'Mirth Missives' publisher responds to 'Taper' article

In the spirit of fairness and brotherhood, I'm reprinting below a recent email I received from TazMack, the publisher of Mirth Missives, the Jester-oriented email newsletter that was mentioned in The Taper last week.

TazMack's email:

I have been looking at your web site for, I guess, about two years now. I believe that you and Mr. Bryce bring a balanced and much needed perspective to many Masonic topics. I agree with your opening article that there is too much personal attacking going on and applaud your efforts to curb this. I believe that will lead to a greater participation.

I really would like you to get a little perspective on your story about my emails, Mirth Missives. Quotes from your article are in bold, and my explanation/response in normal face type. NOT every comment in your article receives this treatment.

I would like to thank you in advance for at least considering what I am about to relate. What you do with the information is up to you.

Sandy Frost has, alas, fooled you on several points. I shall try to enlighten you in hopes that you will edit your article to reflect the truth, as opposed to her “intuitive reporting”. But, again, what you actually do is up to you.

I never sent Sandy Frost an actual Mirth Missive. If you would like to see an actual, true copy of one, I will gladly send you one. Pick a Sunday Date in, lets say, Spring 2007 and I’ll send it to you.

The little figure you show of me jumping out of the computer is a copyrighted item, but you may use it if you so desire.

[Quote from The Taper] A February 2008 issue of a privately-owned, "unofficial" Jester-oriented newsletter titled Mirth Missives carried this comment atop its front page: [/end quote]

Notice that nowhere in any of the emails does it claim to be or insinuate that it is a Jester’s only email. This is a fiction Sandy picked up from a shrine web site --- a single anonymous source, her favorite kind of source. I had nothing to do with the web site and as soon as Sandy gave me the url, I asked them to take it down. They complied.

The e-mail has Jester information, but it is not a Jester e-mail. It has Masonic information, but it is not a masonic e-mail. It has patriotic information, but it is not a patriotic e-mail.

The disclaimer clearly states that

"This private e-mail correspondence is not affiliated with or endorsed by any corporation, organization or Internet Service Provider. The material contained herein is solely the responsibility of the author."

Additionally, this email goes to more non-Jesters than Jesters... more profane than Masons. So. Please be accurate when you describe the email as oriented towards one group or another.

into that which would rather remain hidden"

The things to remain hidden are the names, email addresses, phone numbers and other private information of members. We would not like this information exposed to crooks, who might be able to steal identities or harass men. This is the very information that she attempted to publish, causing me to assert my copyright to that information.

Would you like all the names and e-mails addresses of your subscribers published? Of course not. It’s a matter of privacy and security.

[Quote from The Taper] I don't agree with her that the contents are truly pornographic, but they are crude, juvenile, sexist and racist. The quality of the "humor" and the general layout of the e-zine remind me of something a 13-year old would create and enjoy. [/end quote]

As I prove weekly, I am not a computer professional. I am an old man doing something that keeps me busy. I do not have the computer skills of you younger folks. Think "am old geezer who types with one finger sitting at a computer".

The email also clearly states that you should pick and chose what you read. Not every item is for every recipient. Sexism and racism are in the eye of the beholder, so you have your opinion and I have mine. Clearly, you did not agree with Sandy's judgement that the e-mail was pornographic. So honest differences of opinion exist.

I don’t write the stuff, I just compile and pass it on. And just like everything else in this world, not everyone’s taste is the same. That’s why they make BOTH chocolate and vanilla.

[Quote from The Taper] If you read the comments section on Ms. Frost's article, you'll note that Mirth Missives publisher TazMack has been raising hell over the "leak" of his newsletter (he's the one who sent her a sample issue) and the list of several hundred subscribers, claiming "copyright violation." [/end quote]

I did not raise hell. I sent her the form letter that I got off the internet asking that she remove copyrighted material. Specifically, the names and email addresses of people on the directory --- as stated, this is not a subscription list, it is a directory. Past Grand Masters are on there so that other men may send them messages. The "leak" of the newsletter is irrelevant, as it is as secret as the thunder.

The “subscription list” is not a subscription list: it is a directory. Just as every person in your telephone book does not get a call from you, not everyone listed in the roster gets Mirth Missives. The actual Mirth Missive subscription list is less than 300 people. The Directory is a separate e-mail service, and Mirth Missives is another, and the other lists and notices I send to other lists are all separate and distinct, having little to do with each other.

Most people on that Directory list do get, however, what I call "GLOOM" --- obituaries.

And, by the way, I do not have a son who is a Judge, and me and my boys live in a different county from that judge. Just another example of her relying on a single source and not checking facts.

[Quote from The Taper] there's very little in the newsletter that is original.[/end quote]

Sadly true --- I compile and pass along items sent to me by subscribers, and the contributor is clearly noted before each submission. I am just not clever enough to compose too much original --- except, as you noted, for my good friend Fricke, and even most of that material is not original.

yeah, the part about controlled drugs)

Read the article. An unidentified man offers his left over blood pressure and diabetes medication. There were no takers. How many times have you been at lodge or church and hear one person offer another their excess medications. “I’d rather give it away than flush it away” was the way I understood the article.

[Quote from The Taper] The use of snippets from the newsletter that I'm publishing here falls under the Fair Use Clause. [/end quote]

That’s fine with me.

Here's the e-zine's disclaimer:

Thanx for lifting the status to e-zine … but it is not an e-zine and never aspires to be one.

Also, you left out the first part of the disclaimer, about not being endorsed by or affiliated with any organization..

"Mirth Missives is not for everyone. Particularly in business settings, some of the material may be problematic, possibly leading to sexual harassment or unlawful discrimination charges. To protect you and me, please do not receive Mirth Missives on a computer at your place of employment, or on a computer owned or installed at any fraternal or civic organization site. If you decide to print a copy of Mirth Missives, treat it as you would any other confidential mail and do not leave it lying around for prying eyes."

A little background would be enlightening... About 12 years ago, a man who worked with me received an email from a coworker on the company server. The email contained a joke that he found amusing -- it was not dirty --- it was a very clean joke about Southern Baptists not drinking in front of each other. His secretary opened the email and immediately took offense. She sued him and the company … and she won. After this gal won her suit, she complained about another coworker who kept an open bible on her desk. The coworker was obliged to take her bible home. Get my drift?

That is why the disclaimer is there. In our litigious society, people sue over anything and nothing

[Quote from The Taper] In closing, let me leave you with a joke or two from Mirth Missives.

Why not quote the non-objectionable parts... like the Roast Lines, or Yogi-Berra-Isms, or the Masonic Moment, or the Thought for the Day or the For the Trestle Board, or the Obituaries … a little balance would be nice.

I guess if your humor-meter is still stuck in the sixth grade and you spend your time at church trying to look up women's dresses, you might find Mirth Missives your "cup of tea," suitable for any private "men's organization." [/end quote]

See my comments about “Chocolate and Vanilla”.

[Quote from The Taper] But these men are Freemasons. These are the “pillars of the community.” Many of these men are present or past “illustrious potentates” and 33rd degree poobahs. The publisher of Mirth Missives wears a 33rd degree white hat.[/end quote]

I would like you to take note that you have been mis-led. This email goes to more non-Masons than Masons. The fact that some Masons enjoy potty humor does not mean that ALL masons enjoy potty humor. AND --- this is not an email that goes exclusively to Masons.

Also, the fact that someone's email address is listed in the directory does not indicate that he is a subscriber to Mirth Missives.

[Quote from The Taper] I've seen the distribution list of Mirth Missives.[/end quote]

Again, what Sandy sent you was a directory that has nothing to do with Mirth Missives per se. AND the majority of the people listed are not on the distribution list ---- but they are all Jesters. Should it be against someone's code to allow a directory of members of an organization to be published to other members?

[Quote from The Taper] I just find it disturbing that you're doing it en masse under the banner of a group associated with Freemasonry.[/end quote]

Please, be fair. This is not done under any organizations banner. And 300 is hardly en masse.

Sandy's half-truths, mis-leading rhetorical questions and sensationalism are but a few of the reasons she is so discredited. And she would greatly benefit from a fact-checker.

Widow's Son, I have held you in high regard for your insights and objectivity and ask that you fairly evaluate what I have related in this email. I trust that any Mason being thus enlightened would want to be a little more evenhanded. Even with a Mason who enjoys the occasional potty joke.

Thank you for reading this

Sincerely and Fraternally

TazMack

PS --- if you think the jokes I sent were full of foul language, crude and sexists, you should see what I reject and just cant clean up.

And you can ignore the copyright at the end of this email --- it is automatically added to all my emails ... even Mirth Missives --- reprint what you like from this email.

I appreciate TazMack's email to me and am reprinting it with his permission in its entirety.

As I ponder this, I see that I have treated his Mirth Missives email newsletter in a similar way to how many of my own detractors have treated The Burning Taper — as if it is actually a Masonic publication instead of it being a publication by a Mason.

Just as I find many of his jokes, cartoons and other content "unmasonic," so too do many people find the contents of The Burning Taper "unmasonic." As TazMack says in his email, "chocolate and vanilla." We all have different likes and dislikes, different opinions of what is "moral" or "Masonic."

I regret and apologize for assuming the roster of Jester members was the subscription list for Mirth Missives.

As a firm supporter of free speech and a free press, I believe that TazMack has the right to publish his Mirth Missives and send it to whomever he chooses.

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'Secrets' of Freemasonry?

When Bro. Hodapp told the world last week that the newly sworn-in governor of New York, David Paterson, was a Freemason, I was elated that finally there was an upright and honorable Mason in the public spotlight, one who would help restore Freemasonry's image, most recently tarnished by the Royal Order of Jesters prostitute story from upstate New York.

Alas, Bro. Paterson hadn't even moved his stuff into the governor's mansion before he announced that both he and his wife had had extramarital affairs. Less than a week later, the news is splashed with his "confessions" that he has used cocaine and marijuana.

As a libertarian, I don't care what he's done regarding sex or drugs. Probably half the adults in America have done similar things. In my opinion, his "transgressions" have no bearing on his ability to carry out the duties of his office. He's to be admired for 'fessing up, I suppose, not because he should have, but because sooner or later a reporter would have brought it up anyway.

But as a Freemason, I'm a bit saddened. A public figure like Gov. Paterson could have led to Freemasonry gaining some positive press, and led me to write an inspiring, upbeat, positively glowing, triumphant article about the return of quality Masonic leadership.

Instead, he's reinforced our image as partying sex addicts.


More on the Royal Jesters story out of Buffalo

Speaking of partying, sex-crazed Masons.... Former police chief, former Jester (recent news articles say he's been "kicked out" of the club) and former (I assume) Masonic brother John Trowbridge pleaded guilty last Thursday to transporting a woman from New York to Kentucky to provide prostitution services at a Royal Order of Jesters get-together in 2005. He also admitted to taking a hooker to a Jester event in Pennsylvania in 2006.

Also charged in the case were former New York Supreme Court Justice Ron Tills and his law clerk, Michael Stebick. Presumably both men have not yet made a plea and will stand trial for violation of the federal Mann Act.


"Mirth Missives"

Investigative reporter Sandy Frost has apparently angered certain Jesters with her recent articles. A February 2008 issue of a privately-owned, "unofficial" Jester-oriented newsletter titled Mirth Missives carried this comment atop its front page:

A self styled "Investigative reporter, author and researcher into that which would rather remain hidden" named Sandy Frost, who lives in the Seattle area, has acquired the name and phone numbers of many Jesters. She is calling them to get an interview to bash the ROJ. You know what to do is [sic] she calls you. You can read her poison at:

http://sandyfrost.newsvine.com

Please communicate this information to your fellow Jesters at your next Court or Biliken [sic] Club gathering.

In a recent article, Ms. Frost described the contents of the newsletter as being so "pornographic as well as so sexually, racially and religiously offensive, that I will not link to it."

I don't agree with her that the contents are truly pornographic, but they are crude, juvenile, sexist and racist. The quality of the "humor" and the general layout of the e-zine remind me of something a 13-year old would create and enjoy.

Mirth Missives is peppered with cartoons that appear to be from a Playboy-type magazine. One comic panel shows a man, pants around his ankles, bending over a doctor's examining table. The caption reads, "Don't be embarrassed. You think your [sic] the first guy whose wife shoved the remote up his ass?"

There are several jokes about Viagra, including a "Fricke Door Sign," which reads: "I'm on Prozac, Rogaine and Viagra. I'm happy, hairy and horny."

One photo, intended to be "mirthful," I assume, shows an older couple sitting on a park bench, with the man reaching inside the woman's blouse. A caption added by TazMack, the publisher, says, "Fricke Spotted in the Park Last Week." Apparently, Fricke is a dentist and fellow Jester that TazMack often kids in the newsletter.

Another photo shows a man holding a sign that says, "Sorry. I'm blind. Can I feel your tits?"

If you read the comments section on Ms. Frost's article, you'll note that Mirth Missives publisher TazMack has been raising hell over the "leak" of his newsletter (he's the one who sent her a sample issue) and the list of several hundred subscribers, claiming "copyright violation." Amusingly (the only thing amusing about the newsletter), there's very little in the newsletter that is original. Other than the pokes at Fricke, the opening bit that warns about Ms. Frost's "poison," a disclaimer and one other small section that I will refrain from discussing at this time (read Sandy's article and TazMack's comment — yeah, the part about controlled drugs), all the material has been copied from other sources.

In respect of TazMack's claim of "copyright," I'm refraining from publishing the entire contents of the newsletter or linking to it. The use of snippets from the newsletter that I'm publishing here falls under the Fair Use Clause. The fact that the newsletter itself contains explicit instructions on how to forward it pretty much demolishes any claim that the newsletter is a "protected communication."

Do Not Forward This Entire E-Mail

If you decide to forward a joke or jokes via e-mail, please use your "copy and paste" feature to send just the joke, removing the headers, footers, addresses and unsuitable material.

Here's how to do it:

Point to the first letter of the text you want to copy and left click and hold down and drag the pointer to the end of the text and then let up on the left button. Now hover the pointer over the highlighted text and right click and choose copy from the pull down menu. Now open a new fresh write mail form and point to the main body of the new mail and right click and then touch on paste. Wham the copied text is pasted into your mail. Now select the subject and who you want to send it to and touch on send.

OR

Go to the joke or information you want to send. You can press control+shift+end to select to the end of the document or control+shift+down arrow to the end of the joke. Then, press control+c for copy. Then create a new message and then press control+v to paste the information.

Here's the e-zine's disclaimer:

"Mirth Missives is not for everyone. Particularly in business settings, some of the material may be problematic, possibly leading to sexual harassment or unlawful discrimination charges. To protect you and me, please do not receive Mirth Missives on a computer at your place of employment, or on a computer owned or installed at any fraternal or civic organization site. If you decide to print a copy of Mirth Missives, treat it as you would any other confidential mail and do not leave it lying around for prying eyes."

In closing, let me leave you with a joke or two from Mirth Missives. [Warning: Contains the F-word.]

A parrot developed the bad habit of screwing the farmer's hens, making them quit laying.

The farmer tells the parrot if he does it again he will pull out every feather in the parrot's head.

The next day, the farmer again catches the parrot humping a hen, and snatches the parrot bald.

The following day, the farmer's wife hosts a formal dinner. She thinks it would be unique if the parrot greeted the guests and told them where to go. She had spent nearly a year training the parrot for this.

As the guests began entering, the parrot dutifully announced, "Ladies to the right! Gentlemen to the left!"

Spotting two bald guys entering, the parrot says, "And you two chicken-fuckers get up here with me."

Mirth really is king, huh?

Oh, sorry. Was that not funny? What about this one?

Abe went to a brothel and told the madam, "I want a girl with big boobs and a small box."

"Why?" she asked him.

"Never mind!" replied Abe. "I`m paying for it. I want a girl with big tits and a small cooze!"

"No problem," said the madam. "Go straight up the stairs to room 23."

A few minutes later there was a knock on the door, and a young woman walked in.

"Okay," she said, "are you the guy with the big mouth and the small pecker?"

I guess if your humor-meter is still stuck in the sixth grade and you spend your time at church trying to look up women's dresses, you might find Mirth Missives your "cup of tea," suitable for any private "men's organization."

But these men are Freemasons. These are the "pillars of the community." Many of these men are present or past "illustrious potentates" and 33rd degree poobahs. The publisher of Mirth Missives wears a 33rd degree white hat.

These are men I once told my son to seek out if he was ever in trouble. These are men I once assumed I could trust to behave themselves around my wife.

"Oh, W.S. It's just a small minority, a few horny old men. They're harmless. It's all in good, clean fun. Masons are all good, decent family men dedicated to the good of the community and 'making good men better.' It's just an isolated event."

I've seen the distribution list of Mirth Missives. I was very surprised at some of the names on the list. I immediately recognized at least one as a Past Grand Master, and I'm sure there are others of such "high rank." All the names on the list, I would assume, are now, or once were, active officers in their blue lodges. These are the "leaders" who instructed new candidates in rituals and lectures regarding "morality" and "keeping passions within due bounds."

Personally — again, as a libertarian — I don't care what these guys are doing. Yuck it up, boys. Take your Viagra and **** yourselves silly.

I just find it disturbing that you're doing it en masse under the banner of a group associated with Freemasonry.

We're supposed to be better than this.

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