In 2010, Rich Paul founded the yearly mass civil disobedience event on April 20th in front of the state house steps in Concord where cannabis users come to toke up in full public view. After taking a year off from activism in New Hampshire, he has returned to retake his role as the emcee of the well-attended rally where thus far, no one has ever been arrested. Here are some highlights from his speeches at last week’s 420 celebration:
Only five DJVCS posters exist – one will be raffled at the screening!
Recently Derrick J Freeman announced a special five-year anniversary screening of his documentary film, “Derrick J’s Victimless Crime Spree” to take place in Portsmouth this Sunday 9/17 at 7pm at the Seacoast Repertory Theatre. Admission is free, first come, first seated. Refreshments will be available for cash, bitcoin, or DASH. If you’re new to Victimless Crime Spree, it’s a feature length, 90min documentary that was originally recorded and edited in Keene, NH (with a little footage from Derrick’s previous home of Philadelphia). Here’s how Derrick has described the movie from his perspective today which he included this on the facebook event for Sunday’s screening:
Victimless Crime Spree is the story of Derrick J, a lovable rebel on a mission to achieve freedom and independence from government. He moves from Philadelphia to New Hampshire for the Free State Project and almost immediately finds himself behind bars. Despite his friendliness to the cops and government bureaucrats, they keep putting him in cages. Inspirational, intelligent and fearless; this documentary demonstrates the will and perseverance of civil disobedience activists that risk their liberty for hope of a better world. If you don’t already, this movie will leave you questioning your relationship with “authority.”
After the screening, we’ll have a Q&A with Derrick J and also do a raffle for one of only five existing original theatrical release posters from the movie’s theatrical premiere in Keene back in September of 2012.
Since its release, the movie has racked up more than 175,000 views on YouTube, sold hundreds of DVDs, and received plenty of positive reviews and ratings, with an 8.6/10 on IMDB and 4.3 stars on Amazon! Those aren’t the only measures of the movie’s success, however. It’s also accomplished helping turn libertarians on to the NH Freedom Migration and multiple people have cited it as their reason for moving to New Hampshire. It’s also introduced new people to the ideas of liberty. I really couldn’t be more proud of what Derrick and editor Beau Davis created and am honored to be the film’s executive producer.
Whether you’re new to the movie or are a longtime fan, we’ll look forward to seeing you at the Seacoast Rep in Portsmouth at 7pm this Sunday, September 17th for this special theatrical presentation. Bring a friend! If you can’t make it on Sunday, you can always watch it for free online anytime or hold your own screening where you live!
Finally, if you’re around Portsmouth a little earlier in the day, be sure to stop into Derrick’s new “Free State Bitcoin Shoppe” as they are having their grand opening from 12p-6p!
When I lived in Florida, I used to do these “Operation Politically Homeless” booths at various events including gun shows, the county fair, and gay & lesbian pridefests. One thing I’ve noticed here in New Hampshire is that people are generally more receptive and open to new ideas. I’ve done this outreach and outreach of other sorts, like Jury Nullification both here in NH and down in FL and it’s just easier here.
In New Hampshire, a supermajority of people will accept a flier in front of a courthouse or in a crowd at an event or in this case, stop for a few minutes, take the 10-question “Worlds Smallest Political Quiz” and learn where they are at on the political spectrum. In Florida, people are much colder to those conducting outreach, in my experience.
22 of 38 who took the quiz on day one were Libertarian or borderline – over 57%
72 of 110 through day two were Libertarian or borderline – over 65%
87 of 129 through day three were Libertarian or borderline – over 67%!
Free Talk Live’s hosts Ian and Darryl interview festival organizer Rick Naya.
Had I done the same OPH booth at a similar cannabis event in a place like California, I guarantee the results would have been much heaver on the liberal side. NH natives simply have a more innate understanding of freedom. New Hampshire is truly the best destination for libertarians and voluntarists looking to really have a positive effect for liberty. Here are 101 reasons why you should join us!
If you missed our three radio shows that we recorded from the event, here are the archives: Friday, Saturday, Sunday.
Kudos to Rick Naya and his awesome crew for putting on a great first-year event. Thanks also to all the great folks who came out. The attendees were super-cool and all of them were grateful for the opportunity we provided them to learn more about their libertarian (or not) political views. It was a blast and I hope that we’ll be back again for 2018. Watch this blog for any announcements.
LPNH chairman Darryl W Perry and I will be offering people the World’s Smallest Political Quiz.
We’ll be conducting an “Operation Politically Homeless” outreach booth, where passersby will be offered a 10-question quiz and once it’s scored, they can put a sticker up on the big poster of a chart representing a wider political spectrum than what the quiz-taker may have envisioned. The “Nolan Chart”, named after the founder of the national libertarian party, exposes the viewer to the idea that political beliefs are more diverse than just left-middle-right. The chart adds a Y (up-down) axis based on the spectrum of libertarian-centrist-authoritarian. This can be an eye-opener for many who take the quiz, thinking they are one thing, but finding out they are something else entirely.
I”m a longtime advocate of the OPH booth form of outreach. As someone who has performed countless hours of this outreach, I can heartily endorse it. I’m looking forward to connecting NH Cannabis Freedom Festival attendees this weekend with the ideas of liberty, peace, and cryptocurrency. Darryl and I will be in the vendor area doing outreach and recording episodes of Free Talk Live all weekend.
Last year at the Porcupine Freedom Festival, Will Coley of Muslims 4 Liberty threw and was the DJ for what people have said was the best party at Porcfest 2016. This year, Will again performed at Roger’s Campground as an electronic music DJ and played for five straight hours, two hours of which was beyond the campground’s “quiet time” of 11pm! However, Will’s party was not held during Porcfest 2017 – it happened during the new decentralized festival(s) that are taking place before Porcfest happens.
Depending on who you asked, the people on the campground from Friday June 16th through Tuesday the 20th were either attending Somaliafest or Shirefest. Other festivals sprung up over the weekend as Shire Dude proclaimed that the rule of Shirefest is that every attendee has to have their own fest. Some people were having fun with this idea, and it really encompasses the decentralized nature of these friendly competitors of the longtime king of Summer camping freedom festivals, Porcfest.
Please note, this article is not intended to be an attack against the people who have run Porcfest over the years. They did their best in a largely thankless role to make the various Porcfests successful. I’m writing this to assess the question of whether centralizing Porcfest harmed the event and introduce the competition, which are not centralized.
Despite generally philosophizing about the benefits of decentralization, some libertarians have embraced centralization in the process of creating the liberty movement’s largest and most successful camping freedom festival. Depending on what needs to be done, centralization can provide some benefits. However, there are costs involved. Some would argue the centralization of Porcfest’s organization led to its decline. Let’s look closer at what happened. First, for those of you newer to the ongoing New Hampshire Freedom Migration, a little history: (more…)
Ernest Hancock and Will Coley Broadcasting from Shirefest 2017
“America’s Favorite Redneck Muslim”, Will Coley has made a major announcement! The host of Muslim radio show, “Call to Freedom“, and his family are moving from their longtime home of Tennessee to beautiful Keene, New Hampshire and they’ll be opening a full-time mosque in property donated by the Shire Free Church! Fundraising has begun over at Muslim fundraising site Launchgood with an $11,000 target, the Coleys have already raised over $2,000 with just over two weeks to go.
He’s calling it the Masjid al Latiff and Interfaith Community Center, (aka the MALIC Center) and on his fundraiser page says it will be the first house of worship of its kind in all of New Hampshire! Though it looks like Concord’s Muslim community is also making similar plans, Keene’s seems on target to open its doors sooner than Concord. As one of the founding ministers of the Shire Free Church, I’m elated to be able to dedicate our property to this historic and worthy religious purpose. If it were just a full-time mosque, that would dovetail perfectly with our interfaith church’s mission to foster peace, but Will has promised that the space will also be usable at times by other area religions of peace, such as the Quakers.
In addition to the goal of creating a Muslim community in Southwestern New Hampshire, Will is also planning to conduct outreach to the community and helping dispel the pervasive myths that many Americans mistakenly hold about Islam. When I was in jail for civil disobedience I took the time to read the entire Quran and studied with a Muslim who was in my cell block. I’ve been grateful for Will’s many appearances on my talk radio program, Free Talk Live. We’ve had him on for multiple segments of “Ask a Muslim”, where he fields all kinds of questions from listeners who know little about Islam. I’m excited to have him on more often live in-studio.
Will Coley Conducting his Ramadan Dawah at Porcfest
Many who have attended the Porcupine Freedom Festival will recognize Will as the generous man who each year has come up from Tennessee to serve food to the festival-goers during Ramadan as his “dawah” (Muslim outreach). In addition to his generosity, he’s a talented speaker and is currently completing his Islamic jurisprudence and Islamic studies training in the Maliki school.
It’s truly an honor to assist in this new addition to the Keene community that will hopefully attract more Muslims to the area and bring a new level of understanding about Islam to the community at large.
