Thanks to Darryl W Perry for putting together his ongoing Candidate Spotlight series. This five minute speech will be airing on Cheshire TV, the local cable access channel until the 2018 election. Here’s an HD version with the correct campaign website (http://ianfreeman.nhliberty.info) on-screen. I misrecalled the URL when we were recording.
Ian Freeman, NHLA Endorsed Candidate for NH Senate District 10 in 2018.
The New Hampshire Liberty Alliance has become a respected force in the NH state house over the last decade plus, where they are constantly informing all 400 state reps and 24 senators of the pro-liberty positions on various legislation. They also rate every legislator in New Hampshire each year based on how pro-liberty their voting records are. Here are the recently-announced 2018 rankings of the current state legislature.
As a mere candidate, they can only rate me on my answers to their candidate survey and not surprisingly, I received their endorsement along with a very generous check, which I politely refused, as I’m running a near-zero-budget message campaign and am not accepting contributions.
This year, Ammon’s letter informed me that the NHLA is tightening up their endorsement requirements and only endorsing incumbents who receive a B+ or better in their yearly liberty ratings over the last two years and only endorsing candidates who score at least 85% on the survey. That’s great news! I’m glad to see the NH Liberty Alliance demanding more adherence to principles by their endorsed candidates. I’m proud to be one of them. Here’s their list of endorsed candidates statewide so far for this year’s election.
It’s a flower. No regulation, please.
First up, the Marijuana Policy Project’s survey, where I had to answer no to one of their questions about supporting regulation and taxation of cannabis. That’s because I’m against government control of cannabis in any way. I understand MPP is trying to lobby politicians and that’s why they propose such schemes to them. As a principled libertarian, while I’d vote for a tax-and-regulate bill if it were the only way to end prohibition, I don’t support taxes or regulations. I only support freedom, which means ending drug prohibition across the board and letting people grow, sell, possess, smoke, and distribute cannabis without annoying and restrictive government licenses.
Next, it’s the NH Right to Life survey. Abortion is an issue that libertarians have strong disagreements with each other over. While all real libertarians are against aggressive force against other humans, none of them agree at which point a fetus becomes a human. I choose the side that as long as the fetus is dependent on the mother’s connection to survive, it is a part of her and she can decide what to do with it, which will likely not make me popular with the anti-abortion group. That said, I do respect their right to protest and express their opinion. The correct libertarian position on abortion is that the government should neither prohibit or pay for them.
You can see my responses thus far to other interest groups here on my candidate page at NH-Liberty.info.
The following press release was received from the Secretary of the Libertarian Party of New Hampshire
For Immediate Release
July 29, 2018
(Concord, NH)- Yesterday, the Libertarian Party of New Hampshire (LPNH) wrapped up the business from their State Convention in late April at a second special convention at the Grappone Conference Center. Among the items on the agenda were revisions to the Party’s bylaws and several platform plank proposals, including one regarding sex work decriminalization, continuing their fight against the state run liquor store monopoly, as well as the first Libertarian Gubernatorial Debate in the state’s history. At the special convention there were 32 credentialed delegates from across New Hampshire. The Libertarian Party of New Hampshire also has the highest number of dues-paying Libertarians per capita in the United States.
The LPNH added several new planks to its Party Platform, including one calling for the decriminalization of sex work; becoming the first political Party in the state to take a position on this issue. Representative Brandon Phinney (L-Rochester) said decriminalizing prostitution gives sex workers access to reproductive services, and the ability to report sexual assaults without fear of legal repercussions. Phinney went on to say, “This would mitigate the effects of human trafficking. If sex work is decriminalized for adults, then you essentially reduce the incentive for human trafficking. It’s not the role of the state to dictate what a person does with their own body.”
This weekend the Libertarian Party of New Hampshire held a second convention which was mostly for boring party “business” where people debated various changes to bylaws and such. However, besides an excellent lunch speech by talk show host Dan Fishman, the real highlight of the convention was the gubernatorial debate between Aaron Day and Jilletta Jarvis.
2018 is a historic year for the Libertarian Party of New Hampshire. Not only do we have full ballot access on par with the Republicans and Democrats, but we for the first time ever actually have TWO libertarians running in a contested primary for governor!
Here’s the full debate between the two candidates vying for the libertarian nomination this September at the primary:
Dr. Drower Dentistry Now Accepts Cryptocurrency
Longtime readers here know that Keene and Portsmouth New Hampshire are two hotspots in the world of cryptocurrency. The Western and Easternmost cities in New Hampshire are living proof that cryptocurrency like Bitcoin or DASH can be used successfully at retail, with multiple downtown local mom-n-pop businesses accepting crypto at point-of-sale. Though real life crypto usage is not all about delicious handmade pizza, BBQ, Indian food, burgers, or alcoholic beverages that you can buy with crypto in downtown Keene, it’s also about products AND services.
Keene’s newest vape shop, Lineage Vapors recently opened in the Center at Keene on Gilbo Ave and is accepting both Bitcoin (BTC) and DASH. While Corner News has been selling vaporizers and accessories for years (and accepting crypto for longer than anyone in Keene), Lineage Vapors is a full-on vape-only shop and worth checking out. That makes Lineage Vapors the third business in the Center at Keene that accepts crypto. Little Zoe’s Pizza was first and was recently joined by Curry Indian Restaurant who serves excellent Indian and Pakistani cuisine seven-days-a-week for both Bitcoin (BTC) and DASH. Not only is the food great, it’s also nice to know that cryptocurrency helps local merchants by keeping more money in their pockets and therefore in the local economy but can also easily be sent internationally if needed, for next to no cost. This can surely help families like the Alis who run Curry Indian send money to relatives worldwide, bypassing the expensive, slow, old money methods of remittances like Western Union and the big banks.
Keene Defeats Major Cities in Per-Capita Businesses Accepting Crypto
In addition to food, convenience items and vaping, and even auto repair (all available for crypto in Keene), you can add dentistry to the list with Dr. Drower Dentistry receiving coverage in the Keene Sentinel for accepting cryptocurrency. In his press release announcing the welcoming of cryptocurrency-paying patients, Dr. Sean P. Drower said, “For digital coin to become useful in everyday life people need to be able to use it as currency, for something besides speculative investing.” Kudos to Dr. Drower for helping lead the way into the future of money.
Dr. Drower Dentistry, Curry Indian, and Lineage Vapors are all part of the DASH-Back program active now in Keene, where customers get an instant rebate in DASH whenever they spend DASH in Keene and at other New Hampshire merchants. DASH-Back is really cool and only happening in New Hampshire, thanks to Portsmouth-founded Anypay.global, the merchant point-of-sale crypto processor.
Also joining DASH-Back in Keene is longtime crypto-friendly Main St. hair salon, Moda Suo. Proprietor Nicholas Sansone was one of the original Bitcoin-accepting downtown businesses, however their original merchant provider, Coinbase, just wasn’t built for retail. So this week Moda Suo upgraded to the Anypay Point-of-Sale system, enabling DASH-Back for any customers who pay with DASH.
The Keene Crypto Network Meetup Group at Hot Hogs
One of the really cool things about living in a place with a high concentration of crypto-accepting merchants is there’s a business-to-business crypto economy already developing. Business owners who are accepting crypto are finding ways to spend it with other crypto-accepting Monadnock businesses. For instance, one local business owner is currently ordering a shed from Route 101 Local Goods with her crypto she’s been saving up. Multiple local businesses have purchased advertising in the Monadnock Portal Map with cryptocurrency. Even radio ads are now available for crypto in Keene thanks to the sales manager at classic rocker 101.9 The Peak and sports radio 93.5 WEEY.
Plus, the local cryptocurrency Meetup group recently surpassed over 100 members and the group regularly attracts crypto-newbies to its real-life meetups held every eight days.
It’s really an exciting time of expansion for cryptocurrency in one of the top global hotspots, Keene, NH. According to Coinmap.org, Keene already handily beats major cities like San Francisco and New York when ranked per capita for crypto-accepting merchants. It’s only going to get better as more liberty-friendly cryptocurrency advocates move to New Hampshire as part of the NH freedom migration and add their economic strength to the area! Stay tuned here to Free Keene for the latest news on the developing crypto scene across New Hampshire.
Gilles Bissonnette, the head attorney for the New Hampshire ACLU gave an excellent presentation to a packed room in Concord, NH this week. He talked about what CPB (Customs and Border Patrol) internal checkpoints are legally allowed to do, how far out of bounds they’ve been going, and what you can do when you’re there to non-cooperate. He fielded many questions from an engaged and interested audience. Here’s full video of the presentation:
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