Black Sheep Rising – Episode 26

by | Nov 17, 2013 | 1 comment

In this week’s episode:  Keene election results, exploding whales, super awesome fan art, mermaid on manatee action and much more.  Katie and Ashley join the fun.  Show notes, audio and archives at: BlackSheepRising.org

Video of the Ladies in Media Panel @ Keenevention 2013

by | Nov 16, 2013 | 0 comments

Join Cecelia Freechild as she presents her panel of Ladies in Media, featuring YouTube vlogger Amanda Billyrock, “Sex, Lies & Anarchy‘s Antigone Darling, and Free State Project President Carla Gericke as they discuss different types of media and how to produce quality content, with a liberty-oriented message:

Over the next several weeks you’ll be able to watch all the panels and speakers from Keenevention 2013. They will be released in chronological order. Stay tuned to the Keenevention blog, the Keenevention facebook page, the Free Keene youtube, or FreeKeene.com for the videos.

The Broken Windows Theory is Failing Gary, Indiana

by | Nov 15, 2013 | 1 comment

Fifty years ago, the population of Gary, Indiana reached its peak with nearly 180,000 residents. Infrastructure was being built on estimates that the area may soon be home to nearly a quarter million people. Founded around the turn of the century and designated as 2013_11_15garysealthe home of the Gary Works steel plant, soon automation replaced human labor and demand for domestically produced steel decreased. As the number of employees of Gary Works declined, so did the economy and tax base of the city, as well as its population, which now hosts less than 80,000 residents. During that time, another legal phenomenon swept the nation, which only contributed to Gary’s woes. The United States experienced the proliferation of the war on drugs. These two factors led to Gary experiencing high crime and poverty rates, which continue to affect the city that resembles a ghost town more each year.

The failure of central planning has also negatively impacted the city. City hall grossly overestimates property values in an attempt to recoup the tax base lost to other towns and cities as residents fled. While houses and businesses sit abandoned and in shambles, back 2013_11_15_garyabandonedtaxes are claimed owed on them despite their negative value. Travelling through the city full of crumbling structures, it would seem the obvious solution would be to allow the impoverished residents to homestead and reclaim the land and property which is underutilized. Yet police in Gary still work to combat squatting in structures deemed to have potential future value, if only someone would purchase and refurbish them. (more…)

Police Accountability Tour Stops in Skokie, IL

by | Nov 10, 2013 | 0 comments

Earlier this week, Pete and Garret took a trip just north of the Police Accountability Tour stop in Chicago to followup on an incident in Skokie, Illinois that occurred this past Spring, but did not receive attention until earlier in October. On March 10, Cassandra Feuerstein of Chicago was arrested on a DUI charge in Skokie and was in the custody of the village’s police force when michael_hart1she sustained a serious injury to her face. Requiring reconstructive surgery, the installation of a titanium plate, and resulting in persistent numbness and vision problems, Cassandra sustained the injury as a result of being shoved face-first into a concrete bench by Skokie officer Michael Hart. Why was it that such a serious injury required seven months for there to be action taken?

Only after a civil suit was filed and the video of the incident released publicly was Michael Hart’s status with the department changed, as he was placed on desk duty. Following the video’s publication, there was public outcry for criminal charges to be filed, which they finally were approximately two weeks later. At that time, Hart was suspended, with pay, as the trial is pending.

alvarez_anita_policeabuseThe person responsible for prosecuting Hart is state’s attorney Anita Alvarez, who is infamous for both advocating the criminalization of video recording the police, as well as suggesting that three youths who had confessions coerced out of them and were exonerated for the rape and murder of a woman may have still been culpable despite DNA evidence tying the crime to a known serial murderer. One cannot expect a monopolistic service such as police and courts to police themselves, but it is clear from the rhetoric Alvarez and others involved employ that they cannot simply sweep the incident under the rug. (more…)

First Panel Video from Keenevention 2013: The Legislative Panel

by | Nov 10, 2013 | 5 comments

Over the next several weeks you’ll be able to watch all the panels and speakers from Keenevention 2013. They will be released in chronological order. Stay tuned to the Keenevention blog, the Keenevention facebook page, the Free Keene youtube, or FreeKeene.com for the videos. Here’s the first one:

Friday morning’s Legislative Panel at Keenevention 2013 focused on the tools of activism at the NH State House. Starting with learning how a idea can become a law, discussion included the mechanics of working with political parties, understanding NH demographics, how to win and lose elections, the technique of measuring legislators in a variety of ways, as well as how to successfully lobby (and how not to!) to stop new proposed bad laws and help remove existing bad laws (and [rarely] passing good ones.) Led by former State Representative and Free Keene blogger Seth Cohn, panelists included current State Rep. Tim O’Flaherty (D), former State Rep. Spec Bowers (R), and NH Liberty Alliance Chair Eileen Landies.