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In My Opinion
 

·       \4 Star Stories Issue 27

 

Greetings from the Commonwealth of Kentucky!

Editorial Update, 5-2-2022:

Suspension of Acceptance of Manuscripts for Publication

At this time we.cannot guarantee prospective authors a spot in an upcoming issue within a reasonable length of time.
In order to be fair to authors whose work has already been accepted for publication, as well as those wanting their work to appear in future issues, we are suspending acceptance of manuscripts for publication until further notice.
Watch the Submissions and In My Opinion  web pages for submission policy updates.
Thank you for thinking of 4 Star Stories, and we look forward to again being able to accept submissions.
Best regards,

David Gray
Co-Editor
4 Star Stories

Mary Gearhart-Gray
Co-Editor
4 Star Stories

Hi, Readers -

Welcome to 4 Star Stories Issue 27!

Imagine a lone editor, carrying an old-fashioned, wooden soap-box, walking out onto the center of a vast stage. The editor steps up on the soap-box and begins to speak to an imaginary crowd.

“Ladies and other gentle-beings, according to the National Weather Service of the United States of America, June, 2023 was the hottest June on record, ever, full-stop! July, 2023 is adding even higher temperatures.

We humans, along with the rest of nature, appear to be in the midst of a field experiment to discover whether or not global warming actually exists.

Those humans who hold, for various reasons, that it does not exist suggest that we keep putting vast amounts of energy, through various methods, into earth’s semi-closed ecosystem. Why? Because global warming does not exist, so, climatically, nothing is going to happen no matter how much energy we put into the system. And, besides, if it does exist, Nature, or Nature’s God, will take care of it for us.

However, I would like to suggest that, due to events that happened during the COVID-19 world-wide lock-down, the global-warming experiment has already been done. Therefore, we do not need to continue the present one. Further, that, experimentally we have already demonstrated the fact that humans are the main contributors to the energy in-put. And that we humans, can, in fact, do something about it.

During the COVID-19 lock-down, a number of news reports noted that a visible and measurable improvement of various ecological problems occurred in places all over the planet. And that those improvements had occurred within months, rather than the years it had previously been postulated that positive improvements would require. What was the one thing that occurred to so improve those ecological problems? Humans stayed indoors. They could not inter-act with the ecology. Nor could they add energy to an already unstable system.

As humans, most of us can admit global warming is a solvable problem, Therefore, as individuals, groups, companies, and nations we can work towards finding and implementing the best solutions to the problem of global warming.

We can begin as individuals by reading, listening, and talking with each other. As we gather information we can share it.

Then, still as individuals, we implement what we have learned. We each do what we can to reduce waste energy input into the system on our own. We better insulate our buildings. We use energy-efficient appliances and cars. We turn off what we aren’t using. We use, but we don’t waste. We eat the food we buy. Those of us who can, compost compostable items. We take energy-efficient mass transit, walk, or bike. We plant native trees and plants. We xeriscape. We buy and use smart energy rather than carbon-heavy energy. We implement new strategies as they come along. We work as best we can on our own on this problem.

Most importantly, we VOTE. We vote for politicians and for political solutions that take care of the planet and its people and other beings. Not the one. Not the other. All.

We form like-minded groups, and we work with each other. We share and celebrate taking care of the planet as we take care of it.

We buy from, invest in, and work for and with companies that practice earth-healthy energy policies.

And as nations we set energy-smart policies and work with other nations to reduce bad energy decisions. We share knowledge in these matters. And we remember to do something about the impact that new political policies will have on the economies of areas that were dependent on old, carbon-heavy energy production.

Let’s be cool. Let’s do this".

Now imagine the editor steps off of the soap box, bows a thank-you to the imaginary audience, turns, picks

up the soap box, and carrying it, walks off the stage.

Start your journey to global-warming responsibility by checking out the links to our five stories below. You can check out our COVID-related adventures and technical topics in the Webmaster's Rant, located at Contact Us/Webmaster.

Once again, five fine authors have stepped forward with exciting and innovative stories for your reading pleasure.

Here are the links to the stories:

To Each A Blade
Escape Room
High Score
Small Spirits
FRESHMAN EATS

You'll notice that the Guest Artist page this issue is turned over to the C. Dean Andersson Memorial. If you recognize the name, you will acknowledge his stature as a Horror fiction writer. If not, this may be a chance to discover an author of rare talent. Dean's passing was a heavy blow to his friends, and we immediately began thinking how we could honor his name. We came up with this memorial. In addition to lists of his novels and short stories and covers from his books, we are featuring reminisences from his friends.

As always, we wish you good health, both physical and mental, in these trying times. Practice COVID-safe behavior, and we look forward to seeing you healthy for Issue 28.

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4 Star Stories is an online speculative fiction magazine that publishes Science Fiction and Fantasy short stories. Tell your friends about us. Read the stories, look at the art, have some fun. We are. It's important.

Hearing from you is important too. We value your opinions. Click on Contact the Editors to send us an email. We look forward to hearing from you.

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