As I wrote less than two months ago, “I have long promised myself not to write in Croatian ever again, but I do break my promise every once in a while” (“Safe and Sound,” September 4, 2008). Yesterday I broke my promise one more time, hopefully my last. I wished to make public my resignation from the top job in Motovun – Eco Town, an international association concerned with sustainable development of the town and its surroundings, and so I sent a short statement about my reasons to one of the Istrian newspapers with a strong on-line presence. I focused on the rudimentary state of development of civil society in Istria. In less than twenty-four hours I have received yet another barrage of inane comments from Istrian busybodies of all sorts. Few of them have anything to say about my statement. Instead, they attack me personally. And how. One of the commentators denounces me as a Serb, as though this would be a sufficient argument against anything I have to say even if true. Sadly, most of the commentators do accept the denunciation as perfectly sufficient to discredit me once and for all. Perhaps this is as it should be, though, for it will only help me stick to my old promise not to write in Croatian ever again.