has been extended to other defamatory and unlawful activity.  Since "JayUtah" is a well-enough known moniker for me, and refers to someone who has attached his professional reputation to that identity, then assuming that identity for the purposes of damaging that reputation or falsely endorsing or advocating something, is illegal.

Depending on what I hear back from The Economist web master, I may file a complaint with the San Francisco area prosecutor unless Patrick removes the unlawful posts altogether.  Once that is done, the matter is out of my hands.  If he finds he has a case, he will prosecute and Mr. Patrick T[redacted]li will stand tall before a judge.  The fact that he has changed the offending user name is irrelevant, since the offending content and false identity were allowed to stand for some time, sufficient to be noticed and commented upon by others.

[LunarOrbit]

And now someone is posting under the name "buzzaldrin". Smart move.

[pzkpfw]

And now someone is posting under the name "buzzaldrin". Smart move.

Yes. He punches.

[sts60]

The little twerp has about a half-dozen sock puppets talking to each other.  Doesn't that violate the Economist's TOS?

[gwiz]

The little twerp has about a half-dozen sock puppets talking to each other.  Doesn't that violate the Economist's TOS?

He might be in trouble with them, as several of the fake identities seem to have been deleted today.  Doesn't stop him replacing them with new ones, of course.

[twik]

I'm wondering if we can lure Patrick to some sort of mock website (I was going to use the word "dummy" but thought that might be misconstrued), where he can rant to his heart's content about being the world's greatest Apollo historian - bike designer - sextant user - medical practitioner. Perhaps program it so that a standard response would be automatically generated now and then, so he thinks people are actually reading his stuff. Because he really seems to have a deep-seated need to have an audience for his obsessions. It goes beyond amusing into pitiable.