Another Porcfest has come and gone, sniff! Whatta week! A record number of liberty lovers--for the first time, more than a thousand tickets were sold!--gathered in the White Mountains to learn more about the Free State Project, New Hampshire, personal responsibility, and freedom.

We hosted a stellar lineup of speakers from all over the world who shared their insights and ideas. We saw old friends and made new ones. We even created the first ever real-world Bitcoin market!

Normal By Comparison is a large group of campers who wear an annual spoof shirt in the group photo.

This year, the goal of the Porcfest organizers, Jason and Sharon Osborne, was to create a sustainable balance between family and fun. This goal was met with flying colors--we even had a group wedding AND a public marriage proposal! This year’s PorcFest was so good, not even the “Normal By Comparison” folks complained.

If you missed the fun, or just want to relive it, catch PorcFest Chronicles, produced and edited by James Schlessinger. Not on Facebook? You can also find clips on Youtube, just search for “Porcfest Chronicles.” Like what you see? Support his work.

Thank you to everyone! Every attendee, volunteer, organizer, and speaker for making Porcfest 2012 the best one yet. And hold onto your hats for the 10th annual Porcupine Freedom Festival, June 17-23, 2013 at Roger’s Campground. Registration will open soon, so stay tuned.

Jason and Sharon would like to thank all of the volunteers and sponsors who worked so hard to make PorcFest 2012 such a great success. If you have any comments, suggestions, or ideas to make PorcFest 2013 even bigger and better, please send email feedback@porcfest.com.

On June 5, my husband Adam and I arrived in Manchester, NH after a seven-day drive from Los Angeles, California. We had been planning our trip for over three years, since our first visit to New Hampshire for Liberty Forum in 2009. This spring I started blogging at The New Porcupine (link to http://thenewporcupine.tumblr.com/) to document the planning, spending, and experiences that go along with moving across the country for the Free State Project. After three weeks of apartment-hunting, PorcFest, and hanging out in different regions of NH, Adam and I moved into our new home right in the heart of Manchester. We look forward to hooking into our community of fellow Porcupines and other New Hampshirites and helping to achieve liberty in our lifetimes!

And now, to answer some New Mover questions:

1. What online resource did you find most useful when planning your move?

I will give somewhat boring answers and say Craigslist(http://nh.craigslist.org) and Facebook(http://www.facebook.com/). Although Craigslist doesn't seem to be used as much here for job listings as in California cities, it is the best resource I've found for finding apartment or house rentals. Walkscore (link to http://www.walkscore.com) is also good when you're looking at apartment addresses that are meaningless to you, because it will show you the closest restaurants, grocery stores, parks, etc. Facebook is helpful if, like me, you're not much of a forum poster but you have occasional questions to bounce off your FSP friends. There are tons of Facebook groups for job alerts, housing, social gatherings, and more.

2. What was the biggest challenge?

So far it's been moving far away from friends and family. Ask me again after our first winter and I might change my answer!

3. What has been a surprising discovery about NH?

There have been many, and I'm sure many more to come. New Hampshire has a LOT of trees. And vanity plates. You may have to drive farther to get somewhere, but that drive will be pretty, pleasant, and stress-free. Manchester is much more diverse than I was led to believe (which is a good thing). Market Basket, a huge and brand new supermarket in downtown Manchester, closes at 7 p.m. on Sundays (unbelievable!). Car insurance is much, much cheaper than it is in California.

4. Name one thing you would do differently if you were moving again?

We might have gotten here a little later in the month. Locking down an apartment that we liked took only three days of house-hunting, but move-in wasn't until July 1. By that time, after nearly a month in New Hampshire, we were so eager to finally stay in one place and start cooking our own meals again. Because most rentals function on a month-to-month schedule, we could have safely arrived in NH mid-month and still had plenty of July 1 rentals to choose from.

5. What's your favorite New Hampshire restaurant so far?

India Palace (http://www.indiapalacenh.com/) in Manchester. We've already gotten take-out from there three times! The food rivals our favorite Indian place in San Francisco and is better than anything we found near us in Los Angeles.

Email me at president@freestateproject.org if you’d like to volunteer for any of these projects:

• The FSP plans to go BIG in Tampa in late August. Ron Paul’s Frigging Giant, Chris Lawless, is taking the lead to capitalize on this HUGE outreach opportunity. If you would like to financially support this endeavour, please DONATE NOW to help us target THE perfect audience for new signers and movers (you can even donate using Bitcoins!). If you live in the Tampa area and can host volunteers at your home, email Lawless at dreepa@yahoo.com.
• Get FSP rack cards in NH tourism rest stops. Why not target tourists already interested in New Hampshire?
• Produce a scripted commercial targeting Ron Paul supporters (due by Nov). Send me your ideas!
• Research how to underwrite an NPR show in states surrounding NH. Raise funds to make it happen.

• Chris Lopez has now been hired as an independent contractor and is starting her admin support. Chris will be working on various projects, including sending welcome and thank you letters, updating the database and counter, providing 1-800 phone support, managing outreach opportunities, and more. Thanks to everyone who so generously donated!
• We created a 30-second FSP commercialwhich will be included with the PorcFest Chronicles and used on Facebook. Like it? Share it!
• Louis Calitz and the IT team rolled over the newsletter to MadMimi, and have worked tirelessly to get the mailing lists cleaned up. Thank you!

You know how they say it takes a village? Well, I can use your help! Three simple things you can do this month to help the FSP, without even leaving your desk.

• Ask your liberty friends to subscribe to this newsletter
• Tell one new person about the Free State Project (or ten!)
• Support the people who support us! Check out The Survival Podcast, join the forums, join the fun! If you missed my interview with Jack Spirko, check it out and share.

Reason Magazine:“‘It’s very diverse. You see some dreadlocks here, you see some Occupiers here, you see some Tea Partiers here, you see some straight laced non-drinking Christian businessmen here, you see it all,’ he says. Warden attributes the congenial nature of the event to the natural libertarian aversion to force. ‘Libertarians tend to be pretty tolerant. Most people here think their way is the best or the right way but they won’t force other people to do it their way. They want the competition for ideas to flourish and for the best way to run things to be settled on the battlefield of ideas,’ he says, as someone offered us cigars.” Read more...

Austrian Economist, Bob Murphy: “It is because Porcfest is composed of hundreds of people who /are living out/ their professed lifestyle, that I was so taken with the event last year... At other libertarian conferences, you can hear speeches on what a free society might look like, but at Porcfest, you see it—at least a glimpse—with your own eyes. Even though my entire career has focused on the study and advocacy of a society based on voluntary relations, I myself believed in the vision more, after visiting Porcfest in 2011.” Read more...
The Dollar Vigilante, Jeff Berwick: “That aside, I'm very happy I went. I can't even mention all the amazing people who were there... but I'll try. Stefan Molyneux, Adam Kokesh, Bob Murphy, Bill Bupert, Luke Rudkowski, Mike Shanklin, Stephanie Murphy, Brett Veinotte, Boston T. Party, Seth King,Gary Gibson, Megan Duffield and Pasha Roberts of the Silver Circle movie, dozens more and almost countless TDV and Anarchast subscribers, readers and listeners! Many of the above mentioned I interviewed on Anarchast (subscribe to Anarchast's YouTube channel,Facebook page or mailing list here) and will be releasing in the coming days. And, of course, all the people who organized the event including Carla Gericke and many more. There were so many sound, principled and non-aggressive people there that I was surprised the Guvmint didn't false flag us all. But then I realized that wouldn't work... because many people would be happy if we all were gone. Not scared... which is always the point of false flag events.” Read more...

Ernie Hancock of Freedom Phoenix reports in on Porcfest at the Arizona Breakfast Club.

The Skeptical Libertarian: “I’m going to move to New Hampshire to create a world where stupidity, control, violence, and wrath melt away in a crucible of reason and true altruism that does not consist in being the better person by striking down violently all whom I deem worse. Porcfest and the Free State Project make me believe such a world is not only possible, but lies dormant in the hearts of free people everywhere waiting to be built and nourished by their sweat and toil. I intend to make the move in 2014. How about you?” Read more...

Watch Bohemian Anarchy with Stefan Molyneux

Erik Voorhees on the Bitcoin market at Porcfest.

• NH beats HAWAII for #1 best place to live!
• NH First State Ever to Pass Jury Nullification
• Percentage of population voting for Ron Paul highest in NH

An interesting article in the Manchester Independent Examiner by Kevin Kervick.

Wow! Porcfest 2012 was a great event and many people wrote exciting reports about the event. Please share some of the reports with your friends and associates. The Skeptical Libertarian wrote an interesting report, Austrian economist Robert Murphy wrote a humorous report, LewRockwell.com posted a satirical report and an alternative money enthusiast posted a glowing report.

Feel free to make suggestions or comments on the FSP Forum.

http://NHFreedom.Wordpress.com - New Hampshire Freedom is the newest New Hampshire based pro-liberty blog. It updates readers on freedom in the Granite State, other parts of the US and around the world.

NH Seacoast Liberty- You may know about the strong and growing Free State Project communities in the Manchester, Keene and Grafton areas. However, perhaps you don't know about the strong and growing community in the Seacoast. There is a Meetup group and even a Facebook page. Some people consider the New Hampshire Seacoast to be one of the nicest places in America. Learn more about the group and the Seacoast by checking out the group.

New Hampshire is home to vibrant pro-liberty media outlets. An extensive listing is available here.

According to the National Taxpayers Union Foundation, for 2011, the New Hampshire US House delegation was the 4th thriftiest delegation out of 56 state and territory delegations in Congress.

According to PoliCom's 2012 Economic Strength Rankings, Concord, NH is ranked #1 out of 576 Micropolitan areas, far southern NH is ranked #38 and Manchester, NH is ranked #40 out of the 366 Metropolitan areas in the US. Full report here.