Free Keene

Welcome to our newest blogger, Brandon. He’ll be heading up the Free Keene food drives and who knows what into the future. Look for his first post here soon. Meantime, here’s his bio from the Bloggers page:

Brandon moved to Keene in June of 2009 from the Detroit, MI area. He had been a believer in small government philosophy before coming to the realization that only through a voluntary society can the rights and liberties of individuals be preserved. After learning of the Free State Project in 2004 Brandon felt that the FSP would provide the best opportunity to reclaim those liberties.

For a couple of years now we’ve been offering 1970’s “The Market for Liberty” in audiobook and .PDF forms for download free at Book.FreeKeene.com. Now, we offer a brand new audiobook, published in 2007 by Wes Bertrand, “Complete Liberty: The Demise of the State and the Rise of Voluntary America”. The book is inspired by many other great liberty-minded works in the past (such as The Market for Liberty) and is an excellent modern day look at what liberty is and how we can achieve it in our lifetimes. Complete Liberty is a highly recommended read for those interested in freedom. Wes also does a podcast which you can listen to on his site, CompleteLiberty.com. Visit that page for his introduction. Here are three ways you can download this book:

1. 207 MB self-extracting archive (Windows users only) containing ten .mp3 chapters.
2. 207 MB .ZIP file containing ten .mp3 chapters.
3. 1.2 MB .PDF – the actual book, which can be ordered in print here.

When I decided to make the move to New Hampshire, I still wasn’t sure what form my activism was gong to take. I was certain only that I had to do something, or live with the consequence of knowing that I’d made no effort to push back the incursions of the State–forever tormenting myself with wondering whether some simple action of mine might have made the crucial difference.
I’ve always been linguistically oriented. I make my living proofreading and copy-editing, and my mind is always whirring with wordplay that would make a cryptic crossword puzzle comparatively comprehensible. It seemed that I could channel that ability into something useful to the liberty movement.
Shortly before embarkation, I began writing down some of the songs I’d always playfully composed in my own mind, (Read on …)

Very persuasive! Please share this video with your liberty-minded friends:

As you may know, we’ve been experimenting with QIK.com’s live streaming video service. Activists are “arming up” with smartphones and streaming live video and audio of activism as-it-happens. Now you can see these live streamed videos moments after they air, permanently on our new YouTube channel, “Free Keene Live“. You’ll also see it in our right menu as “YouTube Live”. To kick things off, I’ve included the live video of Sam’s arrest on Friday. Don’t forget to hit the “Subscribe” button, as many of these videos will not be featured here on the blog.

Meg moved to New Hampshire from her hometown of Portland, OR after discovering the true nature of government and its harmful effects. She came to Keene with a degree in film production, and the desire to be active in the shift from government violence to a peaceful and consensual society. As a filmmaker, she hopes to capture the passion and courage of those who will be the voices of change, so others will be inspired to take part.

See the other Free Keene bloggers.

Yesterday, this letter to the editor was published in the Keene Sentinel:

An open letter to Sam A. Miller.

I recently read the article in The Sentinel about how Cheshire County “tricked” you into leaving the place you so loved to hate called jail. You had a lovely run there. Three hots and a cot and all the cable TV you could handle. And at no cost to you; John Q. Taxpayer picked up the tab for your new orange threads and your lovely view of the beautiful area of Westmoreland.

No doubt you’re unemployed and are collecting one or more forms of benefits from the very government you denounce, so you really have no idea what it’s like to pay your taxes and see your tax dollars wasted on someone like you.

You refuse to sign a paper releasing you from jail, but then complain that you are being held unjustly and without cause. I am a fellow freedom lover myself, being a Republican, but you, sir, have embarrassed even your fellow Free Staters.

You pollute the downtown with your protests and makeshift signs made from construction paper and magic marker. I know you are longing to be guilty of something so I am going to pass down this judgment in hopes that the matter will be settled and you will stop bothering the good people of this town, county and state. You are guilty of stupidity, and the very thing you are guilty of is also your punishment … a life sentence.

WILLIAM CHAFFEE JR.
32 Court St Apt. 2
Keene

My Response to William Chaffee Junior’s Open letter, (Read on …)

I wrote this hopefully persuasive essay for the printed newsletter published by FIJA. I’ve missed the deadline for the Summer issue, but it should appear later this year. I had been reading their letters to the editor and been amazed that no one was writing about much else besides just giving Fully Informed Jury Association information to their friends, family, and co-workers. This is good, but not particularly effective. I hope that explaining what we do here in Keene will encourage others around the country to duplicate our efforts, or better yet come to NH and get active here.

I’m publishing this article here on the blog in the hopes that it will encourage similar activism other parts of New Hampshire, where honestly, there is no excuse for activists to not be doing this incredibly simple and effective activism. We’ve been challenging the activists in other areas to take this up for months now, and they haven’t. Which of course just makes Keene a more attractive destination in comparison.

Thanks to Chris Muskus for being the driving force behind this amazingly successful FIJA outreach, as it enters it’s second year this August.

In the last year, my fellow activists and I have distributed hundreds of Fully Informed Jury Association pamphlets into the hands of potential jurors as they arrive at the courthouse for jury selection. Month after month, we gather on the first Monday in front of the Cheshire superior court in Keene, New Hampshire and offer FIJA information to every single person walking into the courthouse. We arrive at 8am when the doors open and stay until about 8:45am, fifteen minutes after the potential jurors are supposed to be there, just to make sure we reach all the late arrivals. About 80-90% of the people we approach will take the flier. Usually I’ll smile and say something like, “Good morning, would you like some free information on your rights as a juror?”, and hold out a trifold. That’s all it takes! (Read on …)

You should know that Ryan Marvin is a lowly thief: