My Dear Mogslopper,

I received your last email yesterday but was in a state of repose and therefore would not respond. You notified me that weblogging has been discouraged by order of the Grand Hurm. You may choose to continue corresponding with me via email if you wish. But I for one will continue to post my half of our conversations to this blog. I fear I must explain this decision further whilst also addressing a few of the numerous misconceptions you have spouted off in your recent communiques. Grand Hurm's reasoning for ordering the shift in strategy is based on two events of which you may not be aware: (1) Grand Hurm's general ignorance of the tendencies and weaknesses of humans and (2) a somewhat embarrassing slip-up on my part some time ago. Second point first--an operative of the Enemy's intercepted a number of my written communications and had them published in book form during the last Great European War. Though initially we had great cause for alarm, and the enterprise still causes us annoyance with certain patients, the end result was minimal. Thanks to centuries of groundwork, the human mind is saturated by a constant barrage of information; few messages of the Enemy's stick to the minds of the majority of them. Soon enough, this book was filed away in the "Spiritual Fiction" sections of their libraries and bookstores--for most educated humans a section browsed as frequently as the "Theoretical Mathematics" shelves. Those of us in the Secretary's Office--unlike all the Incubus in the Grand Hurm's Offices--know (and this is my first point, told second) that modern humans have very little interest in discovering Truth for themselves. They are far more interested in what passes for Entertainment there. And even those who do seek Truth, usually assume it is true because someone they consider an Authority has stated it "statistically" or "categorically" or "scientifically"--as if the humans had a clue about what those words really mean. Humans intone such terms the way Pagan priests spoke their mystical rites long ago. So you see, despite Grand Hurm's misgivings, a blog kept by a nobody from nowhere with only a bit of Imagination on his side--even a heavily trafficked blog (which this is not, I can assure you)--is as safe a medium as any for my instructions. Of course your rather more personal disclosures about your patient's nasty habits might indeed be noticed and--Hell-forbid--altered. So for now, please continue emailing and I shall continue in this medium. The weblog, like other electronic media, is terribly malleable and therefore even more optimally suited for the state of Impermanence that we strive to sow deep into our patients's souls. Originally I intended to give you a bit of instruction on the usefulness of the Idea of Progress for tempting this particular human (he is a middle-class midwesterner, is he not?), but I see now that I will not have time to address all of my other Junior Tempters today if I continue trying to battle only your misunderstandings. Affectionately, Your Uncle