FSP News - November 2007

Liberty Forum - Moving Liberty Forward

The Free State Project's annual Liberty Forum will be held in Nashua, New Hampshire from January 3rd - 6th, 2008. NH Senator, John Sununu will be the Saturday night keynote speaker this year, with more speakers to be announced as we have them - as of press time, there are 19 outstanding speakers booked. On Thursday night come hear from FSP and NH native authors while you enjoy a cocktail and chat with your fellow liberty lovers. There is still no word on the date of the NH presidential primary, so get your hotel rooms now, before they announce the date! The schedule of events as we have it, is now up on the website

For a good look at the Liberty Forum, please take a look at the "trailer" from 2007! Come home to NH to meet your future neighbors! Come home to NH to meet your fellow activists! Come home to NH to Move Liberty Forward!

New Free State Project President

The Free State Project is pleased to announce that Irena Goddard has been appointed by the Board of Directors as the new President of the FSP. Irena was the "Czarina" of the 2007 Liberty Forum and is also serving as a Director of the FSP. We thank our outgoing President, Varrin Swearingen, for his two years of service and leadership to the FSP - "thank you Varrin!"

And, a quick note from new President, Irena Goddard - "Please write blog posts. . . . .I know you have an opinion about the FSP. I know you have a story about how you found out about the Project, what the deciding point was, what you currently think about the FSP, what do you think about if/when FSP will succeed. I am particularly interested in your thoughts about Ron Paul and how his candidacy relates to FSP or if at all etc. etc. The important thing is that we want you to share your thoughts on various blogs, forums and websites. Please start 'talking' and include a link-back to freestateproject.org. Just talking about it creates a buzz and helps out a lot. You can do something real easy that will help us now."

New FSP Participant Growth Charts

The steady growth of new Participants and Friends of the FSP are now shown in the new membership charts on the Membership Statistics webpage. You can find the link to the new charts by clicking on the Participant counter or the Statistics link in the Community Center, both on the FSP Home page. There is a wealth of interesting information available there, such as Participants by state, country and migration status. Thanks go to our chart volunteers; Friend of the FSP, Curry Taylor, is the original author of the code, and our IT Manager, Louis Calitz, who made it work with the website.

PorcFest 2008 Planning

PorcFest 2008 will be the week of June 9th-15th at Gunstock Mountain Resort. Make your campsite or hotel reservation ASAP. Laconia Bike Week will start June 14th (and end June 22nd) so there will be increased demand that weekend. Our weekend is not the big/main Bike Week weekend but once things are sold out, that’s it. Lodging details and Gunstock reservation information for PorcFest 2008 can be found at the website.

Have ideas about how to improve PorcFest? Want to have the inside scoop on what's going on? Looking to do some volunteer work for the FSP? Please join the PorcFest 2008 Yahoo Planners Group.

The initial draft of the PorcFest 2008 website is up. If you have web development skills and would like to help spruce it up or simply have ideas you'd like to see us try to implement, please let us know!

For promotional purposes, we want pictures and testimonials of those who attended PorcFest 2007. If you still haven't uploaded your pictures from PorcFest 2007 yet, please either do so here or email them to Rich. As for testimonials (i.e., good quotes we can attribute to people) please email them in to PorcFest.

Moving to the Free(er) State

That's the title of the latest article by Bill Walker at LewRockwell.com - "Would you like a big tax cut? Would you like your state government to uphold the Second Amendment? Would you like to have neighbors with Ron Paul signs in their yard? You don’t have to be a billionaire with a great tax accountant, or have your own Caribbean nation… you just have to move to New Hampshire. That’s what my wife and I are doing next month." Help us spread the word -- Digg the article!

Action of the Month - Stay carefully apolitical (or at least a-politician-ical)

Realizing that the Free State Project doesn't endorse any particular political party or candidate, we need to be careful about the FSP aligning itself too closely with any one party or candidate. One must be on guard to separate personal actions from actions which might be seen as official FSP functions. Nowhere is this more important than on the trail of presidential elections (including this incredibly long one that started months ago). Perhaps it is best to let discretion be the better part of valor and not practice "in your face" campaigning. A simple message of truth and freedom is what makes the Free State Project great. Until we embrace and convey that message to the country and the world, we'll get stuck with the politicians we've had for the last handful of decades. Leaving a lasting legacy of Liberty in Our Lifetime is the best stump speech we can give. - Phil Denisch

Free State Shooting Match - The Big Bull

The politicking season is heading our way. The candidates will spread out across the country like a plague of locust chewing and jawing their way into our lives and wallets. There's little stopping it (just the Free State Project, of course :). There will also be an attendant swarm of pundits, commentators, bloggers, and prognosticators bloviating their way from one coast t'other. Hunker down in your compound as you may, there is no escape. Like an a'a lava flow of hot smelly, bovine excrement suffocating everything in their path, they're coming. But before we get too depressed, let's have a little fun. An easy shoot this time around, The Big Bull. A single, large bull's-eye, with twenty chances to score a hit. Each shot in the black scores one, maximum score of 20. Categories for pistols and rifles (scoped and un). - Phil

Merchandise

In the affiliation department: Don't forget to see our New Hampshire Merchandise (link on the right-hand side of the merchandise store page). There are NH posters, NHToDo Magazine and NH flags in a variety of sizes. The FSP gets a 10% cut of the flag sales, so do your part :). You'll also find the fantastic FSP "Liberty Cards", great for handing out, sending out and leaving out - on a friendly merchant's counter that is - of course, never left out of mind. - Phil

NH #7 in 2008 State Business Tax Climate Index

The Tax Foundation just released its 2008 State Business Tax Climate Index and New Hampshire again ranked 7th nationally. The index can be used,..."as a tool for lawmakers, the media, and individuals alike to gauge how their states tax systems compare. States with the best tax systems will be most competitive in attracting new busi­nesses and be the most effective at generating economic and employment growth." - Tax Foundation website. How does the state where your business is located compare with New Hampshire?

In New Hampshire

Understanding the New Hampshire Constitution

On November 10, the New Hampshire Liberty Alliance held a class, "Understanding the New Hampshire Constitution". It was a smashing success -- the class filled to capacity within 2 days of being offered. Both Free-Staters and liberty-loving NH natives attended. The session was presented by NH State Representative Dan Itse, and is highly recommended for anyone who wants to understand how the structure of NH government is designed to keep it small, and to empower its sovereign citizens. Fortunately, the session was videotaped in its entirety and is available here on the NHLA website.

Free State Blogs

In Free State Blogs this month, you'll find many topics of interest to Porcupines everywhere! For all the stories and links, go to Free State Blogs. Here's a selection of topics just posted to the blog:

• NH Capital Access
• Why the Ron Paul campaign is dangerous
• Marc Steven's Thoughts on Terrorism
• Ron Paul distortions and smears
• Loose Change, Final Cut Coming to Keene
• Letter: Ride a Bike
• NH: More Ron Paul wookies
• Ron Paul 4th Place in NH
• NH: Lauren Canario returns from jail
• Requiring Self-Immolation
• New Hampshire Liberty Update
• More at Free State Blogs!

NH Common Sense

The New Hampshire Coalition for Common Sense Marijuana Policy has scored some notable successes in its campaign to take advantage of New Hampshire's "First in the Nation" primary. When candidates visit the Live Free or Die state, they have to answer tough questions about the "War on Drugs" from NH Common Sense activists. Executive Director Matt Simon writes an article about each candidate encounter and posts it, along with video, at SendTheRightMessage.com, and the last several articles have also been published by The Huffington Post. The campaign is starting to get some major exposure! (And if you think some of these question-asking activists in these videos might be FSP early movers, you might be right!)

The Keene Free Press

The November 2007 print edition of the Keene Free Press is now available online in pdf format. The Keene Free Press is the free online and print news and opinion publication covering Keene and Cheshire County, New Hampshire. This issue:

• Keene Free Press Reporter Jailed Indefinitely
• Opting Out
• Reader Letters
• Liberty Forum 2008
• Congressional Control of Healthcare is Dangerous to Children
• Quest for Freedom - Do you Own your Life?
• Marshals Investigate Potential Threats to the Nation
• New Alternative Video News
• Letter from Ed Brown
• Climbing off the Bandwagon
• NH Common Sense
• More at Keene Free Press

The RidleyReport

Videographer, Dave Ridley from NHFree.com is one of our Porcs on the scene in New Hampshire. He "...takes you to the front lines of the peaceful battle for liberty in New Hampshire." See some of what's happening in the Free State with 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: 12,237. 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:

• If you've moved to NH or otherwise changed your info, please update your contact info
  

• Find NH job info on the website - post your resume & check the FSP forum for a job!

• 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: 8,030
Participants in NH: 496
as of November 15, 2007