Atonal Muse : Inspired Cacophony from New Hampshire -

Spring in New Hampshire

Sun, 20 Apr 2008 18:40:50 -0400

Perterborough New Hampshire Spring 2008
Originally uploaded by nealaus

Yesterday, I went to the Peterborough Green Expo (Greenerborough??) and mulled about looking at all the "alternative" energy solutions and exhibits. They had everything from hybrid vehicles and Segways (I rode one of the newer models) to school alternatives. I appreciate the passion and focus of the Green movement. I understand that respecting our resources and being moderate and mindful of how we use those resources is a good thing. I just get the sense that a good portion of the people that are driving these things would love to see government mandated controls on individuals and taxes for carbon footprints etc. The mantra is already being parroted by the media and the masses have a tendency to follow along with what is fed to them. Oh well, I still think the "alternatives" are a good thing. Just don't try to convince me using the "religion" of Global Warming.

The Many Views of Monadnock

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 09:31:10 -0400

The Many Views of Monadnock

When I first started looking into moving to New Hampshire after learning about the Free State Project, the Monadnock region in the south-west corner of the state was first on my list to visit. I started looking for work in the area and was successful landing a job interview in Keene at C&S Wholesalers. I was flown out from Utah for the interview and a weekend stay in Keene. The job didn't pan out, but I was able to drive around the region and meet with fellow FSP members. I was convinced that I would be making New Hampshire my home and that the Monadnock area was well suited for my tastes and comfort.

6 months after my initial visit and several more phone interviews later, I was in New Hampshire again. This time for the First Annual New Hampshire Liberty Forum in Concord, and also for a face-to-face interview at the headquarters of the world's oldest, continuously published periodical, The Old Farmer's Almanac and New England's own Yankee Magazine. That visit proved to be the deciding factor in making the move.

I'm not a big fan of city life, but I like to be within reasonable driving distance of anything a bigger city might have to offer. So I decided on the town of Peterborough, NH (pop. 6000). It puts me 30 minutes from Keene and an hour to Concord, Manchester, or Nashua. The coast is a 2 hour drive east and the White Mountains and northern regions 3 hours or more.

If you're considering the move to New Hampshire as an FSP member or if you're just curious about the ideals of Independence and Liberty, I would recommend attending the Annual Porcupine Freedom Festival.

If you want a guided tour of the Monadnock region while here (via podcast voiced by ... me), visit The Many Views of Monadnock: A Driving Tour.

I hope you'll join the 8000+ who have signed up, and the 500+ Free State Project members already here in New Hampshire in the pursuit of life, liberty, and property.

Live Free or Die :)

Greatest Snow on Earth

Fri, 28 Mar 2008 18:25:50 -0400

"Greatest Snow on Earth" used to be the title reserved for the state of Utah. I believe, along with recent NH wins for "Best Place to Live" and "Safest Place to Live", the title should be stripped from Utah and given to New Hampshire. Today's snowfall put us in second place for cumulative snowfall in over 100 years (and possibly in 1st place in some areas). Only 6 more inches to go.

It's not just paper, it's parchment...

Sun, 17 Feb 2008 10:34:41 -0500

I attended a great class presented by NH House Representative and Political Director of the NH Liberty Alliance, Dan Itse. The New Hampshire Constitution is an amazing work. It gives a revealing look into what the founding fathers original intent was. The people are the sovereigns and the masters of their government. Not the other way around. Our government was meant to have a "bottom up" approach as opposed to a "top down" approach like we have now. Our representatives (with a few notable exceptions) are no longer protecting liberty and natural rights of the people.

NH Lawmaking and Public Libraries

Tue, 05 Feb 2008 21:47:16 -0500

Today was my first exposure to how the New Hampshire legislative body works. I spent the day at the NH Capitol in Concord hearing bills as they are proposed to the respective committees in public hearings.

The first one I sat through was a Homeschool bill that would re-insert language that was taken out last year, in essence moving backwards. The sponsor wants to have a curriculum plan submitted for each child at the beginning of the year, every year. It's not needed because the homeschooled student is tested at the end of the year for competencies, skill level, etc. It was evident that the reason for the new language being reinserted was for money. In the bill was language stating that your taxpayer dollars would be sent to the school for each homeschool student that isn't in school. Gee...that means we pay triple the amount for each homeschool student if we homeschool? (taxed once via property taxes already, paying for each child at home to educate them, paying again for this additional tax...)

Ron Paul @ The NHLF 2008

Sun, 06 Jan 2008 23:53:49 -0500

I just came off the most incredible ride. Four days of basking in the Spirit of Liberty with the remnant of the Sons and Daughters of Liberty gathered together in New Hampshire to support each other and the tenets of freedom and responsibility. I can't express in words just how incredible it is to know that there are still people out there that understand the simple concepts of liberty.

Ron Paul @ NHLF 2008
Originally uploaded by nealaus

My oldest daughter sat on the "Made the Move" panel today expressing her thoughts on what it's like to live in New Hampshire and participate in the Free State Project. She was a little nervous, especially after they tried to get her to go first on the panel. But she ended up expressing her thoughts very well.

With as many speakers, panels, and sessions going on it was hard to stay put for any length of time. So with camera in hand I did what I could to document the event in stills. It's not video, but I think it captures the feeling well. I am grateful for the opportunity to be surrounded by such individuals and great minds.

Ron Paul @ NHLF 2008
Originally uploaded by nealaus

Dr. Ron Paul: "...gather the remnant together to really have a viable political force. And I think the information we're getting this year is that there are a lot of us and that we can convert people, and the country is waking up."

The energy in the room was overwhelming. It was, in my opinion, one of the best speeches he's delivered. When he came to this event last year, the enthusiasm he encountered was enough to push him over the edge to form an exploratory committee for the presidential run. It was beyond obvious when Ron Paul entered the room that he had arrived at the place where it all started: The Free State Project.

New Hampshire Liberty Forum 2008 - Day 2 and 3

Sun, 06 Jan 2008 15:44:19 -0500

The last 3 days have been a whirlwind. So many liberty-loving activists and speakers it's hard to keep track of them all. From Sharon Harris' inspiring and energizing opening ceremony speech “Sticking it to Statism” which you can read about and watch at Homeland Stupidity, Bernard von NotHaus (appearing as Captn. Roughseas), and Barry Cooper of "Never Get Busted Again".

New Hampshire Liberty Forum - Day 3
Originally uploaded by nealaus

McCain and his staffers are staying here at the hotel. I've already passed by him 3 times now as I've been walking around taking photos. Barry Cooper decided he was going to take it a step further and talk to him. So he entered the elevator McCain was in. I don't think that was something McCain wanted because Barry ended up being forced out. Hotel security was called and eventually the cops showed up. After much negotiation and attempts to move Barry away from the cameras and Free State Project members in the lobby, Barry said something (according to his account) like "ok, I won't press charges", which seemed to get Hotel security to back off, and the cops left without incident.

In Barry's interview later, he said if it wasn't for the cameras and liberty supporters surrounding him last night, he would have been arrested. I heard a lot of rumors flying around last night concerning the sequence of events, but am unable to corroborate any of them.

New Hampshire Liberty Forum - Day 3
Originally uploaded by nealaus

So, some of you might know this name: Glen Jacobs. Some of you may also know him by the name he goes by while in character: Kane.
Glen has been making the rounds attending as many of the keynotes and seminars as possible. He was interviewed on Free Talk Live last night after hanging out in the hall with us discussing Austrian Economics and other liberty-related topics.

As for the rest of the Liberty Forum, today will be hard to beat. Ron Paul will be showing up as our concluding speaker. More on that after it happens ;)

Here's a little presidential quiz I took today:
2008 Presidential Candidate Matching Quiz
87% Ron Paul
72% Mitt Romney
72% Fred Thompson
68% Mike Huckabee
67% Tom Tancredo
60% John McCain
43% Rudy Giuliani
40% Bill Richardson
33% Mike Gravel
33% Chris Dodd
28% Barack Obama
28% Dennis Kucinich
26% John Edwards
25% Hillary Clinton
23% Joe Biden

The results didn't surprise me much...except for the fact that I want drugs legalized and regulated and Mitt Romney came in second? hmm...

New Hampshire Liberty Forum 2008 - Day 1

Thu, 03 Jan 2008 23:22:39 -0500

I had a late start this morning and missed the Manchester Firing Line shoot (you can read about and digg it here). By the time I got to the hotel, there was so much to do I also ended up missing the state house tour in order to help organize the information and pieces being given to the attendees.

Free State Project
Originally uploaded by nealaus

I followed the throngs to the Hunt Room and ran into George Washington. I recognized him right away since he was the same George Washington that was shaking Ron Paul's hand at the Strafford Straw Poll in July.

Free State Project
Originally uploaded by nealaus

We chatted about history and books I've read about him. We were joined by another Revolutionary as we discussed literature and history. It was great to sit and talk with people who have spent so much time examining the characters they role play. I may even become interested in doing something like that someday.

After everyone mingled and munched on snacks, the Director/Organizer for the NHLF, Chris, got up and announced 3 authors who were speaking and signing books: Brian Wright, James Maynard, and Gardner Goldsmith. People mingled, bought books, chatted with the authors and made purchases until around 8:30pm

Free State Project
Originally uploaded by nealaus

In another room, Ian and Mark of Free Talk Live were busy broadcasting live with special guests, Peter Christ of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, Matt Simon of New Hampshire Coalition for Common Sense Marijuana Policy, and Bernard von NotHaus of the Liberty Dollar.

Right now I'm in the Windsor Room (suite) with the rest of the Liberty Forum staff as they prepare things for tomorrows influx of arrivals and registrations.

This is gearing up to be a great weekend :)

Let it snow

Sun, 16 Dec 2007 09:51:36 -0500

7 inches and more coming
Originally uploaded by nealaus

This is the tale of a Utah boy (err...man) in New Hampshire snow. There is snow in Utah, also known as the Greatest Snow on Earth. But I'll have to admit that New Hampshire's snow is quite impressive. While it can be powdery and dry, the ice and crunch give it a whole new character. It's enduring and formidable. Thanks to the locals, I've learned that raising the wipers up off the windshield before a storm does wonders. After feeling like I was going to break the windshield one morning trying to de-ice, I can attest to that sound wisdom. My wipers are intact.

7 inches and more coming
Originally uploaded by nealaus

I know that this entry will do nothing to convince anyone that it is worth the move here. I could be wrong. However, I can say with much confidence that it is only one of the many fantastic wonders of this state. The variety of weather, scenery, and character (characters too) is stunning.

3 more days till Utah! Pray for no delays and smooth travel.

How does it feel to Live Free or Die?

Sat, 15 Dec 2007 15:15:56 -0500

I was going to be interviewed for this but got caught up in other things (Liberty Forum) and didn't get back to them in time to be included. My hair makes an appearance early on, and I'm ion the background in a shot or two. This was a very well produced piece IMHO.

Everyone here is doing their thing as best as they can. It is really quite wonderful to be involved.

Social Sundays

Sun, 04 Nov 2007 22:03:01 -0500

There is this fantastic Celtic Pub (they serve Haggis and other "authentic" Celtic meals there) where the Keene/Monadnock area Free State Project members and supporters meet weekly now.

There was, what looked like, a wedding party and there was one big table available in the middle, so we took it. A matronly woman comes up and introduces herself and asks my name. I tell her, "I'm Lou". She touches my hair and tells me how beautiful it is, and than says, "Oh Lou, it's been so many years I didn't recognize you." At this point I'm feeling rather uncomfortable because I really have no idea who she is. So I say, "ummm, I'm actually not with the wedding". She responds, "Oh...hahaha, OK, well have some cake anyway."
Later, two women are looking outside at one of the free staters doing the video, and they're talking to each other trying to figure out if he's with the wedding or not. I walk up to them and say we're in a different group
and both of them say "ohhhhh? ahhh who cares, you're all family here!"

I'm thinking...I really like this place :)

"The message is powerful. I have my shortcomings, but the message has no shortcomings."

Wed, 31 Oct 2007 08:28:17 -0400

"The message is powerful. I have my shortcomings, but the message has no shortcomings. The message of liberty is what America is all about." -Ron Paul on Leno

White Mountains NH

Sat, 20 Oct 2007 22:00:01 -0400

Conway New Hampshire
Originally uploaded by nealaus

I left early this morning for a drive.
It ended up being a lot longer than I planned.
I was just a few miles from the Maine border as I drove up to Conway.

I stopped to look for the Eastman-Lord House Museum but it was closed. Lots of Eastman family history in Conway. I'll need to go back for a couple days and check things out.

I went west through the White Mountains on the Kancamagus Scenic Byway from Conway to Lincoln. After Lincoln, I got a tad lost :-\ and wound up in Bath, NH 30 miles North of where I wanted to end be.

I headed to the Vermont border and followed hwy 10 south to Hanover, NH, home of Ivy League Dartmouth College.

I then took hwy 12 south to Keene and then 101 home to Peterborough.

A nice long trip around the state.
Time: 8 hours
Lots of photos

October Flame

Wed, 17 Oct 2007 21:26:29 -0400

Oct. 2007 New Hampshire
Uploaded by nealaus

October in New Hampshire. Color follows me wherever I go. I'm stalked by it. My eyes cannot handle the shock. A lot of shock is being handed out this season: Ron Paul is gaining momentum, money, and recognition. The Free State Project keeps adding new members and new movers show up regularly. Jello Wrestling for Liberty and Charity. Feds sniffing around good friends homes in search of things that are not there. These are interesting times we live in and I'm certain they will continue to get "more interesting" as time goes on. My suggestion to those of you who may find it entertaining or curious: Do something about it instead of living vicariously through others. While you're at it, don't forget to enjoy the people and places you discover. While you're enjoying the fresh air and seeing the world around you, remember that someone, somewhere is being held for traveling without permission.

There is much more going on below the surface if you only look. There are many places from where you can begin your journey. Hope to see you soon. ;)

Benedict Arnold and the Free State Project

Thu, 11 Oct 2007 21:59:15 -0400

Current local and national events, coupled with reading historical narratives from the American Revolution¹, have stirred my thoughts regarding the Free State Project, why I moved here, why we must continue to have open and honest dialog about our experiences, and why continued activity promoting liberty and eschewing tyranny in all its facets is paramount. Bear with me over the next few paragraphs as I paint this portrait:

Benedict Arnold. The name conjures images of the foulest deeds committed in the name of power, pride, fame, and lucre. Arnold, a General in the American Continental army, was considered to be one of the most successful leaders in the war until he tried unsuccessfully to hand over the fort at West Point to the British. Imagine the disappointment and sheer, righteous anger that George Washington felt at the discovery of Benedict Arnold’s betrayal. As the news spread, he would find he was not alone in his feelings.

In the weeks following the news of Arnold’s treason, Dr. Benjamin Rush described the atmosphere surrounding the general populace, who either befriended Great Britain or did not take active part in the war, as having a kind of “hypochondria”. This disease, known as “Tory Rot” and “Protection Fever” was found in people disturbed by “the real or supposed distresses of [their] country.” The symptoms of this disease included impotence, alcoholism, despair, and suspicion. It is a malady that sounds all too familiar now.

Today we have our own Benedict Arnold. He is the “good citizen”. This citizen is found in all of us: the part of us that, either through momentary lapses of reason or by altogether forfeiting reason, forgets that we are sovereign and individual. We own our selves, our property, our thoughts, and actions. The surrender of control of the good citizen’s rights to the experts, pundits, panels, and collectives via the machinery of the state has given those assumed authorities the reigns to our lives, hearts, and minds.

By taking away choice, they take away the individual’s capacity for good and render them blind automatons. The symptoms are the same now as they were then, only far more pronounced and evident. We are still generally numb and blind to what is surrounding us - as if we are taking Dr. Rush’s prescribed treatment “to avoid reading news-papers, and conversing upon political subjects, and thereby to acquire total ignorance of public events.” He did offer another cure at the time, however: “take part in the disputes which divide his fellow citizens”. Arnold’s treason began to have a galvanizing effect on the outrage of the public, stirring them to action.

150 years before Arnold’s betrayal, the pilgrims made the long journey across the Atlantic to come to the new world. Why would they risk their lives and families to make the journey? The answer is simple and while I hope this is still taught in the schools, I will repeat it here for any who may have forgotten: they were separatists fleeing a volatile political environment in an attempt to live free from tyranny. They were embracing freedom. The trials and changes they went through during those ensuing years are indicative of all such migrations. The Mormons fled to the intermountain west, only 50 years after the War for Independence, in order to secure their freedoms. Unfortunately, they were followed and eventually forced to change and conform, betraying their own beliefs, by the Benedict Arnolds of their time.

Here we stand, what seems like light-years away from those men and their battles, yet we face the same dilemmas. People wielding and waving the mantle of power like a loaded gun in our faces in order to solicit compliance to their whims for the sake of an imagined society they claim to have created. And from somewhere behind our trust and open communications, Arnold and his ilk are always inwardly, if not unwittingly, laying plans and mapping out our destruction. We have it within us to stop this trend. We have it within us to reach our goal: Independence in our lifetime.

Benedict Arnold was demonized and his character defined as uniquely evil. Should we look at our betrayal of individual responsibility and sovereignty to the all-powerful state in the same way? Or as the Colonel of the 3rd New Hampshire Regiment, Alexander Scammel, put it: “Treason! Black as hell! … we even descended to a critical examination of ourselves”. By taking part in the disputes that divide us, we will begin to discover where we stand. We will awaken to find ourselves as either: loyalist or Whig; collective or individual; authoritarian or libertarian. Uniting ourselves with the individuals we become the moving parts of a functioning body that refreshes itself, capable of independence, choice, and ultimate responsibility.

In conclusion I simply ask that each of you examine yourselves and decide where you stand: On the side of Liberty or on the side of Tyranny. I have chosen the Free State Project and Liberty and I invite you, wherever you are, to join us here in New Hampshire.

1. Portions of this article inspired by “For Liberty and Glory: Washington, Lafayette, and their Revolutions” by James R. Gaines