[I asked Sam in a letter about his mediation, and here is his response. He gave me permission to post this personal letter to the blog.]
Hey Mike,
On the meditation, you have the right idea. I focus on my breathing. When my mind wonders I notice and rerturn my focus to breathing. I do other things as well.
Sometimes I sit and focus on my freedom. I see and feel the joy of my freedom, the feast we are going to have, the return to my life.
Other times I sit feeling joy and compassion for those who have not yet come to understand the ideas of liberty. I feel them coming around and experience the joy of a free world. I experience the healing that begins to take place int he lives of those destroyed by governments.
Yet other times I sit focusing the energy of the universe into my body and radiate it out from within me. I can feel my entire body tingle with positive energy. It courses through me, and I feel peace contentment and conneted to the universe.
There is no “right” or “wrong” way to meditate. It’s the result that counts.
I invite everyone to join me in feeling how great it will be when they release me shortly.
So far, Sam’s arrest and imprisonment indefinitely without trial have barely scratched the surface of the internet, let alone the mainstream media. This is similar to the lack of coverage my case received when I was locked up for “contempt of court” and my tenants’ couch in their yard. Arguably, Sam has gotten more coverage as the Keene Sentinel did publish two front page articles as a result of his arrest, but those articles never broke into other papers in NH and the AP did not pick them up. Thank you to the few bloggers on the internet who have picked up the story. To everyone who has contacted their favorite blog or news service and suggested they cover Sam’s story, thank you. If you haven’t please take a moment and do so.
Also, here’s an easy task to complete on Sam’s behalf. You can help get him on and his story covered by “Freedom Watch”, the popular online-only FOX News show. Just visit this list of potential guests, scroll to Sam Dodson and click Vote and select 3 you may then spend up to seven more votes on other guests (I recommend also voting for Free State Project founder Jason Sorens.). Then you can do the same on this list of topics. Vote 3 for “Right to Record, Reporters Getting Arrested Everywhere” (and you also may want to vote for “Discuss the Free State Project”).
I spoke with Sam this morning. He’s wondering if he should stay in jail as the writ of habeas corpus is taken to the NH supreme court. (The superior court judge denied it, saying he couldn’t let Sam out without having his “legal” name.) Sam also didn’t get mail yesterday, which he seemed bummed about. I suggested the guards have been holding his mail. I also suggested he start eating. The hunger strike hasn’t done anything to gain publicity for his case, and will only serve to weaken his composition and distract his mind. Two weeks is enough, especially for someone with Sam’s body type. So, to get out of jail, he can either wait there and see what happens, pay $10,000 cash bail (which you can bet will have whatever fines he’s ordered to pay taken out of it after a trial, so this is the worst option), or give up his “legal name”, which may lead to a bail hearing and release on recognizance.
What should Sam do? Leave your thoughts and suggestions in the comments and I’ll print them out and send them to Sam via mail-to-jail.
[Sam wrote me a letter and asked that I transcribe it and share it with everyone who wrote him a letter in jail. The words in square-brackets below are my input, not Sam’s. – Mike Barskey]
Mike,
I can’t thank you enough for running Mail-to-Jail. The letters and postcards mean so much. You should have seen the look on the guards’ face the second day I got the bulk of the letters. I’m letting the other prisoners read some of them. They are amazed that letters are coming from everywhere. Around New Hampshire, Florida, California, Israel, the UK, and even Tasmania, Australia. The post cards that come in with the inspirational saying give me hope. (more…)
Just got off the phone with Sam. He’ll call tonight’s Free Talk Live with details, but yesterday Ivy filed a writ of Habeas Corpus with the superior court and now today all-of-a-sudden Sam is brought down to the Keene Police Department and fingerprinted and photographed as John Doe. Prior to this the judge had said nothing would happen until Sam gave his “legal” name. Did an order come down from the higher court?
Ivy has been a huge help in all of this. She has dedicated a tremendous amount of time and effort toward helping Sam, (and by proxy, all of us) and has done it for peanuts. Please consider showing your appreciation for her efforts by paypaling her at Ivy at ivysspiceoflife.com
Also, Mike Barskey has done amazing work with Mail-to-Jail.com, the website that allows you to easily send mail to imprisoned activists like Sam. Sam told me that nearly every piece of mail he has received has come through Mail-to-Jail! Please visit the site and consider sending Mike a contribution to help him pay for stamps and envelopes. (Look for the links in the right column.) (more…)
Political prisoner Sam recorded a special message for last night’s candlelight vigil. Nearly fifty people came out at 9pm on a Sunday night in Keene to participate. In case you couldn’t be there in person, here it is in .mp3 form.
Also, here is Lauren Canario’s video of yesterday’s protest at the jail (with a turnout of at least 19 people!) and last night’s candlelight vigil:
Our friend, co-blogger, and documentarian Sam from the Obscured Truth Network called me from jail today to tell me they did hold a bail hearing for him by video and the presiding judge Howard Lane (Burke is on vacation this week.) told him he will be held indefinitely until he decides to give them his “legal name”. Sam is currently held as “John Sam Doe”. Even if he were to give them that name, how it is they will be certain that the name he gives them is legal, I don’t know, as they don’t have ID for him and he hasn’t registered to vote in NH. Sam has not indicated that he will be giving in, meaning he’s stuck in the Cheshire County jail, which despite being one of the better jails in the state, still has its share of problems. Sam said that there was sewage floating in his area of the jail when he arrived, for instance. Plus, they are denying him access to the jail law library, making it even more difficult for him to participate in their tyrannical system.
Sam is expected to call in to Free Talk Live tonight. He has asked that you call the Keene Police Department’s prosecutor, Eli Rivera, as it is he who is pressing these charges. Continue calling the Keene District Court, as their judges are responsible for his indefinite imprisoning. Those phone numbers are at Sam.JailedActivist.info. He doubts it will do much, but he suggested calling state representatives and senators and perhaps the governor’s office to let them know what their system is doing to a peaceful man. He also requests you contact local media across NH as well as national media and alert them to the story.
He thanks everyone for coming out to protest yesterday even though they locked his section down during our entire visit as well as everyone who attended the candlelight vigil.
So far, Sam’s arrest and imprisonment indefinitely without trial have barely scratched the surface of the internet, let alone the mainstream media. This is similar to the lack of coverage my case received when I was locked up for “contempt of court” and my tenants’ couch in their yard. Arguably, Sam has gotten more coverage as the Keene Sentinel did publish two front page articles as a result of his arrest, but those articles never broke into other papers in NH and the AP did not pick them up. Thank you to the few bloggers on the internet who have picked up the story. To everyone who has contacted their favorite blog or news service and suggested they cover Sam’s story, thank you. If you haven’t please take a moment and do so.
