Shire TV Episode 8 September 17th, 2012

Our newest show, featuring a roundtable discussion with hosts Ali Havens and James Cleaveland and special guests Kelly Voluntaryist and Derrick J Freeman! I hope you enjoy and let me know if you like this format better than the other topic shows or straight news and analysis! Thanks!

 

 

Libertarian Presidential Candidate Gary Johnson Endorses Free State Project

Gary JohnsonCriticisms aside about Gary Johnson‘s lack of principle, he’s the best thing going in the presidential race, and he’s now publicly endorsed the Free State Project saying in a recent online Q&A (Starting around 1:13min, near the end.):

Yea! Go Free State Project. Wow. What a model. What a terrific model. When I was governor of new Mexico, the Free State Project came to my attention […2]0,000 people who said they’re going to relocate in some area in the United States, get elected to all the offices and basically “hands off” when it comes to the government. Very very very libertarian, if not anarchist. Anarchist being complete government void. No government! well, Terrific! I wanted to see that happen in New Mexico, it’s now happening in New Hampshire. Good thing. Really a terrific thing. I just applaud the Free State Project. I look forward to successes from the Free State Project that the country emulates.

Harold and Kumar Visit Covered by KSC Equinox

Kal Penn and John Cho, aka Harold and Kumar’s recent visit to Keene State College has been documented by the school’s publication keene-equinox.com. My “forwarded” question to the campaigning duo, which was the subject of my article on the event, is discussed in the Equinox article. I am quoted as well. Curiously enough, the content of my question is not included. See the article from yesterday at the Equinox’s page:

http://keene-equinox.com/2012/09/hollywood-actors-escape-to-keene-state/

Photo: Just prior to the speaking engagement, from the Equinox’s facebook page

Harold and Kumar Escape From Tough Questions

John Cho and Kal Penn, known the world over as Harold and Kumar, spent yesterday and today touring the state’s colleges on behalf of the Obama reelection campaign. Of the eight stops on the two day tour, Keene was the only location in which the duo appeared together.

Harold and Kumar are an awkward choice for the young face of the Obama campaign. Their characters are a target of forces within the Obama administration which the president has done little to address. Campaigning in 2008, he had said that medicinal cannabis enforcement would be the lowest priority of his law enforcement. Under Obama, the United States has seen an increase in raids of medicinal cannabis clinics as well as increased enforcement against undocumented immigrants. While many expected change, the result was a slightly worse version of the same. (more…)

HUGE NEWS: Jury Nullifies Felony in Cannabis Grower’s Trial!

Pot LeafIn a developing story that has hit Reason.com, an NH jury has acquitted a man facing a felony for growing cannabis! It’s our first real-life case of jury nullification here in NH and the jury nullification law hasn’t even gone into effect yet. Kudos to the judge for reading a fair and easy-to-understand jury instruction about nullifying as an option! Also, it probably helped that a free stater was on the jury!

If you are an self-described anarchist or agorist and you are not registered to vote, you need to remedy that now. Being on the voter’s rolls means you could be chosen as a juror, which means that even if you never actually cast a vote in an election, you could cast a vote on a jury that could stop someone’s life from being ruined. Here is the proof. Is there still any doubt the Free State Project is working? If you haven’t made the move, what are you waiting for?

Here’s the story from Reason, which includes the judge’s instruction to the jury:

A few months ago, New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch signed a bill declaring that “in all criminal proceedings the court shall permit the defense to inform the jury of its right to judge the facts and the application of the law in relation to the facts in controversy.” Although the new law does not take effect until next January, a case decided yesterday in Belknap County illustrates the importance of the nullification power it recognizes. A jury unanimously acquitted Doug Darrell, a 59-year-old Rastafarian charged with marijuana cultivation, after his lawyer, Mark Sisti, argued that a conviction would be unjust in light of the fact that Darrell was growing cannabis for his own religious and medicinal use. More remarkably, Judge James O’Neill instructed the jury that “even if you find that the State has proven each and every element of the offense charged beyond a reasonable doubt, you may still find the defendant not guilty if you have a conscientious feeling that a not guilty verdict would be a fair result in this case.” (more…)