EDITORIAL MATTERS:

I am back. My 90-year-old father died a couple of days before Thanksgiving, so I left on a hurried trip back to my home town. I was planning on making the same trip the week after Thanksgiving. That's a long 14-hour drive (and another long 14-hour drive back the following week). But, I am back, and after considerable resting-up, it's time to get back to the TLE grindstone.

This issue I'd like to say that the Free State Project and any and all other projects are not in competition with each other. We here at TLE support them all. We think the attempt is a grand one, and we're eager to see what happens with each and every one. So y'all stop squabbling with each other. So they're not perfect... and you are? Eh? Eh? Eh? Therefore, from now own, TLE will gladly publish news bulletins about organized efforts to Live Free, but no more squabblings.

And what would an issue of TLE be without another appeal for financial support? Therefore, please support TLE, either by direct money donations, or by buying something from our sponsors or affiliates via those handy links we provide on this page and at the bottom of each article. That direct cash link:

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

And let me not forget a BIG THANK YOU! to the people who donated some much-needed cash money just in time last month. It was a life-saver!

Ken Holder
editor@ncc-1776.org
Editor

Tom Paine Maru by L. Neil Smith Cover by Scott Bieser First uncensored edition. Originally published by Del Rey Books, 1984. Adobe Acrobat PDF file, 1,845,243-bytes, 283 pages. Download for $5.00, Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover Card, eCheck, or PayPal DOWNLOAD FROM PAYLOADZ.COM

The Probability Broach: The Graphic Novel by L. Neil Smith Illustrated by Scott Bieser Published by BigHead Press, 2004 Amazon.com

ARTICLES

Letters to the Editor
from L. Neil Smith, Scott Bieser, Joel Simon, Jay P Hailey, Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership, and Karen Lebens
• FULL STORY

The Real Enemy
by Kathryn A. Graham
The real enemy of freedom is fanaticism. Today, we are listening to all sorts of debates on terrorism and on freedom. One side would have us believe that only Christians are right, and that Moslems are inherently evil. Another side would have us believe that only strict Islamic ideals are the root of real freedom, and that Christianity and its efforts to spread to the entire world have brought about our current sorry state of affairs. Why is it so difficult to understand that both sides in this debate are equally wrong, and for the same reasons?
• FULL STORY

Group Punishments
by Chris Claypoole
Recently, a local television station ran a story about two more high school proms being cancelled in New York, probably brought on by a similar cancellation several weeks ago. The reasons given were "financial decadence" and overuse of alcohol and other drugs by some of the students. The administrators were concerned about the "excessive" spending by some of the parents on their children, to include "booze cruises." They were also upset that many students not only would abuse various substances after the proms, but before and during as well. Conversations with my high school sophomore daughter and her high school senior boyfriend confirmed that a minority of their peers would show up at the proms "under the influence," and that more would meet to drink later, often at parties hosted by parents.
• FULL STORY

The Murder of Freedom
by Kevin S. Van Horn
Why has it been so hard for the American freedom movement to achieve any lasting, meaningful victories? Is it because our enemies are so powerful? Is it because so few really desire freedom? Or is it just possible that the seeds of failure lie within the activists themselves?
• FULL STORY

Vicegrips!
by Dr. Julius No
Vicegrips in the wrong hands can be an instrument of Terror....
• FULL STORY

So You Actually Have to be Able to Think
by Ron Beatty
As I was driving into town today, thinking over some of the past posts on Smithlist, I got to pondering on some things and decided to write down what I am thinking and feeling. I guess you could call this my philosophy of life.
• FULL STORY

It Takes a Grinch to Ban Christmas
by Cat Farmer
On Christmas Eve, as I
Walked home through the park,
An unhappy old soul sat
In the snow, cold, and dark....
• FULL STORY

Protecting Ourselves
by Charles Stone, Jr.
I'm not sure when it started, perhaps it was with the old western movies when the upstanding citizens of "Drygulch", fearful of the local land baron and his evil minions sent the town fathers to the state capitol to ask for help in maintaining law and order in their town and especially to do away with the "vigilantes" who were of course under the direction of nasty folk who ran the town.
• FULL STORY

Sappy Thanksgiving
by Jonathan David Morris
Ah, late November, that special time of year when Americans of all ages come together to celebrate victory over the Indians in the Battle of Thanksgiving. I don't know about you, but this is one of my favorite times of the year. This is when the leaves turn colors and fresh fires burn from chimneys. America is at its best during Thanksgiving. At no other time is America more American.
• FULL STORY

Compromised Messages
by Lady Liberty
I doubt it comes as a surprise to any of you that I often receive e-mail in response to something I've written. Sometimes, people write to tell me they agree with me. I like those letters. Other people write to tell me that they disagree with me, and then proceed to tell me why. Believe it or not, I like those letters too because I usually learn something from them. Then there are those notes that are just deliberately nasty. The greatest joy I get from that kind of communication is summarily emptying it into my computer's handy dandy electronic trash bin.
• FULL STORY

PBS Film Controversy Continues
by Wendy McElroy
The Public Broadcasting Service documentary "Breaking the Silence: Children's Stories" portrayed Sadiya (Sadia) Alilire as a heroic mom who was abused by her husband. Two controversial questions persist. Did producers ignore the extensive court records with which they were provided on Alilire's multiple abuse of her two daughters—then aged 8 and 3? Is PBS demonstrating bias against fathers?
• FULL STORY

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