Tonight at 7:00pm EST, FreeUber.org activists will be attending Portsmouth’s city council meeting. Some plan to testify against the anti-Uber transportation ordinance. City council members have not yet agreed to call for a halt of the enforcement of said ordinance. Tonight, we will see if the council upholds their taxi cartel protectionism.
As long as Uber drivers continue to be harassed, activists will continue to protest. Shire Dude will be livestreaming this event.
This live event will feature multiple broadcast updates. If the video below is not live, you can access archived footage on Shire Dude’s Bambuser account.
UPDATES:
Regarding the prohibitive transportation ordinance, the council voted (6 yes, 3 no) to move forward with the 3-part amendment that Uber requested. The amendment was read by the City Attorney in this video. During this council’s final session, on December 21st, each part of the amendment will be voted upon separately.
Councilor Lown spoke with both the police chief and with Uber’s attorney, but it was an activist’s testimony that sparked the councilor’s interest in the difference between background checks performed by Uber and by Portsmouth. The town’s police department performs a vastly inferior check, but councilor Kennedy still argued that both checks were necessary.
Several activists spoke in favor of Uber (starting with Uber Grandma Stephanie Franz herself), including Free Uber founder Christopher David, who envisioned 10 Uber Grandmas taking the place of Franz. “Walls may chase away law-abiding entrepreneurs, but they attract black market entrepreneurs,” said David, highlighting the market opportunity for a darkweb-style adaptation of ridesharing.
“You have to follow the rules!” said an exasperated Mayor Lister. All three “no” votes (Lister, Morgan and Kennedy) will not be returning in 2016, which bodes well for the future of Portsmouth ridesharing.
This week’s installment of the AKPF #1 local access series, ‘Refugess‘ features fresh footage from the capitol area of New Hampshire. Images, speeches, and verbal conflict illustrate this episode as we get an on the ground look experience from the December 05 2015 Stand With Refugees rally sponsored by numerous pro-peace and human rights organizations. All of the footage featured can be viewed in its raw form at the new Free Concord Raw YouTube channel. Additional videos from the event are also available at the AFSCNH YouTube channel.
In Dave Ridley‘s recent two-part video, he explains that people outside of NH can still focus their activism efforts here, and reap greater benefit for liberty in general. If you can’t move to New Hampshire, spending your activism time doing things for NH’s freedom from afar, like reviewing bills for the NH Liberty Alliance – would be a more efficient way for you to spend your time.
He also critiques the perceived ratio of activism to social events in NH, though admits he can only observe activism that’s publicized. It’s an important two videos, and as usual, Ridley’s commentary is right on:
As the Free State Project closes in on 90% of its goal of 20,000 people pledged to move to New Hampshire and get active to achieve liberty in our lifetime, Shia LaBeouf has some words of inspiration to help give a gentle nudge to those still sitting on the fence:
I heard Jason Sorens speak in 2005. He advocated that liberty-oriented individuals around the globe vote with their feet and relocate to New Hampshire (NH) as part of the Free State Project – to pursue liberty in our lifetime. I was intrigued. A month later I drove from DC to Lancaster to attend PorcFest. I was present for less than 24 hours. That was plenty of time to recognize the potential of the idea.
I then got involved with the Mid-Atlantic Free State Project group whilst living in northern Virginia. I valued my experiences there – getting better acquainted with Austrian Economics and its implications, and cultivating other knowledge and skills – but the thought of moving to NH tugged at me. It was appealing to not just talk about liberty, but to actively pursue it.
In 2009 I relocated to NH, which I now call “the ‘shire” for its magical qualities. Keene was homebase for The Motorhome Diaries and Liberty on Tour, as well the place that Cop Block was incubated. It became clear when I was on the road with those projects that, while there are growing pockets of communities who internalize the ideas of self-ownership, the ‘shire was special.
In 2014 – at PorcFest, of course – I met the person who, in 2015, agreed to be my life partner. That fine lady, if you’re unaware, is Amanda B. Johnson. We plan to re-up each year, so long as we’re both still having fun. Based on our frequency of laughs and smiles and songs, I’d say we’re on a good trajectory.
Amanda B. Johnson and Pete Eyre in Tamworth, the ‘shire
In late 2014 Amanda and I left the ‘shire for Oklahoma City where I got top-notch surgery to repair my ripped bicep. The friendly and entrepreneurial folks at the Oklahoma Surgery Center agreed to be paid entirely in Bitcoin and gold. And the anesthesiologist’s own son was super into Cop Block! (more…)
The Free State Project‘s yearly hotel convention, “NH Liberty Forum” is always a great event that attracts hundreds of attendees, including lots of prospective movers. Regardless of who is speaking, the event is worth attending simply to experience the amazing liberty activist community we have here in New Hampshire. However, having great speakers certainly makes the event more attractive and the FSP is going to have a tough time topping this year’s keynote speaker – Edward Snowden.
Yes, THE Edward Snowden, whose revelations about the NSA and their spy counterpart agencies worldwide like the British GCHQ, rocked the world. Of course, he can’t come in person due to the fact that the scumbag feds will arrest him on sight, so he’ll be appearing via remote video link from Moscow.
The 2016 event is happening in Manchester at the Radisson from Feb 18th through 21st. Tickets were supposed to go up in price yesterday, but they have yet to do so, so if you want to grab the earlybird basic level ticket, they are still just under $100 at NHLibertyForum.com. See you there.