Free Keene

Sentinel Reports on Upcoming Bearcat Hearing

Ian — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 02:31:38 +0000

Sign the online petition to keep Keene Bearcat-free!

Free Keene is mentioned and I am quoted in this latest article about the upcoming public hearing on the BEARCAT by the Keene Sentinel’s Kyle Jarvis:

The public will have an opportunity next week to speak about the Keene Police Department’s acquisition of a new grant-funded armored vehicle.

Last month, the Keene City Council approved the acceptance of a $285,933 federal Homeland Security grant to purchase a LENCO BearCat Special Missions Vehicle. But some residents questioned whether such a vehicle is necessary in a community of Keene’s size, and a petition signed by more than 100 residents asked the council to reconsider accepting the grant.

Councilor Terry M. Clark submitted a letter to the council requesting the issue be sent back to the council’s finance committee to allow the public to speak on it, and the full council approved the request, supported by the committee’s chairman, Mitchell H. Greenwald, Thursday night.

“I think it’s good they decided to do that (open the topic for public discussion), but it’s unfortunate that it took Terry Clark to do that when we had a petition with over 140 signatures,” said Ian Bernard, a member of the Free Keene group who signed the petition and goes by the name Ian Freeman. He and other members of Free Keene attended Thursday’s council meeting, some holding signs that read “No Bearcat,” and “Thanks, But No Tanks.”

The vehicle comes with thermal imaging and off-road capabilities, as well as hazardous gas detection equipment, and police said the vehicle would be valuable when responding to extreme weather events, suspects with weapons and suspicious packages, among other situations.

u The finance, organization and personnel committee meets Thursday, Feb. 9, at 5:30 p.m. in City Hall.

Here’s a facebook event for the upcoming meeting.

What Good Things Does Your Government Do?

Pete Eyre — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 23:10:50 +0000

What good things does your government do? Seriously. Ask yourself that question.

Are there some things now done by government employees that you’d rather not pay for (war)? Are there some things done by government employees that you’d still want done but recognize the current inefficiency (roads) and poor customer service (police)?

Surely those goods/services could be provided more-efficiently and more morally absent a monopoly.

Here’s a short ditty written by John Harvey. It’s catchy, smart and pretty spot-on:

For a more in-depth conversation about this check out this excellent video by Jacob Spinney:

For more:
LibertyOnTour.com/Resources
FreeKeene.com/About

Ladies In Keene Radio – Weekly

Kager — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 20:45:01 +0000

Sundays from 11am-1pm Eastern on LRN.FM,
join Cecelia Freechild, Ali Havens & Kate Ager for
Ladies In Keene Radio!

Previous podcasts can be found at
http://LadiesInKeene.Com/LIK-Podcast.

Is the Bearcat a rescue vehicle, as was suggested by city councilors?

Ian — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 15:17:52 +0000

Sign the online petition to keep Keene Bearcat-free!

LENCO, the manufacturer of the BEARCAT, has this video on their youtube channel. As you can see, this vehicle is all about making the police feel as militaristic as possible – it’s not a “safety” vehicle as is being touted in the Sentinel. Searching google for “Special Missions Public Safety Vehicle”, as it has been referenced, reveals articles about Keene, but nothing from LENCO or elsewhere. Clearly, LENCO didn’t just go and make up a new model just for Keene, NH, so it’s more accurate to call it by its actual acronym: “Ballistic Engineered Armored Response Counter Attack Truck”

This is not a rescue vehicle…at least not for you. The “LE”, or Law Enforcement iteration of this armored personnel carrier has on its website as a feature: “open floorplan allows for response and rescue of downed personnel“. (emphasis added)

Please come out this Thursday and speak to the city commission on this matter. They need to hear from as many people as possible that it was a mistake to listen to the cops over the people. They need to get the message that Keene doesn’t want this monstrosity.

Don’t Strip Our Rights! Teaser

DerrickJ — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 08:59:20 +0000

Thursday morning, Kelly Voluntaryist and I visited the Manchester Airport to hand out literature about the TSA to travelers…in our underwear!

Cameraman Jason Rapsher is working on cutting up the full version, but here’s a taste of what to expect:

For a full-screen slideshow of the event, CLICK HERE.

If you enjoy this type of activism, help us keep it going by sponsoring these projects at FR33Agents.com!

Carlos Miller Arrested At Occupy Miami Eviction

Free Concord — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 03:12:05 +0000

Photo journalism activist Carlos Miller was arrested Tuesday evening while he was attempting to cover the police’s eviction of Occupy Miami. Carlos is no stranger to arrest for photography. He has beaten two separate prior charges for photographing police. This most recent arrest sounds very similar to what occurred during the Chalking 8 incident in Manchester, in which the police criminalize a group and then arrest all those they associate with the group. In my case, though it came up at one point, I did not need to address whether I was acting as press at the time of my arrest to demonstrate that the seizure was unfounded. In this case, protesters were ordered away from an area where press were allowed to remained. Carlos was swept up after the protesters had already been cleared despite identifying himself as press when addressed and being near other reporters.

Photo: Carlos Miller

The police have deleted the footage he had taken in the moments leading up to his arrest. Another journalist is believed to have captured footage of the arrest, which has yet to be released. There is a reason that the United States has recently been downgraded to 47th place on the global Press Freedom Index published by Reporters Without Borders.

You can read the first hand account of the arrest at the Photography Is Not A Crime blog. I especially appreciate Carlos’ activism and reporting, as he was the first of many bloggers to feature coverage of my Lemonade Liberation outreach last August.

Carlos Miller will be speaking in Nashua, New Hampshire on Saturday, February 25 at this year’s Liberty Forum.

This article was originally published at freeconcord.org.

Kelly and Derrick J Strip to Underwear at Manchester Airport

Ian — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 23:07:00 +0000

Keeniacs Kelly Voluntaryist and Derrick J. Freeman showed up again today at Manchester airport and stripped down to their underwear in protest of the TSA stripping our rights. They once again handed out fliers to travelers. Video coming soon.

Click the pic to the right for a full-size version.

UPDATE: A full photo album is here on Kelly’s website.

Seacoast Paper Reports on FSP’s 1000th in NH

Ian — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 13:50:02 +0000

Here’s the piece from the Seacoast Online:

Nearly a decade after establishing roots in New Hampshire, members of the Free State Project are welcoming their 1,000th member to the Granite State.

The milestone member relocated this week and has found a home on the Seacoast, according to local members of the pro-liberty activists group.

Founded in 2001, the goal of the Free State Project was to recruit 20,000 libertarian-leaning people to move to a single state to concentrate their efforts. New Hampshire was selected as the target state in 2003.

Since then, 1,000 people from all over the country have moved to the Granite State and officially registered as members of the organization.

Portsmouth resident Michael Finger was the 932nd member to move to New Hampshire.

Finger said the way the Free State Project works is that participants sign a statement of intent, declaring they will move to New Hampshire within five years of the movement getting 20,000 signatories.

More than 11,500 people have signed the statement of intent.

Finger said he ended up moving to New Hampshire over the summer because he got anxious and decided to follow a separate, but related effort, called Free State Now.

Instead of waiting until the movement got 20,000 signatories, Finger said, the Free State Now effort encouraged people to not wait and make the move as soon as possible.

Finger, who moved from Manhattan with his wife, said he chose to move to Portsmouth out of all of the other places in the state.

“We like New Hampshire because we like the way it is,” he said. “People are friendly and it seems a little bit more sane.”

Finger said he considers himself to be a “refugee” from a big-government state.

Like many other members of the Free State Project, Finger said he moved to New Hampshire because of the state’s business-friendly climate.

“It’s got a low unemployment rate and it’s easy to start a business,” he said.

Finger owns a consulting firm called Centinel Consulting, on Middle Street. He said many of his friends in the city also own businesses and have moved from places such as Colorado and California.

Erik Voorhees, a former resident of Colorado, said he moved to New Hampshire with his girlfriend nearly one year ago.

Voorhees said he joined the Free State Project because he liked its principles.

“I like that it is effectively trying to move more libertarian types to one small geographic area to have a much larger impact,” he said. “People of our political persuasion tend to be scattered around. I consider this to be quite a smart thing.”

Voorhees, 27, said the movement is full of diverse and progressive people of all ages and interests.

“I know Free-Staters of all ages, from age 5 to 88 years old, and everywhere in between,” he said.

“This is an important benchmark” said Free State Project President Carla Gericke, who moved from New York City in 2008. “It shows people are willing to vote with their feet for more freedom. We are modern day pioneers.”

The “First Movers” have made vast strides, according to Gericke.

At least 12 are now state representatives, and numerous others serve on school and town boards. Others have founded or worked with organizations that highlight liberty-oriented issues, such as the N.H. Coalition for Common Sense Marijuana Policy; the New Hampshire Liberty Alliance, which grades state representatives according to their voting records; and Cop Block, a police accountability organization.

Some have created a strong independent media presence in New Hampshire, such as Free Talk Live, a nationally syndicated radio talk show based in Keene.

Others have also started private charities and mutual aid societies, such as Shire Sharing, which delivers care baskets to the needy, and Fr33 Aid, which provides volunteer first-aid at events such as Liberty Forum and the Porcupine Freedom Festival.

When asked about the reasons for the movement’s growth, Gericke said a combination of factors have been at play. She cited the economic downturn, the popularity of Ron Paul and his message of limited government, the growing national debt, the federal government’s overreach on issues such as education and health care, and the country’s involvement in wars under President Barack Obama.

“With its ‘live and let live’ culture, its livability, its low taxes, its relative prosperity,” Gericke said, “New Hampshire is well-situated to become the beacon of liberty for the rest of the country.”

Thoughts on the Recent Right v. Wrong Decision

Kelly — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 06:02:57 +0000

From The Onion:

WASHINGTON—Striking down the judicial precedent that established the legal supremacy of right over wrong more than two centuries ago, the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday overturned Right v. Wrong.

The landmark reversal—a bitterly contested 5-4 decision that has been widely praised by murderers, rapists, bigots, usurers, and pro-wrong advocates nationwide—nullifies all previously lawful forms of right and makes it very difficult for Americans to make ethical decisions or be generally decent human beings without facing criminal charges.

“It is the opinion of this court that the Constitution was crafted in such a manner as to uphold and encourage practices that are not right and, ideally, are very wrong,” Justice Antonin Scalia wrote for the majority, which also included Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Anthony Kennedy, and John Roberts. “Despite the compelling case for goodness, truth, and justice made by our predecessors in the case of Right v. Wrong, we firmly believe that malice, dishonesty, and injustice were the framers’ original intent.”

“The ruling today rights an age-old wrong in which right has consistently, and unconstitutionally, prevailed,” Justice Alito wrote in a concurring opinion, adding that the decision between right and wrong did not present a difficult choice for him. “It is clear the earlier court erred when issuing the Right decision.”

The ruling in Right v. Wrong was handed down in 1790 by the Supreme Court’s six original members, all of whom sided with the plaintiff, prompting Chief Justice John Jay to write, “It is the emphatic province and duty of this highest judicial tribunal to rule in favor of Right, as the argument in support of Right is the right one, and the argument in support of Wrong is the wrong one.”

Since that time, the verdict has been cited in most legal rulings at the state and federal level, and has been upheld by the Supreme Court numerous times, most notably in a 1974 opinion overturning a Six Circuit Court of Appeals decision that would have re-segregated the nation’s schools, abolished the minimum wage, legalized evil, and allowed law enforcement officials to conduct searches and seizures without a warrant.

This term, the high court agreed to hear the appeal of an Arizona state judge’s ruling for the defendant in the case of Good v. Bad, a decision that had once more called into question the basic tenets of Right v. Wrong.

“If you look at the current makeup of the court, the verdict is hardly surprising,” said law professor Erwin Chemerinsky, adding that given recent decisions to permit unlimited corporate spending in electoral politics, crack down on civil liberties, and allow the execution of Troy Davis to proceed, he believed the justices had been angling to do away with Right for some time. “It’s long been clear Roberts and Alito were in the camp favoring wrong, and Scalia’s passionate criticism of the Right decision almost certainly swayed Justice Kennedy.”

“As for Justice Thomas, he was practically asleep when the attorneys representing Good gave their oral arguments,” Chemerinsky added. “In terms of his job, that was definitely the wrong thing to do, so he made it pretty clear which side he was on.”

Many constitutional scholars have argued the ruling sets a dangerous precedent whereby violent criminals could conceivably appeal their convictions and, citing the federal judiciary’s rejection of Right, be acquitted of their crimes.

According to reports, the impact of the verdict has already been felt, with a Massachusetts man murdering three people this morning in front of several Boston police officers who by law could do nothing but watch. In addition, a woman who volunteered at a Toledo, OH soup kitchen has been arrested, sentenced to six months in jail, and fined $25,000.

“This ruling is so broad that even those who show an intent to do right can be prosecuted,” said Martha Minow, dean of Harvard Law School. “Make no mistake, the court is sending a message to pro-right supporters that fairness and equality are no longer the laws of the land. And the decision has no chance of being overturned in the immediate future, because the bench will be dominated by pro-wrong advocates for years to come.”

Justice Stephen Breyer chose to read his dissenting opinion aloud before the court, a rare gesture apparently aimed at expressing the full measure of his disgust with the verdict.

“The court needs to overturn this ruling immediately because, simply put, it’s the right thing to do,” said the associate justice, who, along with his colleagues joining him in the minority, was then arrested by Capitol Police, placed into custody, and is currently awaiting trial. – Supreme Court Overturns Right v. Wrong. The Onion Issue 48-03, Jan. 18, 2012

We laugh only because the joke rings so true.

The corrupt system of corporatism (fascism) that we have on our hands in America today is making it quite difficult for me, as an American, to do the right thing. Tomorrow morning, I face the possibility of being tossed in a cage for peacefully exercising my so-called Constitutional right to proper redress of grievance, standing up for the rights of myself and others, and doing the right thing.

Perhaps fairness and equality are no longer the laws of the land, but they are still the laws of the universe and of nature. I am quite certain that the scales of justice will tip even in the end. I’m not hurting anyone and I’m doing the right thing, thus my conscience is clear.

Kelly

Modern Day Pioneers: 1,000+ Free Staters Now in New Hampshire

Ian — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 06:01:45 +0000

Press Release from the Free State Project:

Additional images and interviews available on request.

The Free State Project (“FSP”) has reached its
milestone of having 1,000 pro-liberty activists living in the Granite State. The ultimate goal is to attract 20,000 liberty-oriented individuals to New Hampshire.

“This is an important benchmark” said Free State Project President, Carla Gericke, who moved from New York City in 2008. “It shows people are willing to vote with their feet for more freedom. We are modern day pioneers.”

The Free State Project was founded in 2001 with the goal to recruit 20,000 libertarian-leaning people to move to a single state to concentrate their efforts. New Hampshire was selected in 2003. FSP participants sign a statement of intent declaring that they will move to New Hampshire within five years of getting 20,000 signers. More than 11,500 people have signed the statement of intent.

The ‘First Movers’ have made vast strides. At least twelve are now State representatives, and numerous others serve on school and town boards. State representatives have worked on pro-liberty legislation like Right to Marry, expanding the Castle doctrine, and cutting the NH state budget.

Others have founded or worked with organizations that highlight liberty-oriented issues, such as the NH Coalition for Common Sense Marijuana Policy, the New Hampshire Liberty Alliance which grades state representatives according to their voting records, and Cop
Block, a police accountability organization.

Movers have created a strong independent media presence in New Hampshire. Free Talk Live, based out of Keene, NH, is a nationally syndicated radio talk show. The Liberty Radio Network hosts a number of shows, including ones focusing on LBGT and women’s issues from a
libertarian perspective.

Movers have also started private charities and mutual aid societies, like Shire Sharing which delivers care baskets to the needy, and Fr33 Aid which provides volunteer first aid at events like Liberty Forum and the Porcupine Freedom Festival.

When asked about the reasons for the FSP’s accelerating growth, Gericke said it was a combination of factors, citing the economic downturn, the popularity of Ron Paul and his message of limited government, the growing deficit, the federal government’s overreach on
issues like education and health care, and President Obama’s new wars.

“With its ‘live and let live’ culture, its livability, its low taxes, its relative prosperity,” Gericke said, “New Hampshire is well situated to become the beacon of liberty for the rest of the country.”

Contact: Stephanie Murphy (Free State Project Media Liaison)
Email: StephanieMurphy4 at gmail.com