The Shire Society website has gotten a facelift! The site now has a responsive design so it will work on mobile browsers and desktop and still has all the features from before including the Shire Society Declaration that you can sign, the Shire map, immigration information, and useful tools and links. Drop in and declare your independence by signing the Shire Society Declaration today!
Perhaps more important is there is brand new software running the Shire Society Forum now. We’ve switched from SMF to the more-modern Vanilla Forum. That means a few major changes – now messages post instantly to a thread without having to reload the page – using the forum is a lot faster as a result. It’s also easier in general to compose a message, plus, there’s social networking sharing options on every thread.
While it’s true that a lot of activists are on Facebook, the Shire Society Forums have continued on despite the mass-exodus to Facebook. It’s important to keep alternate communications methods alive. The Shire Society Forum does that and has long been a destination for new people who are not on Facebook or don’t know where to find NH activists on Facebook. There are new people signing up every month at the Shire Society Forum, so please drop in and welcome them.
There is a world outside of Facebook and the new Shire Society Forum will help connect you with that world. If you’ve never been, come by and post an introduction to get full forum access.
Since 2006 Free Keene has been providing an outlet for some of the best activists across the Shire to report on various goings-on. Recent additions have focused on increasing coverage in Manchester. Now, we expand further East to the Seacoast with the addition of James Davis as our newest blogger! Since getting settled in with his family in Dover, James has hit the streets during jury outreach and has had his writings published in the Concord Monitor and on Freecoast.org. Here’s his bio from the Bloggers page:
James Davis is an unschooling father of two and a liberty activist from New Jersey. After learning about the Free State Project from Free Talk Live, he and his family made the move to Dover, New Hampshire, in October of 2014 to find more liberty for themselves and others. James makes his living running an unschooling and liberty-based summer camp called the Stomping Ground, and speaking at camp conferences nationwide about the benefits of giving children more freedom. He also does Juror Outreach, and is a blogger at Freecoast.org.
Free State Project early mover Amanda Bouldin was elected in Manchester in 2014 as a state representative and one of the first things she did was file a bill, HB 271, that ends prohibition on possession of Narcan. Narcan is a trade name for Naloxone which can be administered to counter the effects of an opioid overdose – saving lives. Until now, Narcan could only be possessed legally by EMS and police. Now anyone who acts with “good faith and reasonable care” may store or administer the life-saving drug to a person in overdose with no criminal or civil liability. It’s a major change that will likely result in saving the lives of multiple heroin and other opiate addicts in New Hampshire.
Bouldin is also known for her Shire Sharing organization that feeds poor families on Thanksgiving each year across the state.
Not only is the ending of Narcan prohibition a major success for a freshman legislator, it’s a big win for the Free State Project, and more proof that the 1500 early movers continue to have a significant impact. If you love liberty and aren’t here yet, start planning your move and join the FSP!
In his epic response, James lays out the ideas of liberty and voluntarism and addresses common objections about health care, vice, property rights, and more. It’s an excellent piece and would be a good one to share with people who still believe in “the state”. Here it is:
A recent column posited that Libertarian Party ideals, while they look good on paper, erode freedom (Monitor Forum, May 28). As someone who supported Barack Obama in his first run for the presidency, and even attended his inauguration, I can understand these concerns. But as someone who has since come to self-identify as a libertarian, I think the author (and the Monitor’s readers) could use some clarification as to what the principles of liberty actually are.
The article started with and seemed to revolve around one question: “What exactly do libertarians mean by harm?” This is certainly the heart of the discussion. (more…)
Despite having previously admitted to spending at least $20,000 of taxpayer money on legal fees in the first stage of the city’s ridiculous civil suit filed against Keene’s Robin Hooders, city manager John MacLean is now claiming he doesn’t know how much it’s all cost thus far. As you may recall, the suit is currently awaiting a ruling from the New Hampshire supreme court. Dave Ridley spotted MacLean at a recent council meeting and confronts him outside. MacLean, who is a very smooth operator, dodges and gives non-answers to Ridley’s legitimate inquiries, including those about MacLean’s salary. Here’s the video:
Now Dave Ridley confronts him about it, more than two years later, and it sounds like Andy denies his own behavior as he scurries out of the city building after a council meeting. Dave gives chase into the parking lot but doesn’t get another word out of Andy. Perhaps he’s embarrassed about his behavior? If so, then why not admit fault and apologize like most good people would do when they do something they regret? I guess that would take some integrity and guts. Here’s the video of the confrontation, which also includes Ridley being blown off and ignored by some city councilors when he asks about tax-cutting:
Nearly six years ago in downtown Keene I was shocked when Emergency Medical Services worker Ronald Leslie snatched my phone out of my hands (here’s another angle) as I was recording video of my friend Kurt Hoffman being loaded into an ambulance. Hoffman had allegedly been attacked by now-sheriff, then-KPD-officer Eli Rivera while in a secret court hearing at Keene District Court. Though I had forgiven Leslie shortly after the incident, others have not forgotten the assault and theft.
Indeed, now that Dave Ridley is back in town, he’s been cornering bureaucrats and politicians in various places. Recently he attended a Keene city council meeting where the very same Ronald Leslie was receiving an award prior to his retirement. Ridley confronted him about the theft and at first it almost looks like Leslie has changed for the better – he even tells a female companion to keep her hands off Ridley’s camera after she begins to assault him. Despite the golden opportunity Leslie has to apologize publicly for what he did or at least admit fault, he actually claims that he thought I was giving him my camera! My mouth just about hit the floor when I heard the ridiculous excuse for his unprofessional behavior. Here’s the video:
