Kelo Report, Part 2

[Russell Kanning]

Maybe some of us can show up an 10/7 when she is supposed to go to court.

[Dreepa]

president = Seth Cohn?? ???

Oh boy, a fan site all about me!!!!? Wow.? Thanks.

Anyone who doubts that president has mental issues, I think this settles the argument.

Added: BTW, he bought this back in July... this isn't even new.

It is pretty funny though!

[Kat Kanning]

president = Seth Cohn?  ???

Oh boy, a fan site all about me!!!!  Wow.  Thanks.

Anyone who doubts that president has mental issues, I think this settles the argument.

Added: BTW, he bought this back in July... this isn't even new.

It is pretty funny though!

You need to have him saying "Well we can talk about that now, it's top secret.  But know the forces for good are working on it behind the scenes."

[Friday]

I posted this as a response to some posts on the FSP web site. It does not apply so much here but I print it as food for thought.....   You see the problem is that Lauren has taken a stand, on real issue that should have outraged us all enough to take a stand. But we have not and it shows us what real pussies we are. So now we will ignore or worse attack her. Some of us will attack her husbands words spoken in the heat of passion. We will invent reasons and excuse the state of course.
No never declare that the state in unquestionably wrong, for then you will feel you have to confront it and not have the courage to do so. Better to hide behind words.

The FSP= Radicals, Rebels, Freedom Fighters?

We and I include myself have a long way to go to be worthy of any of those.

Maybe with Lauren's example and the example of a few other brave people among us we will learn.

Until then be ashamed, I know I am.

I'm not ashamed for not driving to Connecticut from New Hampshire to come to Lauren's defense.

I disagree with your assessment that this issue "should have" outraged me enough to take a stand. But it's good to know where you stand (i.e. if I don't get passionate about the same issues you do, then I suck and should be ashamed of myself.)

I don't excuse the state for its actions.

I still think her husband's remarks made to a newspaper reporter about the FSP were very rude and disappointing. I like to think I'm a pretty active FSP'er, and I never fucking HEARD of Lauren Canario before she got arrested. But when her husband calls me a "wussie" in a newspaper for not dropping everything and rushing to defend his wife, and I express displeasure over that, you say *I'm* the one attacking *him*?

"Pussy"?   Thanks, ol' buddy. 

[Russell Kanning]

We could show up with gags when they wheel in Lauren

[Michael Fisher]

Maybe some of us can show up an 10/7 when she is supposed to go to court.

I work that morning and evening. 

[Russell Kanning]

well then pop in for lunch

[Michael Fisher]

I'm not ashamed for not driving to Connecticut from New Hampshire to come to Lauren's defense.

I disagree with your assessment that this issue "should have" outraged me enough to take a stand. But it's good to know where you stand (i.e. if I don't get passionate about the same issues you do, then I suck and should be ashamed of myself.)

I don't excuse the state for its actions.

I still think her husband's remarks made to a newspaper reporter about the FSP were very rude and disappointing. I like to think I'm a pretty active FSP'er, and I never fucking HEARD of Lauren Canario before she got arrested. But when her husband calls me a "wussie" in a newspaper for not dropping everything and rushing to defend his wife, and I express displeasure over that, you say *I'm* the one attacking *him*?

"Pussy"?? ?Thanks, ol' buddy.?

Please be calm, Sandy. ?I don't think you've read this thread in a while so I'll fill you in on what's new.

Jim is a good man and he was just not in a good state of mind at the time. ?He apologized for his statements to me in two different phone calls. ?He retracted his statements from that newspaper article because he didn't mean to say it. ?I wrote a press release including his retractions but you'll have to go back and find it in this thread if you want to read it. ?Unfortunately, they did not publish it, but there's little we can do about that. ?His retraction was enough to put the FSP leadership's anger at rest as far as I know.

Try not to feel ashamed for not driving down to support Lauren. ?Everyone does what they want to do. ?I do what I can and you do what you can on the issues you feel strongly about. ?I don't blame anyone who didn't support her, though I wish this had happened here so we could have had more people at the protest. ?Don't feel bad about it.

The main reason there were so few of us at the protest is because the people in New London (other than the FT residents) have almost complete apathy for what's going on. ?But we protested, got our message across, and received some media coverage, so I think it was still a successful protest.

[Michael Fisher]

But I still feel bad for Lauren and what they're doing to her.   

[Kat Kanning]

Try not to feel ashamed for not driving down to support Lauren.

I think she was pretty clear about not being ashamed.

[Friday]

He had to buy a home in NY too.

http://forum.freestateproject.org/index.php?topic=10415.from1121264283;topicseen

Currently, I'm paying $4200 per year on a $125,000 home in a suburb of Buffalo, NY.

I can't believe he posted that.   

[Pat K]

I posted this as a response to some posts on the FSP web site. It does not apply so much here but I print it as food for thought.....? ?You see the problem is that Lauren has taken a stand, on real issue that should have outraged us all enough to take a stand. But we have not and it shows us what real pussies we are. So now we will ignore or worse attack her. Some of us will attack her husbands words spoken in the heat of passion. We will invent reasons and excuse the state of course.
No never declare that the state in unquestionably wrong, for then you will feel you have to confront it and not have the courage to do so. Better to hide behind words.

The FSP= Radicals, Rebels, Freedom Fighters?

We and I include myself have a long way to go to be worthy of any of those.

Maybe with Lauren's example and the example of a few other brave people among us we will learn.

Until then be ashamed, I know I am.

I'm not ashamed for not driving to Connecticut from New Hampshire to come to Lauren's defense.

I disagree with your assessment that this issue "should have" outraged me enough to take a stand. But it's good to know where you stand (i.e. if I don't get passionate about the same issues you do, then I suck and should be ashamed of myself.)

I don't excuse the state for its actions.

I still think her husband's remarks made to a newspaper reporter about the FSP were very rude and disappointing. I like to think I'm a pretty active FSP'er, and I never fucking HEARD of Lauren Canario before she got arrested. But when her husband calls me a "wussie" in a newspaper for not dropping everything and rushing to defend his wife, and I express displeasure over that, you say *I'm* the one attacking *him*?

"Pussy"?? ?Thanks, ol' buddy.?

I apologize to Friday and any  one else who was offended by my post. Some times my emotions  get away from me.

[Michael Fisher]

I was wrong!!!

They're organizing another rally for this Sunday at 1pm.? I hope this one will be big!

They're going to use the press conference, radio shows, etc. to get the word out.? Of course, it's not that easy to organize a successful rally.? It requires a lot of groundwork to get people off their butts and into the streets.? Let's see if they can do it.?

I'll be there.? Does anyone want to carpool?

[Michael Fisher]

Lauren is going to spend NINE more days in jail before her next trial.

bleh

The pain is starting to make me sick.

[tracysaboe]

09-25-05 Kelo Report
by Mike Fisher
2:33 PM 9/26/2005

At our protest yesterday at the York women's prison, several important things took place.

When I began talking about our New Hampshire-based nonviolent noncooperation campaign with other protestors, including several Fort Trumbull property owners, there was a great interest in our prior actions of nonviolent noncooperation and how these relate to Lauren's.

I met one man known as "Gandhi Gregory" who was very interested to learn that we have been thoroughly studying Gandhi's nonviolent noncooperation campaign in order to plan our own actions.  Before we arrived yesterday, I do not believe anyone in New London knew about our noncooperation campaign or the extent of its success in New Hampshire.

On Saturday night, her husband told me that she had the utmost respect for our campaign and she had been studying it diligently.  It seems obvious to me that this is what Lauren is doing right now.  So this is my conclusion.  I believe Lauren Canario has begun a campaign of nonviolent noncooperation in New London.  She is voluntarily self-suffering for the freedom of the Fort Trumbull property owners.

The goal of this type of civil disobedience is to educate public opinion and bring attention to a cause.  Her arrest accomplished this immediately, as she somehow managed to get TV news coverage Monday evening.  By her complete refusal to compromise, the waves of her influence are spreading.  The City's filthy attempts at blocking the public from a very important public meeting are now finding their way into regional news coverage specifically because of Lauren's continued imprisonment.

Her apparent fast of silence has the police, courts, and prison in disarray.  "I don't know what to do with this," Judge Hillary Strackbein said on Friday during Canario's second silent court appearance.  Canario sat silently with a peaceful smile on her face and refused to say a single word, according to reporters.

I spoke with a Captain wearing an orange shirt at the prison entrance right before we left, but I cannot remember his name (Kertrek?).  I asked him if we could speak to Lauren.  Police Officer Rivera (Riviera?), who sat in his police car about 10 feet away from our protest, told me that visiting hours ended at 2:15pm.  The Captain added, "you have to be on her list, and you have to be family.  It also takes a few weeks."

I don't know if this is normal, but probably not considering that a woman 50 to 60 years old drove up to us while we were protesting and blamed us for a change in visiting hours.  "I drove all the way out here to visit someone and they said they shortened our visiting hours 'because of the protestors outside,' and I blame you," she said in anger before driving off.

When it seemed fruitless to try to visit her, I asked the Captain about Lauren's status.
Me:  "Is Lauren okay?"
Capt:  "She's okay.  We're monitoring her very closely."
Me:  "Is she fasting?"
Capt:  "She's drinking water."
Me:  "Well, fasting includes drinking water, but is she eating?"
Capt:  "Once in a while."

Even though he said what Lauren is doing is "pretty radical," the Captain said he supported what we're doing and I asked him to explain.  "Of course we support what you're doing against eminent domain.  I just don't know how I can help," he said, with Officer Rivera nodding in agreement.

While holding my sign that said "You have the right to remain SILENT", I told the Captain, "she's not going to speak in court, she's not going to ask permission for a phone call, and she's not going to speak to the police [or corrections officers].  I think we're the only ones she'll talk to."  "Then she's going to be in there for a long time," he said, implying that her silence is some type of crime punishable by endless imprisonment.

Based on this information, I'm not sure if she's also partially fasting from food, such as a 12-hour fast each day, or a fast every other day, for example, but I do not believe so.  I do believe she is in a fast of complete silence, and she may not have spoken to us if we somehow managed to visit her.

Then, I told the Captain and Officer Rivera that we were going to leave.  The officer was confused and thought we were going to come back later, like this was a trick.  "I don't lie," I said seriously.  "We're not coming back."

"I don't really see what you accomplished here," the Captain added.  "Why would you drive all the way down from New Hampshire to protest for one hour?"  "We protested, the media interviewed us, and we got our message across," I replied.  "Some lady told us they shortened her visiting hours because of us, so we're leaving."

Bill VonWinkle, one of the Fort Trumbull property owners, bought us lunch at a local restaurant.  At lunch, we found out that Lauren already found a job in the area, and we don't know if she's going to lose it because of this ordeal.

After lunch, we visited the Fort Trumbull properties and saw Lauren's apartment from the sidewalk, including the shrine she is building.  I was told that this side of the street is being taken by eminent domain for private use and, as one property owner pointed across the street to an empty field, the entire neighborhood on that side of the street was taken by eminent domain for public use, a Navy base, in the 1940s.  This disgusted me to the core.

In a cool breeze that afternoon, on the sidewalk in front of Lauren's apartment, one property owner filmed us for a documentary, asking me several questions about Lauren, nonviolence, and the Free State Project.

Question:  "What do you think Lauren's protest is about?"

Answer:  "I can't speak for her, but her husband said she has been seriously studying nonviolent noncooperation and our civil disobedience events in New Hampshire, and this is what I believe she is doing.  Some people say she was angry at the City Hall on Monday, but she clearly wasn't.  Look at the pictures of her in the media.  You can tell from the peaceful look in her eyes that her protest is not backed by anger.  Gandhian nonviolence includes voluntary self-suffering backed by love.  She is suffering willingly for her cause."

Question:  "What cause?"

Answer:  "Freedom.  I believe she's suffering for the freedom of the Fort Trumbull property owners to protect them from eminent domain and to bring attention to their cause - to protect all of us.  She is suffering for our freedom."

Question:  "Can you explain the three parts of Gandhi's nonviolence?"

Answer:  "Gandhian nonviolence is nonviolence in word, thought, and deed.  It is the absence of malice, anger, or hatred.  You are not angry at the world.  Your suffering is backed by love.  If nonviolent noncooperation is your means, you will achieve nonviolence in the world around you.  The means is the same as the end."

Question:  "What do Free State Project members believe?  What is your philosophy?"

Answer:  "I don't speak for anyone but myself, but I think most of them believe that people should be free to do whatever they want as long as they don't hurt anyone or steal anything."

Question:  "Do Free State Project members believe in eminent domain for public use?"

Answer:  "I can't speak for anyone but myself, and I know some libertarian types disagree, but I believe eminent domain is wrong in every case.  I believe stealing is unacceptable.  If I could save the lives of everyone on the planet by stealing and bulldozing your home, I still would not do it.  It's your home, and I have absolutely no right to it, not even for the 'greater good' of others."

Question:  "What do you think will happen in the short term?  What will happen to Lauren?"

Answer:  "I think they're going to have to just let her go.  They need to look at her miniscule charges and her extreme punishment, and maybe say 'okay, you're guilty, sentenced to time served, and you're free to go.'  They can't hold her forever just for being silent."

Question:  "What do you hope will happen in the long term?"

Answer:  "This all started with one or two people.  One guy was arrested for refusing to stop handing out flyers at an NRA event, another for refusing to stop petitioning at a Post Office.  I saw these events, watched the movie Gandhi, started to study nonviolence, and planned my own civil disobedience event."

"I was thrown in jail for doing a manicure and it received enormous media attention in New Hampshire.  Then, Russell Kanning was arrested for his civil disobedience event after refusing to show ID at an airport.  Now Kat Dillon, his wife, is doing her own civil disobedience against property taxes.  Now Lauren studied our actions and adapted them in her own way.  It's catching on rapidly.  Like Russell once said, I hope it catches on until nobody even remembers who started it all."

"In the long term, I hope nonviolent noncooperation spreads more and more until it is a normal part of our culture, we have learned to self-govern, and the government has no more control over us."

Great interview Mike.

Tracy