Apparently last night at Central Square, a couple of Free Keene bloggers (Garret and Rich) were chalking and were joined by a couple of locals. This is a fairly common occurrence – many families and individuals have joined in the fun of chalking the common over the last few weeks. FK bloggers always make chalk available, even to those who oppose freedom.
However, just because someone picks up a piece of chalk does not make them part of Free Keene. Even if someone CLAIMS to be part of Free Keene, that does not make them part of Free Keene.
Apparently the couple of locals (one goes by “Yankee”) last night who joined the FK bloggers in chalking began to be very rude to one of the STOP FREE KEENE!!! members who was there cleaning up the chalking. This escalated to a shouting match, and then two men who appear to work for Pedraza’s/Pour House came over and attacked one of the men who was agitating the SFK!!! guy. I don’t support violence and nor do I support being mean to others, yet because Yankee claimed to be part of Free Keene in a conversation he had with Pedraza’s owner Dorrie O’Meara, I now get blamed for his actions. (Because, you know, I am a cult leader and puppet master and everything that any person claiming to be with Free Keene does must have been at my behest!)
I don’t know how many times I’ll need to say it: The only people who are part of Free Keene are listed with photos and bios on our Bloggers page. If someone claims to be part of Free Keene or with Free Keene and they are not on that page, they are not being honest. (more…)
With this week’s timeslot for the AKPF #1 program hijacked by opposition forces, the Cheshire TV audience is subjected currently to a dissenting video production known as The STOP FREE KEENE!!! Show. Featuring some new content and a variety of older Free Keene and assorted videos with disclaimers and warnings attached, this new show marks new territory for the opposition to Free Keene group and the affiliated co-chapter, Monadnock Community Coalition Corporation.
Superintendent Rick Van Wickler of the Cheshire “House of Corrections” aka the Keene Spiritual Retreat has been featured on this blog several times in the past for his heroic advocacy for ending the insane war on drugs. He’s no stranger to press coverage and now has been made the subject of a recent VICE.com feature that focuses on both his support of drug legalization and his more-humane manner of running a jail.
In the article when asked about drug users, he relates,
The majority of people who drink alcohol in this country have no problems with it. They’re alcohol users: They drink on the Fourth of July, and barbecues, and at the Super Bowl. Then think about somebody who is an abuser of alcohol, meaning that they use alcohol much more than they should. But they’re still working. They still have a house. They’re still in a relationship. Finally, think about an alcohol addict—an alcoholic. Their lives have been destroyed by alcohol. Now, you can take the exact same analogy and just replace alcohol with drugs. Heroin? Cocaine? Meth? You have users, abusers, and addicts in pretty much the same ratios. Let’s not be so damn naïve and say that we in America don’t have professional people that are addicts, because we all know that’s not accurate. We have professional people who are heroin addicts, who have been heroin addicts for years, and are meeting the standards of their employment. That’s happening, and to deny it is an atrocity.
Interestingly, Van Wickler is listed as “Formerly” part of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, a group of mostly former law enforcement who now speak against prohibition. I wonder what the reasons for the split were. I’ve emailed Rick with the question and will post the reasons if he chooses to make them public.
Keene’s very own Public access television station, Cheshire TV, which hosts a wide array of local programs such as Black Sheep Rising , AKPF#1, and others has come under attack by city officials. CTV, which operates partly off of franchise fees collected from cable provider Time Warner has recently adopted a new program in which it will begin charging an operating fee to any producers requiring assistance with their programs. Subsequently, programs produced by city bureaucrats, Kendall Lane, Chris Coats and Kris Roberts who have refused to pay the fee, have ceased production. Having co-produce 34 episodes of ShireTV, I can tell you airing a simple half hour television program in studio requires a crew to operate and hours of setup and tear-down. I am not at all surprised that station manager, Lee Perkins, came to this decision. This move by CTV may also be in part due to the City of Keene confiscating 9% of the franchise fee for its own use. Ongoing attempts by CTV to claim this portion have been rejected by city management.
Now in retaliation city mayor Kendal Lane in an interview on WKBK has hinted the city may keep all the franchise revenue and hire their “own people” to cover city council meeting and such. Cheshire TV would be left to fend for itself. I have no doubt the newly created department would also cover shows produced by city officials and friends, because that’s how the cronies roll.
As you know, the people calling themselves “the City of Keene” are appealing their loss in the Robin Hood case to the NH Supreme Court. In order to appeal a case, the appellant must pay a ridiculous amount of money for a transcript of the case being appealed. In order to get three nearly full days of the Robin Hood hearings’ transcripts, the city folks spent $2,200 of your money. (That’s after city boss John MacLean admitted they’ve spent over $20,000 on the initial case.)
Apparently there are several errors with the transcripts (like when Pete said “decentralized” in his testimony, the transcriber wrote that as “centralized”). Would you like a copy? You paid for it, so here you are:
Documentary film maker Beau Davis stopped by the Rebel Love Studios to discuss his up coming documentary 101 Reasons: Liberty Lives in New Hampshire. Other topics discussed include Beau’s journey to the Shire, our experiences living with in the liberty community, the importance of filming vs privacy and agorism.
A local heckler, allegedly named George Parkhurst, decided to get into it with Robin Hooder Garret Ean this week. In this RAW video, Parkhurst threatens Garret, insults him, and blocks both Jane the parking enforcer and Garret from doing their jobs by covering up the parking meters. According to Garret, Jane called Keene police on Parkhurst on her own volition.
