Free Keene

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 …)

Your thoughts about the benefits of drug use, Texas man sentenced to 35 years in prison for possession of 4.6 oz of marijuana, PA goes after bars that sell unregistered beer, kindergartner suspended for making his finger into a gun, and new terrorism bill gives the president the power to imprison US citizens indefinitely without a trial.
http://www.freemindsmedia.org

The ATF confiscates a shipment of Airsoft plastic BB guns, Miami considers putting a ban on feeding the homeless, the Downsizer Dispatch, a UK woman in trouble with the law for failing to report buried treasure (yes she found an old coin), and the US government is killing indigenous fish and replacing them with rainbow trout.

http://www.freemindsmedia.org

Nick and Toby discuss the War on Drugs and the right of Americans to keep and bear arms.

http://www.freemindsmedia.org

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The original intent was to get this out on President’s Day but it snuck up on me. Then I thought I’d do it for Abraham Lincoln’s birthday which I’ve incorrectly believed to be the 22nd for years now. Yes, that’s Washington’s birthday. I know that now. I’m already sufficiently embarrassed but go ahead and make fun of me for it in the comments. Anyway, it doesn’t matter because I didn’t quite finish it yesterday before I had to take off for some volunteer work I had been scheduled for. So here it is late enough to seem completely off topic.

Excerpts from Lincoln’s first Inaugural Address–
(Read On…)

The TSA forces 4-year-old to take off leg braces and drag himself through a metal detector, laziness grouchiness are being considered as psychological disorders, police in the UK are attempting to break into residents’ houses to keep them safe, and being a vegetarian may not be as good for the environment as previously thought.
http://www.freemindsmedia.org

China to censor text messages, Australian police stage fake robbery of pharmacy that was under police surveillance, the Downsizer Dispatch, studies show banning talking on cell phones does not prevent accidents, and a 12-year-old girl arrested for doodling on her desk.

http://www.freemindstv.com

Court upholds a DWI for a man who was sleeping in his broken down car which was parked in his own driveway with no keys in the ignition, Bill Gates commentary on the economy mirrors what Free Minds TV has been saying for years, Health Care exemptions for the Amish, and the war on drugs may be coming to an end

http://www.freemindsmedia.org

UK job placement agency rejects advertisement because looking for “reliable workers” discriminates against lazy people, US ethanol subsidies are leaving millions hungry, the Downsizer Dispatch, federal subsidies are at an all time high, and an upset parent has dictionaries which define “oral sex” banned from certain classrooms.

http://www.freemindsmedia.org

A few days back on this blog we posted the news that longtime NH police officer Brad Jardis was no longer going to arrest medical cannabis users. Jardis has shown much courage – far more than the average cop – in first coming out verbally against the insane war on drugs, and now taking the first step into actually doing the right thing and refusing to enforce bad laws.

Despite the courage he has and the support he has earned in the community because of it, the organization known as Law Enforcement Against Prohibition has unceremoniously booted him from their ranks. Brad posted the email he received from LEAP’s head, Jack Cole, on the Free Keene Forum. In it, Cole takes position that while LEAP members are encouraged to speak out about the horrors of prohibition, as long as they are employed as LEOs, they must enforce bad laws, because to not do so would be “unethical and wrong”. It’s a sad statement that outs LEAP as an organization of nothing more than a bunch of talkers, rather than doers. Of course, Cole is incorrect. Enforcing laws that harm peaceful people is what is unethical and wrong.

Other law enforcement officers, who are members of LEAP, have announced they will be sending in their resignations. Many other supporters of LEAP are sending in revocations of their membership, and explaining why. Some of these messages can be found on this forum thread.

Here’s the message Jack Cole sent to Brad, with Cole’s full contact info at the bottom.

Dear Bradley Jardis,

I have tried but am unable to reach you by telephone.

It has come to LEAP’s attention from the below blog entry, that you have
chosen to violate the oath you took on joining the police department; to
enforce all the laws of the federal and state governments in which your
police department has jurisdiction. And worse, you are calling on other law
enforcement officials to violate their oaths of office. (Read on …)