FSP News - October 2005

The Free State Turns Two

The announcement of New Hampshire as the Free State took place on October 1, 2003. The Wire, out of Portsmouth, NH, ran a cover story in its October 5th edition. From the article, "They're here, they're politically engaged and, like it or not, they've given New Hampshire another moniker it will never shake. The Granite State and the Live Free or Die state will also be known forevermore as the Free State." Notice the Royalty.

The Board of Directors has reached a decision on the FSP restructuring. The Board voted to strike the informal 2006 goal for obtaining 20,000 signatures and to allow Participants who thought this goal was a deadline to opt out at the end of 2006. The Board also decided to promote early moving, in part by deepening and expanding the New Hampshire information department. These changes will be discussed in detail in a forthcoming paper to be published on the FSP website.

Porcupines were seen on the historic Boston Common doing an FSP outreach booth at Mass Cann's 16th Annual Boston Freedom Rally on September 17th. Other Porcupine appearances on behalf of the FSP over the last month included three outreach tables; at the Wisconsin Hempfest in Madison, the Gandhian Conference on Nonviolence in Memphis, TN, and at the Vermont Freedom Fest 2005 at Vermont Technical College, Randolph Center, VT. Trevor Snyder spoke on The Future of America Politics at Revolution, a Science Fiction and Fantasy convention in Asheville, NC. These successful events produced lots of new contacts, Friends and Participants.

Hour 1 : Another "embarrassed" marijuana smoker. / Evolution and Traits / Are we heading towards a police state? / Habeas Corpus Suspended
Hour 2 : More about the Police State / Police are infallible! / Mass fining its citizens for buying cigarettes online. / Sedition and Dissenters / Torture is evil and sick. This is a sampling of topics on a recent Free Talk Live - Listen Now!

Media making reference to the FSP and its Participants comes in all the time, from the press, on the web and in blogs. Newswire is a new part of the FSP website and it is where secondary media mentions are listed. The latest news and media about the FSP is always listed on the home page, front and center.

Libertarian TV offers programs of interest to libertarians and other freedom lovers, including both political and non-political shows. A selection of FSP audio and video is now included in the Libertarian TV lineup.

Fall harvest brings an endorsement by Keith Stroup, the Founder and Executive Director of NORML, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. Keith said, "This is lovely. I really admire you guys. I hope it works." Have you read all the FSP endorsements?

FSP POSITIONS OPEN: The FSP is currently seeking enthusiastic and creative individuals to fill the following volunteer positions. If you are interested in finding out more about the opportunities and the time commitment needed, please contact Volunteer Coordinators Nik Ludwig or Tim Bauman. We will be posting more open positions for your consideration, or perhaps you have an idea of how you can apply your skills to help the FSP achieve Liberty in our Lifetime. Contact Nik or Tim.

COLLEGE GROUPS COORDINATOR
This person will be responsible for coordinating FSP college groups and organizing campus recruiting efforts.

COLLEGE GROUP LEADER
If you are currently enrolled or work at a college, please consider hosting a FSP group on your campus.

DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT
We are looking for someone experienced with fundraising to lead and direct the FSP fundraising activities.

NEW HAMPSHIRE EMPLOYMENT INFORMATION COORDINATOR
This person will research and keep their finger on the pulse of things related to employment in the Free State. Useful tasks include researching and becoming familiar with job hunting resources in the state and on the internet, being able to provide monthly summaries on job availability, helping people interested in relocating to New Hampshire learn about job search resources and more.

NEW HAMPSHIRE REAL ESTATE AND HOUSING INFORMATION COORDINATOR
This individual will research and keep their finger on the pulse of things related to real estate and housing in the Free State. Useful tasks include becoming familiar with real estate and housing resources in the state, being informed on housing trends within the state and being able to direct folks interested in moving to New Hampshire to resources to help them find places to call home.

NEW HAMPSHIRE RESEARCHER/WRITER
We'd like to find someone who can research New Hampshire's history, climate, and/or recreation opportunities and more and do custom write ups on them for our website and New Hampshire Information brochures. If you like research and writing, this is the job for you. Being in state is not necessary for this task.

FSP NEWS REPORTER
A reporter to cover Porcupine activism and liberty news in New Hampshire. This helps to answer the question asked by people in the other 49 states, "what's going on in New Hampshire?"

FSP PorcFest merchandise is all 10% off now at the Store. There is also a new magnet selection, FSP Buck Knives, and all kinds of merchandise to chose from to show your enthusiasm and support.

"Yet in the face of the FSP opportunity, the great majority of libertarians remain immobilized, or worse." Porcupine Tim Condon lets libertarians who have not yet joined the FSP have it in his new essay, LISTEN, Libertarian!

Buffalo, Niagra Falls and Erie area residents are invited to SUNY Fredonia for a talk to be given by Dr. Jason Sorens on October 18th at 7:30pm. For more information please contact Aaron Stadler.

In New Hampshire

New Hampshire Liberty Alliance (NHLA) Civic Action held a fundraiser Sunday, September 18th at Loudon International Speedway. It was the NASCAR "Sylvania 300" - the biggest race day in NH this year. Thanks to the effort of 24 folks arriving at the track at 5:30am to be race event ushers and working until almost 6:30pm, they were able to raise nearly $2,000 for Civic Action The goal of the NHLA Civic Action department is to bolster the culture of liberty within the hearts and minds of the people of New Hampshire. Further, to open a wide, robust dialogue on the benefits of liberty among the people, political candidates, and the office holders in New Hampshire.

Don Gorman coordinated an NHLA outreach event held at the Deerfield Fair. The NHLA volunteers signed up 23 new members and passed along hundreds of copies of our legislative report card. People were impressed and very happy to see that someone is playing the role of watchdog up at the State House.

Porcupines are running for local office in New Hampshire again! The NHLA has offered financial support to candidates. There are news stories covering some of the candidates in the FSP Newswire, and links to New Hampshire online newspapers, magazines, TV and radio can be found at NH Info.

The heavy rain across the Northeast has been especially severe in southwestern New Hampshire. The Keene area, where many Porcupines now call home, has been hardest hit by the rain and flooding. So far, all of our friends seem to be doing all right. There is discussion and coverage on the NH Underground forum and in the NH media, links mentioned above.

The NH Liberty Calendar lists the upcoming events of 30 liberty-minded organizations.

Past issues of the FSP News are available.

FSP News content submissions are due by the 10th of each month.

Participants: 6,801
Participants in NH: 384
as of October 15, 2005