FSP News - January 2008

FSP News - January 2008

Liberty Forum 2008

The 2008 Liberty Forum was a smashing success! Over 350 were registered for the 3-day event and over 600 attended the closing ceremony with Dr. Ron Paul. Many of the videos are now posted here with more and more coming online everyday. We thank all of our speakers, vendors, and attendees. We also would like to thank our sponsors SakalCAI and the great gifts that they gave away and the NHLA. Special thanks to Candi Cooper who won the NHLA raffle and donated her half back to the NHLA. Free Talk Live also broadcast live from the event on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights.

Liberty Forum attendees often mentioned that the time spent between the speakers and panels was also just as important as the time in them. People networked and got to know their future neighbors. Be sure to attend Porcfest and the next Liberty Forum so that you can be a part of the action!

Special thanks to Crista, Jean, Jon, Neal, Irena, Denis, Kate, Bill, Rob, Lasse, Kate (another one!), Seth, Chris L (yeah that one), Michelle, Chris L (another one), Rich, Rochelle, Phil, Ron and all the other volunteers who made this event a success.

The Liberty Forum saw coverage in several newspapers, including The Nashua Telegraph (twice), The Union Leader, and a halfhearted mention in The New York Observer.

"Thank you to Chris Lawless and the entire 2008 Liberty Forum organizer/volunteer crew. The event was a smashing success! On behalf of the FSP, I thank you all for your tireless effort. And, to all Liberty Forum attendees, thank you all for attending, and I sincerely hope that you had a good time. If you have photos, videos that you want to share, please let me know." - Irena Goddard, FSP President

Brian Wright chronicles the Liberty Forum

FSP "freedom rider", early mover, and panegyrist Brian Wright attended the recent Liberty Forum. As he has done for the previous Porcfests and last year's winter Liberty Forum, he has generated a writeup and commentary on the 2008 Liberty Forum - Free State Great in Winter of '08: Moving liberty forward and the rapture of Ron Paul. Brian is also the author of New Pilgrim Chronicles, a diary of his early days in the Free State.

Free Staters' Impact on the New Hampshire Primary: A Statistical Analysis

A new article by FSP Founder, Jason Sorens - "The recent New Hampshire presidential primary, coming now with well over 500 Free Staters in the state, affords us the first opportunity to examine our prospects with hard evidence." Discussion about Jason's research is on the FSP Forum.

Porcfest 2008

It's that time again. Building on the success and fun of our Liberty Forum, its now time to start focusing on the Porcupine Freedom Festival, aka PorcFest, which will be the week of June 9th - 15th at Gunstock Mountain Resort. Whether you are considering signing up to be part of the Free State Project, want to socialize with fellow pro-liberty activists, or want to experience the Live Free or Die state, PorcFest is a great event to attend. The weekdays will emphasize organized tours around the state and the weekend will emphasize New Hampshire and the FSP community through concerts, team sports, BBQs, bonfires, and more.

Now (not later) is the time to start setting time aside in your calendar, making travel and lodging arrangements, and telling your friends! Information on lodging, previous festivals, and answers to some typical questions are posted on the PorcFest website. Registration, schedule, and volunteering details will be in next month's newsletter. If you have any questions or concerns, please email Rich Goldman. See you at PorcFest :-)

FSP Mini-Documentaries

Heller Goodale has produced rentFREE**, a nice mini-documentary about the Free State Project, showing friendly and dedicated Porcs working and living in New Hampshire.

Shuvom Ghose has produced Finding Life and Liberty in the Free State Project, which does a great job of showing off what friendly, interesting, dedicated people Porcs are. Part 1 Part 2

There are so many videos covering the FSP, the Liberty Forum and activity in New Hampshire that it is difficult to keep up with them all! bikerbillnh has about twenty such videos posted.

Free Talk Live

FTL added KBZZ 1270 AM "The Buzz" in Reno, NV to the weekday show. KBZZ is FTL's 33rd affiliate. The FSP is one of FTL's sponsors - tune in live on the radio or to its archived shows. For a peek into their studio during showtime, watch this Ridley Report

Ian Bernard, host of Free Talk Live, has made "The Market for Liberty" available as a free audio book. The Market for Liberty, by Morris and Linda Tannehill, strongly makes the case that "government is an unnecessary evil and freedom is the best and most practical way of life." There are lots of folks out there who need to hear that message; spread the word!

New Member of the Board of Directors

Peter Eyre replaces Brian Sullivan on the FSP Board of Directors this month. Thank you to Brian for his service to the FSP and welcome to Peter.

The December Board of Directors meeting minutes have been posted.

FSP in New Orleans

Matt Simon and Phillip Allen attended the International Drug Policy Reform Conference and represented the FSP last month. Matt describes the conference and all the contacts.

FSP participants and friends attend relevant events with vendor tables and speakers. This is an area of the FSP that that does not currently have a volunteer coordinator. We increase our presence in the liberty community and recruit more people by attending events. If you're interested in helping out in this area, please let us know!

Your chance to help out

We are looking for the few, brave IT souls out there who would like to help the Free State Project. These people should have some programming/development experience. Drupal is a plus, but by no means necessary. Oh, of course, this is a volunteer position and can be very part-time or almost full time - based on your availability and interest. If you wish to investigate this opportunity, please e-mail Louis Calitz, IT Manager. Whatever your skills, please consider volunteering to help the FSP grow. There are many areas with volunteer needs - please check the Volunteer Center.

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

Free State Blogs

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

  • Why I Left Massachusetts: More Corrupt Cops in Boston
  • Nearly 100 Civil Unions in New Hampshire
  • NH: RidleyReport interviews ex-Homeland Security Director
  • FreeKeene's Ian Calls WKBK's "Talkback" 2008-01-12
  • much more in Free State Blogs

The RidleyReport

Videographer, Dave Ridley 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 Liberty Calendar tracks liberty-oriented NH events. Check the calendar before a visit or a move - you are welcome to attend NH events!

FSP News Thanks & Statistics

FSP News circulation: 12,303. Back issues are posted on the website. 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: 8,158
Participants in NH: 511
as of January 15, 2008