GROUND CONTROL TO MAJOR TOM

For the eight trillionth time this year alone, the Voice of Reason Weblog is relaunching. We do this from time to time because we get sick of wading through old commentary that is now irrelevant and, when you get right down to it, wasn't even relevant in the first place. We also like using the word "relaunch," which sounds far more technical than it is.

The "we" is Corey, a college student and reporter for a daily newspaper who sometimes refers to himself in the plural and sometimes in the third person, depending on how he is feeling. Which is usually not especially splendid, because he is plagued by the Kennedy Curse and tends to be pessimistic when one of life's little lessons decides to manifest itself as one of life's little Crushing Torpedoes of Death, which is every other Monday.

But all pessimism aside, this blog will become a repository for Corey's (my, our) opinions on everything from the Israel-Palestinian conflict to the diminishing length of drinking straws. It is our sincere hope that the latter half of 2004 treats us better than the first half of the year.

Which shouldn't be hard.