EDITORIAL MATTERS:

"And so it goes ...."

Ken Holder
Your Mr. Ed

ARTICLES

Letters to the Editor
Letters from Caleb Paul, DC Collins, Kaptain Kanada, "Scott", and Mrs. Melissa Seaman:
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Beyond Tomorrow: Some Not So Special Effects
by Lady Liberty
Memorial Day marks not just the start of summer for many, but the start of the summer movie season for Hollywood. Traditionally, there are a couple of major action or disaster flicks that open on Memorial Day Weekend, and this year's offering in that genre is the critically maligned The Day After Tomorrow. In the case of this film, however, there's much more at stake—or at least, some assert that there is much more at stake—than a diverting couple of hours in a movie theatre.
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Anyone But Bush! Why Die-hard Kerry Supporters should support Badnarik
by Travis Pahl
We are a nation divided. The last presidential election was one of the closest in US history and despite major changes in the world and country in the past 4 years; this election looks to be just as close as the last. What this means is that every vote matters. Every vote we can take away from George Bush brings Kerry one-step closer to winning the election.
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Eric Dondero Rittberg, The Real-Life "Master Shake"?
by Mike Blessing
For a few months now, I've been a fan of a cartoon series called "Aqua Teen Hunger Force." Think of it as a sophisticated, surreal Beavis and Butthead, or a really gross form of South Park. Either way, it's pretty funny (it helps to have a twisted sense of humor). You might want to check out the show's page on adultswim.com, as I'll be referring to it in a moment:
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"The Economics of Sitting Ducks"
by Alan R. Weiss
All these people demanding war, let them shoulder an M16 and stand a post. If that were the case, Americans would quickly find a different way to prosecute the war on terror. All these people who insist "we" must "fight this war", do so by proxy with soldiers underpaid and clearly undertrained. Those soldiers are not only victims of bad policy, they're economic victims, too.
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Is This the Battle of Pelennor Fields?
by Ron Beatty
Just last weekend, I finally got the chance to watch Return of the King for the first time, since I don't go to theaters very often anymore. I enjoyed the movie very much, but saw some disturbing parallels to this election season in it. Now, this might just be because I'm a weird old bear, but hear me out, and let's just see what you think.
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Courage
by Kaptain Kanada, aka Manuel Miles
The word "courage" comes from the Middle French. It means "having the strength that comes from the heart" and its root word is "le coeur", or "the heart". In wartime the imperial State and its various minions (mis)use this word frequently, yet they are never eager to discuss its meaning. But we shall.
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An Open Letter to George W. Bush
Detention, treatment, and trial of alleged terrorists
by Bill St. Clair
Mr. President:
¶The photographs of torture and humiliation of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison have shocked the world. They shocked you as well, as you clearly expressed by saying, "Such practices do not reflect our values." I agree. Such practices appear to be more widespread than one prison in Iraq, however. Prisoners released from Guantanamo Bay have also told stories of torture, deprivation, and humiliation to which no human being should ever be subjected, certainly not at the hands of the United States, the world's moral leader. And more horrific accounts surface every day.
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So You Want To Be A Marijuana Farmer?
by Matthew Bryan
Let's fantasize of an across-the-board legalization of marijuana by the federal government. Stop laughing and set aside all of the improbabilities of such fantasia for now. Our purpose is to examine the ramifications of legalizing a substance that, in the past century, has infected our federal masters with an arguably unprecedented messianic zeal and unslakeable thirst for moralistic discipline. That such a rollback of federal marijuana statutes could ever occur amidst the current climate of rampant general paranoia and loathing of all things even slightly subversive is, indeed, laughable. But we soldier on. In fact, it is in the spirit of living during a time of most oppressive fear and loathing where we may begin. Assume all is the same, except we are now free to cultivate and smoke pot with impunity. Let's see how this might play out.
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Sympathy for accuseds or accusers?
by Wendy McElroy
How do you distinguish a credible accusation from a false one? That question is constantly in the news. It was raised recently by reports on Bridget Marks, the ex-Playboy model who lost custody of her twin daughters because she coached them to testify that their estranged father was a child molester. A false accusation naturally raises the level of skepticism with which we view anyone who claims victimhood. But the public's increasing tendency to routinely dismiss the claims of alleged victims can be a cruel way for public opinion to approach heartbreaking stories of abuse.
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