by Ian | Jun 28, 2010 |
Confused, angry letters-to-the-editor continue to be published in the Keene Sentinel, followed by the requisite vitriolic posts in each letters’ comments section. I’m posting links and the text below. If you feel inspired, please write your own letters-to-the-editor here.
“Protestors Don’t Belong Near School”
As I was out for my daily exercise recently, I passed the Keene Middle School just as the buses were lining up and the children were beginning to exit the school after a day of learning.
This day, however, was the first time I have been disturbed by an event such as an afternoon school exodus.
What was unsettling was that the children were exiting to a small group of protesters touting signs that say “school sucks” and blasting libertarian rhetoric through their bullhorns. (more…)
by Ian | Jun 21, 2010 |
It takes a lot of courage to operate a pirate/community radio station. There’s the ever-present threat of the FCC sending men with guns to steal their equipment, among other things. Just this week a new radio station popped up on 107.5 in Keene carrying mostly Liberty Radio Network programming, day and night. (107.5 does appear to break away in the afternoons for another program not carried by LRN.) Last night there was a particularly graphic internet-only Sunday edition of Free Talk Live, hosted by Dale, Luthor, and Puke. I was out and about during the program, taking care of some errands and listening to the show on 107.5 when I heard the discussion drop to dead air. I quickly checked the internet feed – it was still on-air, so I concluded the operators of 107.5 had decided to cut the broadcast.
Now to be clear, I am the program director of the Liberty Radio Network. That does not mean I am in charge of 107.5 or any other station airing the Liberty Radio Network. Each station decides how much LRN content to carry – I am merely a program provider. I don’t know who all’s involved with 107.5 locally, so please don’t ask. After they pulled FTL off-the-air, they did reach out to me to let me know what they were thinking. They were concerned that the graphic content could be offensive to parents. That’s right, even pirate/community radio operators are concerned about their image in regards to “the children”! The operators encouraged me to relegate sexually graphic programming to the overnight hours. After some reflection, I agreed.
You may be saying, “But Ian, you’re supposed to be in favor of free speech!”. (more…)
by Highline | Jun 13, 2010 |
Like a person confronted with an armed robber on the street demanding money and telling you the money will be used to purchase new weapons to kill people, I embarrassingly fold to the threats of the IRS they graciously sent me in the mail.
I don’t want to pay for the military to continue killing people around the world at the behest of the military industrial complex.
I don’t want to pay for the CIA screwing with other countries and people.
I don’t want to pay for the CIA KILLING AMERICAN CITIZENS WITHOUT ANY SORT OF OVERSIGHT. (Didn’t people watch the Bourne Trilogy?)
But I will. I don’t want my stuff stolen and I don’t want to be hurt.
There is no difference between a person giving an armed robber money and a person giving the IRS money. Both are threatened with very real violence.
Actually, there is a difference. With an armed robber you have the option of defending yourself.
by Ian | Jun 11, 2010 |
The Sentinel echo chamber is at it again! Misinformed “news” pieces upset their mostly statist readers, who, feeling threatened by our liberty-oriented beliefs, post vitriol in a desperate attempt to scare activists away from Keene.
The message is always the same – we’re not wanted, say they. They have their finger on the pulse of the community in Keene and the survey says, Free Staters go home!
Of course our experience outside the Sentinel’s echo chamber is completely different. Liberty activists regularly receive compliments from locals who appreciate that we are here. Horn honks, friendly waves, peace signs, and other nonverbal communications continually remind us to not listen to the Sentinel’s echo chamber.
Are some people upset that we’re here? (more…)
by Sam Dodson | Jun 11, 2010 |
As time passes, the singular thing remaining constant is change. As a blogger at Free Keene and a Liberty Activist, I hope to push ideas designed to ignite critical thinking over pushing limits. We strive to create interest, attract new movers, and generate discussion.
Keene is certainly changing, and it’s building momentum towards freedom, that will only grow as more activists move and more locals join us in working towards a more peaceful voluntary society.
(more…)
by Ian | Jun 10, 2010 |
Unlike the bloggers here whose names are attached to everything they write, the editors at the Sentinel are notorious for publishing unsigned editorials. Why not stand behind their words with their name(s)? (I suppose we’re to presume their editorials are the consensus of all their editorial staff? Perhaps it’s just head editor Jim Rousmaniere?) Anyway, below is the text of a recent critique against some of the liberty activism in Keene. In it they attempt to marginalize the record-setting 420 celebrations and act as though ending prohibition is an unimportant issue. They also back the puritanical view that women should keep their shirts on, cause, well, they may be equal, but they shouldn’t act like it – in the anonymous editor’s view. Of course, they also suggest that these are the only things that Free Keene activists have done and conveniently ignore the inside-the-system activists who have run campaigns like Free Keene blogger Nick Ryder and blogger-at-the-time Julia Miranda’s city council runs. Additionally, had they actually done some fact checking by actually interviewing one of us, they might have learned that neither the 420s or topless events were created by Free Keene’s bloggers.
Anyway, thanks to the Sentinel for the continued coverage, no matter how misinformed. Here’s their anonymous editorial:
“I remember Keene from when I was a child, when there was a Woolworth’s on Main Street,” writes a Sentinel reader in the feedback section of the newspaper’s website. “When I bought my first car, the first thing I did was pick up my best friend and head to Keene. I saw Keene flourish in areas of social growth for many years.” But now, he writes, “Keene has to realize that those days are gone.” Instead residents have to deal with the Free Keene movement. “These new people are activists,” the writer says, “and it’s the role of activists in our society to push limits. I don’t see any disadvantage to setting the limits back.”
We hadn’t thought of Woolworth’s as evidence of social advancement, but the staff was pleasant and it did have a decent lunch counter. The recent libertarian shenanigans downtown might make people nostalgic for just about anything. (more…)
