"Dear George:

I enjoyed Hoy's article about exopolitics. He scanned the topic with a tolerant spirit and a critical eye. I especially liked his comments about "the weight of life".

The topic reminded me that there once was a time when there really wasn't much hard news during the dog days of summer. The heat drove the politicians out of DC and, absent a fire or an ax murder, a reporter would really have to work for a story. In keeping with that languorous atmosphere, an editor might tolerantly entertain the ramblings of some deputy sheriff about a witch or a meteor somewhere beneath the fold. Of course, this was before Art Bell and the National Enquirer took over the franchise.

PS. Remember when Frank Erwin Jr., then chairman of the board of regents of the University of Texas, called students protesting the war in Vietnam "a bunch of dirty nothings"? Shortly thereafter a number of us were wearing buttons saying "A Dirty Nothing". Wouldn't it be great if the Democratic Legislators in California began sporting a button which said "A Girly Man" or, perhaps, "Not Afraid to be a Girly Man"? I think I might have that one printed up.

Craig Anderson (electronic mail, July 20, 2004)