In the current issue of F&SF, there's one of the most hilarious short short stories I've read in a long time (the title alone is worth it), "Why The Aliens Did What They Did To That Suburb of Madison, Wisconsin." I've been told that I sometimes have kind of a sick sense of humor, but I thought it was a thing of beauty.

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On a less intentionally hilarious note, I was just watching the nightly news in Lansing. The NSM (National Socialist Movement, a neo-Nazi group) is rallying at the State Capitol day after tomorrow, and there are last-minute court proceedings about the city's security arrangements, which include metal detectors, chain-linked fences, lists of prohibited items in the "event zone" that include practically anything a human being is likely to carry on their person (food, umbrellas, purses, etc., etc.), and the Nazis are suing the city on 1st Amendment grounds. As loathsome as these guys are, I actually agree with the constitutional argument...it sets a really bad precedent to say, "sure, every one has a right to free speech, as long as you're willing to check yourself into what all but amounts to a minimum-security prison while you exercise it..." So that's one point. The news item covering all of this was, however, priceless.

Roughly the actual words used, from memory: "The Nazis argued that, aesthetically, the security arrangements would give people a negative impression about their message."

Yep. Since, you know, otherwise people would have a pretty positive impression about it...