FSP News - May 2008

PorcFest

The 5th Annual Porcupine Freedom (and Music) Festival is almost here!

Set among the scenic surroundings of Gunstock Mountain Resort in Gilford, New Hampshire, this year's PorcFest promises to be bigger and better-sounding than ever. There are myriad activities for attendees, including a Lakes Region road rally, gun shoots, fishing, hiking, camping, CPR/AED certification classes, workshops, guest speakers, and games! Don't miss the exhibitors/vendors area, highlighting some of the best products, services, and pro-liberty organizations in the state. See what fun awaits you, with our PorcFest preview video. The event takes place June 9-15, 2008.

Come for the music; stay for liberty! This year PorcFest will have two days of live musical performances on an outdoor stage, as well as informal singing and guitar playing around the campfire each night, and open-mic performances.

For those of you who want to explore the Free State, this year we are expanding the statewide bus tours. Daily trips include the Seacoast area (Dover, Portsmouth), Manchester, Concord/Grafton, Keene, and the Lakes Region. Find your new home: This is a great way to learn about the real estate, politics, and social aspects of the Free State.

PorcFest is a great place to meet other lovers of liberty. Enjoy the fellowship, and discover new friendships and new freedoms by signing up today. If you are planning to attend, please sign up (tickets are required) and make your lodging arrangements ASAP.

There are plenty of ways you can help make the festival a success, even if you aren't planning to attend:

1. Provide an item or two for the Silent Auction. We're looking for Liberty and non-Liberty themed stuff. Anything cool that you think would sell if auctioned is welcomed. To provide an item, or to help with the auction at the festival, please email Kate Marshall.
2. Spread the word about the festival. Tell your friends, family, and co-workers about the FSP and the opportunity to check it out at PorcFest. Distribute our Press Release, post our BlogAd, hand out our flyer or SlimJim, talk up the festival on web forums, or whatever other marketing activities you can do.
3. Donate money. PorcFest is an expensive event to produce and its financial success is based on attendee ticket sales and donations. All donations go to PorcFest; none of the organizers are paid. To support the festival, either use our ChipIn module, or use the services of GoodSearch or GoodShop.

New Hampshire Winning Awards

Last issue, we reported that New Hampshire had been ranked as the most livable state in the union by the analysts at CQ Media. That's not the only field in which New Hampshire ranks well, though: it's also the safest state and the second-healthiest state.

Action of the Month - Stimulating Porcupines

For those of us who haven't managed to avoid the grasp of the IRS, a certain bit of largess may be headed our way. The politicos are calling it a "stimulus", and, oddly enough, so do I. However, fear not brave porcs, for I speak not of economic repercussions, but of philosophical and literary excitement. To quote a quote: "My mind is aglow with whirling, transient nodes of thought careening through a cosmic vapor of invention." As such, my irony potentiometer is pegged in the red. So many possibilities, so few inflated dollars. I could rip up the check to drive them crazy by having an outstanding check lying around. No, that wouldn't work, they'd just take the money back after a while. I could spend it on something illicit, thus keeping that money out of the eyes and clutches of the money police. No, that wouldn't help much, eventually it winds up in a government bank (or politician's pocket). How about cashing the check in for one-dollar bills and papering my walls with it. No, it might look cool, but it seems like a lot of work. How about cashing the check in for pennies and then selling them as copper? Well, let's see, that'd be about 330 pounds of pennies, and copper is around $3.50 a pound, hey you could make a fair profit. No, wait, there's probably a law about smelting pennies. And, oh yeah, pennies aren't really made of copper anyway - I wonder what zinc goes for these days? No, I guess that's not a good idea. I could use those dollars, sorry, Federal Reserve Notes to buy a car! No wait, they cost too much. A big-screen TV? No, they cost too much. A nice gaming computer? No, they cost more than this paltry pittance bequeathed to me by our, no scratch that, those politicians in Washington. (Wow, just think how fast George [the good one, or at least, better one] must be spinning in his grave over that bit of nomenclature.) Taking a quick guesstimate it looks like this may be a six-hundredths-of-a-percent tax discount, not quite the stuff dreams are made of.

Hmm, depending on whether or not I want the money to go to China (and then back to the FED), I could just go to Wal-mart and buy some stuff. Although, there are still some American firearms manufactures, maybe my thirst for irony could be thusly quenched. Buying some quality American cigarettes would also serve well to blow some smoke up their, well, chimneys. But you know what, in the end I think maybe liberty could use some stimulating, perhaps the Free State Project could make use of this unexpected windfall. Supplying the means to aid in their own diminishment has a sort of romantic, though deliciously sardonic, quality to it.

Merchandise

We've all seen "Old Glory" fluttering in the breeze (or at least on late-late-night television, just before the screen goes chhhhhhhhhhhh). Despite all the negatives and the current state of affairs, I occasionally find myself feeling a certain pride in that standard which has stood for freedom, liberty, and hope for the oppressed around the world. But as time goes on, and as the ubiquitous stars and stripes can be seen on everything from underpants and shoelaces to ads for toothpaste and used car lots, I feel a bit of separation from that banner that has called so many to our shores. What can there be to replace it? What standard can be held aloft with pride and surety? Dare we "hold the red star proudly high in hand?" I think not. Maybe we can adopt a previous ensign, one that was proudly held with a bloodied but defiant hand at the creation of this land of the free. The Bunker Hill flag with it's blue field, green tree, ...and... OK, Breed's hill, don't be so persnickety. Perhaps instead, we should adopt a fictional creation, with red bar sinister and brass cannon. No, we must leave that for our distant descendants who may very well be able to plant it themselves in the airless soil of Artemis' bosom. How about we show the bold, blue flag of the Libertarian Party, with Lady Liberty holding her torch on high for all to see? OK, ok, maybe not, big "L" and little "l" people can get sooooo touchy. My suggestion is this, the flag of the Free State Project! Yes, we had a flag made if you didn't know. Modeled on the "Don't Tread on Me" Gadsden flag, it has the FSP web site address along the hoist, and an honest, minding-it's-own-business-but-I'll-skewer-you-if-you-screw-with-me porcupine in the center. You'll feel no shame raising this above home and hearth (or covering your windows, if you're one of those college dorm types). Two styles are available in the FSP store, grommets in four corners, or pole sleeve top and bottom.

In New Hampshire

The New Hampshire Advantage Coalition's Tax-Capping Initiative

The New Hampshire Advantage Coalition is helping residents in several townships work to put caps on their local taxes. Judging by the tone of this Concord Monitor article, this is provoking abundant confusion and uncertainty on the part of city governments used to having an unlimited power to spend the hard-earned money of their residents.

Dave Ridley and His Illegal Puppets

Dave Ridley has been trying to shine a light on an initiative to remove junk laws from the books, by performing with puppets. Thanks to a ridiculous law dating back to 1850, these puppet shows are illegal. Ridley gave a short interview in the Concord Monitor on his act of civil disobedience.

New Hampshire Gets a Pink Pistols Chapter

Ryan Marvin, a porcupine previously from Texas, is getting a New Hampshire chapter of the Pink Pistols going. The Pink Pistols is an organization that helps people learn to use firearms for self-defense, focusing particularly on teaching gay people how to protect themselves. Find out more from this short interview in the Concord Monitor.

Update on Events in Grafton

In March we ran an article by Rich Angell describing a recent town hall meeting in Grafton. He has since written a follow-up article describing some of the further outcomes of that event, along with the general political status of New Hampshire. Both articles ran in the Idaho Observer.

May Issue of the new Hampshire Free Press Now Online

In the current issue, you'll find:

• Keene Police Ignore Illegal Gambling Operation
• Walk for Liberty
• Double Trouble of Taxation
• Bailing out Banks
• LEAP Speaks
• The Fatherphobia of Family Courts
• Ain't Nobody's Business if you Do
• A Heated Conversation about Marijuana with Molly Kelly
• Dancing for Freedom in Public will get you Arrested
• Watching the Watchers
• A Strategy for Freedom

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:

• NH group sues to make state comply with its constitution
• Fort Trumbull Circa 2008: Waist Deep in the Big Muddy
• FSP Movie! "A Candid World"
• more in Free State Blogs

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: 12362. 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: 8,354
Participants in NH: 530
as of May 13, 2008