by Ian | Sep 22, 2018 |
The FSP’s Announcement of Cody Wilson’s Now-Canceled Speech at Liberty Forum 2019
UPDATED @ 18:10 Eastern 2018-09-22 – See bottom of story for FSP’s response.
Cody Wilson is a libertarian hero who has made countless international headlines in the last several years, first for releasing plans for the world’s first 3D-printable gun, the “Liberator”. After that, he created the “Ghost Gunner” hardware, which makes machining a gun from scratch almost as easy as pressing “start”. All the while, he has bravely thumbed his nose at the oppressive state and federal governments and recently won a major settlement from the federal government that illegally tried to stop him from engaging in the free speech of sharing his 3d-printable weapon files.
Wilson’s a free speech and gun rights champion, no doubt. No wonder the Free State Project had asked him to speak at their 2019 Liberty Forum convention they’ve held in the wintertime here in New Hampshire for over a decade. It wouldn’t be the first time Wilson’s spoken at the Liberty Forum. Here’s a Forbes article talking about Wilson’s speech from 2014’s Liberty Forum. Here’s a video interview of Wilson at the 2014 Liberty Forum by Free Keene blogger Garret Ean.
Sadly, this week an arrest warrant was issued from Austin, Texas police alleging Wilson had met a sixteen-year-old young lady on a website called SugarDaddyMeet.com, took her to a hotel room, had sex with her, gave her $500, then dropped her off at a Whataburger. In Texas the “age of consent”, is apparently 17, which means they are charging Wilson with felony “sexual assault” for the consensual act he committed with his “victim”.
Within a couple of days, the Free State Project (FSP) quietly removed Wilson’s photo and bio from its place on the front page of their NH Liberty Forum website. Wilson’s photo had occupied the top left speaker’s position on their list of expected speakers. That pretty much means he was their top billed keynote speaker.
Wilson’s still caught in Google’s cache of the FSP’s Liberty Forum site.
Oops! Turns out the FSP forgot to cleanse their Twitter of their announcement of Wilson’s speaking gig which I included as the top graphic here, in case they take the tweet down.
The Free State Project used to be the reason many of us libertarians, voluntaryists, and liberty-loving anarchists moved to New Hampshire. They were known for throwing two great yearly events, including the previously mentioned Liberty Forum and the Porcupine Freedom Festival in the summertime. However in recent years, the FSP has taken a strong turn away from the principles of liberty by jettisoning any people they can associate with any uncomfortable ideas of sexual liberation. Namely, the crazy idea that teenagers could possibly make decisions for themselves. (more…)
by Ian | Nov 9, 2017 |
Matthew and Jennifer Schmidt in Keene District Court
It’s truly an honor to be attacked. They say you don’t take flak unless you’re over the target. No one should be surprised that there will be vehement opposition when libertarians actually start making an impact as we have done here in New Hampshire. Most libertarians don’t understand what it’s like to be hated, because outside of New Hampshire, the libertarian movement is little more than a sideshow. They have near-zero impact with their political campaigns, and that’s about all they do besides argue on the internet.
Prominent Haters’ Home Foreclosed, Sold Under $48k
Every now and then a hater will get out from behind their computer monitor and actually make a real life appearance. Sometimes they are memorable and hilarious, like the time Sam Dodson was assaulted by a former coffee-shop owner wielding a coffee cup (both have long since left NH). Sometimes they are threatening and violent. However, very rarely are their efforts sustained for any meaningful amount of time. Every hate group that has risen has also fallen away, however one couple really stood out above all the other haters, Matthew and Jennifer Schmidt. (more…)
by Ian | Mar 19, 2017 |
John McAfee, Porcfest Headliner & Ephebophile
As a result, while I did tender my resignation from the FSP, I still encouraged people to attend Porcfest both on my radio show and via a blog post at Free Keene.
Now, one year later, the FSP has announced that John McAfee will be headlining Porcfest 2017. John’s a great guy and I had the pleasure of interviewing him last year at the D10E conference in San Francisco. He would have been a great pick for the OLD Porcfest. You know, the once-great Summer libertarian camping festival with open cannabis use, unlicensed food sales, and Buzz’ Big Gay Dance Parties?
Last year that festival became “family friendly”, after years of prudish libertarians complaining about drug use and occasional female toplessness. To kick off the changes, I was banned from the FSP events because of my libertarian views on age of consent, according to their press release. It’s commonly known that my most recent girlfriend was a later-teenager and this supposedly infuriated key volunteers within the FSP, leading to my ouster.
Did you know that John McAfee was in his late 50s when he had a 16 year old girlfriend? According to the same WIRED article, at age 66, one of his multiple live-in girlfriends was 17! Surely plenty of men secretly wish they could do the same, while outwardly condemning John for his attraction to young women.
Have you signed the Shire Society Declaration yet?
Plus, Porcfest now has a more-principled competitor, SomaliaFest, which is set to happen June 16th-20th, at Rogers Campground. That’s right before Porcfest, which is slated for June 21st-25th at the same campground. Unlike today’s Porcfest, but more like Porcfest from the old days, SomaliaFest has no entrance fee. Attendees can just camp, vend, hang out with cool liberty folk, and self-organize whatever they want. SomaliaFest sounds like a good time, and much more market-driven than the now-centrally-controlled Porcfest. (more…)
by Ian | Oct 1, 2016 |
As was reported previously here, Free Keene blogger Darryl W Perry was recently elected as chairman of the Libertarian Party of New Hampshire. A member of the LP’s “radical caucus”, Darryl holds a supposedly “radical” belief: he does not support or advocate the use of the initiation of force to achieve political or social goals.
That belief, which is still the statement one must sign to join the national libertarian party, has made Darryl into an enemy of many within the national LP. There’s a whole group of so-called “libertarians” who disagree with this “Non-Aggression Principle” and have called for the party to eliminate it from the membership requirements.
Darryl was recently blamed by these party-over-principle people for the Seacoast LP’s resolution to ask their representative on the Libertarian National Committee “to remove Gary Johnson and Bill Weld as the LP candidates for President and Vice President”. However, Darryl was not attending the Seacoast meeting. The motion was made by Rodger Paxton, who was recently elected to vice-chairman of the LP of NH along with Darryl being elected chair.
A couple of days ago, Darryl announced he is reviving his libertarian campaign for president, this time as a write-in candidate. He says people frustrated with the LP’s embarrassing presidential and VP picks of former republican governors of New Mexico and Massachusetts Gary Johnson and Bill Weld had contacted him asking him to run again to give true libertarians a choice. Johnson and Weld’s public statements since their nomination have frequently been unlibertarian and at odds with the party’s own platform. Weld has even appeared to endorse Hillary Clinton rather than his own running mate!
The sad, unprincipled Libertarian Party
No one should be surprised to see the national LP double down on their unprincipled hack candidates. It’s the lowest point for the party in more than a decade of falling away from their principles. In 2008 I publicly resigned my life membership in the national Libertarian Party out of frustration with their lack of principle – then they nominated Bob Barr (another republican who has since re-joined the republicans) as their presidential candidate.
The LP of New Hampshire, long in a membership and activist slump, recently received an injection of much-needed new blood in the form of Darryl W Perry and Rodger Paxton’s elections to chairman and vice-chairman, respectively. This is the first real exciting news to come out of the LP of NH in the last decade I’ve been here.
Hopefully we’ll see the LP of NH separate eventually from the ridiculous national LP. Goddess bless those who have tried to save the national Libertarian Party, but the patient’s been dead for years. If you’re a real, principled libertarian, just give up on the national LP, move to New Hampshire and get active to help us achieve liberty in our lifetime. With the thousands of libertarians moving here for the Free State Project and Shire Society, you won’t want to miss the fun!
by Ian | Sep 26, 2016 |
Civilly Disobedient UBER Driver Stephanie Franz, courtesy CBS Boston
It’s been almost a year since Stephanie Franz aka “UBER Grandma” was the first UBER driver cited for driving people safely to their destination in Portsmouth, NH. The city has been targeting brave UBER drivers with tickets for operating without government permission slips. In the Summer of 2015 the city gang declared UBER drivers who did not jump through the city’s hoops in addition to UBER’s background check and sign up process, would be targeted for ticketing.
The heroic grandmother has been ticketed multiple times in the last year and has racked up at least $7,500 in fines. She’s also been targeted by local taxi drivers for harassment and vandalism of her car.
UBER has provided Stephanie with an attorney and she’s ready to face down the city gang in court. However, there have been multiple reschedulings of the date, so hopefully this is the final one: Please join UBER Grandma at Portsmouth District Court at 8am on December 13th (here’s a facebook event) and support her courageous stand for your freedom to drive people places without having to ask government permission!
by Ian | Apr 28, 2016 |
Haters gonna hate, and lie.
Evidence online has pointed to certain people who call themselves “STOP FREE KEENE” as the perpetrators of the incessant-flyer-posting. While the people involved should be commended for their consistent effort, their “activism” here is little more than littering. It’d be one thing if they kept their postings to bulletin boards, where it could at least be argued that postings are welcome, though no good person wants libelous fliers posted on a corkboard they are in charge of.
Interestingly, my girlfriend Renee was told by someone calling themselves “Max Sand” recently on her radio show Anarchy After Dark, that the libel that the local haters used on their flyer was actually written by Max, an internet troll and fan of Chris Cantwell. SFK’s anonymous blogger has attacked Cantwell in the past, so it’s ironic that they’d use a Cantwell fan’s libelous attack against me in their flyer. Politics sure makes strange bedfellows.
Regardless, some locals are rightfully upset about the flyers littering the downtown that continue to reappear within a day or so of being removed. Here’s a letter to the editor of the Keene Sentinel by David Crawford that addresses the situation:
This letter is about the illegal flyers that have been put up and ripped down for over a month all over downtown Keene and elsewhere, and some that are currently up as this letter is written. (more…)
