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I saw Bob J’s posts late last night. My gut reaction was “Laz won’t respond the way Bob expects him to.” I knew exactly what you’d say, Laz. And you said it. You’re a class act.

Meh. I'll do, until a class act finally comes around. ;)

Bob J claims he posted personal information to demonstrate how awesome the TBL moderators are. He just knew they would delete it and show FR mods “how it’s done.” I have trouble accepting that.

So do I. Free Republic admins routinely remove any personal info and usually ban or suspend the author. That's been my experience.

Also the comment he made, something along the lines of "This is all I'll reveal for now, unless you [do whatever he was talking about]. There's more I've got. Capiche?"

I literally laughed out loud, and chuckled throughout the day, and the "Capiche?" line. Sounded like he was auditioning for the Sopranos. LOL!

So, I decided to pull the pin on his so-called grenade. I wanted him to see a few things:

1) In demonstration, a man who has no fear from the 'secrets' he held, because that man is willing to recite them out loud to the world.

2) I wanted him to see the backlash that would inevitably come from doing this. People put themselves in my place, and they didn't like how it made them feel. If the man would do it to one person, he could do it to you too. I wanted him to get the negative feedback. Maybe it might make him rethink how his life was being lived.

I don't profess to know if it will, I am out of the Results Business. That's God's. If he doesn't like how it made him feel, I have a solution that worked for me. I will gladly share recovery with anyone who wants it.

Bob, if you’re reading this, I hope you learn as much from Laz as I did. He taught me the “It’s none of my business” life lesson back in March. It has changed how I interact with people. But more importantly, it freed me from a significant burden.

You were and are a willing student. If you are willing to do more work, I can promise you the results will be... well, let me quote the professionals:

If we are painstaking about this phase of our development, we will be amazed before we are half way through. We are going to know a new freedom and a new happiness. We will not regret the past nor wish to shut the door on it. We will comprehend the word serenity and we will know peace. No matter how far down the scale we have gone, we will see how our experience can benefit others. That feeling of uselessness and selfpity will disappear. We will lose interest in selfish things and gain interest in our fellows. Self-seeking will slip away. Our whole attitude and outlook upon life will change. Fear of people and of economic insecurity will leave us. We will intuitively know how to handle situations which used to baffle us. We will suddenly realize that God is doing for us what we could not do for ourselves.

Are these extravagant promises? We think not. They are being fulfilled among us—sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly. They will always materialize if we work for them.

There’s another thing to consider Laz.

Without you lifting a finger, this brain surgeon just set half his own ‘posse’ against himself. God works in mysterious ways ;)

Also, should some ill befall you, he is now open to very real legal liability, as is anyone else who maliciously posts such info. Very REAL legal liability. Now I’m not saying you should or would take any such action. I’m merely pointing out something the average keyboard commando rarely considers when the online warfare goes over the edge.

The last online ‘war’ I got in with one of these types that threatened to hire someone to ‘break my kneecaps’ and posted personal info of mine thought better of it at some point. His lawyer sent a couple nice letters to me explaining such ;)

But my all-time fave was when I was the Ed at off-road.com back in the late 90s. The ALF (Animal Liberation Front) posted “Wanted posters” of me online including name, photo and address. They got the pic after having literally stalked me in the desert about 20 miles off I 15 in SoCal. I remember seeing the people who snapped the shot during a Barstow-Vegas protest ride.

Problem was, they used the address of my then boss...who liked in Hawaii. And I’ve never been there. Having monitored their sites and then usenet postings, they wasted lotsa time and some cash trying to find me.

We got YEARS worth of copy mocking the stupidity of the green terror groups over that one ;) But my point is ‘unintended consequences’ for idiots doing this crap. And there are many they do not consider...but really should.