Dear Cyndy,

Thank you for your letter. It's good that you are back in Hilliard
safe and sound. This morning I saw three patients, one of whom was
the first new patient this year, an elderly man with a chronic mental
disorder, probably low-grade burned-out schizophrenia, who was
grateful finally to have found an eye doctor who would listen to
him. I thought the encounters was meaningful. It made me feel useful
and needed, made me want to continue to practice medicine.

Unavoidably, I've given much thought to the impending hearing. I
understand only too well that the courts function by finding and
punishing scapegoats, in this case either myself or the Inspector.
The courts are resistant to identifying institutional imperfections,
understandably, because they are themselves so vulnerable to
criticism. Foolishly or otherwise, I don't want to place blame 
on the inspector. He is demonstrating the island mentality. I
will argue that the fabrication of evidence seems natural to him,
since it's the recognized method of adjudication on the Island.
I've filed with the Appeals Court a very dramatic DVD video of
the Board of Selectmen's meeting at which they voted 3 to 2, not
to inspect their own records to controvert the fabrication of a
telephone call which was never - which could never have been made.
It gets scary to realize that the police department will also get
into the act of fabricating evidence if it serves the purposes of
the Town. Should I tell Judge Macdonald stories that he really
doesn't want to hear?

I've forgotten the considerations that led me to explore the
economics and procedures of self-publishing. I'm as reluctant
as ever to try to "promote" my writing (and myself); but I can't
deny that for years I cultivated relationships to optometrists
who referred patients to me by taking them to lunch.... It worked.
I succeeded in building and maintaining an ophthalmology practice.
Today, successful publication of some of what I have written
strikes me as an interesting political challenge, worth trying
if only for the excitement. As a result of contemporary technology
which makes it possible to duplicate "e-books" and the like at
minimal cost, and makes it feasible to manufacture printed books
"on demand", only when they have been ordered, the costs of
publishing are almost entirely those of my energy. I ask myself,
how should I apportion my time between additional writing, and
soliciting attention for what I've already written. A dilemma 
that I find stimulating. I've begun by making some of the chapters
of Die Andere more presentable by converting them into html format,
and by replacing the double vowels ae, oe, and ue with their dotted
equivalents, ä, ö, ü, and the hard s, written as sz, with the
symbol "ß". In addition I should, prior to attempting distribution,
carefully proofread the 1700 existing pages. Is it worth the time?

Tomorrow I'll probably spend much of the day putting things in
order, on my desk, in the filing cabinets, and not least in my
mind. When I get home one Thursday, I'll report to you about the
meeting. I consider it likely that I will have to wait a matter
of days, if not longer, for Judge Macdonald to issue a ruling.
Meanwhile, I'll keep on working at one project or another. For
now, good night.

Jochen