by Ian | Nov 9, 2016 |
![NH State House](https://i0.wp.com/freekeene.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/statehouse-300x224.jpg?resize=300%2C224)
Libertarians Had Major Successes in NH 2016 Elections
The national election is just a sideshow. Nothing of substance in DC will change in the next four years and I predict Trump will ultimately disappoint those who think he’s somehow an “outsider” or “anti-establishment”. Meanwhile, the left is MAD and secession will grow into a serious idea for many of them as they begin to see the value in breaking away from the United States. Indeed, Californians already held a #CalExit rally on the Sacramento statehouse grounds today!
Many watching the libertarian migrations to New Hampshire are probably wondering how the libertarians did here in the Shire, specifically both the Libertarian Party candidates and those libertarians running as Republicans and Democrats for state house and senate.
First, Libertarian candidate for NH governor Max Abramson got a higher vote percentage than every other Libertarian Party candidate for governor across the United States in 2016’s election. He did better than Gary Johnson did in NH, in fact. Beyond the feather in his cap, the 4.3% of the vote he received is significant because it qualifies the Libertarian Party of New Hampshire for equal ballot access with the Republicans and Democrats for the first time in 20 years! That means Libertarian candidates no longer have to worry about petitioning to gain ballot access – a costly and time-consuming process. Now we can pay the same affordable filing fees ($2 for state rep) that the Rs and Ds pay.
Why has it been twenty years since we’ve had this status? In 1990, the LP gained official party recognition for the first time. They held it until 1997 when the state legislature (specifically a group of Republicans) decided to raise the vote threshold from 3% to 4%, disqualifying the LP from official party status. Their candidates for governor since that time were unable to reach the new, raised bar.
![Darryl W Perry in RT's 2016 Libertarian Presidential Debate](https://i0.wp.com/freekeene.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Darryl_RT-300x170.png?resize=300%2C170)
Darryl W Perry, Chairman of the Libertarian Party of NH
Until now. Riding on a national wave of frustration with the big parties, Libertarian candidate for governor Max Abramson managed to score 4.3%, (30,959 votes). This despite being excluded from the debates and also after making headlines for being a peaceful felon for defending his property with a gun.
The news couldn’t come at a better time for the LP of NH, which for many years has been languishing under a do-nothing chairman. That chair was replaced at a special convention called just weeks beforehand, where Free Keene blogger Darryl W Perry was unanimously elected chairman by those attending the convention. In addition, principled former Arkansas LP chair Rodger Paxton was elected vice-chair along with former independent candidate for governor Jilletta Jarvis taking the secretary position – much-needed new blood was transfused into the NH Libertarian Party, just in time for this epic win by Abramson. The gates are now open for libertarians to storm the ballots in 2018 with candidates statewide.
The second big win last night was the election of libertarians running as Republicans and Democrats statewide, despite active and expensive campaigns by haters to out them as “Free Staters”. As they did in 2014, the big-government lobbying group “Granite State Progress” published a well-researched list of the state rep and senate candidates they believed to be “Free Staters”, aka libertarians running as Rs and Ds. Of their list of 39 such candidates in 2014, 15 were elected. This time, in 2016 they identified 32 candidates as “Free Staters”. Of those 32, there were 15 winners! (more…)
by Ian | Nov 3, 2016 |
![Keith Ammon Hitpiece Flyer](https://i0.wp.com/freekeene.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/14889814_1710031262648839_6689936659562954146_o1-230x300.jpg?resize=230%2C300)
This Evil Man Wants You to Be Free
Across the state, libertarians are under major attack from the powers-that-be. This sort of thing doesn’t happen to libertarians anywhere else but New Hampshire. In other states the republicans and democrats in the establishment can safely ignore the libertarians, but in NH we are a real threat to the status quo. This year (as in previous years), untold thousands of dollars are being spent to publicly out candidates statewide as “free-staters” via blog posts and even fancy full-color direct mail propaganda flyers. Despite the haters’ efforts to stop us, our share of the legislature continues to grow.
As they did in 2014’s state elections, statist group “Granite State Progress” has published names of the people they believe to be “Free Staters”, aka libertarians who are running as republicans and democrats for state rep and state senate.
Granite State Progress did the same thing in 2014. They thought they were going to hurt the Free Staters, but all they really did was inadvertently promote the libertarians’ campaigns! The haters are publishing attack blogs and spending who knows how much money to mail hitpiece flyers to households in various towns. For a recent example, check out this year’s attack on incumbent state representative and Free State Project early mover Keith Ammon. They try to make the liberty-loving family man look like he hates families. Of course, anyone who knows Keith knows that’s not true. He loves liberty and the freedom to choose.
![Carla Gericke Keenevention 2014](https://i0.wp.com/freekeene.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/carla_speech_20141-300x145.png?resize=300%2C145)
Former Free State Project President Carla Gericke Calls Out the Haters
In their 2016 blog expose, Granite State Progress outs dozens of alleged “Free Staters”, but as with the previous year they miss some and misidentify others. Technically, a Free Stater should be defined as someone who moved to New Hampshire as a participant in the Free State Project, but over the years the people who want to protect the status quo have turned it into a pejorative meaning anyone active at reducing government. No matter. The candidates who were named should thank GSP for the free publicity for their campaigns. They’ve effectively published a handy voter’s guide for liberty! (more…)
by Ian | Oct 5, 2016 |
![Rick Naya, NH Hempfest Organizer and Joe Lachance](https://i0.wp.com/freekeene.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Naya_Lachance-300x187.jpg?resize=300%2C187)
Rick Naya, NH Hempfest Organizer and State Rep Joe Lachance
The Attorney General’s office in New Hampshire has released a report regarding their investigation of claims that former state representative Kyle Tasker had sold cannabis at the NH state house in Concord, to other state representatives. Several liberty-oriented state reps including Amanda Bouldin, Joe Lachance, Pam Tucker, Ted Wright, and the late Shem Kellogg were all investigated by the AG’s office but none will be charged.
The report details the investigations of each state rep and though they believed they had a case for “dry conspiracy” charges against both former-cop-turned-LEAP speaker Lachance and Tasker, they used their discretion and decided not to charge them. The report specifically cites jury nullification when giving their explanation as to why they aren’t charging Lachance – that’s great news for activists who’ve been doing jury nullification outreach here in the Shire for years.
Jury nullification is the long-held right of jurors to vote their conscience, regardless of what the law says and the facts in the case are. Though Lachance clearly broke the law, each juror has the right to acquit simply because they believe the law is bad. It’s a powerful right and courts around the country as well as the federal courts will do everything they can to keep jurors from knowing about it. However, here in New Hampshire is established court precedent that not only can jury nullification information be given to jurors outside the court, but even defendants and attorneys can explain nullification during trial!
![NH Jury Logo](https://i0.wp.com/freekeene.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/NH_Jury_Square-300x300-300x300.png?resize=300%2C300)
NH Jury Rights
The NH attorney general doesn’t like jury nullification, as it’s a threat to their power. They appear however to have realized that the changing political tides regarding cannabis legalization plus jurors’ awareness of nullification would likely mean they were wasting their time prosecuting Lachance. They also say in the report that a jury would likely reject “dry conspiracy” charges for Tasker as well (who is facing various felonies for other victimless crimes) and say his other charges will suffice to, “hold him accountable for his drug crimes”. Of course, there are no victims in those “drug crimes” which include possession and sale of cannabis, MDMA, and mushrooms and so Tasker should also not be charged with them, and neither should anyone else.
That’s really the question here – if the NH AG acknowledges that cannabis charges are likely to not pass a jury due to nullification, then why don’t they treat every person caught with cannabis the same way they did the state reps? The reason is they know most people will quietly take a plea deal and further, if they don’t take the deal, they can drop the charge to a class B misdemeanor which means the defendant can’t get a jury trial, virtually guaranteeing a guilty verdict and hundreds of dollars (per victim) flowing to the state’s coffers. Cannabis prohibition means big money for the state gang, so they’ll keep charging the little people until the law is changed. Hopefully that will happen in 2017 if the new governor doesn’t stand in the way, whoever it ends up being.
by Ian | Sep 5, 2016 |
![Manchester, NH Bitcoin Meetup](https://i0.wp.com/freekeene.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/ManchBitcoin-300x119.jpg?resize=300%2C119)
Manchester, NH Bitcoin Meetup
It’s not a coincidence that New Hampshire has arguably the highest concentration of bitcoin and crypto-friendly people anywhere. For more than a decade there have been active migrations of libertarian, voluntarist, and liberty anarchists moving to New Hampshire. Many of these movers are activists who are into alternative currencies and the bitcoin community here has exploded as a result.
The oldest migration of libertarians to New Hampshire is the Free State Project, which as of September 2016 boasts nearly 2,000 participants already in New Hampshire, with 18,000 more pledged to move by the year 2021. There’s also the more decentralized Shire Society which has been encouraging liberty-loving people to declare their personal independence and move to “The Shire” since 2010.
These early movers are not only users of bitcoin, but are also some of the key developers and creators of the bitcoin world. Liberty migrants to New Hampshire created the iconic, most-installed-in-the-world Lamassu bitcoin vending machine in Manchester. Some are developing the evolutionary “Open Bazaar” and “LBRY” software. Decentralized ride-sharing app “Arcade City” has also sprung up just this year, and within a week of it being announced, signed up 1000 drivers worldwide. Arcade City founder and liberty migrant Christopher David said, “With its libertarian leanings and an influx of free staters, New Hampshire is perfectly positioned to become a major hub for bitcoin and blockchain startups. That’s a big reason why I moved here.”
![Cheshire Fair 2015](https://i0.wp.com/freekeene.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/IMG_20150731_104910-300x169.jpg?resize=300%2C169)
Bitcoin Outreach Booth at the Cheshire Fair
Here are some more fun facts about the burgeoning bitcoin scene in the Shire: Manchester is home to the world’s longest-running weekly bitcoin meetup, plus regular meetups are being held in Keene and the Seacoast. According to Overstock.com, the highest concentration of their bitcoin orders comes from New Hampshire. Plus, you can actually use bitcoin in real life here, at mom-n-pop businesses like “Corner News”, “Local Burger”, and multiple food trucks in Keene, plus “Pizza 911”, “Dancing Lion Chocolate”, and more in Manchester. It turns out that Keene, the Southwestern NH city of 23,000 people, even outdoes San Francisco in amount of bitcoin-accepting business per capita! Take a look at CoinMap.org to see the dozens of New Hampshire businesses that are taking crypto!
New Hampshire also boasts New England’s only public Bitcoin Vending Machines (BVM), connecting people with bitcoin from as far away as New York and Boston. (more…)
by Derrick Horton | Aug 29, 2016 |
I
was eating dinner with my boyfriend in our kitchen watching a Facebook live stream debate about guns on campus at the University of Texas when suddenly the video stopped. A pop up said something like, “Session expired.”
Someone reported a photo of me my friends at the beach as nudity, and Facebook responded by restricting my ability to communicate with you on their platform in two ways. I can not post on my wall or respond to messages using Messenger for the next 3 days.
I feel sad that I can’t use Facebook. It is the primary way I communicate with the world. Especially the Messenger app. An acquaintance I met at a conference asked me a question, and I am not able to respond. I am not even able to explain why I can’t respond. That is embarrassing and frustrating. I want to maintain a good reputation with this new friend, but I can’t respond to him, and he doesn’t know that I can’t. Fortunately I have been using Signal, Telegram, and other messaging apps, so I am still largely able to communicate. (more…)
by Ian | Aug 16, 2016 |
![NH is #1 Most Free State](https://i0.wp.com/freekeene.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/NH_NumberOne-300x198.png?resize=300%2C198)
NH #1 Most Free State – 2016
According to the just-released 2016 edition of the “Freedom in the 50 States” study by the Cato Institute, New Hampshire is again at number one most free! Alaska is nipping at NH’s heels, but with thousands of libertarian activists slated to arrive here in the next several years, we’ll hopefully continue to solidify our lead.
At the bottom of the charts, number fifty is New York, which is a long distance below number forty-nine, California. Where did your state rank? You can check out the interactive map or dig into the well-researched nearly 300 page study on their site.
With all the freedoms we have in NH, no wonder so many people who love freedom are moving here. Not only is there the most successful libertarian migration in the world happening here, but before that started there were already over 101 Reasons Liberty Lives in New Hampshire. Originally a persuasive text list, in recent years it was made into an excellent hour-long documentary which you can watch for free.
If you are a libertarian or voluntarist and don’t yet have plans to move here to New Hampshire, why are you waiting? Thanks to migrations like the Shire Society and Free State Project, there are thousands of liberty-minded people who’ve already moved here in the last decade and thousands more pledged to come.
Concentration of libertarian activists into a small, low-population state like New Hampshire makes all the difference in the world for accomplishing our goal of liberty in our lifetime. If you’re tired of the continued failures of the libertarian movement, get to New Hampshire ASAP.
For more on the study, we dug in deep on last night’s Free Talk Live: