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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>I agree, Joan.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Some of us were born with backbones and
are not afraid to use them. Others use weblogs.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Some of us have developed a strong sense
of maturity, responsibility, and conviction. Others use weblogs.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Some of us are not afraid to confront
adversity face to face. Others use weblogs.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Some of us strongly believe in a free and
open dialogue to discuss our differences. Others use weblogs.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>I don’t believe in weblogs to air my
grievances any more than I believed in playing “Ding-Dong Ditch It”
when I was. Perhaps it is because I have matured beyond the days of
Hide-and-Seek. When people want to contact me, they know where I can be
found.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Airing your “opinions” behind
the door of a weblog does not reflect maturity any more than does filing a
complaint anonymously.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Take care and keep your powder dry,<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Tom “I am” Hansen<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=navy face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:navy'>We could learn a lot from crayons: some are
sharp, some are pretty, some are dull, some have weird names, and all are
different colors....but they all exist very nicely in the same box. </span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
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face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>
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<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=2 face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Tahoma;font-weight:bold'>From:</span></font></b><font size=2
face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Tahoma'>
vision2020-bounces@moscow.com [mailto:vision2020-bounces@moscow.com] <b><span
style='font-weight:bold'>On Behalf Of </span></b>Joan Opyr<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Sent:</span></b> Thursday, November 04, 2004
1:43 PM<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>To:</span></b> Vision2020 Moscow<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Subject:</span></b> [Vision2020] Lurking and
blogging</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Verdana'>Dear Visionaries, <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Verdana'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Verdana'>Many of you have emailed me privately to
let me know that the graphoholic, self-proclaimed Libertarian
Reformed Christian (and thus oxymoronic) Dougsciple, Dale
Courteney, not only continues to lurk on this list like Jethro Tull's Aqualung,
but that he posts his responses to our public conversation with lightening
speed to his safe, sheltered, obsessive-compulsive blog.
Thank you for letting me know, and for suggesting that I ought to check
out said blog to see what Dale has to say about me, but I really must
decline. In a few weeks time, I'll be paying a brief visit to one of my favorite
cities, <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Washington</st1:City>, <st1:State
w:st="on">D.C.</st1:State></st1:place> There, I am bound to hear
countless equally valid assessments of my mental health and value to society
from our nation's genuine Aqualungs, dirty old men sitting on park
benches, reeking of urine and offering to pray for me if only I'll
give them my spare change. I feel sorry for these men, I do give
them my change, and I listen to them for as long as I can. This I
consider a mitzvah, a blessing.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Verdana'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Verdana'>But reading Dale's blog is not a mitzvah: it's
masochism. There's something parasitic about lurking on Vision 2020, as
Dale and Doug and others do, and then maniacally posting your clandestine
responses to what is, in truth, the grown man's version of the 13 year-old
girl's diary, the weblog. I don't mind lurking; lurk away. But
lurking and then blogging is pathetic. By such cowardice, Dale and
company render themselves nothing more than mistletoe sucking on an oak
tree. Back where I come from, we knock that crap out of the branches
with a long stick; then, come December, we sell it for a buck a sprig
at the flea market.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Verdana'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Verdana'>This year, I'm giving my mistletoe profits to as many
Aqualungs as I manage to meet on the benches and heating grates of the
Washington Mall. Next year, who knows -- I think it'll be a toss up
between Planned Parenthood and <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Spokane</st1:place></st1:City>'s
"Beans, and Rice, and Jesus Christ."<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Verdana'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Verdana'>Joan Opyr/Auntie
Establishment <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Verdana'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Verdana'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Verdana'>Auntie Establishment<br>
Serving <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Idaho</st1:place></st1:State>'s
liberal elite since 1993<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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