Massive crowd watching speakers at BLM event in Keene.
Finally, average people are showing concern for police violence! It only took thousands of innocent bodies piled up over many years and countless millions of peaceful people arrested for victimless crimes before enough people got mad enough to do something. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’re probably aware of the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis cops who brazenly choked him to death for several minutes while being recorded on video as Floyd tried to plead with the gang of killers and alert them that he could not breathe.
However, what happened to Floyd was the spark that lit a flame – literally, with large numbers of people coming out from their homes to join in protests demanding police accountability and railing against police violence, which is used more often against blacks, but affects all of the human race. The protestors even torched the Minneapolis third precinct station after police abandoned the property after days of protests outside, which was an amazing victory and was refreshing to see the people’s understandable anger targeted where it was actually deserved.
KPD’s Cristina Paterno and Cheshire Sheriff Eli Rivera hear you, but will they listen and change?
Sadly, some protests have also been sullied by violence committed against people and the destruction of private property in many cities. The destruction of innocent-owned private property has been significant and tragic. However, New Hampshire has thankfully avoided these losses, likely because people here are much more free to defend their property from attackers, with weapons if necessary. The people who are targeting private property are unwelcome among the peaceful protestors and are likely a mix of police acting as agents-provocateur and opportunists who are looking to destroy and/or steal.
Today in Keene, several hundred people gathered in Central Square at 4pm today for a Black Lives Matter protest that rivaled the BLM event from Manchester, NH on Saturday. After nearly fifteen years in Keene, I’ve never seen anything this big in Central Square, ever. Today’s event was probably 4-5 times larger than the biggest 420 rallies in Central Square more than a decade ago.
Large crowd in Keene kneels, fist up.
The honking from drivers was nearly non-stop including multiple large trucks and tractor trailers laying on their horns to cheers from the excited crowd. Keene’s police chief Steven Russo and Cheshire County’s sheriff Eli Rivera were both present in the heart of the park holding signs saying, “We hear you” and taking pictures with people. To their credit, this was a smart move. By physically joining the protestors, the police acting like humans can diffuse anger and deescalate tensions. However, talk is cheap, and “hearing” isn’t the same as “listening”, and it’s certainly not actually changing their behavior.
Will the Keene police stop arresting peaceful people for victimless crimes? It’s the insane war on drugs and other prohibitions that have resulted in people of all shapes and sizes and colors being attacked, imprisoned, and murdered by police nationwide for decades. Keene’s police have made a myriad of drug busts and assisted the DEA in raiding a popular local head shop on Main Street several years ago. A stroll through past posts at Keene Cop Block shows just a fraction of the lives the local police have ruined in the name of their authoritarian prohibitions. Are they going to now see how they harmed their brothers and sisters, issue an apology, change their ways and send back the BEARCAT armored tank to its manufacturer?
I sure hope so, for their sake, but then again, I’m an optimist.
Massive Crowd at Black Lives Matter Protest in Manchester, NH
In response to the latest national police murder in Minneapolis, well over a thousand people gathered on Saturday May 30th at Manchester, NH’s Veterans Park to protest the continuing injustice against not just blacks, but the entire human race by the authoritarian state.
Manchester’s event remained peaceful and no agents provocateur made themselves known. The Black Lives Matter Manchester event was at least double the size of the largest Reopen NH protests in Concord. Unlike the Reopen events in Concord, where police didn’t even drive by, Manchester police were all over the area in this case. However, rather than interfere with the rally, they closed off a few streets to traffic, and that’s about all I saw them doing besides watching. Of course, Manchester police are known for being some of the worst, violent cops in all of New Hampshire. In this case however, they were strongly outnumbered, which always changes how police behave.
I was able to spread a large stack of Foundation for New Hampshire Independence fliers to the attendees, and most responses to the idea of secession were positive! Whether at a righty or lefty rally, the idea of leaving the United States is favorably received here in the Shire. Maybe that time is coming with all the unrest spreading across the land. Here’s are video highlights of the event:
Derrick J Freeman and Brandon Bryant discuss Chapter One of the book, “Man, Economy, and State” by Murray Rothbard. Chapter One is basically a review of Ludwig von Mises’ book “Human Action, A Treatise on Economics,” published ten years prior. We use the Study Guide created by Robert P. Murphy, a fellow of the Ludwig von Mises Institute. His summary of each chapter’s key points plus study questions at the end of each chapter are absolutely the perfect companion to this book. We invite you to buy a copy of each (or download the free ones) at Mises.org
If you like this, consider watching our discussion of Human Action here.
On Sunday, Keene’s Hope Chapel held service outdoors despite “HIS EXCELLENCY” “governor” Chris Sununu’s “orders” banning over ten people from being in the same place together. Thankfully, police ignored the event and everyone had a good time. This video features pastor Joe Mabe’s excellent, pro-freedom, and pro-love sermon:
For the full video of the entire service from start-to-finish you can watch this video.
Hope Chapel to Bravely Challenge Governor’s Tyrannical, Illegal Orders
Local longtime liberty-loving pastor Joe Mabe has announced that tomorrow morning at 11am his church, Hope Chapel will be resuming real-life services at 667 Main St. in Keene. Mabe is a vocal critic of the COVID crackdown happening across the New Hampshire and most of the rest of the world and despite “HIS EXCELLENCY” governor Chris Sununu’s “orders” prohibiting people from gathering in groups larger than ten, Mabe will be encouraging his church members and anyone else who would like to join, to come to the special outdoor service.
Mabe told me that if people would like to attend and stay in vehicles they are welcome to, however hugs will be offered and outdoor table seating will be available to those who are not afraid of human contact.
Across the United States, religious leaders have been key in the pushback against the rising medical authoritarian tyranny we’ve been seeing. Kudos to Mabe and the rest of Hope Chapel for standing up for the freedom to assemble. I haven’t been to a Christian church service in many years, but this is an important occasion and I will attend to show solidarity from the Shire Free Church.
A local business owner walked into the Anypay offices a few weeks ago.
“Would be awesome to take bitcoin at my restaurant. Do you guys… do that?”
Turns out he owns a pizza shop and likes bitcoin. Well isn’t that good timing? Bitcoin Pizza Day right around the corner, and a guy walks in ready to sell me pizzas for bitcoin. It was fate.
He downloaded Anypay, set some addresses, and took a payment.
“Cool! That’s it?”
Yeah, that’s everyone’s reaction the first time they use Anypay.
I asked him if we could bring some friends to his restaurant and use bitcoin. He was like, “Yeah!” So a week later, we went to try it out. Bought some spicy chicken wings and a case of cold Guinness beers to go. Tap, tap, tap. Scan, ding, cha-ching! Easy.
On May 22nd 2010, someone spent 10,000 Bitcoin (BTC) to purchase two pizzas. This historic first-real-life-usage-of-bitcoin has since been celebrated as “Bitcoin Pizza Day” and here in Keene we celebrated Bitcoin Pizza Day for the fourth year in a row at Little Zoe’s Pizza in Keene. Little Zoe’s has been accepting cryptocurrencies for years and the weather was perfect for a gathering of those who not only were interested in crypto, but also willing to potentially violate “HIS EXCELLENCY” Chris Sununu’s “executive orders”.
As has been the case for years in Keene, more than several crypto-enthusiasts gathered for Bitcoin Pizza Day, though one did have a mask.
We continue regular meetups, every six days. The next one is Wednesday at 4pm at Thirsty Owl whose porch is so popular, reservations are recommended. So, if you plan to attend, please make sure to RSVP.
