Free Keene

Click here to view the pdf.

Thanks to BJ Wurts for the great letter about his trip to Keene.

The Free Keene Press is going to be looking to expand the amount of pages we have to fill.  The next edition will be four pages instead of one.  This means I am going to need more Keene-centric content and could use some help with that task.  Currently I am paying for the printing costs out of pocket, with the cost going from $70 to $200,  I will also need help paying for the printing costs.  I am open to the idea of running some ads and pricing is negotiable.

What I am looking for as far as content is:

• Articles in general
• Photographs with caption or brief context description
• Re-printable art
• Opinion pieces
• Comics, puzzles
• Press releases for events around Keene

In terms of the articles I would like to see:

• Taxes
• City Council watch type report
• Events around the Keene area like Pumpkin Fest
• Social needs and services and a critique thereof, both public and private
• Important Cheshire county news stories

And much more of course.  I plan on keeping an open mind as to what gets printed.  You can submit an item for consideration by sending an email to press@freekeene.com.

And just to clarify things: By submitting you give the Free Keene Press permission to reprint and edit your item as we see fit.  You will not be compensated.  You will be credited and if your item is edited a note will be made.  Please limit profanity.  More than likely if an edit is made it will be for length.

If you have questions please feel free to email the above address.

The FSP reached an important milestone yesterday – the halfway mark of 10,000 participants! Here’s the press release from the FSP:

America’s boldest experiment in liberty, the Free State Project, officially signed its 10,000th participant today. The organization is dedicated to migrating 20,000 pro-liberty activists who agree to downsize government to New Hampshire. The announcement comes in advance of the Free State Project’s annual winter convention, the New Hampshire Liberty Forum.

Jason Sorens, founder of the Project, said, “This is a great milestone for us. It feels good to be half-way there. There’s still much to do, but the project is continuing to grow and I am confident we’ll reach our goal of 20,000 participants.”

Participants come from many backgrounds but all agree to move to New Hampshire, where they will “exert the fullest practical effort toward the creation of a society in which the maximum role of government is the protection of life, liberty, and property.” The agreement avoids political labels and allows individual participants to set their own course to reach their goal.

“The Free State Project has no political platform or membership dues”, Sorens stated. “We have participants who identify as conservative, classical liberal, libertarian, anarchist, voluntaryist, you name it. The things we care about are: Do you want more liberty and less government? Are you willing to work toward it? Are you going to be a good, neighborly person in your community? If so, the Free State Project may be just what you’re looking for.” (Read on …)

Since its announcement one month ago, dozens of activists have signed on to the new Keene 411 group txt messaging service! Unfortunately, others were concerned the process to sign up was too much of a hassle, so it has now been simplified.

Get the details and get signed up at 411.FreeKeene.com!

The sign on the door at Abunara says, “Closed until further notice”. I sure hope they come back, because it was a pretty cool place to hang out. Until that time, Social Sundays / Game Night will be at 12 Emerald St. in Keene at 5pm. Here’s the forum thread about the change.

Westmoreland busybody and statist Pam Martens has continued her uninformed hit pieces on Free Staters. Normally they don’t get mentioned here, but this time she mentions Keene activism (it’s such a great quote, I added it to the “unintentional endorsements” section of the 111+ Reasons to Move to Keene.):

the Free State Project holds extremist views and their participants have wreaked havoc in areas like Keene and Grafton. We’ve seen a steady stream of Free Staters taunting the Keene police and ending up in the Westmoreland jail, costing taxpayers dearly.

You can see her full hit piece below. Wreaked havoc? What exactly has been ruined or destroyed in Keene besides old ideas? Are the 420 celebrations wreaking havoc on the idea of prohibition? Quotes like these make it clear that the liberty movement is really bumming out the statists up here. You should come join the fun – just over 25 more signups before the Free State Project reaches 10,000 participants!

We also had a youtube critic send me an angry message where he accuses liberty activists of making an “unimaginable blunder” by holding candlelight vigils outside the homes of government aggressors. (I posted the full text of his message and my reply here.) In it he claims FreeKeene.com is “failing”. Really? By what measure? Failing because some people are upset? What about all the people who appreciate the liberty activists? I imagine liberty activists aren’t too popular amongst those who work for or benefit from the state. We can’t please everyone and shouldn’t try. To say this website is failing, however, is simply a denial of reality. Let’s look at the numbers, shall we? (Read on …)

Nearly 800 are in New Hampshire and nearly 10,000 have joined! As of this writing, only 82 more participants are needed to reach 10k! Then the Free State Project is over the hump and on its way to 20k and completion!

Will you be one of the first 10,000? If you’ve been sitting on the fence, hop off and get signed up! With any luck, 10,000 can be reached before the Liberty Forum in Nashua, March 18-21.

Thanks to one of our Manchester liberty activist friends, Keene411 has launched! It’s like an SMS party line. You send a text to a phone number and the message is blasted out to an unlimited number of phones via Twitter. Here are the instructions for signing up:

1. Create a Twitter account and verify your email, or have your user name and password handy.
2. Text “Start” to 40404.
3. You’ll get a text back, text your Twitter user name to 40404.
4. You’ll get a text back, text your Twitter password to 40404.
5. Go to twitter.com/keene411 and click follow.
6. You should see a green box with two arrows and a lighter box with a phone. Click the phone (it should turn green).
7. To send out a Keene411, send an SMS text message of no more than 140 characters to 347-603-0411.

This information will always be available in the top menu and via this shortcut: Keene411.freekeene.com. You can also learn about how to sign up for Manch411 and follow the Kwik411 blog here.

The Civil Disobedience Evolution Fund is entering a new era with a website redesign (more changes coming) and the HUGE announcement that former LEAP speaker and veteran law enforcement officer Brad Jardis will be heading up the organization as Executive Director!

Here’s the release from CDEF Chairman Brian Travis as posted at CDEvolution.org (please go and become a contributing member!):

It is my great pleasure to announce that Brad Jardis has joined the Civil Disobedience Evolution Fund as Executive Director.

Brad is a well-known figure in the liberty movement in New Hampshire. He spent 11 years as a law enforcement officer. His outspoken criticism of the illegal drug war has made him a pariah to the established law enforcement cabal. For the same reason, Brad has become a hero to many people in the liberty community.

Because of his public stance on the drug war, as well as criticism of other crimes that imprison non-violent people, Brad was recently forced out of his job.

We are fortunate to have Brad as the public face of the Civil Disobedience Evolution Fund and look forward to the impact he will have on the liberty movement in New Hampshire.

Robin Hood and the Merry Men celebrate a successful first year! From Lauren C.’s post on the Free Keene Forum:

Hip Hip Hoorah to Robin Hood’s parking meter rescues!
Let it be known that in the course of one year the outlaw Robin Hood has deposited $54 in expired meters, denying approximately $1350 to the crown, and allowing about 270 people to relax and smile.
He also accepted $273 in donations, and spent $248 on expenses. That means $25 for the Merry Men!

Awesome job!

One of the Free Keene Forum’s youngest members, Bodhi Knight, has announced the creation of “Teens for Liberty”, a new Facebook group. Bodhi challenges all liberty-loving teens in NH to join the group at Teens.FreeKeene.com. You can also find the link at the top right column of this site. He hopes to get 50 members, so if you’re a teen, or would like to be involved, please join up. Here also is the forum thread about TFL.