Free Keene

The Presidential Primary season has concluded.  This amazing process has yielded the two finest, upstanding citizens this country has to offer.  On one hand we have a old grizzled war veteran who would see us in Iraq for a 100 years if need be.  On the other hand we have a smooth talking inexperienced young man who speaks of change.  One of these two people will go on to be President of the most powerful country in the world.  Given the damage that the current President has done to this Country, it’s guiding law the Constitution and the many dead in the Middle East, what can we expect from either of these men?

(Read on …)

The rising price of fuel has not only driven up the cost of food, consumer goods, and regular driving, but it is inevitable that tax payers will have to pay more for the gas that goes into the array of vehicles driven by the city and the state. (Read on …)

On Friday, April 18th, I was told by a Keene Police Officer that I was committing theft by plugging my computer into one of the outlets that stick out of the ground along Main Street. These outlets have places to be locked or turned off, but they were neither locked, turned off, or marked with something saying they weren’t for public use. The officer told me “You can ask the City if you can use their electricity, but for now you’re stealing it.” I obliged and moved on with my night.

Tuesday, April 22nd, I went into City Hall and asked the Clerk’s Office about these outlets. Were they outlawed to the public? If so, why isn’t it marked, since they look as public as the public trash cans? How do I get permission to use them? Some of the workers were unaware that such plugs even existed, but they promised to call Keene Park & Rec and give me a call when they got the answer for me.

Tuesday, April 29th, I still had not heard from them, so I followed up with a personal contact I have in the same building. Perhaps he, being an employee on the inside, could push someone to find an answer for me. Today, May 4th, I followed up with him, and they told him the same thing they told me: “We’ll get back to you.”‘

***Update: Tuesday, May 6th, I finally got a call from Ms. Little in the City Clerk’s office. She said that the outlets are not for public use, and are for event use only. The city manager told her that if someone wanted to make some of them public, I could submit a written request to the city council. Sounds like fun…
This still does not answer the question as to why they are not marked, or how any person should know that an outlet on public property is not for public use.

It seems to be the nature of governments to grow, and the recent proposed Keene operating budget for the fiscal year of 2008-2009 makes the local government in Keene NH no exception to this rule.

According to the Keene Sentinel, the proposed budget is 6.5% higher than last year’s budget. This means that property owners can expect to pay more in property taxes, as the proposed budget requires property taxes to be raised by 4.8%. Naturally renters should also expect to pay more, as landlords will likely pass the raised expenditures down to them.

City Manager John A. MacLean seems to think that this is a tight and responsible budget. This may be because John MacLean is paid over $100,000 a year, which is paid for by the tax payer. While John McLean can afford to pay more in property taxes, it is becoming increasingly hard for families to keep up with the growing prices of food and gas, let alone having to pay more to the government.

It should not be the job of the government to take care of us, but left unchecked more and more services will be provided by the government. It is my hope to push back the size of government, but first we must find a way to stop its growth.

The Libertarian Party (LP) had, after the late, great Harry Browne’s campaigns, been falling further and further from it’s original principles. In the early portion of this decade, when the LP removed from the party platform their calls for the abolishment of the CIA and FBI, I wrote their newspaper to say I’d not send them another dime of money until they got back to their founding principle: the non-initiation of force.

As I drifted away from the LP and politics and toward market-based action, I paid less and less attention to the LP. I even said on the air recently on “Free Talk Live“, my talk show, that the only reason I was still a member is because I bought a life membership and it hadn’t been worth my while to cancel it. (Read on …)

WTPL’s Gardner Goldsmith interviews Free Keene’s Ian about Saturday’s public gambling event involving Free Keene’s bloggers. We also discuss marijuana prohibition.

Download the MP3.
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Keene area Senator Molly Kelly called me back for the very first time ever today. I originally called to ask for her opinion on the marijuana decriminalization bill that the Senate will be hearing soon. I wish I had recorded the call. Allow me to break it down for you:

I first thanked her for her return call and asked how she felt about the legislation. She gave the standard politician answer that she had not yet read it. I then summarized the bill for her (<1/4oz possession would no longer be an arrestable offense) and asked not for a response on the legislation but for her thoughts on the issue of marijuana decriminalization. She responded that she was not familiar with the legislation.

I once again clarified for her that at this point I was just curious as to how she felt about marijuana users being arrested and put into jail cells. She responded that she did not believe that actually happens! (Read on …)

Free Talk Live’s Ian and Mark broadcast a special television-only version of their radio show on MCAM TV-23 (Manchester Community Access … all » Media) on primary day, 2008. Not only do we talk about Liberty but you also get to watch us do something we don’t get to do any more with our national radio show: shamelessly promote a business owner for free food!

Mark Edgington from nationally syndicated radio show Free Talk Live joins the show to let people know what’s been grinding his gears lately. Also, the Downsizer Dispatch, Super Tuesday and Ron Paul, and police video of a strip search gone bad from Ohio. Later, Police in NYC to carry machine guns and George W. Bush announces the largest budget in American history.

Log onto http://www.freemindstv.com/episode55.html for show content and more.

Last week, I called WKBK’s morning show with Dan Mitchell to discuss the inefficiency of government schools, why vouchers are a bad idea, market education, what would happen with the poor.

Download the MP3.