First off, I'd like to thank Robert Wynne for repairing the Java Chat Applet so that readers can once again visit the Aphelion chatroom. Both the link at the top of this page in the short-cut menu and the link in the Features section near the bottom of this page are now working.
Next, I'd like to thank all the people in uniform who are over in the Middle East doing their duty for their countries. Keep yourselves safe folks, and come home to your families. Not everyone agrees that the war in Iraq is a just one, but I'm sure that every one of Aphelion's readers across the world join me in the hope that it'll be over soon and all the troops will be able to return home safe and sound.
That said, there may be a few raised eyebrows among the readers as to where exactly I stand on this troublesome war issue. Especially among those readers who had formed the opinion that I was anti-war after reading last month's editorial. The answer is, yes and no. Yes; I'm against the abuse of power by a government-- any government --and at the same time, no; I'm not one of President Bush's ardent supporters at the moment. But neither of those has anything to do with my wish for all the troops to come home safe and sound, and soon. Those are totally separate issues. I want an end to terrorism, and end to the possible threat of another would-be-Hitler, while at the same time I want people all over the world to live in peace. Sadly, in this day and age-- as in all the ages before, one can't have peace without also being willing to defend it when someone else makes it necessary.
I hate war, I hate racial and religious prejudice, I hate ignorance and stupidity, I hate murderers, rapists, and thieves... And I honor those men and women who willingly put themselves at risk to defend my right to disagree with my government. Who defend my right to live where I choose, to love whom I choose, to make of myself what I choose, to read what I choose, to write what I choose, to worship as I choose, to travel where I choose, to wear, buy, sell, own, and be whatever I choose. The freedoms that I enjoy have been dearly bought over the years. Bought with the lives of those who have answered the call to arms whenever it came. Even if you disagree with the causes that have sent these brave souls out onto the battlefield, you must honor these men and women.
So even if you think that this war should never have been fought, honor those who have gone to fight it. Save your disgust for those who have made the fight necessary-- whosoever you deem that to be. Just as you should not confuse dissent with disloyality, you should also not confuse patriots with warmongers. Those who fight and die are doing so to defend your rights to support and to protest.
So let's just hope that the war is over soon.
We now return you to your regularly scheduled fiction...
Thanks for your time,
Dan
I'd like to thank those of you who have sent e-mails or signed
into the Lettercol for your feedback. Keep those messages coming,
folks! Without those messages we will never know what we need to
improve upon. Hope you like the improvements so far!
Aphelion Staff:
Dan Hollifield
Senior Editor, Publisher
Iain Muir
Poetry/Filk Editor
Robert Wynne
WebMaven
Cary Semar
Short Story Editor
McCamy Taylor
Assistant Short Story Editor
Jeffrey Williams
Production Editor/Serials Editor
Ralph Benedetto,
Jr.
Assistant Serials Editor
Roger Bennett
Editor Emeritus
Serialized Stories & Novellettes
The Questors Part Six
By Frederick Rustam
Kevin and Marylou hack Questor Institute's benefactor out of his
hiding place, learn their own place in his scheme of things, and
contemplate the transformative nature of information.
One Man's Trash...
By C. J. Burch
Manami Silverbear learns all too well the truth of
the old cliche: one man's trash IS another man's treasure...
Madak -- Part Two
By James McCormick
Jonathon Blake, a divorced ex cop and washed up private eye who hates
his job, is shaken from his inertia when his son goes missing in
strange circumstances. Having few clues to go on, Blake must first navigates
his way through the world of crime and street gangs before he can begin
to learn what is going on. With the help of a mysterious Egyptian
academic and his strange servant Omar, he pushes forward towards a
confrontation for which no one, it turns out, could posssibly be
preperared.
Hyper-Freud
By H.W. Bromley Mind reading technology can be an effective psychodiagnostic tool, but only if used properly.
On the Shores of the Mind
By Greg Guerin
Because Jongon was a telepath, he became a loner. When he was alone, the world began to talk to him.
Epyllion
By Mark Stanley Is the human condition an art form?
Joe at the Helm
By Lee Alon
A flying Dutchman of space, Joe seemed to be doomed to wander the stars forever, until he met "the thing."
Graven Images
By Peter Padraic O'Sullivan Roderick Morton was running late for an appointment with Death, though he was not yet scheduled to die. Even so, no one kept Death waiting -- for long.
A Matter of Degrees
By Robert Moriyama The return of Al Majius, the madcap mage.
An Eye for Sabrina
By Simon Owens Larry's heard of the saying "an eye for an eye". In this case it will be an eye for Sabrina.
Canned
By Dan L. Hollifield Words have so many meanings, and sometimes a criminal gets what they deserve.
The Mare Inebrium Starter Kit.
--Updated 4/22/2002-- This is a link to all the background information for the Mare
Inebrium stories so far.
This is a must read for all Mare Inebrium writers and
fans!
Tales of the Mare
Inebrium
The banner above links to
all the Mare Inebrium Stories on one page!
Double
Wide
by Jim Parnell The collected wisdom of Bubba WARNING: Contains Language.
Aphelion proudly presents the installments of Double Wide all on
one page of links. We wanted to make sure that the wit and wisdom
of Bubba wasn't lost for new readers, so we made a mini-archive
list of just the Double Wide features.
A Challenge to
Writers... --8\8\2000-- Not a contest, but a series of ideas to spark off a story.
Challenge 1 is the paintings of Daniel Hannaquand, Challenge 2 is a
collection of narrative hooks composed by Dan Hollifield.
Aphelion Links
Page --3\01\2003--
Click here to see the Links Page. Our fellow E-zines, Astronomy,
research material, entertainment, and much, much more!
Aphelion IRC Chat --2\16\2001-- Information about a new feature for Aphelion. IRC Chat is a fun
way to talk to our readers, writers, staff members, and other
netizens. This link takes you to a basic intro and provides further
links to the IRC software that you can download for free. Look for
new updates as we refine this feature.
Aphelion JAVA
Chat --Repaired 3\25\2003-- For a quick look at the JAVA chat client, this link launches a
new browser window that takes you to a Log-in form for a JAVA-based
chat in your browser window. No specian programs are needed. This
will be a very simple, but passable IRC client, very no-frills.
This will also tell you if there's anyone else in the chatroom, by
the way.
Aphelion Banners
And banner artwork for links. If you want to link to Aphelion and want more than a text link,
then this page is for you. Some of these banners are finished, but
most of them lack only my adding text to make them complete.
Unfinished banners can be completed and e-mailed to you within 8
days. The banner HTML code-- and image --can be e-mailed on
request, or can be more simply copied from the "View / Page
Source" option in your web browser. Finished images can be copied
from the banner artwork page itself. An exchange of links or banner
links is always welcome. Link Swap E-mail should be sent to: Dan Hollifield
If you would like to receive notices from Aphelion when this
page is updated, please join our new, revised, automatic mailing
list. To subscribe:
Send a message to majordomo@lists.america.net with the
following in the body of the message:
subscribe aphelion <email address>
As always, this mailing list will only be used to notify you of
new issues and will never be given out to anyone else... 'cause I
hate spam as much as you do!
Instead of the back issues the banner below now takes you to
the Archives-where all our past stories are available for you to
read.
I've decided to ditch the back issues in favor of the Archives.
The Archives are easier to use and can be indexed by author or
story title. Hopefully this will ease the task of finding a
favorite story. We may start a page of our past cover art, if there
is a call for it. Thanks for your readership for without you,
nothing we do has any meaning.
--1\03\2002-- Click here to
see the Links Page
