EDITORIAL MATTERS:

Welcome to this, the Three-hundred-twenty-ninth issue of TLE. The heat-wave here in the mountains continues, I've had a case of heat stroke or heat exhaustion, or overheating, or something like that. To make matters worse, the truck won't start. Probably the heat. Well, as Woody Woodpecker or somebody once said, "If it's not one thing, it's another." How true that is.

However, one thing we can be sure of is here is yet again TLE, clicking along like clockwork. Um ... do you young folks know what "clockwork" is I wonder? You know, gears and springs and things? I recall how the world has changed since I was young, and wonder what it will be like when y'all are my age. Better, I hope. Speaking of making the world better, you (yes, you!) can help by making a small donation to TLE to help us keep going. Just click on the following link and so on:

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

And you can also help support us by clicking on our various affiliate links you'll see down below the list of articles as well as at the bottoms of the articles themselves. Get stuff you need and want, and support TLE at the same time. Such a deal!

Ken Holder
editor@ncc-1776.org
Editor

ARTICLES

Letters to the Editor
from Pamela Maltzman, L. Neil Smith, Michael Brightbill, and Jim Davidson
• FULL STORY

My Rebuttal to Chris Claypoole's Rebuttal of My Rebuttal of His Rebuttal of the LP'S "Exit Strategy For Iraq"
by Thomas L. Knapp
Chris Claypoole's second article on the Libertarian Party's "exit strategy" concentrates on two things: The meaning of words and my alleged "blurring" of those meanings.
• FULL STORY

How To End Jihad Without Really Trying
by Jack Duggan
We have all heard on TV news and interview shows oblique references to a "call up," a military draft, should we remain mired in the Middle East, because there are not enough people in the U. S. military to sustain our foreign policies there and globally.
• FULL STORY

Who's Afraid of Freedom?
by Lady Liberty
The recent terrorist bombings in London are, without question, a tragedy. Innocent people lost their lives or suffered serious injury; innocent people lost loved ones or face the hardships of recovery. Those who are claiming responsibility say they engaged in terrorism to protest the British involvement in the War on Terror. On the face of it, that rationale seems a bit odd since such attacks are likely only to entrench the policymaker's mindset still deeper. Frightening the public badly enough, however, could very well result in some changes more favorable to the terrorists' cause.
• FULL STORY

Remade In America
by Jonathan David Morris
Most Hollywood remakes suck. This news shouldn't take you by surprise. But it's pertinent because adaptations of old shows, movies, books, and even comics have flooded theaters this summer, with no end in sight. The Bad News Bears. Bewitched. Herbie. The Honeymooners. War of the Worlds. Even Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. The list goes on and on. If history is any indication, some of these remakes will delight old fans while scoring legions of new ones. But most of them will suck. Hard. So why is this?
• FULL STORY

Pragmatic or Pure?
by Lex Concord
Libertarians have long argued whether a pragmatic approach (generally defined as advocating gradual progress toward liberty) or a purist approach (generally calling for the final goal and explaining the moral reasoning behind it) should be pursued by the Libertarian Party. This argument has come to a head in recent weeks with the release of the LP's Exit Strategy for Iraq, which has appealed to (some) pragmatists by proposing a gradual and perhaps realistic plan for withdrawing from Iraq, while offending purists (and others) by violating the LP platform and libertarian principles in calling for foreign aid to Iraq and moving some of the withdrawn troops to other Mideast bases.
• FULL STORY

The Dream
by Ron Beatty
The other night I had a dream. I was sitting by a campfire, a pot of coffee perking on the grill. The air was heavy and still, and a mist was forming in the valley. Suddenly, there was a soft noise, and the dogs were looking toward a fallen tree. I peered toward it, but couldn't make anything out, then gradually, almost like ghosts, two shapes appeared out of the mist. They stood, looking toward the fire, and I called to them.
• FULL STORY

What The Hell To Do Now?
by Alan R. Weiss
I have been reading Butler Shaffer for a long time. I love his writing. However, he is only one of many, many writers who are great at diagnosing the problems—but hardly anyone has the cure, the fix, the optimal strategy (personal or political). In other words, OK, hey, snaps and props for the diagnosis, professor. Now how do we fix this decline of western civilization? Butler believes it to be unfixable. Oh happy day.
• FULL STORY

Close Encounters of the Annoying Kind
by Chris Claypoole
Friday morning (7/22/05) I was rudely awakened by a pounding on my front door. It was 4:30 AM, so I was pretty sure it wasn't the UPS guy with a delivery for which I needed to sign. My wife and I rolled out of bed and looked down the stairs at the front door, and there is a hand pushing through our mail slot (the brass kind with spring-hinged flaps both inside and outside). A female voice is yelling to be let in. She then withdraws the hand, being unable to reach the doorknob, much less the deadbolt or chain, and starts banging on the (nice, solid oak) door again.
• FULL STORY

Bad Research Leads to Bad Law
by Wendy McElroy
A review of medical studies published from 1990 to 2003 in three prestigious journals—the New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA and Lancet—has called the validity of approximately one-third of them into severe question.
• FULL STORY

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