Keene City Council Drinking Game Making International News!
NPR:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129077277
AP:
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/bizarre/7144804.html
The Toronto Sun (theirs is the best story outside of NH, as they actually bothered to look at FreeKeene.com for our perspective on things):
http://www.torontosun.com/news/world/2010/08/08/14962111.html
Comments
49 Comments on Keene City Council Drinking Game Making International News!
I almost choked on my coffee this morning when I was driving to work and Neil Simon Steve Inskeep started talking about your City Council drinking game during one of those little wacky news segments on NPR. Hilarious!
It’s awesome that news of your efforts is reaching a wider audience, hopefully it will draw more attention to the message of liberty, the FSP, and Keene’s own brand of activism.
The AP has a lot to learn from the Toronto Sun! AP’s current “journalism” model appears to consist of getting a quick comment from the usual bureaucrats and not bothering to ask or portray the perspectives of the other (far more interesting) individuals involved in these types of events.
POISONING THE WELL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
WELL done!
(The news of this is just beginning… you and Sam still are going to smack them around in court.)
I’m thinking about contacting the ACLU.
Hey! The Toronto Sun quoted me in their article 
“”From all accounts I’ve read, witnessed through video, and learned from speaking to the individuals involved, not a single disruption was caused at this particular meeting by the protesters. The disruption ensued when the government employees and officials felt that the protesters were deflating their ego’s by mocking the way they choose to wield violence to control other people’s lives,” the blog says.”
Very true, T.J. The Sun just worked it’s way to the top of my list of favorite Canadian newspapers. Perhaps there are some reporters out there that actually get it.
Maybe they do understand that providing objective news coverage and getting both sides of the story just might provide them some job security in the long term. You know, with the economy going down the tubes not just in this land but also with our neighbors to the north as well. Not to mention that the dead tree news is losing paid subscribers left and right.
Bravo to the Toronto Sun.
NPR says:
The city council of Keene, N.H., was holding a meeting to discuss the local law that bans carrying an open alcohol container. Their discussion was interrupted by several people in the audience playing a drinking game. When there was a unanimous vote, for example, participants took a swig from a container labeled “not a beer.”
“was holding a meeting to discuss the local law that bans carrying an open alcohol container.”
FALSE!
Perhaps if they had actually looked into the matter further, as The Sun did, they would have their facts straight.
And the wiseguy brigade last night in chat was pissing and moaning that this latest gig was going to be the one that just kills the liberty movement forever.
Brad: Can you call one of those pizza delivery places there in Keene and have them deliver a pie to those two Chicken Little’s that were insanely cackling about, in chat? Have them add some extra cheese to go with their whine.
Oh and don’t forget to have them pile on lots of crow for those dudes, ok?
Chaz
they ALL destroy the liberty movement! More and more people seem to be moving to NH and Keene. They must be here to protest all the evils the Free Keene crowd are doing. Wait, they’re participating?
poisoning the well!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! lol
Awesome! but wheres the video?
Awesome coverage!!! The way you guys did this was just priceless. Kept me on my toes for sure. Can’t wait to see the video!
Any chance of a CRAP campaign short stemming from this incident to further rub the success in?
Now you’re talking, T.J.
This is a job for Byron Kingsley.
And Jethro Jenkins too. If you want it to be *really* funny, then he’s just gotta be in it.
When’s the next council meeting? I want to wear my Army dress uniform.
Perhaps I’ll drink tea from a high-ball glass.
I want to wear my Army dress uniform.
Bet you $20 KPD calls the FBI if you do.
A veteran is entitled to wear his uniform and all the awards he’s won.
Hells yeah Jethro Jenkins and maybe his girlfriend??? “Honey come get this transmission out the tub!! I need to take a bath b’fore going to the council meeting!”
A veteran is entitled to wear his uniform and all the awards he’s won.
That only applies to retired officers:
(c) A retired officer of the Army, Navy, Air Force, or Marine Corps may bear the title and wear the uniform of his retired grade.
Once an enlisted person leaves they can wear the uniform as they travel home, but only for three months after they have left:
(d) A person who is discharged honorably or under honorable conditions from the Army, Navy, Air Force, or Marine Corps may wear his uniform while going from the place of discharge to his home, within three months after his discharge.
10 USC 772
Clear Moonshine Jug in hand, irritated and having not had his bath .. Jethro Jenkins arrives to the protest ” Not White Lightnin’ ” … LOL its just cracking me up thinking about it.
> http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/10/772.html
I couldn’t find any applicable penalty for doing such.
18 USC 702
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode18/usc_sec_18_00000702—-000-.html
Citizens
Resist
Alcohol in
Public … or
Citizens
Resist
Alcohol
Policy
From US Army Regulation 670-1, 3 Feb 2005:
30–4. Wear of the uniform by former members of the Army
a. Unless qualified under another provision of this regulation, or under the provisions of section 772, title 10, United States Code (10 USC 772), former members of the Army may wear the uniform if they served honorably during a declared or undeclared war, and if their most recent service was terminated under honorable conditions. Personnel who qualify under these conditions will wear the Army uniform in the highest grade they held during such war service, in accordance with 10 USC 772.
b. The uniform is authorized for wear only for the following ceremonial occasions, and when traveling to and from the ceremony or function. Uniforms for these occasions are restricted to service and dress uniforms; the BDU and physical fitness uniforms will not be worn.
(1) When attending military funerals, memorial services, weddings, inaugurals, and other occasions of ceremony.
(2) When attending parades on national or state holidays, or other patriotic parades or ceremonies in which any active or reserve United States military unit is taking part. Wear of the Army uniform at any other time, or for any other purpose than stated above, is prohibited.
——————————————————————-
How would they know I wasn’t active duty though?
“”(f) While portraying a member of the Army, Navy, Air Force, or Marine Corps, an actor in a theatrical or motion-picture production may wear the uniform of that armed force if the portrayal does not tend to discredit that armed force.”"
—————————–
I could just say I’m an actor playing the role of myself in a film to be shown on OTN.
Good point on paragraph F. I think that would be the best way to do it.
Interesting that it’s illegal to portray the military in a negative light, in a theatrical or motion picture production.
So much for free speech.
I highly doubt that the specific provision you speak of would be constitutional Paul.
It may have already been found to be unconstitutional. You know I’m going to go do some legal research on it now 
Puke I love the idea of doing a story about you attending the drinking game for the documentary.
I’m putting the finishing touches on the video, so I’ll add a note inviting everyone out next week. It will run on Cheshire TV.
I assumed correctly:
Inasmuch as unauthorized wearing of uniform of armed forces of United States is a crime, subsec. (f) of this section permitting actor in theatrical production to wear uniform portraying member of armed force, “if the portrayal does not tend to discredit that armed force” denies constitutional right to actor wearing military uniform to attack armed force and must be stricken to preserve constitutionality of remainder of this section. Schacht v. U. S., U.S.Tex.1970, 90 S.Ct. 1555, 398 U.S. 58, 26 L.Ed.2d 44.
Amateur actors’ presentation in street of short antiwar play was a “theatrical production” within subsec. (f) of this section providing that, while portraying member of armed forces, an actor in theatrical production may wear uniform of armed force, if portrayal does not tend to discredit that armed force. Schacht v. U.S., U.S.Tex.1970, 90 S.Ct. 1555, 398 U.S. 58, 26 L.Ed.2d 44.
Punishment of actor for speaking out in theatrical production against role of United States Army and United States in Vietnam would be an unconstitutional abridgment of freedom of speech. Schacht v. U.S., U.S.Tex.1970, 90 S.Ct. 1555, 398 U.S. 58, 26 L.Ed.2d 44.
That’s good to hear, Brad. Thanks for checking that.
Paul,
But of course, sir.
Puke/Sam,
The opinion by the SCOTUS in this case seems to address the specific issue of low budget skits:
The Government’s argument in this case seems to imply that somehow what these amateur actors did in Houston should not be treated as a ‘theatrical production’ within the meaning of s 772(f). We are unable to follow such a suggestion. Certainly theatrical productions need not always be performed in buildings or even on a defined area and as a conventional stage. Nor need they be performed by professional actors or be heavily financed or elaborately produced. Since time immemorial, outdoor theatrical performances, often performed by amateurs, have played an important part in the entertainment and the education of the people of the world. Here, the record shows without dispute the preparation and repeated presentation by amateur actors of a short play designed to create in the audience an understanding of and opposition to our participation in the Vietnam war. Supra, at 1557 and this page. It may be that the performances were crude and *62 amateurish and perhaps unappealing, but the same thing can be said about many theatrical performances. We cannot believe that when Congress wrote out a special exception for theatrical productions it intended to protect only a narrow and limited category of professionally produced plays.FN3 Of course, we need not decide here all the questions concerning what is and what is not within the scope of s 772(f). We need only find, as we emphatically do, that the street skit in which Schacht participated was a ‘theatrical production’ within the meaning of that section.
So if you did show up in uniform for the intentional filming of a skit… you’d be immune from prosecution under 18 USC 702.
From a legal perspective, I think the important question would be whether this constitutes a skit, theatrical production, etc, or not.
It could be argued that an OTN video is more of a documentary — not a theatrical production.
If I were a prosecutor committing the scummy act of attempting to lock a person in a cage because of the outfit they were wearing, this would be the tack I would take.
Sam’s style for his productions have always involved some sort of plan… which I think would make it a skit
Started the car radio, and the first 4 words I heard were: “labeled Not a Beer.” and I knew it was about you all. Well done.
Until I read it, I didn’t believe it. I really didn’t think von Mises Institute would care about activism, yet I’m very glad that they do!
That, international newspaper coverage, NPR, and several blogs. The guys will be able to easily beat the charges and make Mayor Pregent and his gaggle of slavering toadies are going to look like schmucks in the end, if they haven’t already. There’s nothing they can do except to give up as their tactics are just serving as recruitment tools to inspire people to move to New Hampshire.
Some folks are going to be hard pressed to say that liberty didn’t win this one.
As someone who has been critical of the civil disobedience shenanigans going on in Keene, I have to say that this might just be worth the stupidity. I still can’t agree with how it was done, but the exposure is undeniable.
There is no doubt that this is inside-the-system civil disobedience. I’m more of a fan of “doing my own thing without regard to laws and not making a big stink about it” but sometimes in-the-system CD is needed to gain publicity. Which, let’s be honest, this is all a publicity game between CD’ers and the government. The stuff getting done now won’t likely have any effect on laws. The people the publicity could bring might make it big enough to start affecting laws.
Keep up the good work guys, no matter how much I disagree with your methods, I support your freedom to be non-violent and break bad laws.
Are all these laws regarding wearing a uniform, enforceable by local police or non-military entities? If not, who cares? If you are out of the military and now a civilian then their rules no longer apply to you either, or are you subject to their courts for life?
Reminds me of the guy wearing a Masonic ring who is confronted by a Mason who says, “Hey buddy you’re not allowed to wear that ring unless you’re a Mason!” The guy says, “Well I’m not a Mason, so therefore any of your private rules about what somebody can and can’t wear apply to me how?”
@TJ: we have talked about a C.R.A.P. video related to open container. What we came up with is solid gold! I won’t spoil it, but it involves natural disasters, plane crashes, fire and brimstone, plagues…
It’s gonna be AWESOME!
@Luthor
Schweet!! I can’t wait to see what you guys come up with. Laughing at the absurdity of their system is certainly one of the best ways to lift the veil. Were you by chance going to publish the PCP video on the CRAPCampaign YouTube channel, it’s not up there?
There is no video because the free keeners have not finished doctoring it yet to make them (free keeners) look like victims of brutality. Have you ever noticed that most of the videos posted start several minutes into an incident after tempers have already flared. And international news, its filed under BIZARRE news, meaning the international community is laughing at you assholes
And international news, its filed under BIZARRE news, meaning the international community is laughing at you assholes
It surely is BIZARRE nowadays for someone to advocate that government violence not be directed a people who are peacefully not bothering anyone…. and anyone who advocates that obviously has to be an asshole.
@slayerboy I’m not sure they broke a law at the City Council meeting. Disorderly conduct for refusing to consent to an inspection of one’s beverage? I guess you could argue that Keene PD had probable cause to inspect the bottles, but that’s not the way they went. Instead they went with disorderly rather than continuing to investigate for a potential violation of whatever the ordinance at issue was. Where’s the NH-CLU, if there is one, on this?
O – Luckily for you, the city publishes the full lenth video on their website. Oh, wait, that’s right, they deleted it. . . .
Lol, yeah, all those special effects take time, “o”. We’ve got Lucas on retainer. :rollseyes:
Anything to keep believing government employees can do no wrong, right?
I’m sure the city will be publishing the full video any minute now, since I’m sure it clearly exonerates them.
The video (slightly edited for time only, and only after the audio is cut) is still available at the Sentinel site.
http://www.sentinelsource.com/mediabin/videos/videopages/cityprotest_2010.html
I stripped the .flv file from that link, should I push it to YouTube? It’s 31.2MB so emailing it will be an issue.
I wish the video it started earlier, and I wish there were audio, but it’s better than nothing.
Here’s another funny thing: Apparently Pregent just made that B.S. up on the spot. There’s nothing about “alcoholic containers” in the rules of order at all.
But hey, if you think someone’s disrespecting you, time to bring out the guns, right? I mean, that’s the way gangsters and mobsters make sure they get “respect”, and Mr. Pregent’s organization does seem to like to emulate their business model … sending men with guns to shut down businesses who don’t pay them a fee, etc. The state even runs runs a monopoly on alcohol distribution, and sends armed men after any competitors. All they’re missing is the last name “Capone”.
City Councilwoman Cynthia C. Georgina tells the Keene Sentinel that the behavior at Thursday’s meeting was “very disrespectful and disruptive.” I agree, Cynthia. “Mayor” Dale Pregent was very disrespectful and disruptive. Some people will actually watch the video. Despite being carefully edited to remove any video evidence, the only real “disruption:” occurred when the “Mayor” got his panties in a bunch, and called a recess. Too bad you kids didn’t go out to play, when “teacher” called recess…..
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