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To Our Readers,

Best wishes to you and your families for the holiday season and for a Peaceful and Prosperous New Year!

Globophobe

Bullied but Unbowed

This has been a difficult week for Globophobe. We were accused by somebody high (well, physically not that high) and mighty of lying not just once, but twice. The first time this fellow made the accusation was in a letter to a third party with whom he has been engaged in a nasty public feud. Globophobe had intervened to set the record straight, but instead of accepting our explanation, this person, whom we have known for nearly 20 years and had thought was a friend, accused us of lying in the letter which he released to the media.

Now, Globophobe is always ready to defend our honor. So we sought to provide our accuser with the explanation for his misunderstanding. Instead, our bull-headed friend-turned-adversary accused us of lying a second time, alleging some kind of Nixonian cover-up! (If I'm Nixon, then this guy has got to be George W Bush - arrogant, single-minded and dumb.) At this point, we had one hand in a clenched fist and the other reaching for our lawyer's speed-dial button. But the counsel of friends calmed us down and we decided to continue on the high road and ignore our petty bully. Besides, this powerful man, a local tycoon, has quite a bit more financial resources than we do and could probably outspend and outlast any legal barrage that came his way.

Still, we are seething. We know the truth - and it has set us free. But our reputation has been sullied and this self-absorbed Napoleon gets away with lobbing unsubstantiated accusations in public, which he made without even seeking clarification. He is simply a bully, a petulant child, someone whose own stained record (Does Enron ring a bell? Hint: Think audit committee.) gives him no moral authority to self-righteously and wantonly accuse others of dishonesty.

For now, we will ignore him and move on. Globophobe draws inspiration from a six-(almost-seven-)year-old kid we know who was himself recently the victim of bullying. He was pinned against a fence by some of his mates because he had professed not to believe in God, a truthful admission that his tormentors, who possibly thought themselves more worldly or sophisticated because they had been baptized or were made to adopt a faith by their parents, could not accept. They couldn't handle the truth and were too closed-minded or arrogant - if only during that encounter - to accept that they are not always right.

Well, the little boy got out of the scrape, rescued by a teacher. The bullies were made to admit their transgression to their parents and to write a letter of apology to the child they harassed. A few days later, the same children were playing together again, as if nothing had happened. And what about our six-year-old friend? It was no big deal, he told his parents. He brushed it off as much ado about nothing. But if it were to happen again, he said, he wouldn't be happy.

Globophobe can only admire such pluck. This courageous young man would not let playground bullies get him down. And so shouldn't we. Our accuser is nothing more than one of those playground bullies in life who comes around every so often to bug us. In the end, when he harms others, he really only hurts himself. By making patently false accusations and then adamantly refusing to accept that he has erred, our bully only digs his pathetic little self deeper into that dark hole where all hapless bullies eventually end up.