It takes a lot of courage to operate a pirate/community radio station. There’s the ever-present threat of the FCC sending men with guns to steal their equipment, among other things. Just this week a new radio station popped up on 107.5 in Keene carrying mostly Liberty Radio Network programming, day and night. (107.5 does appear to break away in the afternoons for another program not carried by LRN.) Last night there was a particularly graphic internet-only Sunday edition of Free Talk Live, hosted by Dale, Luthor, and Puke. I was out and about during the program, taking care of some errands and listening to the show on 107.5 when I heard the discussion drop to dead air. I quickly checked the internet feed – it was still on-air, so I concluded the operators of 107.5 had decided to cut the broadcast.
Now to be clear, I am the program director of the Liberty Radio Network. That does not mean I am in charge of 107.5 or any other station airing the Liberty Radio Network. Each station decides how much LRN content to carry – I am merely a program provider. I don’t know who all’s involved with 107.5 locally, so please don’t ask. After they pulled FTL off-the-air, they did reach out to me to let me know what they were thinking. They were concerned that the graphic content could be offensive to parents. That’s right, even pirate/community radio operators are concerned about their image in regards to “the children”! The operators encouraged me to relegate sexually graphic programming to the overnight hours. After some reflection, I agreed.
You may be saying, “But Ian, you’re supposed to be in favor of free speech!”. (more…)
Here’s a guest blog from Mark Edge on his successful noncooperation regarding a parking ticket. Next time you get a parking ticket, consider demanding a trial, like Mark did. It bogs down an already overburdened system. Of course, risk is still involved and your mileage may vary. As you’ll see, Mark’s charge was dumped before trial, but I went to trial over a ticket on Apr 28th and have never received a verdict. Worst case, if you don’t want to noncooperate all the way and they find you guilty at trial, you will probably only need pay the $5 then – after you’ve really made them work for it. Please give this a try, Keeniacs, and post to the Free Keene Forum with your results or in advance if you’d like some input or support at your court appearance, should it get that far. This is an excellent first step for an activist new to saying “no” to government people.
When I moved to Keene in Sep06 I noticed right away that Keene has a problem with parking and Parking Enforcement downtown. The parking meters dissuade people from patronizing the businesses downtown. One morning my wife and I were going to go to Timolean’s for breakfast. When we parked, we realized that we didn’t have any change. We got back in the car and went to Friendly’s on West Street, were the parking is free.
Obviously, there needs to be some sort of system to disincentivize people who are not doing business from taking up the parking spaces of those who wish to, but Parking Enforcement, as I understand it, runs a large deficit every year. It costs more to send the little ladies with parking tickets around to fine people than they collect from meters and fines. That is silly.
Top that off with what I have often said, you don’t have to pay those tickets. (more…)
I went to visit Marc today for the first time at SeaTac FDC. Thankfully, I’m able to visit him even while he’s in SHU (“segregated housing unit”, solitary confinement). When I arrived at 1:30pm, it was very nerve-racking. I stepped up to the massive building’s entrance, got buzzed in, then found myself in a big lobby with a reflective glass booth and a little hole to pass ID and paperwork through.
There was a table with the paperwork to fill out for visiting, but no pen. Thankfully there were some visitors there who had been through it all before and helped me figure out the process (and loaned me a pen), because you don’t get any answers from the staff. Visiting officially begins at 2pm on Fridays, but by 2:15 they just started processing, which took a very long time itself.
Big families and many individuals filled the lobby. So many broken-hearted parents, girl friends, wives and troubled children crying “I want to see daddy” and behaving unruly, to the distress of the moms… so many Drug War Widows and Orphans. After all, the vast majority (almost all) of the inmates are there for non-violent drug law violations. (more…)
Though most will say this is not a big deal. I film police doing ‘little’ things wrong because it exposes the double standard police have. If it’s no big deal to be parking in illegal spots then why do they write so many tickets for them? Why are they allowed such privileges?
Better yet, where does this exemption stop? Is it just for parking while on duty? Or can this officer cruise by the store to do some shopping as well? Are officers exempt from the drug, gun and alcohol laws that? Don’t get me wrong I wish all these things would disappear. I ask officers to be ticketed or treated like they treat others because I feel that’s the only way for them to realize the cause of their actions.
Some of the local critics seem to think that the “free staters” in NH are organized from the top down, with Free State Project founder Jason Sorens at the top, issuing commands as our dear leader. It doesn’t work like that. The FSP is just an organization designed to bring liberty-lovers to NH. What they do when they arrive is up-to-them. Perhaps to Sorens’ chagrin, he is definitely not in charge. No one is. Sorens has always been openly critical of the Keene brand of outside-the-system activism and recently posted a link to the recent anonymous Sentinel editorial attacking Free Keene on the FSP forum with the subject, “Keene residents tiring of Free Keeners”. While that may be a true statement, it ignores the people in Keene who appreciate the liberty activists, of which there are many. The newspaper’s editorial and echo chamber comments section is not necessarily representative of how things really are. Now, why would that be?
It takes a lot of courage to operate a pirate/community radio station. There’s the ever-present threat of the FCC sending men with guns to steal their equipment, among other things. Just this week a new radio station popped up on 107.5 in Keene carrying mostly Liberty Radio Network programming, day and night. (107.5 does appear to break away in the afternoons for another program not carried by LRN.) Last night there was a particularly graphic internet-only Sunday edition of Free Talk Live, hosted by Dale, Luthor, and Puke. I was out and about during the program, taking care of some errands and listening to the show on 107.5 when I heard the discussion drop to dead air. I quickly checked the internet feed – it was still on-air, so I concluded the operators of 107.5 had decided to cut the broadcast.
When I moved to Keene in Sep06 I noticed right away that Keene has a problem with parking and Parking Enforcement downtown. The parking meters dissuade people from patronizing the businesses downtown. One morning my wife and I were going to go to Timolean’s for breakfast. When we parked, we realized that we didn’t have any change. We got back in the car and went to Friendly’s on West Street, were the parking is free.
I went to visit Marc today for the first time at SeaTac FDC. Thankfully, I’m able to visit him even while he’s in SHU (“segregated housing unit”, solitary confinement). When I arrived at 1:30pm, it was very nerve-racking. I stepped up to the massive building’s entrance, got buzzed in, then found myself in a big lobby with a reflective glass booth and a little hole to pass ID and paperwork through. 
