Thanks to the Union Leader for covering the story, where a judge dismissed the wiretapping charge against Biker Bill, saying: “engaging in an audio recording of a police officer in the course of his official duties in a public place is protected speech under the First Amendment”
CONCORD – Citing a federal appeals court ruling, a Goffstown District Court judge dismissed a charge of unlawful wiretapping against a Weare man who used his cell phone’s voice mail to record a traffic stop by a police officer.
Judge Edward Tenney cited a First Circuit Court of Appeals order in August in the case Glik v. Cunniffe in making his ruling. “The Glik holding makes it perfectly clear that First Amendment protections apply to both audio and video recording.” (more…)
As I mentioned in one of my blogs from jail, I was asked “Why Keene?”. My inspiration was because this was the area in which Russell and Kat Kanning and Lauren Canario were living, also Dave Ridley. These early movers set the pace for civil disobedience and noncooperation in NH and they were all living in the Keene area. I thought it would be a good time to re-release some classic videos from NHFree.com, courtesy of Tom Sawyer. Tom’s videos of the earliest movers were a big motivation for me to move here. I hope you find them as inspirational as I.
This one has over 236,000 views at the time of this writing:
Kate Ager was sentence: $200 fine for disorderly – stayed for one yr of good behavior, Resisting Arrest – $200 fine (maybe – I didn’t hear the judge say that) 90 days in jail, stayed for 2 yrs of good behavior. She stated she’ll appeal.
Tonight at Occupy Manchester, fourteen “summonses” were handed out and five arrested. Here’s the final arrest of five, a peaceful young lady named Sabbrielle, courtesy CopBlock.org. It starts at 8 mins in:
I’d like to comment on the vernacular of the liberty movement. I’m sure some critics will find this analysis to be trivial, but to me, words are very important. You will be judged by the words with which you choose to express your ideas. In addition, the words you select will reveal your mindset.
I was inspired to write this post, as in several of the kind, thoughtful, and encouraging letters I have received while incarcerated her at the Keene Spiritual Retreat, I noticed the writers chose words that I find counter-productive, mentally. Here are three that appear frequently: “fight”, “struggle”, and “sacrifice”. I understand why these words have been chosen – they are commonly used in activist literature and culture, and I mean all activism, not just the liberty-type. For instance, some national liberty political group sent me one of those multi-page fundraising letters (you know, where they try to make it look like someone went in and underlined words, then signed it, and maybe made “notes” in the margins – but of course, you know it’s just a form-letter) after I had become aware of the :fight” mentality. I took a highlighter and went through the letter and highlighted all the fighting-related terms. “Fight” and “battle” appeared many times. There is probably a reason why these organizations use this conflict-oriented language. They want to maximize the effectiveness of their fundraising direct mail campaign, and what American doesn’t like a good war? Who wouldn’t want to be on the side of the winning team – having vanquished the enemy? Who wouldn’t want to sink a bayonet into – (more…)
“KPD Shows True Colors with Parking Meter Proposal & What to Do About it”
Keene Police Chief Ken Meola tipped his hand recently with his proposal to switch from the parking meters littering beautiful downtown Keene that many know and detest to a new system of kiosks.” Each unit will replace several meters and unlike meters in other cities, thees do not require the user to place a receipt on the dash.
Please forgive my inexact numbers. I write this from my jail cell and do not have source material in front of me. I’m going by my memory of recent Keene Sentinel pieces on the subject.
Considering, if I recall correctly, that KPD rakes in over $300,000 per year from the current system, one might wonder what the motivation is to change a system that is “working.” (Though I have heard rumor that the Parking Division actually runs in the red. I would love to have this confirmed or denied. Regardless, that information doesn’t change the point of this post.) (more…)
