Once again, I’m throwing my hat into the ring for the office of governor for New Hampshire in the democratic race. The first time I did so was in 2014 where I garnered second place and received more than 4% of the vote against then-incumbent Maggie Hassan in a campaign where I accepted no campaign contributions and spent approximately $2.50 on postage to reply to various candidate questionnaires.
My goal was to spread the ideas of liberty and NH declaring independence from the federal government. That continues to be my goal. It’s unlikely I will defeat the establishment candidates who will be well-funded by the powers-that-be. However, I will do the best I can to spread the ideas of liberty and NH independence with virtually no campaign budget.
NH Liberty Party
In 2014 I had the opportunity to address the republican debate held at Franklin Pierce University, since the other two candidates in the democratic primary refused to debate. What will happen this time? Stay tuned here to the NH Liberty Party blog for campaign updates. Or, just sign up for emailed updates via the signup box in the right-hand column of NHLiberty.info. Hopefully we’ll be announcing other NH Liberty Party candidates for other state races as the filing period runs from today through June 10th.
Here’s a page with details about my campaign and my prime issues which include ending prohibition, declaring independence from the federal government, and ballot access fairness. Thank you for your interest!
On Monday’s episode of Free Talk Live we went into detail about Rich Paul’s recent arrest in Salem, NH for possession of cannabis. We spent most of the last hour of the show discussing it. In short, a few weeks ago, Rich and a friend were heading back from dropping an activist at Boston airport and stopped off at a rest area once back in New Hampshire. While there, they smoked a joint before heading back out on the road. They were immediately pulled over before even leaving the rest area, as it turns out they had smoked up in the middle of an undercover police operation that was monitoring the rest area that day for heroin deals.
According to Rich, the police seemed disappointed they didn’t bust any heroin and would have been willing to issue them summonses and release them on the scene, but Rich’s passenger did not have ID on him, so they were taken back to the police station for booking. Ultimately they were released on PR bail and issued court dates. Both have been charged with Class A misdemeanors for possession, which means they could take this to a jury trial, unless the state reduces the charges to Class B.
If it does go in front of a jury, it will be the first time an NH liberty activist has gone to jury trial for simple possession. Rich is looking forward to his chance at a jury trial, especially since he is a minister of the Church of the Invisible Hand and considers cannabis to be a sacrament.
One big, and as-yet-unanswered question is whether the state will motion the court to impose Rich’s suspended sentence from his previous conviction for selling cannabis. Stay tuned here for the latest.
Peaceful Assembly Church Burning in Grafton, NH – Photo Courtesy Peter Bosse
In early January of this year, Peaceful Assembly Church pastor John Connell died inside his church as it somehow set ablaze. The alleged cause of the fire has still not been publicly announced by the fire marshal, several months later. Speculation on the cause of the fire ranges from accident to self-immolation to murder. Given that the town of Grafton was planning to steal the property via tax sale just days after the church caught fire, it’s possible that Connell set the fire himself so as to prevent the town from getting anything of value out of the coming theft.
Regardless of the origins of the flames, the latest results were unexpected. The Valley News reported yesterday that Grafton has come to an agreement with the Peaceful Assembly Church to give them the tax exemption they have been denying the church for more than half-a-decade!
Under the agreement, the parties agreed that Peaceful Assembly “is a regularly recognized and constituted religious creed and sect” and that the town will abate the full amount of taxes owed on the property at 860 Main St., also known as Route 4.
In return, Peaceful Assembly Church board members agreed to make the building weather tight by December; shingle the roof and complete all exterior work except windows by December 2017; and complete all exterior work by December 2019.
Peaceful Assembly Church is the first church in NH founded and run by liberty activists and was a major influence in the formation of the Shire Free Church. This is huge news in favor of religious freedom – it’s a shame the pastor had to die to make the right thing happen.
It’s beautiful and simple, yet transformative. Convert paper currency into cryptocurrency with a single button. Spend it in the bar, diner, or dozens of other bitcoin-accepting businesses in Manchester. Check it out at Murphy’s Taproom today!
Last night I went to Strange Brew Tavern in Manchester for their 200th bitcoin meetup. It is the longest running consecutive bitcoin meet up in the world — going for almost 4 years now.
People talked about mining ethereum and being dash masternodes — they talked about successful strategies for encouraging businesses and individuals to take cryptocurrencies as payment — and they talked about achieving more personal freedom in New Hampshire. I was impressed by the turnout. About 2 dozen or so people. A range of all types: gay and straight, techies, real estate people, media people, old, middle aged, and young mothers and their children. The group gets the whole back room in the tavern and received excellent service the whole night.
A friend of mine threw a viewing party for Victimless Crime Spree last night in Manchester, NH. Everyone in attendance had already seen the film, some of them several times, and because of that something unique happened: Audience members began interacting with the various scenes in the movie. During “Give Peace a Chance,” they lit up. During the crossing guard scene, they took out their cameras and recorded. This inspired a bunch more suggestions. This list was sent to me today, and I had to share it. Throw your own viewing party for Victimless Crime Spree, and play along!
Here are the audience participation parts:
WHEN: Lady cop yells, “I give you an order and you gonna obey it!”
AP: Yell “Don’t tell me what to do!”
WHEN: Derrick J tries to light the bowl at the “Give Peace A Chance” rally.
AP: Spark up! (more…)
