EDITORIAL MATTERS:

Well, now. We made it past Issue 666/2 with no problems. Which means that we're now at Issue 666/2 +1 ... or 334, to use a more normal notation. Whatever "normal" means. As the old fellow said "Everybody is abnormal except me and thee, and I'm not too sure about thee."

But he was making a joke, right?

May that as it be, we're not joking when we suggest a mild donation of cash money to help keep TLE running along smoothly. Such a deed can be done at

http://www.ncc-1776.org/donate.html

or you can just shop at one or more of our affiliates or advertisers, which also puts some small coins in our pocket, and makes us happy.

Another thing that makes us happy is Our Publisher L. Neil Smith has yet again aimed two (count 'em, two!) articles our way. One new, and one relavant blast from the past. Keep 'em coming, Neil!

Ken Holder
editor@ncc-1776.org
Editor

ARTICLES

Letters to the Editor
from Bill Hartwell, EJ Totty, Jim Davidson, and Dennis Kabaczy
• FULL STORY

The High Price of Gas
by L. Neil Smith
The price of gasoline at the pump has risen to a point that is not only absurd, it's obscene. Real people are starting to look longingly at Eurotrashmobiles again, instead of the SUVs and trucks they truly love, and it's going to be costly this winter to stay warm enough to live.
• FULL STORY

Critic-at-Arms: Shudders And Shakes
by Keith R. Wood
In my recent article, "Nehemiah Shudder," I took Dennis Kabaczy to task for comparing Duhhh-Bya to the fabled theocrat Nehemiah Scudder. Mr Kabaczy has responded, but his response is not the below-the-waterline torpedo which he may have hoped that it would be. He starts by showing that he missed a major point.
• FULL STORY

The Listing Ship of State
by Lady Liberty
I'm a busy woman. That's probably why I'm one of those people who relies so much on lists. Like many of you likely do, I have a grocery list. I add to it throughout the week whenever I notice I'm out of or running low on something. I have a personal "to do" list that encompasses everything from reminders to buy birthday or wedding gifts to performing a particular housecleaning chore. Of course, I also have a work "to do" list. That's the one that tells me what projects remain to be done, and what priority each of those projects have. And then I have Christmas lists (I shop year 'round, keeping my eyes open for the perfect gift for friends and family) and "wish" lists (for myself). Then, of course, there are temporary lists composed to ensure I don't forget anything when I prepare to take a trip, or that all preparations are completed prior to a party.
• FULL STORY

The Presidency and Other Dinosaurs
by Jonathan David Morris
Let me tell you something. I've heard a lot of dumb questions in my time. Hell, I've asked a lot of dumb questions in my time. But, by far, the dumbest question I've heard all summer—and maybe all year—is this: Should George Bush meet with Cindy Sheehan, the grieving mother of a slain Iraq war vet who's set up camp outside his Texas ranch? The answer to this question is, of course, yes. But whether he should or shouldn't isn't what makes this the dumbest question I've heard all summer. No, what makes it the dumbest question I've heard all summer is the idea that Americans think he has a choice. As far as I'm concerned, this issue has nothing to do with the Iraq war, nothing to do with Cindy Sheehan's relative leftness, and everything to do with the general ineffectiveness of the presidency. Simply put, it's an office which more and more looks to have outlived its use.
• FULL STORY

Story of the Year
by L. Neil Smith
In the March, 2004 issue of Discover magazine (the cover's mostly blue, with silvery methane bubbles, illustrating a fairly idiotic piece claiming that the sky is falling—again—only from the bottom up) there's a letter from one Robert Magill, of Sarasota, Florida, complaining that what may prove to be the most important science story of the past century was shoved out of the magazine's Top 100 2003 by articles about things like gigantic prehistoric guinea pigs.
• FULL STORY

Will Colleges Respect Your Child's Rights?
by Wendy McElroy
Hundreds of thousands of families across North America are now preparing their children for college. As parents hustle to buy clothing, repair secondhand cars and otherwise fret about the impending separation, they should consider how their son or daughter's human rights will fare on campus.
• FULL STORY

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