This is my analysis of Cantwell’s self defense incident. In my capacity as Mad Monk of the Church of the Invisible Hand, I will present it based on the principles of the Church, which are Peace, Love, Balance and Harmony.
First, let us examine principle of Peace. The Church believes that the best rule of behavior to achieve Peace is the Non-Aggression Principle. We believe that the only legitimate use of violence is in defense of yourself, another human or the property of a person. It is the only principle we will impose on others … we will forcibly prevent others from doing us harm. Cantwell’s behavior was completely in line with the principle of Peace. He does have a natural right to videotape a public street — public being defined as unowned or owned by an illegitimate entity like Government. Not only did he not initiate force, but when a credible threat of force was brought to bear against him, and he legally and morally could have fired in self-defense, he still forbore from firing, and brought the incident to a conclusion where nobody was harmed. That is the best possible outcome of a self-defense situation.
Secondly, let us examine the principle of Love. The Church believes as our Estimated Prophet Robert A Heinlein wrote.that “Love is that state where the well-being of another becomes essential of our own”, An (more…)
In a move that shows the true nature of the state and regulations, the Manchester aldermen voted 10-3 recently to require UBER to obey their “Vehicles for Hire” ordinance which requires background checks, drug testing, and other bureaucratic nonsense. The lie of regulations is that they exist supposedly to protect you, the consumer. However, they actually just protect the established businesses in the given field. In this case, the old-guard cab companies are being protected from the innovative upstart. Regulations keep poor people poor, by making it near-impossible for them to go into business for themselves.
Despite the now possible threat of Manchester police targeting UBER drivers, heroically, UBER has announced they will continue to operate within Manchester and will likely give legal assistance to any drivers the city gang cites for violating the gang’s precious “code” (“Vehicles for Hire” is section 118). It looks like UBER is ready to go to court over this, as has been their tradition in other cities.
Of course, a free place to live would allow anyone to contract with anyone they like for a ride somewhere. The taxi companies should also be free of regulations, not just UBER. Allow the marketplace to come up with standards, if they are necessary. The cab companies will need to be free of regulatory burden to effectively compete against the nimble new competitor, UBER.
UBER’s argument, as I understand it, is they are not a taxicab company, for which all the regulations are written. UBER does not own any of the cars that its users end up riding in. UBER merely facilitates a smooth transaction between the rider and driver. It’s a matchmaking company. The next step, which may have even UBER worried, is to decentralize ride-sharing even further, to where no company is needed to make the connections between rider and driver. That actually is being worked on now, and it has a terrible name, LaZooz, but the technology is already here (and based in cryptocurrency like bitcoin) – it’s only a matter of time and software development, and participants.
For now though, UBER and other ridesharing competitors like Lyft, are innovating in a way that expands consumer choice, increases service available overall, drives down price, and rewards entrepreneurs. No wonder the city gang wants to stop them! They disrupt the current good ol’ boys network. (more…)
Matthew “Boston Strong” Schmidt believes “everyone loves” it when he lays on his horn as he drives by the Keene Activist Center. That’s what he did last week, while Keene Cop Block‘s JP Freeman was on the front porch. Once Boston got back to his house a few doors down, he taunted JP, which led to an unfortunate shouting match between the two. Then, Rich Paul went over to chat and following that, Boston came into the street and told JP more than once that he was going to “rap your head with a ratchet”, while brandishing a set of tools. Here’s the video:
To Boston’s credit, he’s a pretty dedicated activist. He recently even acquired a megaphone, which you see used in this video. He really doesn’t understand how to be a good neighbor, but he sure is an entertaining one. A little while back, Matt “Boston Strong” Schmidt was subpoenaed to a no contact hearing called for by JP at Cheshire superior court. At the hearing, Boston admitted to having been laying on his horn, which JP, who lived in the neighborhood at the time, claimed had woken up his small children. At the court hearing, Boston agreed to an order by the robed man which specifies Boston and JP should not have contact with each other and that Boston will not honk or blare his horn after 4pm. He’s been honking his horn in civil disobedience ever since the order was written. Personally, I find his antics amusing, but JP takes them personally.
While both men are responsible for creating the scene last week, (as JP did not have to react in-kind), Boston definitely instigated it, and escalated it. (more…)
Rafael Hernandez is one of two guys who attacked me on July 31, 2014 outside the Cheshire County Courthouse. I was recording from the sidewalk when the group of thuggish friends surrounded me, and threw my camera and cell phone on the ground. He pled guilty to the misdemeanor charge of Criminal Mischief and sentenced this Thursday, January 29, 2015.
The court’s orders were: 1) He must pay me restitution for my broken camera battery ($28.94), 2) he must not have contact with me for one year, and 3) he will have a sentence of 60 days in jail suspended for one year on the condition of good behavior. (more…)
After arresting Janelle Westfall, 18, for underage possession of alcohol, Seastrand allegedly told her she could avoid charges if she went into the police station basement with him and did a nude photo shoot.
Of course, none of the money being given to Ms. Westfall is coming from Seastrand – it’s the taxpayers who are on the hook for his actions. He is protected from responsibility by the system. Prosecutors will not prosecute him. You can bet that if any gun-toting non-cop threatened a young lady and demanded nude photos that person would be fully prosecuted. It’s good to be in the government gang!
The big question is – how many times has Seastrand pulled this move and gotten away with it prior to this incident? I doubt it was his first time using his power to intimidate girls into taking off their clothes.
![uber-app[1]](https://i0.wp.com/freekeene.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/uber-app1-300x146.jpg?resize=300%2C146)
