EDITORIAL MATTERS:

It is Thank You! time again. SM and SWW sent in generous donations just in time to help pay an unexpected bill. Let me tell you, these close calls get on yer nerves!

It's starting to feel like the local PBS station at pledge time, but, dignity be hanged, if you've got a few spare coins, TLE will cheerfully accept them as donations to help keep things running:

http://www.ncc-1776.org/donate.html

Ken Holder
Editor, TLE

ARTICLES

Letters to the Editor
Letters from Dennis Kabaczy, EJ Totty, Mark Testagrossa, Jeffrey L "the Hunter" Jordan via Carl Bussjaeger, the Badnarik for President Campaign, the Fifty Caliber Institute, Jeffry R. Fisher:
• FULL STORY

Survey of the Bill of Rights: Article 3
by Ron Beatty
I must confess that for a long time I didn't see the purpose of this amendment in our modern world. I thought that surely we could get rid of this one! It was meant only to prevent the kind of abuses which had existed under the tyrannical rule of George III, where colonists were forced to feed, shelter, and support in every possible way and at their own expense, the soldiers who were assigned to their homes.
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The (Too) High Cost of Politics
by Lady Liberty
I don't usually watch any coverage of the national political conventions. I think of them as hour long infomercials, broadcast solely to suggest to the average voter that he or she should buy this guy or that as the next President of the United States of America. But this year, entirely by accident, the television happened to be on when John Kerry stepped to the podium in Boston to accept the nomination of the Democratic Party. And that's how it is I heard John Kerry spend far more talk time using promises to buy votes than he did asking voters to buy his experience and his qualifications (there's a reason for that, of course, but that's a topic for another time).
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An Ode to Cuban Cigars
by Jonathan David Morris
I should probably devote this column to New Jersey Gov. Jim McGreevey's recent announcement that he will step down for having had a homosexual affair—that seems to be the "it" story of the moment. But I don't think I'm going to write about that. For one thing, I'm behind the curve. I was out of the country—and trying to avoid all forms of news—when the announcement came (and you've probably read more than enough about it by now). I do think it's ironic, though, that this happened the same week I was on my honeymoon. Why? Because as I said back in March, the fact that I needed the State of New Jersey's permission to get married means I basically married both McGreevey and my wife. See? I told you there was something flimsy about him. Thank God I moved to Pennsylvania. Slap a mustache and glasses on Ed Rendell, I could probably learn to love him in that Wilford-Brimley-grandfather-figure sort of way. But that's neither here nor there.
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Campaign Finance Reform
                or
The Big Lie Revisited
by Charles Stone. Jr.
As we approach election day 2004, implementation of the so-called Campaign Finance Reform law championed by Senator John McCain and others comes nigh. Of course they are ignoring logic and Constitutional law in an attempt to restrict the rights of the American people to support their chosen political candidates.
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I'm The Asshole!
                Or
How I Learned to Embrace Road Rage
          Or maybe even
The Adventures of a Libertarian Leadfoot
by Nate Frymire
First, I would like to point out that I'm not a street racer, I just like driving. The feel of hugging the inside of a corner, making smooth shifts, heading up into the mountains to drive the twisties; all are great ways to spend my free time. For that reason, I drive a slightly modified sport compact. Driving in Colorado Springs has become far less fun and more of a trial in recent years and, in the past few months especially, it's gotten far more dangerous (at least to me). There are several reasons that I can point to, and maybe it's my arrogance talking, but I fail to see how I'm the problem many people seem to think. I prefer going fast, but I adjust my speed to the traffic and road conditions just like any reasonable, responsible person would do and slow down whenever it's warranted. It's what other drivers are doing around me these days that has me worried.
• FULL STORY

Breastfeeding, Rights, and Good Manners
by Wendy McElroy
On Aug. 7 and 8, over two dozen mothers staged a "nurse-in" at a Maryland Starbucks to protest its breastfeeding policy: namely, nursing mothers must cover up or use the bathroom.
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