Yep, it's time to celebrate our nations independence, and since it's late and the fireworks are over, I think I'm going to rant and rage about our very own governor of Pennsylvania, Ed Rendell.

What the heck does this have to do with Star Wars? Well, after being introduced to Star Wars fiction through, guess what! The Thrawn Trilogy, I ran over to my local library to see what they had, oh glory! X-Wing, NJO, Hand of Thrawn, Cloak of Deception! What wonders had I stumbled upon! Even better, our local library was not only a half block away from my house, but it had interlibrary loan, allowing me to borrow books from every state in the Country, excluding Alaska! For three and a half years I visited the Library daily, checking out all Star Wars books I could get a hold of! The books just kept on coming! Clone Wars, Destiny's Way, Approaching Storm! Then it started to slow down...I had no idea why, until a pile of pamphlets showed up by the reference desk.

Apparently our governor, Mr. Rendell, had proposed a new budget, which, among other things, would cut government library funding by %75!!!! Anticipating the drop in financial aid, my library began to cut back. Soon they decided to stop buying CDs...there goes my Attack of the Clones soundtrack...then they stopped buying Star Wars books altogether, with the exception of Jedi Quest.

But don't worry, it gets even better! The budget was NEVER PASSED!!!! Ed Rendell still has a budget up for a proposal, and after 2 years, nothing has happened! But the libaray still cut their purchases, and to this day, the only Star Wars novel purchased has been Revenge of the Sith...That means that I have to go out and buy the books myself...which, although it makes Amazon.com immensely happy, does little for my bank account.