<HTML><BODY STYLE="font:10pt verdana; border:none;"><DIV><FONT face=Arial color=black size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">From Moscow's newest gossip columnist:</SPAN></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial color=black size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"></SPAN></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial color=black size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">>Dr. Nick Gier, local <I><SPAN style="FONT-STYLE: italic">intolerista </SPAN></I>agitator, and author of <I><SPAN style="FONT-STYLE: italic">God, Reason, and the Evangelicals: The Case Against Evangelical >Rationalism </SPAN></I>was recently seen on <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:Street w:st="on"><st1:address w:st="on">Conestoga St.</st1:address></st1:Street> in <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Moscow</st1:place></st1:City>, looking to link up with Charles Nolan, publisher of J.C. >Ryle's great work<I><SPAN style="FONT-STYLE: italic"> </SPAN></I>entitled <I><SPAN style="FONT-STYLE: italic">Holiness. </SPAN></I>Subsequent events indicated that they did in fact find each other. Charles Nolan >also recently appeared in <I><SPAN style="FONT-STYLE: italic">World </SPAN></I>magazine as a "knowledgable witness" on the tax exemption fracas. Since he was not >formally connected to those proceedings, we can only surmise other strange alliances gave him a special esoteric >knowledge. -- Posted by Douglas Wilson, to his blog, 8/16/04.</SPAN></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial color=black size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"></SPAN></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial color=black size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"></SPAN></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial color=black size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">I'm sorry Tom, Wayne, Jack, et al., but I have to disagree with you. This isn't evidence of paranoia; it's a charming return to the small town Southern tradition of spying (and reporting) on one's neighbors. As recently as 1991, when I last lived in North Carolina, little newspapers like the Four Oaks Gazette had a special column devoted to what was called "society news." This consisted of scintillating stories like, "On Friday night, Mr. and Mrs. Red Neck of 1313 High Colonic Lane were joined at supper by Mrs. Maybelle Colitis of Goldsboro. They enjoyed a hearty meal of baked possum, RC Cola, boiled peanuts and moon pies before embarking on a game of pull-my-finger. Mr. Neck, who is reported by friends, relatives, and near neighbors to be 'straight-piped,' won the game resoundingly."</SPAN></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial color=black size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"></SPAN></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial color=black size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Doug, who is a published admirer of Southern hospitality, must be familiar with this kind of reporting, and I have to admit that I am myself a fan. It saves wear and tear on the drapes (all that rubbing back and forth on the curtain rod caused by peeping out) not to mention phone calls to friends to find out whose Buick that is in Mrs. Flabbergast's driveway. Better by far to have that vital information online! I only wish I could be an active participant, but alas, I don't live on Conestoga. I live at the end of a half-mile long dirt road, and my house is not visible from the road. What can I do to be a part of this vital information sharing? Wait . . . I've got it. I'll self report!</SPAN></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial color=black size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"></SPAN></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial color=black size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">"On Wednesday, Ms. Saundra Lund visited Ms. Mary Joan Opyr at the Opyr-Huskey home. The ladies drank Diet Coke and ate stale doughnuts, which, as everyone knows, have no carbohydrates. Ms. Opyr then attempted to foist some of her excess zucchini crop onto Ms. Lund, who kindly took three but left the other four hundred and thirty six. Ms. Opyr regrets this as her children are steadfastly refusing to eat zucchini bread, zucchini fricasse, zucchini ratatouille, and zucchini surprise -- AKA, zucchini eaten while wearing a blindfold." </SPAN></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial color=black size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"></SPAN></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial color=black size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">And that's the news from Lake Wobegone. I'm Chevy Chase, and you're not.</SPAN></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial color=black size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"></SPAN></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial color=black size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Joan Opyr/Auntie Establishment</SPAN></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial color=black size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"></SPAN></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial color=black size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">PS: Saundra -- come get some zucchini! I'm begging you!</SPAN></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial color=black size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"></SPAN></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial color=black size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"></SPAN></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial color=black size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"> </SPAN></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial color=black size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"></SPAN></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Tahoma, Sans-serif" color=black size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black; FONT-STYLE: italic; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"></SPAN></FONT><I><FONT face=Arial color=black size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black; FONT-STYLE: italic; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"></SPAN></FONT></I> </DIV> <DIV><I><FONT face=Arial color=black size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black; FONT-STYLE: italic; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"></SPAN></FONT></I> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial color=black size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black; FONT-STYLE: italic; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"></SPAN></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><I><FONT face=Arial color=black size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black; FONT-STYLE: italic; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"></SPAN></FONT></I> </DIV></BODY></HTML><br clear=all><hr>Get more from the Web. FREE MSN Explorer download : <a href='http://explorer.msn.com'>http://explorer.msn.com</a><br></p>