FSP News - July 2006

PorcFest 2006 was a wonderful success! Varrin Swearingen, FSP President, wraps it up for us.

...and there was hope - Varrin also welcomed FSP Porcupines and friends at this year's PorcFest 2006 "...the effect of just those couple hundred early movers, some of whom just raised their hands, has been very noticeable and positive." The text of his speech is posted.

Lots of PorcFest photos are posted in the new website gallery! PorcFest merchandise, along with the hot-selling Gadsden Porcupine Ultimate disc and the brand new Gadsden Porcupine Flag - all available at the FSP Store! Great write-up on the PorcFest and the FSP by Vermont blogger Jeremy Ryan. And, we had coverage in the Washington Times on June 21st.

As you will read in a few of the links presented here, the FSP is planning TWO big events in New Hampshire in 2007! PorcFest, and the Liberty Forum, now planned for February 2007 in Concord. Initial details!!

Get on the Wagon Train - In the 19th century, brave and hardy Americans fed up with the increasingly overcrowded Eastern states packed up their families and personal belongings in Conestoga wagons and headed west. Lured by the promise of wide-open spaces and a chance to start anew, they left behind the comforts and familiarity of home to create new homes and communities that offerred greater long-term possibilities for themselves and their children. Now, in the 21st century, the tide has turned. Liberty-loving Americans, fed up with congested cities, escalating crime rates, and an ever-more-intrusive government that attempts to meddle in every single aspect of their lives, are heading East... to New Hampshire. Individuals and entire families are once again making the transcontinental migration, with the ubiquitous bright orange U-Haul trailer replacing the Conestoga wagon. These brave souls have the foresight to see that things are only going to get worse where they are now. New Hampshire offers economic opportunity, a wide variety of lifestyle options (urban, suburban, and rural), and a political system that makes it possible to have a real impact, now, on legislation. And together, we're going to make it even better in New Hampshire. It's not too late to become a part of this epic new chapter in American history. Sign the pledge, become one of the First 1000, and enjoy the satisfaction of knowing that you, your children, and their children, will grow up in greater liberty and freedom.

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New Hampshire #1 state to raise kids, according to the 2006 KIDS COUNT Data Book. The report, by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, selected New Hampshire as the top state for the fourth consecutive year!

TOUR SUCCESSES! The FSP had outreach tables at recent Vans Warped Tour stops in Kansas City, Nashville, and San Francisco. The outreach has already netted the FSP seven new members and seven new Friends of the FSP. Around 1000 flyers, lots of free stuff, and the message of liberty has reached thousands of people in these three cities. The Tour is not over and the FSP plans more outreach at future stops. You still have time to volunteer for this excellent opportunity to spread the message of freedom across the nation!

The President's Corner puts us all in touch with what's happening inside the FSP. Thanks Varrin! Over the past month, Varrin has written about the LP, PorcFest, volunteering, the survey, Slashdot, media and more.

Free Talk Live added a new radio station in Tallahassee to its growing syndication lineup - now at 14 stations! Listen to the new 60 second promo for the show. You can listen to the show through the website too. FTL finished in 4th place last month on Podcast Alley's Top Ten Podcasts - a rapidly growing radio delivery system. Listen, then vote in this month's competition!

Looking for a job in New Hampshire? Want some guidance and a few good leads? The FSP Jobs Coordinator, Lynn Pina, has put it all together for us! A discussion about the job market in New Hampshire, member job referrals and a comprehensive listing of the major employers in New Hampshire are found on the new Jobs page.

Action of the Month - Write a Letter. Writing letters to the editor of your local paper does have an impact. In a worst-case scenario, the letter gets lost and no one reads it; but you have just increased your ability to think rationally about how to present the freedom-minded point of view. In the next-to-last worst-case scenario, only one or two people at the newspaper will read the letter and decide not to print it; but then that's one or two more people, and people in persuasive positions, who have been exposed to a rationally thought out defense of a freedom-minded point of view.

In a much better scenario, they print your letter and hardly anyone reads it. In a town like mine where the Baltimore Sun (sadly these days, a mere shadow of what it was when H.L. Mencken made his home there) has about 200,000 weekday readers and double that on Sunday - I'd take that "hardly anyone". In the best-case scenario, they print your letter and lots and lots of people read it and their eyes begin to twinkle with a reflection of the Shining Beacon of Liberty on the Hill and they start thinking a little more clearly. So write a letter, and let's tell the world about the Free State Project.

If you need help writing your first, or to hone your skills, try these three sites; 1., 2., 3. (Even Big Brother himself will help out, though he stole your money first to pay for it) - Phil Denisch

<!--StartFragment -->Free State Project Participant Angela Keaton has been elected to the Libertarian National Committee of the Libertarian Party. Congratulations Angela! Speaking of the LP, the FSP had a strong presence at the National LP convention in early July with a vendor table. Thank you to the team of Porcs - Varrin, Morey, Peter and Charlie, who spent the weekend talking to convention attendees about the FSP! See Varrin's President's Corner for a report, and a Forum post by Morey Straus.

FSP volunteers also did outreach tables at the Virginia LP Convention in Charlottesville and at the Tennessee LP Convention in Nashville - thanks to Porcs, Keith, JR, Bill and Kate! If YOU have ideas to put into action for FSP outreach or promotion, contact our Events Coordinator, Marty Humphrey!

Fundraising pledge goal exceeded! Cary March challenged 39 other supporters of the FSP to step up and pledge to donate $50 a month for six months, from July to the end of the year. When the sign-up period ended on June 30th, 52 people had pledged! At $300 per person, that's $15,600 that the FSP can count on for the remainder of 2006. Thank you to Cary and all of the people who pledged and worked for its success!

Where did our Participants and Friends hear about the FSP? When you join, we ask how you heard about the FSP. This info helps us in marketing the FSP to those most likely to join us. We have been posting the monthly tally on the FSP's Forum. Now, there is a new section of the website called Signup Statistics, where such source info will be posted.

GUN WEEK just published an article featuring Free Staters, More and More Gun Laws: Ethnic Cleansing California Style This is a follow-up article to their April feature on the FSP, San Fran Gun Ban Last Straw For Gunowners Now NH Bound. You can find both of these excellent articles posted on the FSP Forum.

In New Hampshire