Save Grafton

John Babiarz's 50th Birthday Party

2006-10-10T09:31:00.000-04:00

Lex invited everyone to John Babiarz's 50th Birthday Party on Oct. 15 @ Grafton Fire House.

Date:   Sunday, October 15, 2006

Time:   1:00pm - 5:00pm

Place:   Grafton Fire House
               5 Library Rd.
               Grafton, NH 03240

I find it rather strange that the Chair of the Libertarian Party of NH would use the Grafton Fire House as the venue for his birthday party. I thought the Fire House was taxpayer funded. It would seem to be against his stated principals as a libertarian. Also, the town of Grafton makes the old town hall available for stuff like this.

http://www.lpnh.org/issues.php

Where do we stand on taxes? The short answer is we are against them. Libertarians take the old saying to heart - "The power to tax is the power to destroy."

Does that make John Babiarz a "tax and spend" Libertarian? Then again, Babiarz filed as a Democrat to run for state representative in district 10.

Gee, I wonder why Libertarians are often labeled 'selfish'.

Tim Condon bought property in Grafton, NH

2005-12-26T17:29:00.000-05:00

http://fl.rlc.org/
RLC of Florida
State e-newsletter, Third Quarter, 2005

9. Condon stakes claim in the Free State

Florida RLCer Tim Condon, currently of Tampa and an active RLC activist in both Florida and New Hampshire, has just closed on a piece of property in Grafton, NH. The move is part of his commitment to the Free State Project, an organized libertarian migration to New Hampshire. Tim wants you as a neighbor. For more info, see www.freestateproject.org.

Commitee to Save Grafton?

2005-02-27T12:35:00.000-05:00

The people of Grafton will vote to see if they will abolish the planning board on March 8, 2005. The Free Towners(Grafton for Freedom?) must be happy. This is one of the things they wanted to do. Anyone know what Tim Condon and Mike Lorrey have been up to?

The Committee to Save Grafton seems to endorse abolishing the planning board. Does anyone know who is a part of the Committee to Save Grafton? I wonder if they are trying to associate it with the savegrafon.org website or this blog?

Jon Thompson is running against Gretchen Renee for the planning board. I find this kind of strange, as he is one of the biggest proponents of abolishing the planning board. Does he want to destroy the planning board from within?

Wendell Clough is running a write in campaign against Jenny Joyce for Selectman.

Anyway, "The Committee to Save Grafton" paid to have what looked to be a 'reply letter' printed in The Cardigan weekly newspaper. It was a reply to a letter that appeared in the Grafton Focus.

These links are to .gif scans of The Cardigan:

Committee to Save Grafton paid political advertisment:
Attention Grafton Voters...
A Reply to Pamela's Letter
page 4
The Cardigan, Volume 2, Number 17 Febuary 7, 2005

Then several replies were printed:

A Response to the "Attention Grafton Voters" Political Advertisement
page 3
The Cardigan, Volume 2, Number 18 Febuary 14, 2005

Another Response to the "Attention Grafton Voters" Political Advertisement
page 4
The Cardigan, Volume 2, Number 19 Febuary 21, 2005

Trying to Understand The Slippery Commitee
page 7
The Cardigan, Volume 2, Number 19 Febuary 21, 2005

Important public hearing Jan, 4 @ 7pm

2005-01-04T10:55:00.000-05:00

There is a VERY important public hearing tonight @ 7pm at the Selectmen's Office. There is a petitioned warrant article (the founder being John Babiarz, Libertarian) to abolish the Planning Board.

Busy Weekend for FreeStaters

2004-12-07T14:42:00.000-05:00

DECEMBER 3 - chartering meeting of the NH Republican Liberty Cuacus at Makris Lobster & Steakhouse, Concord,NH
RLCNH co-chairs: Representative Bicknell and former Representative McElroy
Secretary: Karl Beisel
Treasurer: Bob Pagano

DECEMBER 4 - FSP Procupine Meet and Greet for Russell Kanning and the Varrin Swearingen Family, Keene, NH

(Starting from left)Edi Swearingen, Lloyd Danforth (hidden leaning on car), Fred and Jessica, Cal Pratt, Bill, Bob Hull, Mike Lorrey, Dawn Lincoln, Darryl (hidden), Patrick Houlmiere, Edwina Houlmiere, Kelsey, Erin Swearingen, Russell Kanning, Kat Dillon, Jon Bender, Jaclyn, Tony Lekas, Alicia Leikas, Dave Mincin, Edison Swearingen, Jim Perry, Sam Cohen, Tim Condon, Micah Haber, ?, Mary from Unity, Amanda Phillips, Karl Beisel, ?, Elaine Phillips, Joel Rauch, Jim Maynard, John Babiarz, Rosalie Babiarz, Shelley Otterson and new son, Jack Shimek, Pat

Not pictured, but attended: Bill Alleman, Darlene Alleman, Jeff from Wolfsboro and his wife, Kira Dillon, John, and I'm sure there were others.

DECEMBER 4 - LPNH winter holiday party at Chen Yang Li in Bow, NH

DECEMBER 5 - NHLA Board Meeting, Concord,NH
NHLA Publicity Director: Jim Perry
Merchandising Coordinator: Jim Maynard

The LPNH and NHLA have meeting at the same location. 175 Ammon Drive, Manchester NH. This seems to be the location of 1-800-SERVE-EM, Inc. Northern Region Airport Processing Center, 175 Ammon Dr., Suite 100 Manchester, NH. I wonder if the RLCNH will have meetings there too.

Condon Returns

2004-12-03T10:48:00.000-05:00

Tim Condon, Attorney at Law, and Participant Services Director, the Free State Project, flew into NH yesterday 12/02/04 and was meet by Robert Hull and other Porcupines. He will be in NH until Sunday, 12/05/04.

Tim will be holding the chartering meeting of the NH Republican Liberty Cuacus. The meeting will be held at Makris Lobster & Steakhouse 354 Sheep Davis Road, Concord, on FRIDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2004 STARTING AT 6:30 P.M.

While in NH Tim will also be attending the FSP Procupine Meet and Greet for Russell Kanning and the Varrin Swearingen Family on Saturday, December 4th, 2004 1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m., 2 Starlight Drive, Keene, NH

Tim is very interested in the NH militia. Tim would like to standardize the rifle and ammo of the NH militia. Tim favors .223 Remington cartidge.

"THE LIBERTARIAN PARTY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE IS NOT YOUR FRIEND" -John Barnes

2004-10-08T19:55:00.000-04:00

Subject: DO NOT COME TO NH - EVER
Date: Wed, 16 Jun 2004 08:45:13 -0400

==========================================

Mr. Xxxxx Xxxxxxxxx,

THE LIBERTARIAN PARTY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE IS NOT YOUR FRIEND. WITH "FRIENDS" LIKE YOU, WE DON'T NEED ANY ENEMIES.

YOU HAVE POISONED THE WELL IN GRAFTON. THANKS A LOT FOR YOUR "HELP."

THE PEOPLE OF GRAFTON ARE ARMED, DANGEROUS, AND EXTREMELY PISSED AT YOU. EXCEPT FOR THIS MESSAGE, WE WILL CERTAINLY NOT PROTECT YOU.

IN FACT, WE WILL HELP THEM HANG YOU OUT TO DRY IN ANY LEGAL WAY POSSIBLE.

YOU ARE HEREBY WARNED. DO NOT COME TO NEW HAMPSHIRE EVER AGAIN.

THERE IS NO WARM, FUZZY FREEDOM COMMUNITY HERE FOR YOU. FOR YOU THERE IS ONLY AN EXTREMELY HOSTILE ENVIRONMENT OF YOUR OWN MAKING. STAY IN FLORIDA.

For Responsible Liberty,

================================================
John Barnes, J. D.
Vice Chair, 2d District, L P N H
Chair, Welcome to the Granite State Committee
.
Voice or Fax:
Inside USA: 1-888-221-8628 (Toll-free)
Outside USA: 1-312-893-0715 (Not toll-free)
.
E-mail: jbarnes@lpnh.org
================================================

Shawn tries to quit the FSP

2004-08-22T16:29:00.000-04:00

source = amanda42's blog
==========================================

Request for immediate removal!!!
(Anonymous)
2004-08-21 14:57

Hi Amanda, I have a question/request. How would one go about getting themselves removed from the FSP?? I have sent email to you, Tim, Jason, Alan, and two others; I have called 6 times and never got an answer, I have left message after message. I mean WTF???

Do I have to raise hell and get in the papers? Must I get thrown out instead? Do I need to call a lawyer or maybe ask one of my law professors at school? What do I need to do????

Others don't seem to have a problem, why wont you respond to my repeated requests? Please remove me immediately and send the conformation to my email at showard9@kc.rr.com

If this continues to be a problem, I _will_ have it taken care of, believe me; and it wont involve any free publicity. It will be accomplished through a very quiet court order that will be sealed from public display. I shouldn't think this would be too much to ask.

JUST DO IT!

Shawn Howard
Kansas City Missouri.
==========================================

Re: Request for immediate removal!!!
(Anonymous)
2004-08-22 08:11

The only removal option in the statement you signed is if the guidelines change or if the project does not get to 20,000 signers. The FSP is a rather passive organization for someone who has signed the Statement of Intent as no further action is required until 19,999 other people have signed. As it stands today, if you want out you merely have to say that you plan to violate your word at some future date, should the terms of the statement you signed come to pass. This has no substantive effect, as no action is required of you today so your future intention to violate your word is meaningless in today's context. Whether or not they remove you from their count is not of your concern, as they may not believe your word is truly meaningless and until you actually violate your word, you have not broken your agreement. If you wish to go to court to prove that your signed statement of intent is worthless, well, that would be amusing.
==========================================

Re: Request for immediate removal!!!
(Anonymous)
2004-08-22 09:38

I was errant in checking my mail until this morning when I discovered I was removed from the the list yesterday; whatever you think you know , you are obviously misinformed. In addition, I sent your reply to one of my professors, and he was the one amused. He wondered if you also practice medicine without a degree, and if so, you should be restrained as a public menace; if your grasp of medicine is no better than it is of our nations contract laws, you are a dangerous individual. Spouting sarcasm based on ignorance is never a good idea. For the record, and to show I'm a good sport, first thing monday (after class), I will withdraw my complaint from the State Attorney Generals Office, where they, assuredly will be amused.

But HEY! You're amused, my professor's amused, and after months of effort - I'm removed. It's been a grand week, has it not? Anything further you might feel necessary to respond with can be sent direct: showard9@kc.rr.com, as I no longer have a reason to visit this forum. Thank you. --shawn
==========================================

Re: Request for immediate removal!!!
(Anonymous)
2004-08-22 12:20

In the words of Jason, you can't resign, you can ask for your name to be removed from the list of participants.

Yes, I am extremely amused that one who would sign up for an organization whose goal is more individual responsibility and less government would seek the efforts of their state attorney general to remove themselves from a "contract" that has no legal binding whatsoever. I need no grasp of our nation's contract laws, as you were not entered into a contract. You merely made a promise, with no down side other than your breaking that promise should you fail to fulfill it. I would very much like to know what your professor thought of this situation. Did you show him the statement of intent and participation guidelines as well as my comment? No matter what you say or do now you will not have violated your statement of intent until 5 years have passed after 20,000 people have signed up and you have not moved. Perhaps I have an oversimplified view of this, but it's not a particularly complex statement. Good luck in wherever your travels take you instead.

Economic?

2004-08-20T21:58:00.000-04:00

From: Mike Lorrey
Date: Fri Feb 27, 2004 7:14 pm

...

Why Grafton? It has been declared "The Free Town" by a group of Free State Project members investigating and planning its establishment and development.

Population: 1,000
Registered voters: 700
Actual ballot casters: 460
Libertarian leaning voters: 125

Grafton was rated the safest town in the northeastern US in the event of nuclear war by one academic study.

Area: 40 square miles

Location: 15 miles south southwest of the geographic center of New Hampshire, it is 40-45 minutes drive from the state capital, Concord.

Geography: mountainous/hilly with ponds, lakes and valleys

Geology: granite/schist/mica/quartz rock, late holocene glacial moraines, bogs, it is the eastern reaches of the ancient glacial Lake Mascoma.

Landmarks: Ruggle's Mine, a colonial mica mine, is a significant tourist draw. The town is otherwise highly undeveloped.

Development advantages: No zoning codes, no town building inspector, no building permits. A rather ineffectual town planning board is pretty much a rubber stamp.

Once we've transplanted 200-250 activist libertarians to the free town, we will be a functional majority of the town. When this happens, the following will occur:

- Divestment of the public school system, instituting private schools and homeschooling.

- Deestablishing the town police department, the town selectmen will wield their proper constabulary authority directly on a rotating basis, deputizing a volunteer constable corps, much like the volunteer fire department.

- Privatization of non-state roads.

- Encouragement of residential migration to off grid power.

Free Town Land Development: Building the "Habitat for Liberty", with raised capital and sweat equity of working members, on 300 acres of beautiful wooded terrain surrounding Ruggle's Mine.

...

Linda quits FSP

2004-08-15T21:35:00.000-04:00

Source = FSP forum

I am disgustedby the lack of integrity shown by Jason & some of the other FSP "leaders"/"organizers" in this situation & others that have occurred over the last few months. I have sent the following letter to Amanda [whom I do feel still does have integrity]:

I have thought long & hard regarding my FSP membership. Several things have occurred over the last few months regarding policy/mission changes. I did not want to take rash action, so I gave myself a lot of time to think it through. But I cannot, in good conscience, continue as an FSP member because the current organization is no longer the one that I joined.

The FSP website specifically states:
"If these Guidelines are amended, anyone who has signed to an earlier version shall be given an opportunity to withdraw his consent"

The mission of the FSP has changed significantly & this, among other things, violates the spirit of the agreement. So much so that I feel that I must cancel my membership in the Free State Project. I did not want to do this without extending you the courtesy of giving you my reasons.

1) I joined what I thought was a political movement. The intent, or so I believed (the original statement to this effect has been removed from the website), was to "take over a state" (as per Jason Sorens). Because of the desire to obtain 501(c)3/4 status, the claim is now being made that it is not a political organization. It is also no longer "politically correct" within the FSP to use the term "take over" &, in fact, the website has been amended to specifically state that this is not the intent. These are changes that I cannot agree with.

2) I am concerned by the attempt to knowingly mislead by keeping the membership # at approx. 6,000. There has been evidence presented on the forums that there are ~2,000 names still included of people who cannot be confirmed despite repeated attempts to contact them in several different ways. There has been additional evidence that the true membership # is actually closer to 1,700. To give the FSP leadership the benefit of the doubt I have referred to it as misleading. But it is pretty close to being fraud.

Additionally, the guidelines stated that if 20,000 members were not achieved by 9/1/06, then the commitment was null & void. Now, FSP leadership is acting as though membership is an open-ended commitment that will continue indefinitely. Again, this changes what I committed to. And the phony membership # still on the website would cause me to seriously doubt the validity of any claim of having achieved 20,000 members.

3) It was ultimately revealed that only around 2,300 people voted regarding the state selection. Some people did not receive their ballots in time. In hindsight, the membership should probably have been confirmed prior to taking the vote. I'm not sure that this vote should be considered valid.

Add to that the information that we have learned about NH since then:

a) NM was not included in the vote because the population was approx. 1.5 million. Even though NH was approx. 1.2 million at the time of the vote, the projections for NH, given the continuing influx of people from MA, is that it will be far more populous than NM within a few years. 20,000 people wouldn't even make a dent, especially if the plan is specifically to NOT concentrate (ie. take over) any specific areas/towns.

b) NH is too expensive for most people to be able to move to, which would eliminate many people who might otherwise be a part of that 20,000. I asked very specific questions of a prominent LPNH member prior to the vote & was literally lied to re: real estate prices. I now know that I could never afford to live in NH. I can't possibly follow through on a commitment if I am literally unable to do so.

c) Statist attitudes are far more entrenched in NH than we have been led to believe. Most of the NH people whom I have come in contact with on the various FSP egroups (George Reich being a notable exception) are not people that I would ever want to live near or work with. They seem to merely want to change from the current mode of statism & control to their own version. They find it perfectly acceptable to support those laws that they are in favor of [& find it all too easy to threaten those who disagree with them]. And these are the "locals" who supposedly support the FSP goals! I am not looking to go to the expense & extreme effort of moving merely to exchange one version of statism for another. I have come to believe that NH is the wrong state & wish that the FSP leadership could acknowledge that before it is too late.

4) I am deeply disturbed by the way the FSP leadership has handled the so-called "Grafton incident", the Free Town Project, & Zack.

The Free Town Project is merely an informal group of individuals who believe in taking the "concentrate in one state" premise to it's logical conclusion of concentrating in a town [or county]. The people involved all agreed that they essentially wanted a truly libertarian town. Despite the fact that the FSP advertises any number of groups/organizations on the website & in announcements, it has consistently refused to mention this group [even prior to the "incident"].

The membership director of the FSP (Tim Condon) prematurely announced the selection of Grafton without consulting any of the other people involved. HE posted his "report" on public egroups & the FSP website. Had he not done this, the interest in Grafton might not have become noticeable to the residents of that town. I told him at the time that I disagreed with his decision to do this.

The incident also occurred because Zack publicized some illegal actions by the Grafton selectmen and their clerk - who was instrumental in organizing the meeting in Grafton & their campaign against Zack strictly for revenge. He never made ANY negative comments directed at "Graftonites" & his comments were no worse than those made by other people encountering similar problems (ie. Mike Lorrey's difficulty with a local police official regarding a permit.) Yet Zack is publicly crucified for his comments, while others are not.

I have to also wonder how the FSP leadership would have reacted had it been their personal info posted on the forum in a misleading way. Anything can be twisted to make someone look bad. And most activists are activists for a reason & have had run-ins with gov't bureaucrats. Let he who is without any history cast the 1st stone.

The incident was further complicated by the FSP leadership decision to essentially take over the Grafton meeting. Several members of the FTP had intended to attend that meeting until it became obvious that the FSP had decided to take over the "defense" & that it would be nothing more than a witch hunt if they did attend. Since they no longer intended to attend the porc fest at that point & lived far enough away that it would be a considerable expense for them to come merely to be publicly offered up as scapegoats by the FSP, it became no longer worthwhile for them to attend the meeting.

The FSP site specifically says it will expel members for promoting violence. Zack has never promoted aggression or the initiation of violence, yet he was expelled. On the other hand, Dave Mincin - the NH FSP liaison & co-organizer of the Porc Fest - is considered a valued member of the FSP leadership & has not been expelled - despite threats of violence he has made directed at other FSP members (& which has been pointed out to the FSP leadership). The standards for being welcomed - or expelled - are obviously inconsistently applied at the whim of the leadership.

This situation was made even worse, in my view, when Jason decided to go onto non-FSP related lists, under an assumed alias! - to attempt to discredit Zack with information presented in a knowingly false & misleading manner. Prior to that I had a high degree of respect for Jason. Unfortunately, I can no longer say that now. I would also have to wonder what other subterfuge is occurring & who else will be attacked - publicly or via assumed aliases - for disagreeing.

Then, Tim Condon - speaking for the FSP - goes on a radio show to publicly proclaim that the abolition of victimless crime laws (like prostitution) is not what the FSP is about. References to wanting to repeal laws relating to specific victimless crimes are no longer "politically correct" & have pretty much been removed from the FSP website - as has any reference to "taking over" & any reference to the FTP [including Tim's report].

This is NOT the same organization or project that I signed up to support. I am therefore rescinding my FSP membership.

I still support the original goals of the FSP, but I cannot support the project in its current revised form. I am willing to uproot my life & go to the effort & expense involved in moving for real freedom - but it's not worth it for just another version of lib-lite. Unfortunately, I do not believe that NH can ever be anything more than lib-lite. Nevertheless, I hope that I am wrong & you succeed.

Amanda - I personally like & respect you & your commitment to the FSP. I wish you well in your endeavors, both personally & professionally.

Sincerely,
Linda

Benson in Grafton, August 11, 2004 6-8pm

2004-08-10T14:17:00.000-04:00

From: "Mike Lorrey"
Date: Tue Aug 10, 2004 9:22 am
Subject: FTLD Update

Hey all you FTLD'ers,
Partly to keep the list active, partly to update:
We have definitely won the Battle of Grafton. John Babiarz says that
he gets apologies all the time from other residents now, and that
while a few, like Neal "Nobody is Gonna Shove Freedom Down My Throat"
Kenny, are trying to get a growth control/zoning ordinance on the
ballot, it is widely expected to be a loser. If we lay low until this
happens, we'll have a local mandate to move in.

We were also able, via our NHPR appearances on The Exchange, to help
win positive exposure across the state for the FTP and the FSP in
general. Liberal friends of mine said we came across as very
reasonable people, and the fact that the 'save grafton' folks have
only lived in town for a month blew a major hole in their
credibility.

John Babiarz is having a fundraiser barbecue tomorrow (wed) evening,
6-8pm, for Governor Benson, who will be present, at John's home in
Grafton. Cover charge is $25 a head, and if you want to attend, call
John & Rosalie at 523-8315. Security has already been arranged with
the town Chief of Police, so we won't have to worry about protesters.

Governor Benson has been excellent with our Killington project,
meeting with the town manager and selectmen at the state house a few
weeks ago and having a press conference on Killington secession in
the governors office. Lets show the governor we appreciate his
support, eh?

NHPR The Exchange, June 23, 2004

2004-08-08T15:23:00.000-04:00

NHPR The Exchange
hosted by Laura Knoy
topic: Free Town Project
June 23, 2004 9:00 - 10:00 AM.
Listen to the Real Media or Windows Media audio stream.

some of the transcribed dialog is below. Notice how Tim Condon, Mike Lorrey, and Amanda Philips all describe the FTP very differently.

Tim Condon:

"A group of us, some of us in the free state project, said, gee, wouldn't it be great if we could do on the microcosmic scale what the free state project is doing on a large scale with New Hampshire. That is say, find a town with a good cultural feeling to it, friendly people, a lack of overly restrictive controls, preferably few busy bodies, and a very much live and let live attitude, and let's trumpet that as a good place in New Hampshire a good place to go and live. The result was Grafton."

Laura Knoy:
"Tell us more specifically, Tim, what it was about Grafton that attracted you."

Tim Condon:
"Well, there are several things. One is its south of the notches, so we can at least expect it is somewhat warmer then if we were north of the notches. It doesn't have any Zoning. And libertarians tend to believe that zoning is more a tool for local political power structures to exercise their power over property rights than to actually protect the land or the environment. Plus the chairman of the Libertarian party of New Hampshire, John Babiarz, and his wife, lives there, and we talked to him about the town and he said it's a very live and let live place. What more could you ask for then a small town, where people respect each others privacy, have a live and let live attitude, and don't want to control necessarily what you do with your life, or your property."

Laura Knoy:
"I want to ask you more about the role of Mr. Babiarz, the head of the New Hampshire Libertarian Party, and who has run for Governor twice. How much of a role did he play in attracting you to Grafton, since that is indeed his home town?"

Tim Condon:
"Not very much. I mean, he wanted us to come there, and understandably so, because libertarians tend to like each other, just like liberals tend to like each other, and conservatives tend to like each other. We went through several towns, including Dalton, and Lempster, we also looked at Bristol and Ellsworth. As we went to these different towns, we took care to talk to the people we met along the way, and talk to the town clerk if we could. And of course, Babiarz, being the chairman of the New Hampshire Libertarian party was already a friendly face, so we specifically met with him in Grafton to ask him 'what is your town like?', 'Does it have a live and let live atmosphere?', 'Do they believe in protecting peoples privacy, and letting people do what they want to do with there own lives as long as they don't hurt anybody else?'. And he responded, that very much that kind of a town."

Laura Knoy:
"Last week there was a town meeting in Grafton to talk about the Project. Where you there Tim?"

Tim Condon:
"Boy, was I ever."

Laura Knoy:
"How did it go?"

Tim Condon:
"It was quite a scene. I don't think that I exaggerate too much when I say there was somewhat of a mob atmosphere there. Quite a large crowd, a couple hundred people. We were informed after we got there that someone had sent out an anonymous letter that hit every address in Grafton. All we knew was the people of Grafton had some questions about the Free Town Project, about these people that wanted to move into Grafton, and what are they about, and who are they. The letter that was anonymously sent out was really quite nasty. And, so, there was some bad feeling there already before we went up. There where a bunch of people there from out of town. The people that where yelling and jeering at us, that was what is was like when we tried to talk, were predominately democrats, we were told. And a substantial portion of the crowd did not join in the mob like atmosphere. They didn't jeer and cat call. What we expected when we went there was to stand up and have a question and answer session where we could explain ourselves, and explain and questions or problems people might have, particularly any fears, because there were some people associated with the free town group that where taking these ridiculous positions, and that was being trumpeted around town. Again, thankfully, I don't think the crowd that was there was really representative of what Grafton is all about."

Laura Knoy:
"You mentioned one member of the free town project who has been making outrageous statements, as you said. What types of outrageous statements, and second part of that question, how do you disassociate yourself from that person and those statements?"

Tim Condon:
"Things like we are going to legalize all victimless crimes. We are going to legalize prostitution and gambling and pornography, and just that's not what we are about, and in fact that person has been expelled not only from the free state project, but also he is not part of the free town group any more either."

Laura Knoy:
"Well, Mr. Condon, where do you go from here?"

Tim Condon:
"Well I think that recognition that there are good nice people in Grafton, and that crowd that we met on Saturday was not really representative of Grafton is a good first start. I intend to buy some land up there prepatory to moving up there. It'll probably be as much as 5, 6, 7 years from now before I can actually move up full time. But I'd like to buy some land now, and perhaps have a summer place that I can go to in the summer to get out of this hot Florida sun."

--------------------------

Laura Knoy:
"What is your definition of what the free town project is all about?"

Mike Lorrey:
"Um, there've been a lot of distortion about what it is all about. Really the core of it is for members of the free state project and people that sympathize with the free state project, who want to move to New Hampshire, and want to find a small town that may be similar to where they came from, in the rest of the country, or what there town may have been like originally. It's primarily economic in interest is in southern states and western state property values are much lower than they are here in New England. And people, you know, we have a lot of productive, entrepreneurial people that are members of the free state project, they would like to come here with the same quality of life as they have. You know, someone living in Dallas Fort Worth, there home there may be worth $150,000, if the same home were here in New Hampshire the same home may be 300 $400,000 in value. So they would like to come here, find some place to buy or build a home were they are going to be able to preserve there quote quality of life and their equity."

Laura Knoy:
"So it's an economic thing mostly?"

Mike Lorrey:
"That is what it started out as, and there are some that saw it as having political aspects as well. That's not really what the aim is of the project."

Laura Knoy:
"And I have to say, it's been hard for me as a reporter to get a handle on what the goals of the free state, excuse me, free town project are because some people say it is to create libertarian social change, other people say it is to sort of influence town government on a small scale, your saying it is about property"

Mike Lorrey:
"Well People who move here are obviously going to be getting involved in the town. Grantham, Grafton, sorry, is an extremely volunteer oriented town. There isn't a lot of paid staff in the town government. The reason that Grafton wound up on the top of the list is just like any of these list you see in the magazines of the most livable town in America, you know, we set our list of criteria, and went thru all the towns in New Hampshire, and Grafton naturally wound up at the top of the list. And, you know, if some town is voted, lauded, awarded most livable town status some place, they typically want to promote that and say, hey this is a great thing, Grafton is the freest town in the freest state in the country, and that is something people should be proud of."

--------------------------

Laura Knoy:
"And if you could just could just clarify for us, Amanda, how the free town project is affiliated or not with the free state project."

Amanda Philips:
"The free town project has nothing to do with the free state project. They're separate organizations, with separate goals, separate leadership, separate everything. The only connection between the two groups is that some people who are members of both, who consider themselves members of the free state project and the free town project. So that’s the only connection between the two groups. The free state project, and you can find all the information about us on the website its freestateproject.org. The free state project is focused on state level, it's not even really even focused on state level politics. What the free state project is, is a migratory movement to get 20,000 liberty oriented people, 20,000 pro-liberty people, to move to New Hampshire, and see what happens. And, so, you know, we do not tell or ask our membership to any specific place within the state of New Hampshire. And I have to tell you that even if I tried to tell our people where to move, they wouldn't listen to me anyway."

Laura Knoy:
"Well, I'm curious Amanda, why the free state project isn't linked at all to the free town project, because it seem to me you share the same goals of getting more, as you put it, liberty-oriented people in New Hampshire."

Amanda Philips:
"Well for one, the free state project does not support or endorse any organizations. And the free town project, as they stated their goal, the free town project actually has, they have specific legislative things that they wanted to do, and the free state project is not about that. We don't support specific legislation, or endorse any candidates or parties. And so that was the big difference between the free town project and the free state project. The other one is that, and I realize that this is one individual, one individual’s website had state that they were about quote unquote taking over a town, and that is not at all what the free state project is about. We don't want to take over anything. We are just about getting some pro-liberty people to move to the state of New Hampshire, and that is all we are about. And we have this very clear, we have this laid out very clear on our website, if anyone wants to check it out what we are all about."

Laura Knoy:
"Won't those pro-liberty people, as you call them, once they move to New Hampshire, correct me if I'm wrong; isn’t the goal then to create some type of social and political change, otherwise why bother?"

Amanda Philip:
"Well, for one, pro-liberty people, we're moving for more freedom, in the first place. I think all of us all the 49, I like to call them the 49 slave states and the one free state, we're all moving, as soon as I cross the boarder into New Hampshire I have a measure of freedom than anything I know in any of the other states, so that's part of it. But the other thing is that we're all individual people with individual goals, and so some people might choose to get involved, you know, in anti-tax movements, some people might choose to get involved, you know, in property rights movements, some people might choose to get involved with, you know, advocating for more local control instead of state control, other people might chose to get involved with gun movements, with the gun rights movement. And so what are people do when they get to New Hampshire is completely up to them, and we expect that they will work for pro-liberty causes in the state of New Hampshire. But I don't know what those causes are going to be until the people actually get there."

Laura Knoy:
"I see, and you could say that about anybody actually. I mean, any person moving to New Hampshire is going to decide whether he or she wants to participate in public life, and what issues he or she is going to tackle."

20,000?

2004-08-07T09:18:00.000-04:00

******************************************
Re:20,000???????

« Reply #42 on: July 27, 2004, 09:08:51 PM »
----------------------------
Quote from: thewaka on July 27, 2004, 12:27:46 PM
There is no Sept. 2006 deadline.
Diana
---------------------------
Quote from: O-Ren Ishii on July 27, 2004, 05:10:40 PM
From the FSP FAQ, circa Feb. 2002:

http://forum.freestateproject.org/index.php?board=48;action=display;threadid=6489;start=30
Q. What is the time frame for the Free State Project?

A. The Participation Guidelines state that a signature on the Statement of Intent becomes void, and must be renewed by the signer, if three years pass before we reach 5,000 members and select the state. The Participation Guidelines also state that once we reach 20,000 members, everyone has five years to move to the selected state. The Participation Guidelines do not specify a requisite time period between reaching 5,000 members and reaching 20,000 members. However, the assumption has always been that if 20,000 is not close at hand within five years of the launch of the Free State Project (officially September 1st, 2001), the Project will fold. To get 20,000 signers by September 2006, we will need approximately 15 new signatures per day on average...
---------------------------
Blefuscu

Yes, it should be clear from the portion of the FAQ that you posted that there is no 2006 deadline. The assumption that has always been may not be now.
******************************************

Wow, this is too funny. Some FSPers don't even know what they committed to, and are trying to deceive others about the commitment!

Blefuscu, did you happen to see the big announcement press conference the FSP gave Oct. 1 2003 to declare New Hampshire was chosen as the free state? They have the video archived Of course they edited those videos, but I have an unedited version. Here are some good quotes from the press conference:

Donna Delacruz, associated press
"What happens if within 5 year you do not get the 20,000 people to move to New Hampshire?"

Jason P Sorens
"If we don't get 20,000 by September 2006, then people don't necessarily, they aren't held to their obligations for signing up. So, many have said they are going to move whether or not we reach 20,000 and our current projections show that we will reach 20,000 by 2006.So, if we don't meet the 20,000, the movement may fold into some other form, though it looks as if we will."

John Lieberman, Sinclair broadcasting
"What sort of timeframe are you looking at to have some sort of measurable effect politically in New Hampshire?"

Jason P Sorens
"Some Plans have already been laid, and are in the making. I think we will start have an effect rather soon actually in New Hampshire. Because of its open political system, we can have an effect rather quickly. I expect that we will have a measurable effect in the state house perhaps as soon as the 2004 elections. We already have some supporters in the state legislature and many people are moving to New Hampshire quite soon, or will be running campaigns there. The time table is long run of course. This is a long run project. I hope to live and hopefully die in New Hampshire, and I think many of our members think the same way. We want to make New Hampshire our home, and so we are willing to stick it out for the long run."

Anon Reporter?
"I noticed in the paperwork here that you had 5000 possible ballots, and 2388 people voted, and of them is it 53% of them that say they are going to move within 2 years?"

Jason P Sorens
"That's right, within three years."

Anon Reporter?
"So, I'm wondering what you are basing your projections on, that you’re confident that you will reach the 2006 deadline."

Jason P Sorens
"Our membership growth has proceeded geometrically as rather than too linearly. Our first year we had less than 1000 members and in the year since them we gotten over 4000 members. The best trend we've been able to predict, based on weekly averages in term of signups are that we will reach 20,000 between late 2005 and late 2006. The turn out was intentionally low, because we wanted to make it difficult to vote, he, because we wanted our members to put a lot of thought into it, and we wanted people who cared most about the outcome to have an effect. So, there where various factors influencing the outcome of the vote including many ballots were delivered late to members, many members where out of town, or out of the country, we required ballots to be notarized, and many members were not able to get to a notary. And the balloting period was quite short. Because we wanted to choose the state and have it decided. All those factors influenced the low turnout. We will be contacting people how didn't vote to make sure they are committed to the free state project, because we want people who are committed to moving, not just people who sign up on a whim, so we are going to make sure our members are committed."

--------------------------------------

Where to start......

Looks like FSP won't meet the deadline and members will not be held to the moving obligation.

Jason, what is geometric growth? I think you meant exponential. But FSP membership growth reached a plateau shortly after the vote, and New Hampshire was chosen. You don't even have linear growth now. FSP barely has growth.

Amanda Philips claimed the FSP had 6000 members at the June 19th meeting in Grafton. It is almost two months later and FSP still has not reached 6000. But let us assume they do have 6000 members. The current number of new members per week is about 17. At that rate FSP will not reach 20,000 members until almost 2020. If FSP wants to meet the Sept. 2006 deadline they will need about 230 new members a week.

WOW, who wanted to make it difficult to vote Jason? Who is this “we”, do you have a mouse in your pocket or something? Surely it was not all FSP members that wanted it to be difficult to vote. Do you mean the board wanted it to be difficult to vote? Don't trust your own members to vote? How many members did you piss off and lose because of that? Less than half voted? Or do members not care that you did not want them to vote? Or are there not 5000 FSP members? And then there are the opt-outs.

I want to know what the real number of FSP members is. My Guess is less than 3000. And not many people visit the online forum. It is a very low traffic Internet board. Very rarely are more than 50 people on line at a time, and that number would include visitors as well. And it is usually the same few people that post.

Oh No! Tony Stelik is going to kill himself!

2004-08-06T08:44:00.000-04:00

"Indeed FSP is the last chance or there will be nothing left, worth of living for." - Tony Stelik

Pretty scary stuff Tony. Don't you have kids? Check out this site Tony : http://www.finalexit.org/ Just trying to help ;)

Tony Stelik
Southington CT 06489

I wonder what the Tony Stelik - John Babiarz connection is. John Babiarz was born in Southington, CT and only moved to Grafton, NH about 11 years ago. John B's parents still live in Southington, CT. I think Tony S. and John B. are both Polish too.

http://forum.freestateproject.org/index.php?board=48;action=display;threadid=7280;start=msg101822#msg101822

"Feeling like adding my 2 cents to this discussion….

As fare as I am familiar with the Free Town Project, it was not a monolith in any sense shape and form organization.

There were at least three competing groups of people hoping for acquiring inexpensive land and house. Although general idea of complementing existing political shape in considered towns, and Grafton was on the top of the list, was semi- driving motivation, in reality the prevailing consideration for most of interested in the project was economical reasons and political outcomes being a byproduct.

Further, free town project never evolved more than to loose discussion group on the yahoo forum. There is no one who could represent free town project. All what could be represented are various, also loosely formed, business oriented groups and Zack was not a member of any – as fare as I would know.

I am trying to think what Tim and Amanda were doing at the town meeting since FSP never endorsed free town project discussion group, nor it endorsed any particular business group. Bob Hull does not belong to any group and his land investment is strictly individual affair. He did not even take major part in discussions, not alone in discussions with Zack. Mike Lorrey was involved in one of business groups and his attendance could be justified at the meeting, but he was exactly opposing Zack all the way and should be rather amongst audience at the meeting. The only person or persons who should be answering the questions are Zack and one or two others who shared Zack’s opinions.

Zack is a libertine. He has any right to be whatever he wants to be, and if he made a noise he should have enough courage to face the people he addresses and take a stand like a man to defend his position. The all interested in this case are "Zackoniaks" and the people of Grafton. Unfortunately I see Zack did not have enough integrity to be where needed and take responsibility to answer the questions. Others had to cover his behind with better or worse effects.

As to Zack’s history I have to take his side however. He was charged for having child pornography stored on his computer. In effect he was accused, he lost his case in the court and he won appeal (democrats dug this out). I know Zack and I would be more than surprised if he would happened to be a pedophile. On the other hand he is rabbit individualist and his downloading of the pictures might be just a form of protest. What right has the government to tell anybody what sides you can or can not visit on the web? If the source owner does not object to download files, what business has the government to tall you what is legal or illegal to download? Is not the internet beyond any jurisdiction of any agency? I myself, unbuckle when I see road block and police officers checking if the drivers are buckled up. And for the same reason. What the government business in deciding how I am protecting myself? What I am blaming Zack for, is stupidity. In his age and experience I would expect such a person should know, since long, be libertine can only hurt him, and if somebody can be associated with him will be hurt to. Opposition to liberty can, and always uses any tricks to scare the people and play them against potential friends. Libertine is creating enemy to his own believes with the total contradiction to reason.

The conclusion of all the mess Zack created is that he single-handedly, perhaps shut down free town project in any form in Grafton and wherever else. Zacks page and the logical consequences of it, I have to consider as initiation of force against all porcupines." -tony stelik

Tony, it was not just Zack. You all have pretty much the same goal for Grafton as Zack. Please stop trying to blame Zack for everything, because it is simply not true. You are part of the problem too, along with your buddy John B. Did you forget about the Blue Floridian tour in Feb.? You and Tim and Zack and Bob chose Grafton as the freetown. Who talked you into that?

Didn't Tim tell Bob he was going to buy some of the land before it was purchased? Who is Bob going to sell the land to, democrats? If Bob's buying land is an individual affair, why is he buying it under a bunch of differnt name? And at the town meeting people quoted the freestateproject site, not just the freetownproject site.

You can try all the revisionist history you want, but it does not change the past. And why do you keep blaming democrats? Who told you the meeting was full of Dems? Is that just marketing to the other porcupines?

Zoning?

2004-07-19T23:08:00.000-04:00

Message 252 from http://groups.yahoo.com/group/GraftonCrisis/

From: "Zack Bass"
Date: Wed Jun 30, 2004 2:53 pm
Subject: Re: Meeting Questions

--- In GraftonCrisis@yahoogroups.com, Curtis Cloughwrote:

> 15. What would you do if we were to approve zoning in
> the next election? Would you tell your followers to
> not bother moving here? ( We would vote it down, of
>course. We are against zoning.)

As far as I am concerned, and many others, there is no reason to move to a Town that has Zoning.

I suggest this as a Referendum on the Free Town Project: Somebody ought to get a petition for a Warrant Article to enact Zoning at the next election. You pass it, we are not wanted and we stay away; you reject it, we take that as an invitation.

What "They" wioll do is tell you that Zoning won't make any difference, because ALL Lots will be Zoned General or Agricultural/Residential/Commercial. DO NOT BELIEVE THAT LIE! I have correspondence from a Unity Selectman that describes the horrors of even that minimal Zoning. Yes, "Non-Conforming" structures are "Grandfathered" in, but as soon as you want to put in a different shape of window, or add a room, you have to move your "Non-Conforming" house 8 more feet from the Highway or beg for a Variance! It has happened to Unity!!!!! You get a Zoning Board in there and you'll be asking permission to wipe your ass. You just watch.

"NH Mafia"

2004-07-19T22:59:00.000-04:00

The so called "NH Mafia" is a group of FSP members (and supporters) that agressively worked to ensure New Hampshire was chosen as "the free state". I'm not too sure of the members, but this is what I am thinking:

Jason P Sorens
Henry McElroy (R-Nashua)
George Reich
Rich Tomasso
Chuck Geshlider
Michelle Dumas
David Mincin
James Maynard
Mike Lorrey
Amanda Philips
Keith Murphy
Doug Hillman
Tony Stelik
Bruce Morgan
Don Gorman
LPNH - John Babiarz crew
Benson

Let me know who is missing, or who should not be on the list.

----------------------------------
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Libertarian Party of New Hampshire
PO Box 5293Manchester, NH 03108
603-431-1618
fsp-nh@lpnh.org

LPNH Endorses Free State Project

Concord - 17-Jan-2003 - At the January meeting of the Libertarian Party ofNew Hampshire's executive board, the party officially endorsed the FreeState Project (http://www.freestateproject.org/) by unanimous vote.

The Free State Project is a rapidly growing movement that seeks to gaincommitment from 20,000 people who pledge to move to a single,low-population state and work to peacefully institute political reformsthere. FSP members will integrate into existing communities and worktogether with longtime residents to hold politicians accountable and tomake government smaller and more responsive. Currently, the FSP has over2,400 signed-on participants. New Hampshire is among the ten states beingconsidered as the FSP target state.

Many LPNH members, as well as executive board members, have signed on asmembers of the FSP. In addition, the LPNH has formed the "Welcome to theGranite State" Committee to coordinate efforts promoting New Hampshire asthe most desirable Free State candidate. This committee will work withother activists and FSP members to attract people seeking liberty and thespirit of independence that are so well represented in the Granite State.

The Free State Project membership includes a number of New Hampshireresidents who have signed on, in addition to a core group of nationwidemembers convinced that New Hampshire is the best choice for success of theFSP's goals. The attraction of New Hampshire often cited by FSP members isthe respect by our residents for the ideals of individual liberty andsmall, decentralized government. New Hampshire has one of the lowest ratesof state and local taxation in the country, one of the most efficientstate budgets and is one of the states most respectful of its residents'civil liberties. New Hampshire residents may find themselves a group ofpolitical friends and allies in the Free State Project members, all ofwhom recognize the virtues of self-reliance, individual freedom and smallstate government, and will seek to further improve upon and enhance NewHampshire's standing as the liberty-leader among the fifty states.

For more information on the Libertarian Party of New Hampshire, the FreeState Project, and projects of the Welcome to the Granite State Committee,please visit http://www.lpnh.org/.

END
----------------------------------

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Elizabeth McKinstry, Vice President Free State Project, Inc.
Phone: (734) 904-5712
Email: emckinstry@freestateproject.org

New Hampshire Governor Joins as a Friend of the Free State Project

Henderson, NV and Austin, TX - August 7, 2003 - In late June, Governor Craig Benson (R-NH) met with members from the Free State Project (FSP) who were visiting to explore New Hampshire as a possible choice for the FSP. Benson welcomed the visit and noted that he had much in common with Free Staters. After careful consideration, Governor Benson has decided to sign on as a supporter of the FSP. While making no commitment to move with the Free Staters, he supports their efforts to reform state and local government in order to create a truly free society.

The Free State Project (http://www.freestateproject.org/) is a non-profit organization that is in the process of gathering 20,000 or more liberty-oriented people to move to a single state in the U.S. in the attempt to establish a truly free society. Rather than continuing the same failed strategies aimed at bringing the US Government to the light of liberty, the Free State Project aims at creating liberty in a single state. The success of the FSP would likely entail reductions in burdensome taxation and regulation, legal reforms, and an increased respect for and protection of people's rights, demonstrating the benefits of liberty to the rest of the nation and the world. The project's membership is currently conducting the vote to choose which state will become "the Free State."

Jason Sorens, founder of the FSP, said "As a grassroots organization, we draw support from many quarters. In addition to the nearly 5,000 members and hundreds of friends, it's wonderful to have an ally in this state's highest office." The meeting, part of the "Escape to New Hampshire" getaway sponsored by the Welcome to the Granite State Committee (http://www.freestatenh.com/), was arranged by John Babiarz, FSP member, Chair of the Libertarian Party of NH (http://www.lpnh.org/), and Benson's appointee to the Efficiency in Government Commission.

When asked how he would feel about 20,000 small-government activists moving to New Hampshire, Benson replied, "Come on up. We'd love to have you."

Elizabeth McKinstry, VP of the FSP said, "It's impressive to see someone in political office who is encouraged, rather than threatened, by citizens who want to have a say in how government should be run."

###

Pictures from the meeting are available upon request
------------------------------------

Porc. Fest. News Reports

2004-06-28T12:43:00.000-04:00

-------------
Sunday, June 27, 2004
Free State 'Porcupines' fight prickly reception
By Dan Tuohy
Staff writer
http://www.eagletribune.com/news/stories/20040627/FP_004.htm

"LANCASTER -- Free State Project organizer Tim Condon huddled around a campfire pit and doled out advice to fellow Libertarians on how to interact with New Hampshire natives.

He said he saw for himself how ornery or stubborn Granite Staters can be last week when residents in Grafton objected to project members relocating to their town of about 1,200 people with the idea of "taking over."

It was just "a vicious crowd of xenophobes and rednecks," Condon, an attorney from Tampa, said Thursday

Seeing a reporter among his political pioneers -- who want 20,000 people to relocate to New Hampshire to promote limited government -- he quickly added, "That was a joke.""
-------------

-------------
Sunday, June 27, 2004
Benson snatches quill votes
Dan Tuohy
Staff Writer
http://www.eagletribune.com/news/stories/20040627/NH_001.htm

"Gov. Craig Benson is still a Republican -- just in case you're wondering.

The first-term millionaire from a tony side of Rye is seeking re-election, but he is also seeking support from Libertarians.

Who says Benson isn't bipartisan?

Benson was the speaker Friday at the Liberty Dinner, a fund-raiser for the lobbying arm of the Free State Project. The Porcupines, as they call themselves, are Libertarians from around the country who are moving to New Hampshire to celebrate the essence of the Live Free Or Die state."
-------------
-------------

June 25, 2004
Free State group has 'Porcupine Festival'
By BEVERLEY WANG
The Associated Press
http://www.theunionleader.com/articles_showfast.html?article=39773

"Reached by phone yesterday, the governor said he planned to give a “standard speech” on education, health care and the economy.

“I go speak every day to different groups,” Benson said. “The charm of New Hampshire and the charm of America actually is we welcome people from around the world with different ideas and different ways of doing things.”

In a 2001 essay, Sorens wrote: “Once we’ve taken over the state government, we can slash state and local budgets.” Sorens also favors rejecting federal funding. “We can bargain with the national government. . . . We can use the threat of secession as leverage to do this,” he wrote.

Free staters’ interests vary, from decriminalizing marijuana, prostitution and other “victimless crimes,” to advocating for school choice, lowering taxes and protecting Second Amendment rights. They say they are united by a desire to limit government to the protection of life, liberty and property rights.

The Free State Project recently grabbed headlines when a breakaway group called the Free Town Project declared its intention to settle 200 libertarians in Grafton, population 1,200.

“The Free State Project doesn’t endorse special legislation, candidates or political parties. We’re not interested in taking over anything,” Amanda Phillips, Free State Project president, said recently at a meeting Grafton."
-------------
-------------

June 26, 2004
Free State Porcupine Festival draws mixed crowd to Lancaster
BEVERLEY WANG
Associated Press
http://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/news/state/9021198.htm

"The Free State Project recently grabbed headlines when a member of a splinter group, the Free Town Project, published an "enemies list" that named several Grafton town officials. The member has since been expelled, but Free Staters have learned their lesson. They are urging members to tread lightly when they move to New Hampshire.

"When we move into New Hampshire, we're the new kids on the block," said Tim Condon, a Free State leader. "The people that I've met in New Hampshire do not want to be told how to live their lives.""
-------------

Hostile takeover

2004-06-26T20:36:00.000-04:00

Grafton residents right to worry about libertarian invasion.
Monitor editorial
June 25. 2004 8:31AM

How many Grafton 'take over' groups are there?

2004-06-26T08:02:00.000-04:00

AP story on the NHLA dinner last night:
Protesters criticize Benson's ties to Free State Project, libertarians
By BEVERLEY WANG
Associated Press Writer

Liberty Alliance draws praise, protest
June 26, 2004
By CAROL CARTER
Union Leader Correspondent

Benson(official friend of the Free State Project) avoided some NH state residents(protesters), so he could speak to a group of his freinds from the free state project(many from out of state, visiting for the Porc. Fest. at Rogers Campground in Lanster, NH). I wonder why he does not want to hear NH resident's objections.

Oh my! Carol Shea-Porter asked Benson about his association with the Free State Project, and he denied it!

Tim Condon has announced a splinter group of the Free Town Project(a splinter group of the Free State Project) called Grafton For Freedom. Does this group have a website? How do we find out what the group is about? Does the Grafton For Freedom group have any associations with the Free State Project or the Free Town Project?

Is this the 'good neighbor' group you talked about at the Focus meeting on the 19th?

Thanks michael

2004-06-25T15:30:00.000-04:00

I find it quite interesting all this talk about the folks at the meeting (Tim, Amanda, Mike, et al) 'lying'. The problem they are having is one that Zack has continually attacked in various forums and in the FSP forums:

Zacks Position (in my words, of course):
If you try to 'hide' what you are, or 'sugar-coat' libertarianism in any way, you will ultimately be called to the floor on this and not only have to defend your beliefs, but also have to defend your lies. Either you are a libertarian, with ALL that it implies, or you are not - there is no 'middle ground'.At first, I was against Zack's position, mainly because I was use to giving way to the seemingly unlimited opposition to my beliefs. But as I researched more, understood more, and fully thought out what my principles were - it became much easier (and guilt-free) to simply state my 'real' views.

Tim cringes at the thought of standing up in front of a mixed audience and plainly stating 'Yes, I believe that prostitution should not be considered a crime' - and since he can't do this, he will lose respect from BOTH sides of the issue, as we are seeing here.

My only hope is that since Tim is/was also a part of the FTP folks as well as the FSP membership recruiter, that you view his statements as reflective of his role in the FSP, not the FTP.

so, to state things as plain as I can:
YES, the ultimate goal of the FTP is to create a majority libertarian presence in a politically powerful area (town, county, or state) in an effort to prevent further government encroachment on basic rights and to repeal those areas of government which do infringe on the same rights. Two methods were finally decided upon...
(1) attract a significant percentage of the local population (perhaps 10-20%) of 'newcomer' libertarians and actively pursue debate and discussions with the 'locals' in an effort to persuade them over to our beliefs. This is supposedly being attempted in Rochester. The Rochester group split off from us more 'hard-core' #2 groupies early this year and the main proponent is/was the owner of the FreeTownProject list that was locked (handle 'libertarian40').
(2) This group (my group, the ones you are up in arms about) believes that the first groups premises are totally flawed and nothing will ever come of it as witnessed by the past 30 years of 'persuassion' accomplished by the Nat'Lib Party..zilch. We believe that 'persuassion' will only ultimately garner a few folks to our cause... so we advocate attracting enough libertarians to 'make up the difference' between local libs and statists to turn the tide in the libs favor. This does indeed come across as something 'underhanded' or 'unfair' to many folks(libs and non-libs), including those in group #1.

One of the advantages of dealing with us, the crazy #2's, is that you will know where we stand, we accept the friction which will inevitably follow when statists and others who do not believe in our views are faced with our firm stands on issues based moral, economic, and ethical grounds. And there WILL be those who hate us for our politics and thoughts. If libs decide to move to Grafton, then it will be in everyones best interest to understand each other as much as possible and try our best to be civil and humane.

graftonites who vehemently oppose libertarian policys will face the same exact situation that libs have faced across the country for 30 years... being in a position of weak political power. I believe so strongly in my views that I am willing to relocate in order to actually have a chance at seeing people and policys that reflect me, something that libertarians will never accomplish by being a 5% minority party in this supposed 'representative' government of 'ours'. Heck, the mormons did it with Utah, the lefties did it with Vermont (kinda), and we will try. Don't worry, no rights will be violated or laws broken, everything on the up and up.

So there it is in Black and White. My fellow FSP members will claim that I and the FTP are going about this is the absolute wrong method, that we are actually hindering the progress of the FSP, we are 'saboteurs' and various other labels. But I can sleep at night. I will stand by my beliefs that zoning, public education, taxation, welfare, eminent domain, victimless crime laws, etc are all wrong and immoral acts of government against the citizens and I will speak and vote accordingly.

michael

PS: no children or animals were harmed during the creation of this post/rant

Mike Lorrey is a Liar

2004-06-23T09:43:00.000-04:00

Unofficial FSP NH Wiki about Mike Lorrey

Here is a quote from the Unofficial FSP NH wiki about Mike Lorrey:
"He is currently involved in the Free Town Project to move FSP members to one small population NH town to serve as a test bed of libertarian ideas..."

Just economic huh?

Can you please point us to the info on the Free Town Project? How do you join? Do I have to be a FSP member to join? How do you recruit?

Who is the leadership of the Free Town Project? If FTP kicked Zack out, who decided kicked him out, and when?

What are Free Town Land Development (FTLD), and the other land development groups? What are the names of the entities that have been buying land in Grafton?

At least Zack does not lie, and will answer questions when asked.

----------------------------------------
Trying to Organize ‘Anarchy'
By Jodie Tillman, Valley News, 2/22/04 Also available in at the FSP site : http://www.freestateproject.org/news/media_archive/0191.jsp

"As his companions chewed quietly, Lorrey talked about one way of accomplishing what they referred to as the Free Town Project: build affordable housing in one town and give priority to libertarians, or “liberty lovers,” migrating to New Hampshire.

He had been talking to a lawyer about their preliminary plan: form a board of directors for a development company, get at least $200,000 worth of investments, buy a large expanse of land and put up condominiums or other housing. People associated with the Free State Project would buy into the company.

The town could be a “Plymouth Rock, a place where people can land,” said Geshlider, who is a developer.

The rent would be $100 a week, with just the basics of heat, electricity and “definitely high-speed Internet,” he said."

"...Michael Lorrey, a Grantham resident who is helping recruit for the project and was willing to move if another state had been selected."

---------------------------------------

Mike, are you still an extropian transhumanist?

We just want the truth Mike.

NHPR "The Exchange" June 23 9-10 AM

2004-06-22T21:59:00.000-04:00

NHPR The Exchange
hosted by Laura Knoy
topic: Free Town Project
June 23 from 9:00 - 10:00 AM.

Listen to the Real Media or Windows Media audio stream.

Mike Lorrey will be in the studio.
Amanda Philips will be on the phone at some point.
Tim Condon did a taped interview.

Notice how Jason P. Sorens has been missing from all these 'events'? Seems he would be the best one to explain what he is trying to do.

Don't forget to call .

Call-in number: 1-800-892-6477

NPR : Town Doesn't Welcome Libertarians

2004-06-21T21:39:00.000-04:00

NPR: Town Doesn't Welcome Libertarians
from All Things Considered, Monday , June 21, 2004

The Top Ten Lies Told In the Wake Of The Grafton Focus Meeting 6/19

2004-06-20T15:24:00.000-04:00

Message 7032 - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Free_Town_Project/

From: Tim Condon
Date: Sun Jun 20, 2004 7:00 pm
Subject: Re: [Free_Town_Project] Top Ten Lies Told by the FSP/FTP In the Wake Of The Grafton Focus Meeting 6/19

At 10:54 AM 6/20/2004 -0700, you wrote:
Feel free to cross-post wherever you can. Amanda Phillips apparently holds residents of Grafton to a different standard than non-Grafton residents when she banned me yesterday after posting something she found to be offensive after one warning. She gives Grafton residents the one strike and you're out treatment while others receive two warnings.

The Top Ten Lies Told In the Wake Of The Grafton Focus Meeting 6/19
And boy, were they coming fast and furious down the pike, during the meeting and afterward in the mentions in the press.

10) From the 6/20 Union Leader: "There's a lot of fear and xenophobia out there," said Tim Condon. "They want to fight against anyone coming in. That's why they kept saying, you haven't answered the question."

Ohmigod, does he really believe this??? Is he really this dense? Does he really think people in NH and Grafton believed his horseshit? One person said, in addition to being a lawyer, he must be a farmer cause he sure does dish out the manure. He must own a helluva backhoe!

Yep. I'm saying it. Why don't you identify yourself so we know who the players are here? I was quite clear and quite emphatic on a number of issues. Repeatedly. We always knew there would be xenophobia to be fought against. But not everyone exhibits that kind of characteristic. I wonder who this "R L" character is.

9) From the Peaks & Valleys column in the 6/20 Boston Globe: "[Babiarz] now says he wants nothing to do with the Freetowners."
Really, now, John? Then why are you and Rosalie so graciously offering to play host to the invading Porcupines who will be showing up in town on the 27th for a four-hour tour of the Free Town?

Yep. I'll be there too. Babiarz has never been a member of the Free Town organization. But he very graciously helped us when we visited there. And he and Rosalie will very graciously help us, along with other Grafton Residents, when we come in to visit and tour on the 27th. You got a problem with that? You got a problem with individual freedom? You got a problem with individual rights or private property? Thankfully, you're not representative of the people of Grafton. You're a piss ant.

8) From the mouth of Mike Lorrey: "Grafton has 40 square miles of land. There's a lot of land to build on, you won't even know we're there."

Sorry, we forget, you're from the big city of Lebanon you don't know about things like swamps and ledge. JUST BECAUSE WE HAVE 40 SQUARE MILES DOES NOT MEAN YOU CAN BUILD ON EVERY SQUARE INCH. Besides, you've already stated in other public posts that your core group of Free Towners don't really have much of a pot to piss in. Who's gonna volunteer to buy that 5.1 acre parcel that's solid ledge, that will take tens of thousands of dollars worth of explosives to blast out in order to put a septic system in? Oh wait, silly me, I forgot that Dave Walthour told you it was perfectly fine to just pipe your shit and sewage into the ground through some PVC pipe, with absolutely no mention of a septic system design let alone that it ain't a good idea to dig your well a few feet away from your septage pipe. Wonder what the NH department of environmental services and the state board of realtors will say this week when they get a copy of the email where Dave Walthour told Tim Condon it was perfectly okay. Might as well send a copy to the NH Bar Association, in case Condon gets the funny idea that he might like to practice law once he moves to Free Town, Free State, USA.

Stupid statement by the asshole, Mr. Piss Ant. I've repeatedly
said I intend not to be a lawyer in the Free State. I can do much more
damage to petty statist pigs like him when I get there by using my talents otherwise. By the way, I believe I know who this person is. He's a little
shit who I had several words with at the meeting yesterday. The only reason I didn't tell him in a mannerly way to "go fuck yourself, piss ant," is
because we were working hard on being calm and mannerly to everyone. I'll see you at the NHLA dinner, piss ant.

7) From Mike Lorrey at the meeting, or, Bring Out The Violins: When asked why if Grafton is so great, why he hasn't moved here yet: "Economics, and also I had to take care of my sick mother." One old-timer countered that with "I took care of my parents til the day they died and I was in Grafton the whole time, you would have moved here already if you love the town so much."

SO? Big deal, piss ant. (Oh, by the way, piss ant doesn't live in Grafton. He's from a nearby town.)

6) From the talking-out-of-both-sides-of-her-mouth Miss ANARCH vanity plate Amanda Phillips, when queried about Zack Bass: "We have urged him not to move to New Hampshire, and he is no longer a member of the Free State Project." To which a resident yelled out, "Yeah, when did you kick him out, yesterday?" She didn't reply.

5) From Tim Condon, Amanda Phillips, and Mike Lorrey at the meeting: "We have no agenda, we are not a political organization. We each have personal opinions, but we don't represent the beliefs of the Free State or Free Town Project."

And from me, repeatedly: "All you have to do is read our web site at www.freestateproject.org." (several people wrote it down). I also explained a lot about the libertarian credo. And I also handed out copies of my "Finding Grafton" article and my "Re-Opening the American Frontier" articles to 20 or 25 people who came up to get it. Hang it up, piss ant. OR, if you don't WANT to be a piss ant, identify yourself, so you can be on the same terms as me, Amanda Phillips, John Babiarz, MIke Lorrey, and others. Oh? You don't WANT to? Bwahhahahahaha. Like I said, I'll see you at the NHLA dinner, or I'll see you again in Grafton, when I move there and you drag your smelly carcass across town lines into Grafton. (Does it come across that you disgust me? Surprise!)

>Told with absolute straight faces! They certainly did some fancy footwork around this one. They advocate less government yet they are not "political." Jason Sorens' original thesis was to "take over" a state, but no, they're not political in the least. Right. If you believe that, I have some oceanfront property in Grafton to show you.

FSP isn't political. What it's all about is on the FSP web site. And we are for the most part libertarians. And I repeatedly explained what we wanted for Grafton. Piss Ant doesn't like it? Too bad!

4) From Mike Lorrey as quoted in the Valley News: "Some of the opposition's been painting a lot of nasty pictures of compounds and cults and really offensive characterizations like that."

Whether you consider the "opposition" to be Graftonites or Zack Bass, the detailed plans of subdividing Bob Hull's 237 acre parcel into 5.1 acre lots along with lists of places where you could get shipping containers DID NOT come from the "opposition." They came from the likes of YOU, Michael, in addition to Captain Bruce Hartgers, Tim Condon, and Dave Walthour.

Stupid piss ant. Bob Hull said that he was going to divide an 18 acre portion of his 237 acres into 3 six-acre parcels. As to the rest of the 237 acres, he hasn't decided yet. Piss ant is a liar as well as a...well, piss ant. Don't bother us, Piss Ant, would ya?

3) From Amanda Phillips, as quoted in the Valley News: "[Zack] is not the kind of person that represents the Free State Project." The last paragraph in the article proceeds to contradict her with this: "Loosely aligned by a desire for a society with smaller government and fewer laws, Free Staters advocate the legalization of 'victimless' crimes such as prostitution and personal drug use." Nuff said.

Some do, some don't, Piss Ant. I repeatedly said it's a scandal that people are having their lives destroyed by getting busted for marijuana usage. I also said we don't want the planning board to abuse people. I also said that libertarians believe that anything consenting adults do in the privacy of their own homes is okay, including sexual relations. I also said that my wife would kill me if I endorsed polygamy in public, but pointed out that about half the world---the Islamic world---believes in and practices polygamy.

2) From John Babiarz, in the Globe article, on Zack et al: "These people don't play nice."

And John, you do? You started the whole thing when you "sold" the Free Town committee (WHICH INCLUDED ZACK) on Grafton. You did so ON THE SLY, WITHOUT TELLING THE TOWN WHAT YOU DID. You now wonder why you're a pariah in town.

No need to inform Piss Ant. He doesn't even LIVE in Grafton, for one thing.

>1) From Tim Condon, at the meeting in response to a question from a resident, "What would you do if we were to approve a zoning article in the next election? Would you tell your 'followers' to not bother moving here?"
"We'd vote it down, of course"

Yep!

"That's not what I asked."

"We are against zoning."

Yep! Piss Ant got one right. I only said that maybe 10 or 15 times.

"Can you please answer the question? Would you abandon the Free Town Project since your top criteria was a town with no zoning?"

Of course, more gibberish spewed from the mouth of Tim Condon, and he never did answer the question. See his quote above in number 10.

Maybe, maybe not, Piss Ant. I happen to know that most of the people in Grafton aren't pig statists like you are, and don't *want* to control what their neighbors do with and on their property. But then you, you little socialist, want us to believe that Grafton is full of people like you who want to implement zoning. But it ain't the case!

To sum up, all four of the puppets in front of the room COULD HAVE provided some valuable information to the townspeople in attendance. Contrary to their preconceived notions, we were open to hearing their ideas and plans.

Sure, there were some people there like that. We talked to them both before and after the meeting. Good people all! But not you, Piss Ant.

>Instead, they mush-mouthed their way around EVERY SINGLE QUESTION, and if Tim Condon thinks we kept saying "You're not answering the question" because we wanted to keep them out, he probably isn't too good at reading a jury in his line of work. And his social skills need lots of work: he walked up to a friend of mine out of the blue who was wearing a POW/MIA shirt and starting talking about when he served in Vietnam, etc. He proceeded to barge in in the middle of a conversation between two residents who had served in WW2 and another who spent his career in the Air Force – all were wearing military insignia of some kind on their clothing – and if he just thought he could insinuate himself into the town by pretending he could fit in as a veteran, well, all I can say is I'd never sign up to be his client.

I did talk to the guy with the POW/MIA shirt. Told him I was a Vietnam vet. We talked a little. He was in the Air Force, but joined in 1973 just as the war was winding down, so he didn't make it to Vietnam. Nice enough guy. Don't recall talking to any other veterans with insignia on their clothing. Name'em, Piss Ant.

In order of most annoying: 1) Condon; 2) Phillips; 3) Lorrey. Since Babiarz kept his mouth shut most of the time, he didn't qualify as annoying, but at times he looked like a deer caught in headlines. I don't think he ever anticipated such a big turnout among people who now consider him to be an official enemy of the town.

You're an asshole, Piss Ant. But only because you're too chickenshit to identify yourself. Come on out and do politics, like the rest of us. Don't hide. Bob Hull stood up and talked to everyone. I stood up and talked to everyone. John Babiarz stood up and talked to everyone. Amanda Phillips stood up and talked to everyone. Mike Lorrey stood up and talked to everyone. You didn't. I am *so* thankful that you're not what Grafton is all about.

Tim Condon, Participant Services Director, Free State Project
Tampa, Florida - 813-251-2626 - email: tim@t...
A chance to live what you believe: www.freestateproject.org

Amanda Philips, How does the FSP smell today?

2004-06-20T14:41:00.000-04:00

The story dropped on the AP wire

And Boston.com

-------------
Re:Op-Ed in Union Leader: "Advice for Free State carpetbaggers — Go home"
Reply #48 on: June 18, 2004, 09:11:30 PM

"I could be proven wrong, but I'm fairly certain that the FSP will come out of this smelling like a rose. I know NH politics, and I know Grafton pretty well. This is an opportunity for us to explain what we're all about, and I have a lot of experience at speaking with the media."-- Amanda Philips -Free State Project President and National Spokesperson
-------------

Why didn't you explain what you are all about at the meeting? You missed your chance.

All I remember hearing from you were these words and phrases in a variety of combinations: Liberty, Freedom, 20,000, 6,000, good neighbor, Zack Bass, Larry Pendarvis, all him, his fault, no association, individuals, statement of intent, I don't think he's even coming,.....

I guess experience speaking with the media doesn't help you when you have to speak to everyday people.

-------------
Re:Op-Ed in Union Leader: "Advice for Free State carpetbaggers — Go home"
Reply #45 on: June 18, 2004, 08:10:22 PM

"Because of their destructive comments and irresponsible behavior, I will personally urge Zack/Larry and Jay to dissociate themselves from the FSP and not move to NH. I hope they don't move to NH, and I will not support them if they do.

I will continue to tell the town and the media that the FTP is not associated with the FSP in any way" -- Amanda Philips - anarchist
-------------

Amanda Philips, what does it matter if you urge Zack/Larry and Jay not to move to NH?
Based on what they write, they do not hold your opinion in high regard.

If I urged FSP members not to come to NH, would it matter?

During the meeting did you notice how some Grafton residents were urging FTP/FSP members not to come here?

Amanda, what do you mean by "associated" when you say "FTP is not associated with the FSP in any way"?

-------------
Re:Op-Ed in Union Leader: "Advice for Free State carpetbaggers — Go home"
Reply #56 on: June 19, 2004, 11:29:35 AM

"Opponents....bring it on." --Dada Orwell, FsP Member
-------------

I would think long and hard before making such statements.
Are you speaking for just yourself or the whole FSP?

Who are your opponents?
Please be specific and name them.

Because I do not believe in your causes, am I your opponent?

Sorry Tim Condon, I misquoted you

2004-06-20T00:30:00.000-04:00

You did not write "If we build it, they will come",
You wrote,"Build it first, in other words, and they will come."
-message 134 http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Free_Town_Project

Kind of funny how Tim Condon did not deny it was said, he just tried to shift blame, and said, "Zack Bass said that" or some other silliness. Is blaming Zack for everything the new strategy? That seemed to be all FSP/FTP had today at the Grafton meeting. Tim, you have lost all credibility with me, and you are supposed to be the credible one of the bunch.

Will you answer the question now that I post proof that you wrote it, and have the quote correct?

What did you mean when you wrote "Build it first, in other words, and they will come."?

--------------------------------------------------

Message 134 http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Free_Town_Project

From: Tim Condon
Date: Sat Nov 15, 2003 3:04 pm
Subject: Slim pickin's

Incidentally, there are only 11 members of this list. Pretty slim pickings. And there are only 25 on the Liberate_Dalton list. Either one is a loser with numbers so small. What needs to be done is PICK THE DAMNED TOWN, and then start trumpeting it to the rest of the membership. Build it first, in other words, and they will come. --Tim C.

------------------------------------------------------

Honesty is the best policy.

A Day Late and a Dollar Short

2004-06-18T22:35:00.000-04:00

Meeting at Town Hall - 19-June-2004 13:00 (1:00 PM)

Come and meet a real live anarchist, Amanda Philips. She does not want to take over, she wants anarchy. Amanda Philips is the President and National Spokesperson of the Free State Project.

I heard yesterday Jason P Sorens exposed freetown Jay's criminal past. Freetown Jay had just resigned his Free State Project membership. Today some FSP members have been calling for Zack's head on a stick. Zack is no longer listed as the #1 poster of the FSP forum. "Something bad" seems to have happend to his FSP account.

Amanda Philips, if you are going to claim FSP and FTP are not connected in any way, I suggest you do not come to the meeting tomorrow. You would be either lying, or you do not know the truth. The clearest connection between FSP and FTP would be Tim Condon. Hopefully Tim Condon and Jason P. Sorens would not put you up to this alone. Will they be attending?

George Washington Award for Honesty

2004-06-15T22:34:00.000-04:00

The George Washington Award for Honesty goes to Zack Bass. When the shit hits the fan, yall can't say Zack lied. I would like to thank Zack for his continued honesty. Others in the FTP/FSP would like to deceive people as they try to take over. Zack has said all along he would not stand for this. Now some in the FTP/FSP would like to distance themselves from Zack for damage control reasons. Who is next? They knew who Zack was, and what he was doing all along. They encouraged it. That was Zack's activism. Porcupines are activists. They can't put the blame on Zack. In the end Zack and FSP have the same goals, they just disagree on the path to get there. At least Zack is honest.

FTP Logo

2004-06-10T18:29:00.000-04:00

The bee/wasp in the Free Town Project (FTP) logo is named Reddy KillerWasp. She lays her eggs in a paralyzed victim. The larva eat the victim, similar to the bot fly. This is to keep the larva's food fresh while the takeover proceeds. That is kind of how Zack/Larry explained it. The logo also says "Liberty in My Lifetime". That means Zack/Larry's lifetime. Zack/Larry is on the old side. He does not have as much time as JasonPSorens, or that is what he kind of said.

How Many FTPers?

2004-06-10T18:26:00.000-04:00

How many Free Town Project members are there? Tim has said he expects over 100 FSP members to move to Grafton, NH within a year or two. Robert Hull has bought some property in Grafton (237 acres). Tim plans on buying land from Bob. Jay Denonville would like to open a campground/trailer park for fellow FSP members. I also saw they would like to get students and truckers to become Grafton, NH residents so they can be a part of the Libertarian voting block.

Free Town Land Development (FTLD)

2004-06-10T18:25:00.000-04:00

What is it, and who is on the Board of Directors(BOD)? It cost $1000 to get in, right? Is Mike Lorrey (Chairman of the Board, FTLD) going to the town meeting?

Blue Floridian Snowbirds

2004-06-10T18:23:00.000-04:00

Tim Condon, FSP Director of Member Services and a few other Floridians plan on becoming snowbirds. This means they will become Grafton, NH residents, but only live in Grafton from mid-May until mid-November, then they will go to their real homes in Florida. They will vote in Grafton, NH. Tim, how soon do you plan on moving to
Grafton?

Possible Questions/Discussion topics for June 19th

2004-06-10T18:21:00.000-04:00

The next entries are some of the concerns that I have and would like
addressed by FSP/FTP. If you would like to see another topic added,
make a comment here. So, who is coming besides Amanda Phillips, FSP President?

Quote of the Month

2004-06-10T18:16:00.000-04:00

Update- Original QOTM disqualified

Two quotes tied as runners up, and will share Quote of the Month status. Both quotes are from the Concord Monitor article, Libertarians set sights on Grafton that was on the front page Sunday June 13th, 2004.

The honors go to Tim Condon, FSP Director of Member Services, for his quote:

"We just want to move in and be good neighbors"..."I can't think of anything in particular that we would do to change the place."

Tim, who is this we? Do you have a mouse in your pocket? Are you the Free Town Project spokes person?

And Amanda Philips, Free State Project President, for her quote regarding the Free Town Project,:
"They're not associated with us in any way."

Whoops! Amanda forgot to include the word 'officially' in her quote. To say the Free Town Project is not associated with the Free State Project in any way is, uh,...silly. Maybe Amanda has a mouse in her pocket too. What percentage of Free Town Project members are also Free State Project Members?

Original (disqualified) Quote of the Month -"Philosophically, I have no problem with people who want to start "free town" projects and put together a local majority of migrators. It's a free country, and a free movement; do what you like!" -JasonPSorens

That is a quote from the Negative PR re Free Town thread that got locked, then moved, and must step down as the quote of the month. If it is a free country, why did you start the Free State Project, Jason P Sorens?

NHLA Dinner, June 25th

2004-06-10T18:13:00.000-04:00

The New Hampshire Liberty Association (NHLA) will be having a liberty dinner on June 25, 6:00 - 9:00 pm at Plymouth State University's Prospect Hall. Many FSPers attending the porc fest will be going to the NHLA dinner. Gov. Benson will be attending and is a keynote speaker. Remarks will be given by Jason P. Sorens, the man behind the plan. It cost $50 to get in. It should be a fun night. I wonder if there will be a Q/A session.

"If anyone has any questions about the Liberty Dinner in Plymouth 6/25, please write to keithrmurphy AT comcast.net"

First Annual Porcupine Freedom Festival June 24-27th

2004-06-10T18:10:00.000-04:00

The Porcupine Festival (also known as Burning porcupine) will be held June 24-27th in Lancaster, NH at Rogers Campground. Look at the porcs coming. Many will be meeting each other (in real life, or RL as they say) for the first time. Remember to wave at the out of state vehicles in Lancaster so the FSPers will feel welcome.

The Free Town Project

2004-06-10T18:06:00.000-04:00

The Free Town Project is a group of Free State Project members that plan on moving a voting block of Libertarians to the town of Grafton, NH to take over the local government. Members of FTP include Tim Condon(the Free State Project Director of Member Services), Zack Bass (He currently has the most posts (2515 according to the stats of the free state project forums), Robert Hull (he has purchased 237 acres in Grafton), and Tony Lekas. Those four found the free town in the free state.

The Free State Project

2004-06-10T17:49:00.000-04:00

The Free State Project (FSP) is a non-political Libertarian organization with the goal of moving 20,000 liberty lovers to New Hampshire and they will know what to do when they get there. FSP is an exciting experiment. The Free State Project is Jason P. Sorens big idea. Jason P. Sorens expects Free State Project members to have an impact on the 2004 elections in New Hampshire. The New Hampshire Liberty Association (NHLA) is officially the unofficial political arm of the Free State Project.

This post has been removed by a blog administrator.

2004-05-25T15:15:00.000-04:00

I removed all the dumb "we know who your are" posts. Guess some anonymous coward didn't like that.

Free State Project

2004-05-22T00:19:00.000-04:00

Looks like the Free State Project knows about this blog and savegrafton.org.

This site/blog is only looking to inform residents of Grafton, NH about plans being made by FreeStateProject members to "take over" the town. Discussion between FreeStateProject members and Grafton residents is encouraged. Anyone can post a comment.

Zack Bass

2004-05-12T00:35:00.000-04:00

I'm starting to think Zack Bass is a joke/tool of some kind. Zack Bass is pretty close to Jack Ass. He just seems too over the top. Larry, is Zack just a tool? It seems like everything Zack does/says is to make people mad.

Robert Hull?

2004-05-12T00:06:00.000-04:00

It is looking like Robert "Bob" P. Hull from NJ is buying the property. Bob was on the NH freetown search with Larry/Zack.

Robert Hull has been buying other property in Grafton. I will post the addresses when I verify Them. He is buying the land under a company named BWI (Berlin West ??).

Nobody Knows

2004-05-11T22:12:00.000-04:00

Everyone in Grafton I have talked to knows about Larry Pendarvis/Zack Bass. No One I talked to knew they are supposed to close on some land tomorrow. I have not heard one person say they are glad Larry is coming here.

This is where I got wind of the land purchase, on one of Larry's sites
http://forum.freecountyproject.com/index.php?board=8;action=display;threadid=66

It's not too hard to figure out what 237 acre lot is for sale in Grafton.

These are some of Larry's sites about Grafton.

http://FNHP.com
http://FreeTownProject.com
http://GraftonNH.org

I need money

2004-05-11T08:27:00.000-04:00

Looks like the FTPers are set to buy 237 acres (for about $1000 per acre) near the Danbury border, along Rt. 4. on May 12 2004.

I wish I had $300k.