This is just to let you all know that I have been removed from the ballot and am no longer running for Mayor of Keene. I hereby endorse my former opponent Darryl W. Perry, to be the next mayor of Keene, and hope that my many supporters will show him some love!
I’m still in the Spiritual Retreat and am enjoying the visits and mail that I get. I hope to hear from more of you! I do not however, suggest trying to use the remote visitation feature of the system…it does not work, and is very expensive! If you are far away, I suggest sending a mail-to-jail instead! And drop a donation to my defense fund if you want to spend some money.
Late into the evening of August 31, the New Hampshire state police established a suspicionless checkpoint on Route 12 in Walpole. The location seemed a strange choice, as the area is notably rural and does not see any heavy traffic. Presumably, this was also the first suspicionless checkpoint established in Cheshire county this year. A detail of about ten state police units and just under that amount of cruisers situated themselves in front of a large Citgo station and waited for drivers to ambush. For most, the checkpoint meant shuffling through one’s wallet to find their papers, drowning in a sea of backlighting for about two minutes, occasionally field-testing for sobriety, then being released upon their way.
While it is the position of the state that these sorts of rights-infringing checkpoints promote safety by increasing detection of impaired and possibly reckless drivers, individuals are detained at these checkpoints indiscriminately and during my time at the checkpoint itself, I observed only one car that was permitted to roll through with no detention. Since detentions were not based on suspicion of a driving offense, they essentially violate the fourth amendment of the US constitution as well as liberties enumerated in the New Hampshire constitution, but the framework of a supposedly free people is permitted to be violated so long as a person in a black robe authorizes the indiscriminate stops. Per NH law, the suspicionless checkpoint was announced in advance with a release published in the Keene Sentinel. Knowing that drivers needed additional notice of the checkpoint, activists set up signs warning of the checkpoint ahead and indicating where the final turnoff was to avoid the detention from either approach. (more…)
FR33MANTV is back from hiatus with a smashing new video. Robert Fernandes was inspired by Shire peace activist Ian Freeman to pay his property tax bill in $1 bills. What do you think? More from FR33MANTV
Having been on “R” block in the CCHOC for a couple months, I have had a front row seat to observe the failure of the jail to address or even make a serious effort to address the plight of the mentally ill within its walls. The HOC is rife with mental illness. Many of its prisoners are here because they are mentally ill. Those who are mildly mentally ill on the outside frequently become dangerously so on the inside. The jail seems to be designed to take people who are a little crazy and drive them completely out of their minds.
There is no apparent therapy provided for mentally ill people here, except for a couple of meetings a week for the chemically dependent. There is, as far as I can tell, no psychiatrist. A psychologist, Barnes Peterson, who lacks the training to prescribe, makes the decisions about medication and passes them on to a Physician’s Assistant, who prescribes. These two frequently change people’s medication, then have the medication ground and dissolved in apple sauce. . . even though some of them are time release medications. This is completely irresponsible, as grinding many medications destroys the time release mechanism. (more…)
Want to help Rich Paul with his legal defense fundraiser? Thanks to Shiny Badges, you can now bid on Cop Block badge number 420! These beautiful badges are selling like hotcakes and are individually numbered, so there will only be one badge #420.
Current top bidder is Derrick J with a $420 bid – can you do better? Place your bid by leaving a comment at the bottom of ShinyBadges.com – don’t delay, the auction ends on August 15th!
Earlier today, the defense team headed by David Coombs to represent Bradley Manning rested after a presentation of nine witnesses from forty-six originally nominated. Some of the trial proceedings were held in secret during the government’s interrogatories. Bradley Manning will not be taking the stand in his defense. Al-Jazeera English has the story on the latest from the trial scheduled to conclude August 23, in addition to more detailed reports from the Bradley Manning Support Network.
Hey folks,
