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A Few Thoughts



By Duke Heath

Happy holidays to all, and may the New Year see you prosper!

The newsletter is late this month for several reasons, not the least of which is that our printer has gone out of business. I had already sent the newsletter to them, and only found out they were out of business when I went to pick it up.

After taking emergency quotes from various printers, it appeared that the December edition was not going to be published. All quotes were much higher than our previous printer. In an act of Christmas kindness, Larry and Garry Ward of State Printing, came to our rescue with an amazingly low quote to save the issue. I hope you will send them a special thank you card, and remember them for any printing needs you may have.

Larry or Gary Ward
State Printing
3300 West 12th
Little Rock, AR 72204

A special "thank you" to all of those who submitted articles and poems this month. The theme for the next issue will be stupid things we have done, which would cause Mensa to kick us out if they found out. Please get your submissions in early.

I would also like to receive many comments on the poems, short stories, and articles in this issue. If you agree with an opinion expressed in this publication, please let the author know with a letter to the editor. Likewise, should there be an opinion which angers you or which you disagree with, let's hear about it. I suspect the spirit in which some views were aired will generate an interesting "Letters" column next month. But then, this interaction is why we won the national award for our treatment of differing points of view last year.

Only four code breakers in our group? Give the cryptogram a try this month and let me know if you solve it. The investment in time will be minimal.

As always, I am looking for more poetry, interesting photographs and ideas for future themes. Would anyone be interested in a haiku edition?

As for the question of security vs. liberty, I could not agree more with Benjamin Franklin. If the government could stop all terrorism by tapping just one phone call without going through the courts, I would still be against it. Once we give up these rights we will never get them back.

My time as editor is rapidly drawing to a close. We are in desperate need of someone to take over the reigns and take M-Ark to a higher level. Anyone who might have an interest should contact me as soon as possible.