FSP News - March 2007
FSP News - March 2007
The 2007 New Hampshire Liberty Forum was a resounding success! The packed event was held in Concord, NH February 22-25th and featured John Stossel, Ron Paul and Michael Badnarik, along with dozens of other engaging speakers. The FSP would like to thank Irena Goddard and her team of dedicated volunteers, who all worked so hard to plan and produce the event. We also thank all the speakers, attendees, vendors and friends - all of you made the weekend so special! Videos, blogs and photos of the event are being posted on the website, and Varrin Swearingen's opening ceremony remarks are also available to read. The Liberty Forum was covered by Manchester's Union Leader on Sunday, February 25th in its article, Free Staters see gains, obstacles and also in the NH Insider, Heeere Porcy, Porcy. And now, just around the corner is the 2007 PorcFest!
The 2007 Porcupine Freedom Festival
- Discover New Freedoms, New Communities and New Beginnings! -
New Hampshire is awakening with warmer Spring temperatures and our thoughts turn to the upcoming PorcFest, this year held at Gunstock Mountain Resort in Gilford, New Hampshire from June 18 - 24, 2007. Join us in New Hampshire for the party of the year! Here is the latest information about PorcFest:
Registration:
With NHLF successfully completed, registration for PorcFest moves to prime time. Please register as soon as you can. Your registration helps us plan PorcFest accordingly, so please start your vacation planning and invite your friends and family too! If you have any questions about PorcFest please let us know.
Birds-of-a-Feather:
A key aspect of PorcFest is meeting new people (and your future neighbors ;-). To encourage the building of friendships and community, we are setting up PorcFest for attendees to organize Birds-of-a-Feather Flock Together special interest meetings as part of the official schedule. If you have a hobby, interest, or issue, and would like to have a meetup at PorcFest, please post to the Birds-of-a-Feather forum the intended focus of the meeting and, if you have one, a preferred time during the week you'd like to have your meeting.
Cookoff:
Back by popular demand, it's the Liberty Ladies Cook-Off and we need cooks! Have a fabulous recipe that wows family and friends the world over? Think it can win the hearts and minds of fellow Porcupines? Then enter your dish and win cash! There will be cash prizes for first second and third place as well as prizes for honorable mentions. We'll also need volunteers, so don't hesitate to offer a helping hand and get a free meal. ^_^ Tickets for judging the event will be sold at PorcFest and can be pre-ordered during online registration. For more details, and to send a description of what you plan to cook, please email Llalania.
Bus Tours:
There is so much to see in New Hampshire and we want to show it off. We are therefore organizing bus tours during the week. Each bus trip will leave from Gunstock at 9:30am, and spend the day out and about. If we have enough tourists for two (or more) buses, we may offer to have one bus explore the nightlife scene, otherwise the bus will return to Gunstock in time for dinner. Bus tickets are $20 per seat per day, however, a weeklong access ticket, allowing admission to all of the bus tours, is only $75 per person (a $25 savings). If you'd like to go on one of these bus trips, be sure to specify this when you register for the festival. Bus Tour questions should be addressed to Seth Cohn.
FSP Art Group:
Are you a graphics designer? Can you do page layout? Do you need artwork made for your FSP promotions? (think PorcFest too). If you answered yes to any of these questions, please join the newly created FSP Art Department Yahoo Group! The intention of this group is to create an avenue for those with artistic ability to help the FSP and for those that need design work done to know where to go. If you have any questions about this group, please email Rich Goldman
Vendors:
PorcFest is an excellent way to reach pro-liberty individuals. If you are interested in having a table for yourself or your organization at PorcFest, please visit our Vendor webpage. Table space is limited, so please make your reservation asap
Porcs Helping Porcs:
Want to attend PorcFest, but are short on funds or resources? Have a room, campsite, money, or ride to share? If so, please inform us of what you need or can supply either privately by email or publicly on our Porcs Helping Porcs Forum.
Merchandising, merchandising, merchandising! (where the real advertising for the project is done ;) Check out our ever-expanding choice of FSP merchandise. The plush porcupines were a big hit at the NHLF - we sold out (don't cry now, a new order is on it's way). From cheap shirts to fine hemp/cotton blend polo's, we have lots of cool FSP stuff. Coffee mugs and flying discs, magnets and matches; all the stuff that's fit for the free. (A quick side note about the $5 PorcFest 2005 shirts - just because you weren't there doesn't mean you can't have the shirt and support the FSP. It's more important to keep getting the word out by having someone ask "What's a PorcFest?" than for us to have them sitting on a shelf.)
"In the universe of collective-action problems (CAPs), the Free State Project (FSP) can be categorized as a collective-migration problem (CMP). Comparing the FSP with similar problems and applying well-established theory leads to some suggestions for improving its structure and thus increasing its effectiveness". - Steve Cobb examines The Collective Migration Problem.
Free State Match #2: Simple & Sweet
A simpler course of fire this time. No otherworldly scourges to take care of, just straightforward shooting. We'll use letter-sized targets downloaded from this page. Submit targets via email or snail-mail. Two categories (.22 rifle and pistol), and two runs (fast and slow). All details are on the FSP website! Have fun, be safe, and let's make the world unsafe for a certain few selected pieces of paper.
Action of the Month - Get to know your future home. New Hampshire is more liberty-minded than most places on the planet (and only getting more so, with your help). But why, you may ask? How does this bastion of liberty survive and thrive in the covetous, rent-seeking, nihilistic world around us? Who is John Stark? What about Bunker Hill? Where's the Concord Coach? When was America's Stonehenge? How does a bill become a law? Or, more appropriately, how do we expunge a nefarious law? Think what there is to learn about your new home, and the thinking never stops. - Phil Denisch
*GoodSearch.com * is a search engine powered by Yahoo! that donates a penny per search to an organization you select (FSP). Switching your search engine is a simple and easy way to support Liberty in our Lifetime (and if you already use Yahoo!, you won't even be switching at all). If you don't think one penny per search can make a difference, consider this. There are over 7600 FSP Participants, not including Friends of the FSP and supporters worldwide. Knocking that number down to 6,000 people and assuming they only search two times per day, that is nearly $44,000 raised per year!
Using a search engine is habit forming, so it takes a little getting used to a new one. Make a commitment to use GoodSearch exclusively for one week and make your decision at the end of that week. GoodSearch can be added to your browser or download the toolbar. If you add GoodSearch to your browser, make sure you go to the website and select the Free State Project as your beneficiary or we won't get credited. Thank you!
Free Talk Live, the syndicated pro-freedom talk radio show continues to pick up new listeners all over the country. FTL was again chosen by Talkers Magazine for their "Talkers 250", a list of the 250 most influential and important talk shows in America. FTL is also the top producer of new FSP members - welcome FTL listeners!
The FSP has openings on its Board of Directors. Nominations and an election will take place over the next 10 days for the first position. Please go to FSP Director Election for full voter and candidate information.
In New Hampshire
Bloggers in the Free State have been busy this month, reflecting the activism levels in New Hampshire! Keep up with some of the activity in New Hampshire by reading Free State Blogs. Here are the topics posted over the last month:
- Testifying
- Free Minds TV Episode 8
- The Keene City Council votes in favor of eminent domain
- Sunday’s Free Keene Meeting: Marijuana Decrim, Eminent Domain, Campaign ‘07
- US Congressman Dr. Ron Paul wows crowd of 150 in New Hampshire!
- A Few Liberty Forum Articles
- First Free State Project "Liberty Forum" A Huge Success
- Ron Paul in NH Fundraiser Video
- Excellent Ron Paul Site, With Liberty Forum Posts
- More Liberty Forum Photos
- A Tale of Two Campaigns
- Coming to America
- Governor Lynch and the Great Moose Hunt
- New Hampshire Republicans and the Anti-Liberty Smoking Ban
- Nashua Telegraph Article on Marijuana Decriminalization
- NH Republicans and the Smoking Ban Part 2
- State Troopers in MA paid to drive their own cars?
- Mumbles' Bait and Switch
- Union Leader article: "Legalizing Marijuana would save lives and money"
- Good Testimony: Zap 'Em Right Between the Eyes!
The New Hampshire Coalition for Common Sense Marijuana Policy, recently formed to end marijuana prohibition in NH, has updates on House Bill 92, the bill to decriminalize marijuana in NH. "A Criminal Justice subcommittee voted the bill “Inexpedient to Legislate” in a 4-1 vote today, but supporters of moderate reform were pleased to see all five subcommittee members voice their support. All five openly agreed that possession of marijuana in small amounts should be reduced from a criminal offense to a civil violation..."
One of the ways to learn about organizations and liberty-oriented activism in New Hampshire is to subscribe to their newsletters or groups! Here are the newsletter links for some NH organizations:
- New Hampshire Liberty Alliance sign up
- Coalition of New Hampshire Taxpayers E-Blast Newsletter
- Republican Liberty Caucus RLCNH Yahoo Group
- Keene Free Press email notification of print version pdf
- Libertarian Party of New Hampshire mailing lists
- New Hampshire Coalition for Common Sense Marijuana Policy email newsletter
- Free Talk Live latest news and updates list
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 circulation: 11,715. Back issues are available. Got FSP news? Please submit content by the 12th of the month, and thank you to all contributors.
Are you ready to JOIN THE FSP, move to New Hampshire and work towards Liberty in Our Lifetime? Join NOW! Come to PorcFest for a visit.
Participants in NH: 448
as of March 15, 2007