Posted below in its entirety: http://freekeene.com/…

If you’ve been reading this blog for the last month or so, you know that the “City of Keene” has been threatening me over my tenants’ couch in their lawn. First, they sent one of their “enforcers” to threaten me with a $100 ticket. Then, one of the commenters here on Free Keene dug up a little dirt on their “enforcer” Carl Patten Jr. Early last week, my tenants snapped a photo of Mr. Patten snooping around and photographing the couch.

Here is the latest on the situation. The day after Mr. Patten was caught snooping, a letter arrived in my mailbox from Laurie Plankey, Accounts Receivable for the “City of Keene”. Here is a PDF and here’s the text:

September 16, 2008

On 8/26/2008 Carl Patten from Code Enforcement issued you ordinance violation # 1133 for a junk couch on the lawn at (ADDRESS) The violation was not paid within 7 days and has now increased from $100.00 to $200.00 and is now due. You can pay this fine on the 3rd floor, City Hall, 3 Washington Street, Keene NH. Please ask for me. Failure to pay the penalty imposed by the citation may subject you to court action.

PAYMENT OF FINE DOES NOT NEGATE RESPONSIBILITY FOR PROMPT CORRECTION OF VIOLATION.

Should you have further concerns about this matter, please call Carl Patten at City Hall at 603-352-5440. My telephone number is 603-352-1013, extension 6030. I am customarily available Monday through Friday from 8 until 4.

(SIGNED)
Laurie Plankey
Accounts Receivable, Finance Department
Cc: Carl Patten

In response, I wrote them the following and had it notarized before hand delivering it in front of witnesses this morning September 26, 2008:


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http://libertyconspiracy.com/

“Against the Grain” was canceled yesterday by WTPL. The general manager, for whom I hold no animosity, explained to me that the show was just “too intellectual and too controversial” to attract advertisers. There will be a longer explanation on tonight’s podcast, but essentially he said that my program is trapped in a small market, and the kind of thing that sells in a small market is non-controversy. As an example, he told me that for a week, the morning team tried to talk about the View Tax, and got no calls. Then, at the end of the week, they happened to ask “where is the best coleslaw in the area?” and the phones lit up. Jim Whedon is the GM, and he’s a nice guy. He thought that I needed to get to a larger market.

This comes at a time when the podcasts for the program have become very popular, reaching number 4 among political podcasts at Podomatic, and acquiring 1700 subscribers on Podomatic alone in just three months. Over that period, the global internet reach has brought in 18,000 non-subscriber “listens”, in addition to the subscribers. This is remarkable to see in a few months time.

Given the rise in awareness of the show, I’ve spoken to some good friends and fellow liberty-lovers, and have decided to continue, to expand the shows intellectual content and intensity and spread the program on the web.

Here is what will happen, and I’ll need help from you, if you want to join in:

Tonight’s program will be the last copy of a “broadcast” program. Next will be the internet-only shows for members of and visitors to the Libertyconspiracy. On the website, we have a link that allows people to contribute to the Conspiracy. There, people can offer monthly subscriptions that help pay for hosting of the audios. Starting now, we will begin creating material not only for the visitors to the site, but even more for the supporters. With these funds, we can create a true free market audio-visual think tank, with material that can be downloaded that one cannot find on the regular site — sent out to personal e-mail addresses of contributors — (including written material, non-fiction on political philosophy and political economy, as well as fiction, and extra audio files). All of the information will soon be posted on the site for everyone to see.

Right now, consider hitting the contributions link and getting involved. The website will expand into more homes and onto more iPods with more contributors, and we’ll strengthen our influence in the US and around the world. It’s pretty interesting to see how people all over have been listening to the show, and now, since I won’t be constrained, I can go full bore with freedom and not worry about offending any politician who is a neighbor of the station! (Not that that ever stopped me, but it probably affected sales!)

Talk to you soon, I hope! — G!

I’ve met Gardner several times. He’s a really great guy and I’m saddened to see him lose the position at WTPL but it looks like he and  Jason Osborne of Sakal/CAI have completely taken advantage of the new situation. For those who enjoy Free Talk Live I highly recommend checking out the Gardner Goldsmith experience if you’ve not already. I also recommend AMPing FTL and becoming a co-conspiritor of the Liberty Conspiracy. You’ll get misc perks and help some of the biggest media personalities reach out to more and more people.

You can hear more about what happened and what is planned on the Friday 19th, 2008 Free Talk Live show. Gardner was on at the beginning of the show.

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> Thanks for answering our questions, very nice from you.
>
> 1- First of all we would like to know what is exactly SERVICE NATION
> SUMMIT and what’s your position there?

Service Nation (http://servicenation.org) is an organization which
is attempting to get more people to be volunteers. Primarily by
increasing US federal government programs such as PeaceCorps and
AmeriCorps. The Service Nation Summit was to “bring together 500
leaders of all ages and from every sector of American life from
universities and foundations, to business and politics to celebrate the
power and potential of citizen service, and lay out a bold policy
blueprint for addressing Americas greatest social challenges through
expanded opportunities for volunteer and national service.”

I’m not a member of the organization. I attended as a member of the
press representing the Manhattan Libertarian Party
(http://manhattanlp.org), Free Talk Live (http://freetalklive.com) and
my own blog, http://blogofbile.com.

> 2. Then, why do you think Jon Bon Jovi there?

He is a well known celebrity and well liked. He’s made significant
charitable contributions and created his own organization to help
people. Inviting that sort of individual would gain attention for
Service Nation and the summit.

> 3. How was the speech of Jon Bon Jovi?

I thought it was fine. What I disliked was that Service Nation is
advocating expanding government funded service and yet most of their
examples of service, like Bon Jovi’s, are in fact private voluntarism.
I whole heartily support private individuals volunteering their time and
money to charities they believe in. However, taxing the populous to
provide similar services which they may not agree with is both an
inefficient use of resources and immoral. Incentivising people with
education grants and the like negates the meaning and nature of voluntarism.

> 4. What is the feeling there in the States about the charity things
> Jon does? People like them or they think “God! he’s doing this with a
> purpouse!”?

The United States is the most charitable nation
(http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16638810/,
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-06-25-charitable_N.htm) and
voluntarism is a major component of many people’s lives. You may find
people who disagree with his methods or target but the fact he’s doing
something to help those in need likely gains the respect of most
Americans.

> Thanks so much iambile, feel free to add any comments to the interview
> outside the questions.
>
> Regards
>
> Javier

I just want to make sure it is clear that those in the liberty movement
completely support true private voluntarism. What we don’t and can’t
support is government funded service, so called voluntary service or
compulsory service. Compulsory because it’s tantamount to slavery and
so called voluntary because the government is inefficient and the
taxation process is theft. Taking from John to give to Paul is wrong
regardless of the reason it’s done or the individual doing it. So
called voluntary service is what Service Nation is advocating. However,
several members of their coalition desire compulsory service and the
natural progression of government increasing the size and scope of
voluntary service is toward mandatory service.

UPDATE:

You can find the interview, translated, here.

I’m not sure how well the translation is… putting a couple things into Babel Fish I’m not so sure my points get across. Though the one comment made on the post seems to understand that I’m being critical.

I got in without any issues. Didn’t even need my FTL ID. The press packet had this as I walked in to the press room. I’m not seeing the release online.

KENNEDY AND HATCH RENEW CALL FOR NATIONAL SERVICE: “SERVE AMERICA ACT” WILL INCREASE OPPORTUNITIES TO SERVE FOR AMERICANS OF ALL AGES

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Tomorrow, Senators Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA) and Orrin Hatch (R-UT) will introduce new legislation, the “Serve America Act,” to expand opportunities for service for all Americans. The Legislation will ask 175,000 more Americans to give a year to service to address specific national challenges, thereby expanding the number of national service participants to 250,000. The legislation will also increase opportunities for individuals to serve at every stage of their life and will support nonprofit organizations and social entrepreneurs with innovative solutions to our most pressing problems.

“Time and again we’ve learned that large numbers of Americans are ready, willing, able, and even eager to be involved in service, and that all we have to do is ask them to do so. The Serve America Act will ask. It will connect every generation through service, and enable them to help tackle a wide range of national challenges, from the dropout crisis that plagues our schools to the lack of health care in our neediest communities to the energy and environmental crises that threatens our planet,” said Senator Kennedy, Chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, which oversees existing national and community service programs. “Many Americans are already answering the call to such service, by weatherizing homes, mentoring students, or working to bring clean water and life-saving vaccines to peoples in many lands. This legislation will dramatically expand opportunities for Americans will to devote a year or more to address such challenges. It will draw the talents and skills of every age group, such as expanding opportunities for young people to improve their communities, and enabling retiring ‘baby boomers’ to transition to second careers in public service.”

Senator Hatch said, “Volunteer service is the lifeblood of our republic. It brings out the best in people and strengthens our communities. Throughout history, Americans have stepped forward and volunteered to meet every challenge. Within each of us is a desire to help and serve our neighbors the world over; and yet, the hectic lifestyle we all live often crowds out our natural ability to give service. That is why my longtime friend, Senator Kennedy, and I are introducing the Serve America Act. This historic legislation will inspire and provide opportunities for civic-minded Americans to raise the bar of service and fulfill the destiny of the immortal words of ‘America the Beautiful,’ to ‘more than self their country love. And mercy more than life!’”

“America faces more challenges today than ever before. And new challenges require a new level of commitment. By harnessing the talents and efforts of the American people, faith-based groups and nonprofit organizations, we can empower more people, improve more communities and tackle more of our nation’s greatest challenges. That is precisely the intent of this bill, and I’m pleased to be working alongside Senator Kennedy to champion this important legislation.

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