NH Jury board member James Davis headed up Keenevention‘s first-ever panel on some of 2015’s hottest activism – jury nullification. Nullification outreach really took off in 2015, spreading from Keene and Grafton to six other courthouses across the state.
After more than a year of providing the community with bitcoin in the Keene area, the Shire Free Church has now launched another Bitcoin Vending Machine, this one in Manchester!
Say hello to the “General Bytes” brand Bitcoin Vending Machine, now operational at Murphy’s Taproom! As with our Keene unit, the Shire Free Church’s goal is to bring bitcoin to the community at the lowest possible price, in furtherance of our mission of fostering peace. As a result, you’ll find the fee to be just 5%. (Though, it could be as high as 10% during a crazy spike in price – we’ve only had to do this once for a very short time in a year of operation in Keene.)
Murphy’s and the BVM are open seven-days-per-week, 11:30a-1a.
Murphy’s Taproom on Elm St. is host to the new Manchester BVM.
Special thanks to Murphy’s Taproom owner Keith Murphy for being willing to host this new unit after the less-than-stellar performance of the previous unit located at Murphy’s by a company called PYC. PYC was not based in NH and now appear to be out of business. The previous unit in the Taproom was a Skyhook brand, which in my experience, is the worst possible unit to have in public.
This new General Bytes unit should be much more reliable, as it has a much higher quality bill receiver unit than the Skyhook. Plus, it naturally comes in its beautiful yellow-and-black color scheme! It’s also the second publicly accessible Bitcoin Vending Machine in New Hampshire, and in fact all of New England & Upstate NY, according to visitors to the Keene BVM and CoinATMRadar.com.
I’m grateful for the opportunity to continue to connect more people with bitcoin at an excellent rate. Please bring your bitcoin wallet and give the new BVM a try, any day of the week! To learn more about bitcoin, visit bitcoin.com.
For the fifth time, the Hundred Nights homeless shelter and resource center will be holding its annual Masquerade Ball fundraiser event and I’m excited to be able to sponsor it again on behalf of the Shire Free Church and Free Keene! The event is happening March 19th at the Best Western Ballroom from 7:30pm to Midnight and is always a good time. Contact Hundred Nights for tickets.
Funds raised will continue to support Hundred Nights’ important operations for the least fortunate in our community, which include the Cold Weather Shelter that opened for the season on November 26, 2015. For the hundred coldest nights of the year, the shelter provides clean beds in a warm and safe space to the homeless in our area who have no place else to go. Between November 26 and December 31, 2015 801 bed-nights of shelter were provided to 76 unique individuals.
The Ball’s Costume Contest Winners from 2014
The Open Doors Resource and Drop-In Center is open year-round from 9am to 4pm on weekdays to anyone in need of a cup of coffee, lunch, access to a phone, fax or computer, laundry facilities and some friendly conversation. In the afternoons there are often classes or presentations on a variety of topics from bicycle repair to anger management. During 2015 there were 533 unique visitors to the Resource Center who came in a total of 11,751 times. In addition dinner is served there on weekends and holidays. During 2015 over 4,000 meals were provided.
Hundred Nights has a positive impact on people’s lives, and I’m glad to have the church support its operations. You can donate to Hundred Nights via their website. If you want to help sponsor the 2016 Masquerade Ball, take a look at this document for details.
Recorded January 19, 2015
Rob and the Rebel Mistress open up the skype lines this week. Topics discussed include The Rebel Love Show and Flaming Freedom recording at Liberty Forum from the Radisson Hotel in Manchester NH, Edward Snowden is the headliner for Liberty Forum, FSP hits 96%(Since the redording the FSP hit 97%!), OKC embraces poly, a listener calls in to talk to us about polyamory, Ann discusses her interest in running for NH State House Representative, Ian from Free Talk Live calls in about activism at the NH State House, liberty based poly dating app, and poly marriages with out sex? say it aint so! The Rebel Love Show airs every Tuesday night 10pm-12am EST on LRN.FM and RebelLoveShow.com/live.
Christopher David is a busy man. Within six months, he’s gone from a civil disobedience driver for UBER to the founder of a concept that could be UBER’s (and Lyft’s) downfall: Arcade City.
Chris has blown past his original goal of signing up 100 drivers for Arcade City by the end of the month, with now over 1,100 drivers signed up internationally! All 1,100+ are highly-rated UBER or Lyft drivers, which means they’ve already passed background checks and driving record checks. The growth has been unexpected and tremendous. Arcade City has clearly touched a nerve with frustrated UBER and Lyft drivers who are sharing recruiting links all over social media.
The press has taken notice and Arcade City is again in the headlines in NH and elsewhere:
Ellen Ball, one of the hosts of the smash hit late night radio show “The Anarchics” joins us in studio. Topics this week include anarchists going to college, our wish for LRN to be on AM radio in Manchester, FSP hits 95%, defining how to be a Free Stater, Liberty Phoenix skypes in, new year predictions, NH Independence, and Rob & Ellen geek out to Star Trek. The Rebel Love Show airs every Tuesday 10 pm – 12 am EST on LRN.FM and Rebelloveshow.com/Live.
Uber & Lyft Drivers Flock to New Rideshare Startup ‘Arcade City’ After Rate Cuts
Volume of driver signups crashes server; Arcade City app launches February 14th; Uber called a “rolling sweatshop”
PORTSMOUTH, NH — More than 600 Uber and Lyft drivers signed up for new ridesharing startup Arcade City this week in the aftermath of dramatic rate cuts by the two rideshare companies.
“Drivers are angry and rightfully so,” said Arcade City founder Christopher David. “Their take-home pay was just slashed up to 40% by some nerds in San Francisco who don’t even drive. Arcade City is here to do things differently.”
Arcade City is a ridesharing mobile app releasing officially for Android and iOS on Valentine’s Day, February 14th. Riders can schedule rides in advance or at the tap of a button on a “pay what you think is fair” basis.
Arcade City had a successful soft launch on New Years Eve in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. More than 100 passengers were transported safely in donation-based rides by ten drivers, most of them current or former Uber drivers.
“Our goal for January was to sign up 100 drivers by the end of the month to help us test the app,” said David. “Since the rate cuts we’ve been signing up 100 drivers every single day and the signup rate keeps increasing. It’s overwhelming.”
On Friday the Arcade City website crashed under heavy demand of driver signups, forcing server upgrades. More than 30 drivers are now being trained as regional leaders to recruit drivers and riders, with most of the U.S. covered, including Hawaii and as far away as Australia.
“The Achilles’ heel of Uber and Lyft is their centralized management of pricing. This week’s uproar by drivers — and their willingness to join an alternative — shows the failure of that approach,” said David. “You cannot build a sustainable long-term relationship with drivers if you take away their ability to set their own pricing. Arcade City will decentralize those decisions to the level of the driver and their customers.”
David is a former Uber driver and founder of the Free Uber activism campaign centered in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. In November he was arrested by Portsmouth police on felony wiretapping charges for posting a YouTube video [included below] recorded while driving illegally for Uber in Portsmouth. Last week the charge was reduced to a misdemeanor after a police review found it was misclassified as a felony, but David continues to face up to one year in jail and a $2,000 fine.
Arcade City will launch globally on February 14th.
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DRIVER STATEMENTS
“Uber has said repeatedly that it likes to ‘experiment’ with fares. In reality, they are experimenting with livelihoods. They are experimenting with the ability of some people to put food on their table and to pay their rent/mortgage. That is unacceptable. Lyft just doesn’t have the backbone to stand up to them either. Arcade City does. I am joining Arcade City because I want to see the rideshare industry truly be about drivers and passengers, not executives hellbent on forcing workers into servitude just to discard them when they have no need for them.” –Mason J., Raleigh, NC
“Uber is a rolling sweatshop – and they make us provide the shop! Lyft is better, but heading down that terrible path with growing speed! Arcade City is built on driver experience and geared toward a fair and worthwhile model. With all these drivers from other services we can avoid the pitfalls of Uber and the like. I have a 4.9 rating from 7 months with Uber, 14 months with Lyft and i am ready for an alternative with a conscience!” –Keith Hale, Dallas/Fort Worth, TX
“I’m excited to work with Arcade City. They will allow customers to tip through the app, unlike Uber. With Uber they cut our fares by over 40% and they didn’t even give us a warning.” —Philip Heath, Maui, HI
“On Uber’s platform I’m rated as a 4.9. At first I loved it, but their recruiting efforts have caused supersaturation in the market place. There’s just too many drivers here in Denver. In response they cut rates so low that they hurt the driver’s bottom line. It’s hard to make any money with Uber anymore. Having a rideshare service founded by drivers is awesome! We have a direct say in how we do business. Arcade City is providing the means to change the industry.” —Aaron B., Denver, CO
“Arcade City is not about pleasing Wall Street like other ridesharing companies. It provides a platform that empowers both the driver and passenger from a foundation of trust that creates the ultimate transportation experience.” —Michael G. Johnson, Atlanta, GA
“In a market that was ripe for ride share advertising, Uber never seemed to pay attention to the driver’s suggestions and essentially left building the customer base to us. They seemed more interested in over-saturating the market with drivers, and then they cut all of our rates. I’m ecstatic to help build the Arcade City service. One that cares about everyone’s success, not just the pockets of shareholders.” —Jake, 4.83 Uber rating, Wichita, KS
“Rideshare drivers everywhere need to look towards Arcade City. Uber’s blatant disregard for and disrespect of its drivers is beyond reprehensible. It borders on criminal. Arcade City is designed to empower drivers. They are aware that it is the drivers who are the front line and the ambassadors of the company. Drivers deserve to feel appreciated by the company they choose to give their dedication! Join the Arcade City Revolution and be part of a kinder, gentler rideshare experience.” —Scott Goldstein, Philadelphia, PA
