Posted on 01/02/2006 10:38:53 AM PST by bookish_lass
(Read this article in the original for links to all the events, etc. http://tinyurl.com/8xuvu )
2005 Year in Review What happened on the Underground (NHFree.com) during the last year By Kat Dillon
The New Hampshire Underground is a loose organization of freedom fighters composed mainly of Free State Project (http://freestateproject.org) members who have already made the move to NH. There, these members worked with native New Hampshirites with the encouragement of Freestaters still waiting to make the big move to NH. It is difficult to describe the incredible synergy from amassing so many liberty lovers in one area. The individuals who have left family, friends, jobs to move cross country for freedom have an extra incentive to get out there and work for liberty in our lifetimes. They feel the need to prove they weren't crazy to uproot themselves and move to the Frozen Wonderland of the North. So people who were timid and uninvolved in their previous life seem to blossom and become involved after the move. When surrounded by people who think like they do, they are constantly encouraged to try new and greater feats to promote freedom. Plus, it is just plain fun being surrounded by like-minded people!
Licensing civil disobedience To support people's inherent right to seek work and provide for themselves, Mike Fisher defied state licensing laws by giving an unlicensed manicure in front of the state Board of Cosmetology. For this offense, he was arrested and spent a day in jail. Currently, there is a bill being introduced to reduce licensing requirements.
Free to travel civil disobedience Russell Kanning attempted to board a flight to Philadelphia (the heart of American liberty) with just a Bible and a copy of the Declaration of Independence. Russell objected to the new requirements coming from the Real ID act, and the loss of dignity of his fellow travelers who are subjected to unreasonable searches. When he attempted to enter the terminal without showing ID and without pat-down searches, he was arrested and spent 2 days in jail.
Property tax revolt Objecting to paying for a public school system that teaches children that the government is the answer to every problem, Kat Dillon decided to cease paying for the detrimental school system. Dillon homeschools her child and does not use the school system and does not want to pay for what she doesn't use. Rather than paying the city, she donated the money that would have gone to the schools to the Liberty Scholarship Fund. For reasons to abandon the public schools, see 101 Reasons the Public Schools are Hopeless.
Separation of School and State booths Last year we manned tables at various times to promote the idea of Separation of School and State. We handed out leaflets and talked to people about the idea of getting government out of education. In addition, we talked to people about how education could be handled privately with the help of organizations like the Liberty Scholarship Fund.
UN flag burn We staged multiple UN flag burning events over the last year+. The first in Keene, Dec. 2004, several at the Porcupine Freedom Festival, and the last in Keene, Dec. 2005. We were protesting the UN attempts at world taxation, gun control, and one world government.
Protests for Myrtle Woodward The family of Myrtle Woodward, a 96 year old Hampton resident, wished to keep her at home rather than putting her in a nursing home. In order to do this, they needed to expand their home to accommodate her. The city refused permits to do this building, and then accused the family of building the room anyway. Hampton city officials slapped the family with a $200,000 fine. Many from the Underground protested outside Hampton City Hall and Rockingham County Courthouse over the early months in 2005.
April 15th tax protest On tax day, we gathered at the main Manchester post office to protest the income tax. People stayed from 11am to Midnight to hand out literature about the injustice of the income tax.
Souter protest The Supreme Court decision in Kelo vs. New London angered many of us on the Underground. When vying attempts to seize Supreme Court Justice Souter's Weare property via eminent domain arose, Undergrounders rallied for and against Souter. Purists wished to have no one lose their property through eminent domain, while others viewed it as poetic justice for Souter to lose his own property.
Robert Saulnier protests After the town of Londonderry seized his property, Robert Saulnier began protesting on his own land. He was arrested for trespassing. Undergrounders rallied for Saliner when he went to trial and after his trial.
FEMA protest In protest of FEMA's actions in New Orleans, several of us burned FEMA flags outside the federal building in Concord. FEMA arranged the confiscation of legally owned firearms in NO and deliberately interfered with relief efforts.
Free Lauren Canario Freestater Lauren Canario moved from Nevada to New London, CT to help protect the homeowners who were losing their homes through eminent domain (Kelo vs. New London). When attempting to attend a public city council meeting regarding the eminent domain, Lauren was arrested. She then refused to cooperate with her thug abductors and was held in jail for two weeks. (Lauren's my hero! KD)
Social security card burn Several of us met outside the Social Security Office in Concord to burn our social security cards. We were protesting the corrupt system that forces people to pay into it like a Ponzi scheme and the use of the SS cards as a defacto national ID card.
Londonderry property rights rally 30 people rallied at the airport for Londonderry property owners who were in danger of losing land through eminent domain. The Town of Londonderry and the airport stand to gain from the stolen land.
Litter pick-up Freestaters banded together to tackle trash on the highway in Peterborough. The FSP participated in the Adopt a Highway program in 2005, and will continue to do so in 2006. The idea was to show what can be done through voluntary effort, as opposed to involuntary taxation. Plus we helped keep NH looking beautiful and had fun doing it!
Free Jim Perry To symbolize Jim Perry's newfound freedoms from moving to NH, we chained him to a pole in Nashua at the MA border and cut his chains of Massachusetts statism. He was then allowed to enter NH where he drove without a seatbelt, openly carried his firearm, and burned his MA tax forms.
Keene Free Press We started up our own newspaper, the Keene Free Press as an outlet for information about corrupt government and liberty related issues.
Freedom Friends Tuath A community of friends has formed, the Freedom Friends Tuath based on the Zero Aggression Principle. Members agree to ZAP and agree to seeks Tuath arbitration rather than using the courts when having a dispute with other Tuath members. The Tuath is designed as a voluntary alternative to government, with members seeking to assist one another whenever possible.
So much more happened in NH in the last year, so I tried to narrow it down to just the things that were planned on the Underground for this review. Please do visit our friends at the New Hampshire Liberty Alliance, Liberty Scholarship Fund, Coalition of New Hampshire Taxpayers, Libertarian Party of New Hampshire, Republican Liberty Caucus of New Hampshire, Liberty Ladies, The Liberty Conspiracy, NHCASPIAN and Gun Owners of New Hampshire to see more of the exciting things happening in NH!
--Kat
We have a couple of towns here in Vermont looking to secede to NH.
Oh yes, I've heard about them! Killington, right? Because of the Robin Hood type school funding? I think it's a great idea.
interesting i guess
I hasten to remind you that NH is NOT the "free" state we tend to idealize. This state went Kerry in 2004 and still has the tendency to vote Democratic.
We sure had a lot of busloads of Democrats with Mass. license plates in the last election.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.