Say hello to a new 2014 tomorrow at the Keene mayor’s inaugural drinking game, to be held at Keene City Hall at 12 noon New Year’s Day. In following with drinking games of past, celebrants of our new people’s democratic representative candidate Kendall Lane are invited to bring a delicious beverage of their choice for the event. Be sure to stay properly hydrated if enjoying state sponsored substances this evening, and save some partying energy for early afternoon celebrations on January’s first day. See previous congratulations paid to the newly re-elected senior politician in the DPRK’s announcement relative to the Robin Hooding court ruling in a recent video message. (more…)
Everyone’s favorite National Security Agency whistleblower has released a Christmas message to the people of the world. Cheers!
[vimeo http://vimeo.com/82666985]
Hi, and Merry Christmas. I’m honored to have a chance to speak with you and your family this year. Recently, we learned that our governments, working in concert, have created a system of worldwide, mass surveillance, watching everything we do. Great Britain’s George Orwell warned us of the danger of this kind of information. The types of collections in the book — microphones and videocameras, TVs that watch us — are nothing compared to what we have available today. We have sensors in our pocket that track us everywhere we go. Think about what this means for the privacy of the average person. A child born today will grow up with no conception of privacy at all. They’ll never know what it means to have a private moment to themselves — an unrecorded, unanalyzed thought. And that’s a problem, because privacy matters. Privacy is what allows us to determine who we are, and who we want to be. The conversation occurring today will determine the amount of trust we can place both in the technology that surrounds us, and the government that regulates it. Together we can find a better balance, end mass surveillance, and remind the government that if it really wants to know how we feel, asking is always cheaper than spying. For everyone out there listening, thank you, and Merry Christmas.
News came out yesterday following a press conference that the state of New Hampshire was sponsoring a special edition vodka in a decorate new bottle featuring the late Old Man of the Mountain. At 29.99usd, the maple-syrup bottlesque hard liquor was made available to state liquor dispensaries in Concord, but likely will not be arriving into the Cheshire county area until Friday. Profits attained from the drug sales will be directed towards repairing dilapidated flags of some historical value. Walking through the local liquor store in search of the bottle to document, I was amazed at how casually the state promotes and distributes the world’s most destructive drug. How long could it possibly be before a New Hampshire governor introduces an official state strain of cannabis to the public in celebration of the holiday season? The Nashua Telegraph captured some video from the parodist press conference. No mentions of liquor or drug-related issues facing New Hampshire are mentioned in many of the corporate news stories republishing the state’s alcohol marketing through the frame of selling “commemorative bottles”.
LACONIA — A self-proclaimed anarchist associated with the Free State Project spent Friday night in the Belknap County House of Corrections after refusing to cooperate with a police officer who stopped her after she allegedly ran a red light.
According to Laconia police logs, Amanda “Billyrock” Johnson, 27, of 105 Windsong Ave. in Manchester is charged with one count of disobeying an officer, one count of resisting arrest, one count of transporting alcoholic beverages (for allegedly having an open container containing alcohol in her car), driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol, and possession of controlled drugs.
Johnson allegedly refused to tell police her name or cooperate with the police.
For the next 12 hours, Internet sites associated with the Free State project and other libertarian causes buzzed with tales of Johnson’s “kidnapping” by the Laconia Police and subsequent “caging” at the Belknap County House of Corrections — where she was taken after she allegedly refused the services of a bail commissioner. Readers of the sites were urged to call the county jail in protest. (more…)
Ademo Freeman of CopBlock.org and Garret Ean of FreeConcord.org joined me to discuss the topic, “Is Silence Better than PR?” The answer depends on the individual, but Ademo & Garret draw some pretty clear lines of when it is a good or bad idea to go public with a criminal charge. Do you agree or disagree with their views? Please share your thoughts during tomorrow’s live episode of Peace News Now at 10p EST on LRN.fm.
Amanda initially posted video of her arrest to her Youtube channel, but it was removed within hours at the advice of her attorney. While it is understandable why she would lawyer up – the court system is an intimidating process – it’s always sad when attorneys advise their clients to not speak to media or post media relating to the case. The attorney’s advice disconnects Amanda from a large pool of potential supporters, as now we have no way of knowing what happened. Many may be willing to support her, but since the video is not being shown, some people will have a hard time getting behind her.
Since her attorney is refusing to release even what the charges are, which should be public info, I decided I’d do my best to track down the info. The court system doesn’t even have a docket number for the case yet, so I called Laconia Police and was treated very rudely and hung up on by “Sgt. Hubbard”. He refused to give me information about her charges and told me to either come down to their station or use the request form on their website, which is broken. I called back, this time recording the call:
For whatever reason, Hubbard changes his attitude after putting me on hold for a few minutes and then gives up the info. According to him, Amanda is facing the following charges: (more…)
Say hello to a new 2014 tomorrow at the Keene mayor’s inaugural drinking game, to be held at Keene City Hall at 12 noon New Year’s Day. In following with drinking games of past, celebrants of our new people’s democratic representative candidate Kendall Lane are invited to bring a delicious beverage of their choice for the event. Be sure to stay properly hydrated if enjoying state sponsored substances this evening, and save some partying energy for early afternoon celebrations on January’s first day. See previous congratulations paid to the newly re-elected senior politician in the DPRK’s announcement relative to the Robin Hooding court ruling in a recent video message. (more…)
