Raising Voluntary Children in Community

Why critical mass makes all the difference

This is a cross-post from Freecoast.org, and was posted in an effort to raise awareness for the Fourth Annual Freecoast Festival. Hope to see you there!

From 2010-2014 I ran a summer camp on the Northern shores of Oneida Lake in Upstate New York. We had 850 acres and a private 45 acre lake to ourselves for most of the year, and during the summers we welcomed in hundreds of children to help them understand what it meant to live in a community that put consent and voluntary interactions ahead of everything else. My living expenses were taken care of, and with the camp thriving, we could have stayed there forever had we chosen to. But, we left.

In 2014 we moved to the Seacoast of New Hampshire, leaving behind security and mostly free living to join a growing community of liberty-minded folks that had left other destinations around the world to try and create something new.

Why take such a risk when life was mostly going great? I’ll explain.

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Manchester Bitcoin Vending Machine Adds DASH, Making NH #1 For DASH Vending

Bitcoin Vending Machine Adds DASH!

Bitcoin Vending Machine Adds DASH!

With all the Bitcoin drama going on, it’s easy to get distracted from what is important. What is important, whether Bitcoin stays on top or not, is the idea of cryptocurrency, of which Bitcoin was the first. While I personally believe Bitcoin can survive its internal turmoil, I could be wrong. After all, no one buys the Model T these days, even though it was the first car. The Model T is a clunker compared to what we have now.

Though there isn’t much mainstream media coverage of its alternatives, Bitcoin is far from the only cryptocurrency. There are hundreds of them, most based off of the original code for Bitcoin released by Satoshi Nakamoto, its anonymous creator.

One of those competitors that libertarian cryptocurrency enthusiasts in NH have been using recently instead of Bitcoin is DASH, or “Digital Cash”. Due to the growing pains Bitcoin has been experiencing, people here have been looking hard at other alternatives. DASH has started to appear in use at various libertarian market days across the state. Its fees are much lower than Bitcoin’s and DASH has an interesting governance structure that really sets it apart from many of the “me-too” cryptocurrencies out there vying for Bitcoin’s #1 position. (more…)

It’s Official: NH Governor Signs Cannabis Decriminalization!

Darryl W Perry Cannabis Torch 2016

Libertarian Party of NH Chairman Darryl W Perry Takes a Rip

After it passed with veto-proof margins for the first time in New Hampshire’s history, cannabis decriminalization was signed today by new NH republican governor Chris Sununu.

Marijuana decrim is the latest feather in the cap of the NH Freedom Migration that has been tipping the political scales of the state in favor of more liberty. This year alone, there have been multiple political wins, from multiple elected state representatives flipping to the Libertarian Party of NH, to the constitutional carry bill passing, the bitcoin/cryptocurrency protection bill, and even legalizing firecrackers!

This isn’t the best decrim bill possible, but it’s a big step in the right direction for the Live Free or Die state. Police have sixty days before the bill goes into effect to arrest as many users as possible, because after sixty days, they’re only allowed to ticket for cannabis possession. HB 640 eliminates criminal penalties for the possession of up to 3/4 of an ounce of cannabis and/or up to five grams of hashish for those age 18 or older. Under the new law, first time offenders will receive a civil violation punishable by a $100 fine. Unfortunately, if the person is caught three times in three years, then the fourth ticketing would be a class B misdemeanor, but the person still cannot be arrested. The first offense is fined at $100, but subsequent offenses within that three year period would be $300 each.

New Hampshire Loves Bitcoin and Cannabis!

New Hampshire Loves Bitcoin and Cannabis!

Hopefully, after a year of this decrim, the state reps and senators will see that the world in NH has not turned into a satanic hellscape, and we’ll see further decriminalization in the future, right down to the total elimination of all penalties for possession, growing, or sale of any amount of cannabis. Ideally, New Hampshire, if it were truly a free place, would have no regulatory or taxation structure around the cannabis plant at all. If that miraculously happened, the cannabis industry would explode in the Shire and we’d all be better off for it.

If you like that vision and you’re a libertarian, voluntarist, or liberty-loving anarchist, we need you here to help make NH the best state for cannabis freedom. Sure, other states have legalization, but there’s an insane amount of regulation and tax around the industry. What if NH could be the one state without that legal garbage? It could happen if you were here to help. We need more people to move here and join the most successful freedom migration in the world. Here are 101 reasons why you should.

Why We’re Temporarily Shutting Down Bitcoin Vending Machines on July 31st

Bitcoin Fork in Road

Will Bitcoin “Fork” on August 1st?

In a recent, in-depth article, I discussed the out-of-control fees to send bitcoin. The executive summary is that Bitcoin is somewhat broken due to the high fees that have been caused due to the Bitcoin network not being able to scale to consumer demand. The reason for this is because there has been an ongoing “geek war” for a couple years now behind the scenes that centers over some fundamental disagreements over how Bitcoin should handle its growing pains with scaling up. Meanwhile, the fees have been rising over the last six months and have killed off the previous usefulness that Bitcoin had for microtransactions, or even small dollar transactions. Again, see my original piece for more about the fee difficulties.

Now the ugly Bitcoin not-so-civil war that has been playing out behind the scenes on message boards, reddit, and social media for months and months is going to come into public view on August 1st. Here’s my non-technical explanation for what’s happening and how, if you’re a bitcoin holder or bitcoin-accepting merchant, it could affect you: (more…)

City Commits Civil Disobedience Against Feds By Painting Blue Line Down Marlboro St.

Keene Signals its Support for Secession by its Recent Peaceful Civil Disobedience

Keene Signals its Support for Secession by its Recent Peaceful Civil Disobedience

In case you aren’t aware, the police have their own gang symbol. It’s called the “thin blue line” – a blue line horizontally sandwiched between two black bars. You’ll frequently see it on the back of vehicles presumably containing police or their immediate relatives. Of course, anyone can buy these stickers now, so police have other ways of recognizing their own, like these family “professional courtesy” passbooks, but regardless, the blue line is still seen on their cars, their clothing, and now flags. It helps create the “us vs them” mentality that some police have. Worse still, some people insist on treating the police as though they are better than the rest of humanity. Their word is gold in court, they get special burials when mass calamity happens, deferential treatment in many of the crimes the corrupt officers commit, and more.

In a recent Keene Sentinel piece about multiple city councilors gushing over their recent decision to paint a horribly garish blue line down the middle of Marlboro St, local commenter Johnson Rice points out that the city is actually committing civil disobedience against the federal government: (more…)

The Jail Paper Keene’s Video Interview of Free Keene Founder

Free Keene Founder Ian Freeman Interviewed by The Jail Paper Keene

Free Keene Founder Ian Freeman Interviewed by The Jail Paper Keene

New courtroom video/photo blog The Jail Paper Keene has been reporting from Keene’s district and superior courts recently, covering various criminal cases. This week, The Jail Paper Keene posted some of my mugshots and asked for comments on whether I am a hero or villain. Since I’ve been a longtime, publicly visible activist who has done a bunch over the decade plus I’ve been here in Keene, naturally some of the haters came around to post their uninformed vitriol.

I did my best to correct their misinformation and was amazed as some haters also attacked the Jail Paper Keene for even posting my photo to their page, accusing the page of being run by me or one of my supposed “puppets”. Their paranoia knows no bounds.

Today, I had the pleasure of meeting The Jail Paper Keene’s Thomas Parisi and he conducted an interview on my front porch. You can watch it here on The Jail Paper Keene’s facebook page.

Area Police Chief Sentenced to Decades in Prison for Multiple Rapes

Former Police Chief and Convicted Child Rapist Robert K Chambers Sr.

Former Police Chief and Convicted Child Rapist Robert K Chambers Sr.

The reason why the government police can be so corrupt and violent is because they have a monopoly on violence. There’s no competition allowed in the marketplace. Worse, you’re forced to fund the police, even if they are doing things you disagree with, like arresting people for possession of cannabis, teens for alcohol, or committing multiple counts of rape against a child.

Area former police chief Robert K Chambers, Sr, who’d been the head of both the Gilsum and Marlow New Hampshire departments was recently convicted on several counts of aggravated felonious sexual assault and sentenced to decades in prison, according to the Keene Sentinel. Chambers is 65. Here’s video of the harrowing victim impact statement his victim made at Chambers’ sentencing, as published by The Jail Paper Keene, a new court videographer on facebook.

Many people mistakenly believe all Cop Blockers are against the police. The truth is, I’m not against the police. I’m in favor of when police protect people from real crime involving a victim. I have even assisted the police when they were investigating real crimes. However if police are arresting people for victimless crimes, I will oppose that. I’m a police accountability activist, which means holding the cops to their promise of doing good by reporting on the bad ones. The worst cops are those like Chambers, who are clearly people in search of power over others, as this recent despicable example sadly proves.

It’s of course, not the first time that NH’s top cops have been caught up in ugly news, revealing some of them as corrupt, power seekers. Don’t forget the New London, NH chief who allegedly coerced college girls to take nude photos in the police basement when they were arrested for some victimless crime or another. Or how about the Canterbury, NH chief who allegedly used his position of power to engage in sexual acts with a female teen police explorer? There’s the Haverhill, NH chief who resigned after being busted for DUI. Obviously not all chiefs are low-life hypocrites, but you have to wonder how many of them are corrupt. There’s no way to stop a corrupt officer from rising through the ranks of power, since if you withhold taxes in protest, the very same police will come and attack you and your family. (more…)