I’ve heard said that cats are the original anarchists. I know all animals are essentially anarchist but for cats it’s a passion; not just a lack of comprehension of the human fabrication of statism. Anarkitty is inspired by my roommate’s cat. She’s lived with us for a couple months now and she’s already inspired some more ideas for Anarkitty comics.
I know this is futile, but I’m going to ask people not to analyze for some deep political analogy. IT’S NOT THERE! Really.
With glass pipes and odd-smelling cigarettes, protesters have taken to Veterans Memorial Park in downtown Manchester, lighting up at 4:20 p.m. daily, the same time as do protesters in downtown Keene.
Participants yesterday said they started the effort Sept. 28, a week after the daily smoke-ins began in Keene. They say they light up to protest marijuana laws.
“There’s laws, and they shouldn’t be here. So many have tried to work within the system to change the laws, begging bureaucrats. But it never works,” said Travis Eden, a 24-year-old who lives in Manchester and works in information technology.
Eden said a video of him selling marijuana is posted on the FreeKeene Web site. (more…)
The daily 4:20 cannabis celebrations have stepped up again and now some nice smoking implements are being brought out! I’ve seen all kinds of things being toked – someone even brought out a hookah recently here in Keene! The celebrations have continued with no police hassles for over a week now – hopefully KPD will keep doing the right thing and spend their time investigating real crimes that have victims. Here’s some more footage from Manchester’s 4:20 cannabis celebrations:
Words on paper are not stopping activists and locals from living like free people in Keene, New Hampshire. Whether it is marijuana consumption on the Commons or a young woman going topless on Main Street, Keene has become the place to challenge unjust, immoral, and simply foolish laws. This has naturally rankled many state and local civil servants. The Keene City Council voted against sending a resolution to the state house begging for marijuana decriminalization legislation–instead individuals on the council were encouraged to send a personal message. The Keene Police Department has shown both professionalism in its dealings with the 420 events and violence though Police Prosecutor Sergeant Eliezer Rivera.
April 13, 2009, was the day that David Ridley, of Grafton, was to be arraigned for videotaping in the second-floor lobby of the Keene City Hall. Sam Dodson was arrested on that date, while videotaping there; his charges changed several times over the following months.
The election is tomorrow. Here are the voting locations and times, courtesy of the Sentinel. Remember that anyone can register to vote immediately prior to voting here in NH. If you plan on voting, please vote for Nick Ryder for at-large city council and write in Ian Bernard for mayor. Even though Nick will make it to the general election regardless of what happens tomorrow, it’s my understanding that if he gets the most votes in the primary, he’ll be listed at the top of the general election ballot. Also, with ten write-in votes (presuming another write-in candidate doesn’t garner more), they are supposed to put my name on the ballot. Of course I’ll be continuing to campaign as “Nobody”, but they won’t allow that on. Also, I expect they will continue to attempt to keep me off the ballot even if I do get write-in votes (as they are attempting to unregister me to vote), but go ahead and write Ian Bernard in anyway – we’ll see what happens!
This story by the Keene Sentinel’s David P. Greisman is about the small group of mostly high schoolers that showed up to protest the cannabis celebrations on Saturday. I had a lengthy discussion with protestors Ann and Diana to try to understand where they were coming from. They did think that cannabis consumers should be left alone at home, but otherwise support putting them in cages as well as making cigarettes illegal. They think that putting addictive substances in your body is “immoral”, with the exception of caffeine, because… well, they drink it. They actually had cups of coffee out at their protest. Diana even admitted to being addicted to caffeine. I pointed out to them that I would never advocate their caging for such peaceful activities and asked if they believed in god. They answered yes, but that god has nothing to do with this. According to them cannabis is man’s fault because man plants the seeds. (They did not believe it still grows in the wild!) They did not answer my question about where the seeds came from beyond saying that not everything natural is good for you. Finally I asked them what Jesus would do to cannabis consumers. Wouldn’t he use compassion, love, forgiveness, and understanding? That was my final question as I bid them good day. Here’s the Sentinel’s story:
It didn’t matter to them that there were only a handful of them there. It didn’t matter to them that the occasional person who drove by yelled at them or gave them the finger.
It only mattered to them that they were there, standing Saturday afternoon in Keene’s Central Square, protesting against marijuana use after more than a week of seeing people protest in favor of the drug in that very same spot.
The gatherings in favor of marijuana legalization or decriminalization had drawn dozens upon dozens.
The gatherings against? Five, at most.
“We wanted to show that not everyone here does drugs or is all about smoking marijuana,” said Diana M. Stepka, a 17-year-old from Chesterfield. (more…)
