Dave Ridley has produced a summary video the shortly offered CopBlock Protection, which was recently launched and quickly halted, after making an undisclosed number of sales of the media product. The protection plan offer guaranteed response in the event of an arrest or prosecution in the form of media coverage featured at CopBlock.org. An update posted to CopBlock shortly after the halt stated that all memberships so far purchased would be honored, but at this time no more memberships were being offered.
Ridley makes smart analysis as usual, though he seems to advocate coupling one’s insurance package in the event of needing defense against the state to include both attorneys and media outreach. The centralization of defense, to have an attorney and PR representatives sourced from the same organization will make both fronts more responsible to each other than necessary. Almost all attorneys advise their clients to retain silence with the media. By ensuring activists will be set in motion in advance to bring eyes to your case, the defendant is relieved of some of the responsibility for reaching out to others in the event of an attack by the state. (more…)
As a final segment for the episode of Shire TV that aired yesterday, I included footage I had captured outside of the NATO Summit last summer. There, US military veterans made history when 45 decorated soldiers tossed their medals in the direction of the barricaded McCormick Place, where the world’s military elite were meeting. Perhaps the most well known among the group returning their awards was former marine Scott Olsen, who was injured by a shot to the head from a crowd control device fired by police while breaking up an Occupy Oakland demonstration.
“I’d like to direct my message to the NATO representatives here in Chicago today,” said Suraia Sahar of Afghans for Peace, according to MSNBC. “For what you’ve done to my home country, I’m enraged; for what you’ve done to my people, I’m disgusted; for what you’ve done to these veterans, I’m heartbroken. I sympathize with their disappointment and being failed by the system and having their lives, their morals, and humanity toiled with.”
What appears in the episode is not the statement of each participating veteran, which spans about twenty-four minutes. Previously released on Free Concord was a longer version of the demonstration from which this segment derives, running fourty-four minutes. To follow up the content featured in the episode, I trimmed into its own video only the speeches of soldiers immediately before throwing their medals away. Below is the trimmed video, further down is text extracted from some of the more gripping and informative statements.
This past week I spent some time collecting video, writing a script, directing and editing an episode of ShireTV to air on the evening of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. The public access studios were closed in observance of the federal holiday, so I stepped up to create an episode to be submitted the week prior with the assistance of the program’s usual cohost James Cleaveland. After an evening of shooting with a day to edit and publish a submittable, finished episode, I allowed one of the associate producers of the weekly show to review the finished product. This was not my first involvement with ShireTV, as I had made a guest appearance in the past. It was my first endeavor behind the camera for the show. Though numerous portions of my finished episode had to be removed for noncommercial reasons, a breaking point for whether or not an associate producer felt himself comfortable submitting the final cut revolved around the edification of the brief ending sequence. Dislike of a creative production is understandable, but as resistance was provoked during the test screening, I knew that the uncensored version of the episode had to be released as its own production. It was decided that another producer would be sponsoring the episode with an alternative ending, and I agreed to coincide release of the uncompromised original cut with the previously scheduled airing. The unrestricted omniaudience of the internet will have access to the banned episode when it publishes here at 6:59pm. On cable will air the satisfactory, yet compromised edition of the program at 7:00pm. Organized in three segments, the show begins discussing local radio hubub in Keene from the week prior, then segues into Robin Hooding victories. The last segment is footage of US military veterans tossing back their war medals in the largest such demonstration since the Vietnam War, filmed at the 2012 NATO summit on May 20 in Chicago. (more…)
Yesterday demonstrations were held across the US in support of firearm freedom. In Concord, hundreds attended a roughly two hour rally to oppose further restrictions on rights to self defense technologies.
Nobody was sighted counter-protesting, though at an antiabortion rally which occurred hours prior, a crowd was demonstrating in opposition. A photo from the steps of the state house was featured in a Time magazine article on the national rallies. An unedited video playlist features footage at Fr33manTVraw.
In response to the 2 recent editorials Foster’s Daily Democrat has published, “Co-opting our way of life” (reprinted at the bottom of this, for context) and “FSP Has Some Growing Up to Do” (link to previous FK post), I wrote the following piece which Fosters’ published today:
What Free Staters are and aren’t
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
The two anonymous editorials that Foster’s has printed in the last week regarding the Free State Project reflect a lack of understanding that I’ve found only in the most closed minded individuals, left or right, here in New Hampshire.
In early 2001, Yale doctoral student Jason Sorens brainstormed about what might happen theoretically if libertarians got together in one place. In the ensuing 10 years, the reality far surpassed anything young Sorens could have imagined, and he’s said so many times. Quoting his original essay as gospel or blueprint misses the boat entirely, nobody but the most strident opposition are even reading it. Certainly the 13,500+ current signers to move aren’t, nor the 1,000+ who have moved over the last 8 years. Professor Sorens wrote a “10 years on” sequel essay refuting much of what he wrote back then. Theory: 20,000 activists. Reality: Far less are needed, and more effective than he imagined.
In early October of last year, Chalk the Police Day was celebrated internationally. Readers of this blog may remember the story of a particularly pushy bureaucrat who called the police on chalkers — only to have police join the fun!
I’ve seen Andy a few times since this encounter. He was present at the opening of the pedestrian North Bridge and also at a recent city council committee meeting that I had attended. He’s never taken the opportunity to apologize for his behavior. Even if you accidentally bump someone or their property, the courteous thing to do is to square up on the mistake. So when I heard Andy would be on WKBK’s Talkback this morning, I tuned in.
I listened as a friend call in about the video and asked if Andy had anything to say about it. He chose to say nothing beyond that he had “learned from it” and was moving on. I decided to call in and hold his feet to the fire. The audio will be available once the show’s podcast is posted. After I prompt Andy to reflect on the video and consider apologizing, my call is hung up on. Hearing the radio after the call, the hosts imply that some people ‘harass’ city officials. Derrick J called in soon after that, and asked why the hosts were characterizing others as harassing, when it was the Parks and Recreation director who had engaged in unprivileged physical contact.
Why do you think it’s appropriate to act in an official capacity while intentionally concealing your identity badge?
At that, Cynthia responded, “I don’t want to talk about this”, and he was hung up on. I called in shortly after that, and should have been recording, because my approximately 10-20 second call was not just hung up on, but dumped, meaning it was erased from broadcast. Listening to the radio, you would hear the seconds before my call, and the seconds immediately after.(more…)
