“Big Mike” arrived in New Hampshire this week and made good on his promise to bring Keene’s brand of civil disobedience activism to the Manchester area. My understanding of the story is as follows. After calling the police chief to announce his intentions, he walked around a Manchester park for a couple of hours asking people why marijuana is illegal, while holding a bud of it in his hands. No police showed themselves to enforce their statutes, so he proceeded to the police station and had a chat with the secretary, requesting an officer come talk to him about the issue, making it quite clear he was possessing the illicit plant material. After waiting in the lobby for over 30 minutes, he and the other activists decided to call it a day. No officers came over to talk to him, despite the fact that one was in visual range of him, as you can see in this low quality, raw video of the occasion. Hopefully better coverage will be released soon.
Welcome to NH, Big Mike – may civil disobedience begin sprouting up all across the state!
This was written by Andrew Carroll in response to recent discussion about in-the-system activism versus out-of-the-system activism, specifically in this thread.
People come to the “ideas of liberty” through different routes. These people think differently, grew up in different cultures, and have different values. Different things attract their attention, different things make them think, and different things change their minds.
Therefore, if we really want to spread our message to as many people as possible, it is important we market ourselves in as many ways as possible. Aside from certain actions which are bound to be utterly counter-productive (such as direct violence against the State, which leads to sympathy for the State, and is not worth even the small minority of people that may find it agreeable), all activism – political or otherwise – markets our ideas to different audiences.
Running for office, refusing to shut off your camera, gardening, holding marijuana, protesting in IRS offices, placing money in empty parking meters: all of these things market libertarian ideas to different people who believe different things. Each of these activities catch the attention of different individuals and expose them to the philosophy of freedom. (more…)
Inspired by the Obama-as-Joker posters being put up across America, FreeKeene.com would like to present the Jeanne Shaheen edition! Please note, this is not some partisan hack job – we’d have done the same thing if there were a Republican in her position.
On last week’s “Talkback” on WKBK, liberty activists called to talk about parking, positive reinforcement, “disorderly houses”, and voluntary solutions. The smarmy Dartmouth guy also calls and proves he just hasn’t been paying attention.
Please join us for our weekly listening, chat, and calling sessions on Saturday mornings from 9a-12p in the Free Keene Chat room. If you’re online, you can listen to Talkback streamed live via the Liberty Radio Network and if you’re in the Keene area you can tune in to WKBK 1290 AM or 104.1 FM. The Talkback discussion thread is here on the Free Keene Forum.
1809:Today, slaves from the plantation of Keene came to support their fellow slaves from Jaffrey Plantation as one of the Jaffrey indentured servants, Jean Coutu, had been notified that the masters of the plantation were attempting to prevent him from having a shooting range at his Live Free or Die Rally this year. Even though the property tender, the slaves operating the Grand View Inn, had given permission, the plantation masters are asking their betters at the “superior court” to show the Grand View Inn and Coutu who really owns them.
2009: Alright, enough of that – here’s the story in common day terms:
Keene area liberty activists turned out heavily to support Jean Coutu’s Live Free or Die Rally in the face of an assault from the Jaffrey gangsters in their “superior” court. There were so many liberty activists, it was standing room only in the meager just-over-20 seat 2nd courtroom. An angry-looking bailiff approached the standing activists and told them they had to sit or leave. As the seats were already filled with news reporters, liberty activists, and Coutu supporters, some activists offered to sit on the ground, as there would be no way to experience the trial on CCTV outside the court. Bailiffs returned and the activists chose to leave rather than be arrested. Brief video of this is at the end of the article.
First up was a woman accused of “Violation of Probation”. (The probation system is one of the sick ways they keep poor people poor, and in the system. It’s so easy to VOP.) The bailiffs enter and the “all rise” is uttered. Several activists on the right side of the room remain seated. A bailiff glares at us and utters “all rise” again. (more…)
NH Capitol Access host and Free Keene supporter Denis Goddard confirms his suspicions that people were being bussed in from Massachusetts to the “town hall” event in Portsmouth, NH:
On last week’s “Talkback” on WKBK, liberty activists called to talk about parking, positive reinforcement, “disorderly houses”, and voluntary solutions. The smarmy Dartmouth guy also calls and proves he just hasn’t been paying attention.
