Kidding, not kidding! Did you know years ago, I was arrested, handcuffed to a pole for hours, physically threatened behind the Weare PD station by three burly cops, charged with felony wiretapping carrying a 7-year sentence, all for filming cops during a late night traffic stop? I fought them all the way to the First Circuit and prevailed in a landmark First Amendment suit that equally and positively affects the rights of ALL thirteen MILLION people of the First Circuit. Police also no longer have the claim of qualified immunity in filming cops cases, meaning they can be held personally liable as well because it is super egregious to take your camera or footage. You can read the decision, Carla Gericke vs. Begin et al, HERE.
porcfest
Random FSP trivia: comedian Doug Stanhope played at Milly’s in Manchester years ago, and, at my invitation, hung out with us at the Quill afterwards.
Soon after, Merav Yaakov and I wanted him to come to Liberty Forum, so we mailed him a First Class plane ticket, several FSP branded copper rounds and silver, a handle of his favorite cheap vodka (plastic bottle, no less) all branded as having won “The Golden Ticket” ala Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. There may even have been glitter involved!
I had his phone number (old phone in which many Contacts perished in the Loo Drop Incident of 2015) and we chatted a few times and then… nada.
So Dougie-Doug, if you’re reading this… come to PorcFest June 20-26, and come hang with some of your most ardent fans!
If YOU want Doug to come to PorcFest, you can help get his attention by liking my Tweet response: https://twitter.com/CarlaGericke/status/1519307547081162753
I love my life in New Hampshire! As someone who moved from New York City in February 2008 (during, yes, a blizzard because LIBERTY IS WORTH IT!), and as someone who has been actively involved in increasing Liberty in Our Lifetime here in the Free State since then, it is SUPER VALIDATING to see the massive interest and growth in the Free State Project that is happening right now, including yesterday’s “pre-game” events that took place across the state before our SOLD OUT Liberty Forum 2022. [Looking to get a flavor from the past? Check out this Bitcoin Magazine coverage from 2014.]
Firstly, the bus tour! Dennis Pratt, Chef de Village at PorcFest, has been putting together several regional luxury bus tours to showcase this incredible little country-state we get to live in to newcomers. Everyone I spoke to said the tour was amazing!
I met up with the passengers for lunch at Brian B’s Appeal to Heaven spot in Weare, where he is renting his property to a brand-new homeschool initiative, Granite Minds Homeschooling, spearheaded by Michelle McC.
Brian put together the lunch, catered by Lauren N, with venison or vegan stew and salad, to show off the barn on his property that recently became available after an antique store closed. I love me a good roughhewn New England barn (hey, we all our have our weird loves!) so I wanted to check it out for myself, and I was not disappointed. This beautiful old barn is a great space that will likely get snagged by the homeschoolers, but it would, nudge nudge, wink, wink, make a great interim FSP Museum while I figure out the final location. [HERE? HMU if you want to invest!]
About 70 people attended the luncheon, and Brian spoke about his journey to NH, how he moved in 2016, left for a while and as he travelled extensively, realized ONLY NEW HAMPSHIRE AND THE FREE STATE make sense as a long-term strategy for freedom for him, personally. So he came back. While it still hurts when people leave (but you can’t control other people’s choices), everyone who comes back gets forgiven! 😉
Late afternoon, I headed over to Liberty Forum to help set up the merch table, and ran into these incredible women working tirelessly to expand liberty for themselves and their children. If you want a Porcupine Day VI mug or a copy of my book, The Ecstatic Pessimist: Stories of Hope (Mostly) please stop by today ($20 each). You can also sign up for the hosted dinners for tonight, so make sure to stop by and say “hi”.
We’re the fab women of the Free State and we’re making Liberty in OUR lifetimes happen in the @FreeStateNH. Excited to share our community with newcomers at Liberty Forum this weekend! @RachelBTCsmith @chrislopez2004 @Constance_603 pic.twitter.com/6F7dhhOSnh
— Carla Gericke, Live Free And Thrive! (@CarlaGericke) March 4, 2022
Ran into some of my favorite visiting speakers, including Brownstone’s Jeffrey Tucker, who is a stalwart speaker at our events. He looked dashing, as always, with his bowtie and sporting a new, somewhat superhero-y cape. It gets cold in New Hampshire in the winter so as one fashionista to another… I geddit!
Louis and I topped off the evening by hosting a dinner at 110 Grill on Elm Street in downtown Manchester. About a dozen people came and we chatted about life and liberty, about where people live now and what it would take to persuade them to move (A.B.C., baby!) and even some locals came [<–#winning]. Of course, Covid-Mania was the main topic, but it was cool to learn about the activism and passions driving people interested in the Free State Project. I hope y’all move (or stay!).
Today, Saturday, March 5th 2022, kicks off with Rachel Goldsmith, Liberty Forum 2022’s main producer, opening the event at 9AM and then there is an amazing day of speakers. Nothing beats learning from some of the greatest free thinkers of our times!
I’ll catch y’all over there for Jeffrey Tucker’s 10AM talk, and then I am very much looking forward to hearing from Wikipedia’s co-founder, Larry Sanger, especially since Jimmy Wales, the other Wikipedia founder, refused to speak at Liberty Forum back when I invited him years ago because I supported Ross Ulbricht and encouraged Lyn to speak at our events.
I’ll report back with more details as the weekend progresses, but follow me on Twitter to stay tuned in the meantime!
This week, I sit down with Constance Spencer of Team Porcupine Real Estate. We talk about her journey to the Free State of NH, PorcFest, Liberty Forum, and more! We talk about how, as a single mom of 4, she turned her life around by making small incremental changes, and is now a very success real estate broker.
Ep. 6: The Carla Gericke Show Sits Down with PorcFest XIX Organizer Dennis Pratt (11/17/21)
Join me for an in-depth chat with Dennis Pratt, a philosopher and gentleman. We talk about his “Coming to NH” story, some of the myriad of projects he is working on, including an upcoming Seacoast bus tour and comedy festival in December at the SHELL, and what you can expect at PorcFest XIX.
CLICK HERE to watch my recent interview about The Ecstatic Pessimist (buy yours directly from me now), the Free State Project, my activism in New Hampshire, and more!
This expansive interview covers many of the essays in the book, including a 420 rally gone wrong, growing up in South Africa under apartheid, issues like police accountability, libertarianism , and more!