FSP News - March 2008

FSP News - March 2008

Free State Project: Making a Difference

Porcupine Rich Angell has written a wonderful article, published in the Idaho Observer, about the positive effect that the FSP is having in New Hampshire, with a focus on Grafton. If a little over 500 porcs can have such an effect, I can't wait to see what happens when more of us make the move.

To the whole Grafton crew, great job overall, and great job on article 26! It's a coup that the amendment passed!

Rich has written a follow-up for us, describing the result of the voting after the Idaho Observer article went to press. You'll find that in the "In New Hampshire" section.

PorcFest

Have you signed up yet to attend PorcFest 2008? It's only three months away and it's time to make your plans. Available campsites and hotel rooms are going fast and ticket prices, which are currently only $10/adult for the entire week, will increase on April 1st.

If you want to see New Hampshire and meet FSP participants, there is no better opportunity than PorcFest.

There is so much to see in New Hampshire and we want to show it off. There will be guided bus tours, giving you an insider's view of the sights and personalities of FSP communities in Manchester, Keene, Winchester, Concord, Grafton, Portsmouth, and the Lakes Region. At a cost of only $5/seat, this is the most entertaining, interesting, and cost-effective way to see New Hampshire. Also, there will be a road rally in which teams will follow riddle-like directions around the state to arrive at interesting spots where answers to trivia questions can be found.

We also want to show off the people, the fun, and the impact of the FSP. There will be entertaining and informative speaking events such as an early movers panel discussion, workshops, and an FSP Town Hall Meeting. There will also be lots of social activities: group hikes, fishing, shooting range trips, acting classes for youths, board games, crafts, geo-caching, and more.

On top of all that, this year's PorcFest includes a music festival! Enjoy live bands outside in an open-air atmosphere on Friday and Saturday. And if you like to sing or play guitar, there will be "open mic nights" and music around the campfire during the week. Freedom rocks!

And because the FSP is about more than just fun and games, you'll have access to representatives from a number of pro-liberty organizations, businesses, job placement firms, Realtors, service providers, and political groups in our exhibitors/vendors area.

So what should you be doing if you want to attend PorcFest? Here's a helpful to-do list with the relevant links.

  1. Reserve your hotel or campsite: Due to PorcFest's overlap with Laconia Bike Week, hotels and campsites will sell out. The FSP has reserved some campsites and hotels, but these are first come, first served. Do not wait until the last minute. To discuss lodging and room-sharing options with fellow attendees, post to the PorcFest Lodging Forum.
  2. Register: You'll need a ticket to attend PorcFest and we'll need accurate head counts of attendees so that we can organize PorcFest. Ticket rates will increase after April 1st and again at the festival, so get yours now. Some of the activities, like the bus tours, have limits to the number of participants along with nominal fees, so register early to ensure your space.
  3. Consider registering as an exhibitor: PorcFest is a great opportunity to get the word out about your interests, business, or organization. Beyond the hundreds of attendees that will be there, you'll be mentioned in the FSP Newsletter which goes to over 12,000 subscribers.
  4. Review the schedule: There's a lot going on but there's always room for more. If you have an event (e.g. a gathering of ham radio hobbyists) you'd like to see added to the schedule, email porcfest@freestateproject.org with a brief description of the event, when you'd like it to be, and what resources you might need.
  5. Post to the Forum: Introduce yourself, ask questions, let people know what events you're looking forward to, or see who might be interested in sharing a ride or campsite. Start a conversation now and continue it by the fire at PorcFest.
  6. Promote PorcFest: First, invite/drag your friends and family to PorcFest. Show them what this Free State Project and New Hampshire thing is all about! Next, spread the word to others. There are SlimJim Handouts, Flyers, News Articles, and Videos for your use. Post these to forums, listprocs, community bulletin boards, and wherever else you can. If you'd like any printed material sent to you, email us at porcfest@freestateproject.org with your name, address, and the amount you would like.

PorcFest 2008 promises to be bigger and better than ever. With over 500 Free Staters already living in NH and the tremendous exposure to the FSP through the Ron Paul campaign, pro-liberty energy here is exploding. Come see for yourself! Bring your friends and family and see how we are achieving "Liberty in Our Lifetime."

Action of the Month - Think Ahead

Looking down the road, past the chains and fetters of our current lives, to the freedoms and promises of New Hampshire, it seems reasonable that we do some planning for the brighter times ahead. Do we lie around all day gazing at the glory and grandeur of the Free State's natural beauty? Do we quietly scratch around on our little plot of heaven, just feeding ourselves? Do we diligently labor at our chosen commerce or industry, dismissing the balance of life? Do we sit back and enjoy the freedoms won for us by ancient freedom fighters, and perhaps squander the liberties we should be jealously preserving? No. No, I say. We should be planning the next steps of our path to freedom. We should be seeking out and joining our liberty-minded brothers and sisters who hold dear the tenets of individual freedom and responsibility. Where are these kin and colleagues? How do we tell the pure from the posers? Only with sedulous research and the Eternal Vigilance that is the price of freedom can we discern the truth. No one can tell you who is good or who is bad. You must test and observe to find those whose actions match their words; and whose actions ring true with the hope of freedom. And when you find these groups whose ring is clear and pure like a giant silver bell signaling the way to freedom and prosperity - don't keep it to yourself, spread the word to other lovers of liberty and we will indeed have Liberty in Our Lifetime. A few organizations you might like to consider:

RonPaulForums' Free State Poll

RonPaulForums is hosting a poll to choose states for liberty lovers to congregate... sound familiar? This is a fantastic recruiting opportunity, so head on over and make your voice heard. Every vote for New Hampshire will bring people toward the FSP.

Merchandise

Don't wrack your brain or wrangle your wraith over the wrongs of wretched politicians. Wear the wrier grin of a wary wright who works for freedom's wrinkle. How you ask? By wrapping your wrist with the wristband of freedom! Wreally, I mean really, the new rubber bracelets are in, and they are cool, and stretchy, and blue, and you just gotta have one! So don't wreck the wren of happiness, wrestle your wallet and wring out a few bucks for the wristband of freedom and you'll wriggle with joy.

Free State Match

Line up your sights and take aim for fun and freedom with the Free State Match #5.

Are freedom and liberty in the cards? Will we once again be kings of our own sovereign selves? Will we end up as queens or queans? No matter what, don't jack around but take part in this challenging shooting match. Here's the deal, place 5 playing cards on a target, a deuce (a 2 of any suite) and 4 aces, now shoot the 6 marks on the cards. You have 15 shots in one minute to "break the ink". If you shoot with a scoped rifle, do it at 200ft, iron-sight rifle at 100ft, pistols at 15ft. Why a two and four aces? It spells out 20,000 (well, sort of), as we're shooting for 20,000 liberty-minded people to lead New Hampshire and the world to Liberty in Our Lifetime.

Scoring change: 1 point for each card hit, 2 points for each center mark (pip) hit.

For all you jokers out there, perfect scores will be highly suspect. :)

CORRECTION

In the January edition of the FSP News, we have an incorrect attribution to the fantastic video series Finding Life and Liberty in the Free State Project. These videos were produced by Roger Grant. We deeply appreciate Roger's generosity and his talents. Here are the video links: Part 1, Part 2

The Free State Project is an effort to recruit 20,000 liberty-loving people to move to New Hampshire. We are looking for neighborly, productive, tolerant folks from all walks of life, of all ages, creeds, and colors who agree to the political philosophy expressed in our Statement of Intent, that government exists at most to protect people's rights, and should neither provide for people nor punish them for activities that interfere with no one else. freestateproject.org

In New Hampshire

Voting Results from Grafton

Rich Angell was nice enough to write a follow-up for us, since the Idaho Observer article went to press before the results of the voting were in. Here are the results in his words:

The results of the election of 11 March were mixed, but positive overall.

First the regional school district:

The proposed new high school was failed; the proposed raise in the budget failed, except for approximately $4,000 raised for special ed kids. This is minor compared for what they were asking for.

The big win was New Hampshire native libertarian Bob Constantine's 48-hour coup. He was drafted to run for school budget committee, and we ran a write-in campaign. The ballot was open. He handily won, ousting the well-disliked incumbent socialist Cathy Mulholland, who, for some reason was not on the ballot. Bob joins a lonely fiscal conservative on the committee.

Grafton itself didn't fare so well on the Budget committee and select board. There were a couple of extremely close races. More experience, a few more Porcupines, and smarter organization is sure to push the freedom fighters over the top next election cycle.

The proposed budget raise failed. Only a small raise for the lonely police officer and some emergency equipment passed.

All of the proposed warrant articles were pro-liberty or neutral. Here are the warrant articles that passed:

19. "To see if the Town will return to the voters control over expenditures from the following Capital Reserve Funds: Bridge Capital Reserve Fund, and Highway Capital Reserve Fund. By rescinding the authority given to the Selectmen to act as agents to expend. Thence requiring voter approval at Town Meeting to expend from these funds as was necessary prior to 2004."

21. "To see if the Town will vote to request that the Selectmen recommend for appointment as the Town Health Officer, as provided in RSA 128:1, only individuals who are residents and taxpayers of the Town of Grafton."

22. "In order to reduce Grafton property taxes, are you in favor of requesting the Board of Selectmen and Budget Committee to reduce town spending and property taxes by 10% of the current town budget for each of the next the fiscal years?"

23. Paraphrase: Any additional or reduced spending that is proposed and put on the ballot will require a disclosure of its resulting increase or decrease in property taxes.

26. "Resolved: We the citizens of Grafton, NH believe in a NH that is just and fair. The property tax has become unjust and unfair. State leaders who have increased State spending 17% in the last budget perpetuate higher and higher property taxes. We call on our State Representatives and our Governor to reduce the irresponsible spending in Concord, which will lower property tax burden for the residents of NH."

New Hampshire Free Press

The March issue of the New Hampshire Free Press (formerly the Keene Free Press) is now online. We're all very glad to see this paper back in action.

In this issue:

  • Juror's Rights Wookiee Hits Manchester Streets
  • Lies and Torture: Impeach Bush
  • Reader Letters
  • Peace Rallies
  • Sudoku Puzzle
  • Illegal Wiretapping for Dummies
  • Night of the Brown's Capture
  • Feminist Abuse of Domestic Violence Laws
  • Keep the Revolution Going
  • The American Dream
  • Frogs on Preheat
  • "Evidence Suitable for a Court of Law"

New Hampshire Magazine

According to New Hampshire Magazine, Richmond is the place to be if you want to "Live Free or Die." The article mentions the FSP in a positive light, and notes that Ron Paul won the town during the recent primaries. Whether you're heading for Richmond or not, you might find New Hampshire Magazine's real estate section a useful guide in choosing your new home.

Free State Blogs

What's happening in New Hampshire with the Free State Project? Free State Blogs attempts to answer that question. Here's just a sampling of this month's blog entries:

The RidleyReport

Videographer, Dave Ridley from NHFree.com is one of our Porcs on the scene in New Hampshire. See some of what's happening in the Free State on the RidleyReport.

Check the NH Calendars

The NH Underground Calendar lists liberty-oriented New Hampshire events. The NH Liberty Calendar also tracks NH events. Check the calendars before a visit or a move - you are welcome to attend NH events!

FSP News Thanks & Statistics

FSP News circulation: 12,336. Back issues are available. Got FSP news? Please submit content by the 12th of the month. Thank you to all advertisers and contributors.

FSP Participants - here are some quick links:

  • Check out NH housing and other community & logistical information at NH Info

Are you ready to join the FSP, move to New Hampshire and work with us towards Liberty in Our Lifetime? Join here!

Participants: 8,260
Participants in NH: 523
as of March 12, 2008

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