Barns of Bradford has stuff like that. They sell solid factory stuff, but they also have some hand made pieces

Brilliant!!

I lived in an apartment where they cooked fish next door almost every day. It was horrible. Bottom line, you can't really control others. You either have considerate neighbors or you don't.

About time the "Live Free or Die" state starts acting like it when it comes to cannabis.

Yeah, I thought this was pretty much a thing already.

Yup.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/28/nyregion/jonathan-cervas-redistricting-maps-ny.html

One can dream, right? What a concept.

Other states seem to have figured it out? I don't think you'll ever get a 50/50, but I think we can agree that states like Ohio and Florida have just gone batshit crazy. Even NY when they tried gerrymandering the other way, the "Democratic" Court said "no, this is wrong, you can't do this." So I don't think it's hopeless.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic-Republican_Party

The article probably should have clarified a bit. The Democratic-Republican Party was known at the time as the Republican Party and was founded in 1792, dissolved in 1834.

It was also known as the Jeffersonian Republican Party, the ticket under which Elbridge Gerry was elected VP. So he very much was trying to help "Republicans."

>I appreciate you trying to have a good discussion and I hope I haven't discouraged you from trying to do so in the future, but this post was frustrating for me.
>
>I have interacted with FSP. I know a handful of them personally. I've been in their discord server(s). I understand what they like and what they don't like. So I can tell real fast how much somebody knows about the FSP when they start talking about it.

It's fine. We all get out of hand and react emotionally sometimes.

I read your comment and I get it. But I'll just say this, and please take this as *MY* own humble advice to be passed on to them if you like - and of course, this is JUST my opinion as someone who obviously is not embedded in their movement.

If the Free State Project folks truly aren't libertarian and not conservative, they have a real messaging issue in this state - one that I think they're going to have a tremendously difficult time countering at this late stage.

You cannot expect that folks are going to go into Discord servers and join groups to really dig into the nuance of the movement, or any movement for that matter. You just can't. You have to start with broad public outreach.

You can blame the media if you want, or blame progressives, or even conservatives who don't want to be lumped in with them for the current perception among most Granite Staters regarding the FSP, but the real fact is that everyone knows what their goal was right from the get go, because they stated it before they even arrived here. The goal was get as many people to move to NH so they could take over local town offices and the Legislature and slash government everywhere to be "more free."

My perception is that most traditional NH types reject that as an "invasion" in the same way they have always told Massachusetts liberals to leave their politics there when they move here. It's like "hey - we're giving you more freedom for your own good!"

Yes, the goal is to limit government toward protection of individual rights, but that message is LOST because some of the perceived execution of that goal has been from a bunch of abrasive, boneheaded idiots pushing things like slashing local school budgets in half (Croydon) and trying to force privatization of a beloved local recreational area.

In short, the movement needs better public representation. I don't think you'll find anyone who isn't a FSP member who would disagree. They're in a bubble, and the perception from the outside is that they don't seek compromise. Indeed, when their tactics are rejected by constituents, instead of attempting outreach and persuasion, they retreat/resign, and double-down with blog posts by Ian Underwood and others trying to gaslight everyone on FSP goals. If I could, I'd tell him he's not fooling anyone.

The point of my posting the article was to explain the need for them to be less belligerent in their messaging and negotiations. The *possibility* now exists, with an evenly divided chamber, that the FSP are going to say, "you'll take your freedom or you'll get obstruction." Now, we don't KNOW that's the road they're going to take, but the fact is they can now POTENTIALLY wield greater power in the GOP caucus. What actually happens depends on how much they can hammer out any kind of reasonable legislation amongst their own side before they even try crossing the aisle with it.

Again, just my take, so I'm not claiming to speak for anyone other than myself, just a mid-50's year old guy who has seen a lot of NH politics over the years.

I'm obviously a progressive, and if we keep this civil, I'm more than happy to discuss things with you and even learn more about the FSP. I think there are a lot of areas where progressives and FSP folks could potentially intersect, oddly enough. The problem is emotions get high because the two sides are kind of considered the "extremes" as it were, legitimately or not, and that's why I get it... but trust me, I don't agree with the belligerence on my own left wing of this party, so maybe we can proceed with some deep breaths lol.

>And the FS movement ain’t subtle.

Just had what I suspect is one of them come at me HARD in a comment here. I'm not sure why they think coming out at the get-go being obstinate and belligerent toward others is going to win hearts and minds, but I don't claim to understand the libertarian/FS psyche, so there's that.

How about instead of taking a few sentences to insult me, we have a conversation like two rational people? If you didn't see in the article where they were referring to the Free Staters, you could have just asked. Here's the relevant part, which refers to the "libertarian leaning right-wing Republican legislators." Forgive me in advance if I was wrong and that there is, in fact, a SECOND set of libertarian leaning right-wing Republican legislators besides the Free Staters. Imagine having two completely different groups with identical goals? Call me educated, friend. Thanks for your input.

If this is the attitude in which they welcome folks who aren't embedded in their ecosphere already, it's obvious why they're not winning hearts and minds here. You might want to work on your outreach.

----

"The narrower majorities could have the paradoxical effect of making legislation less bipartisan, Brown argues.

“We actually had a very narrow majority, relatively speaking, the past couple years, and we saw that rather than bringing bipartisanship to the fore, it gave a lot of power to the libertarian leaning right-wing Republican legislators who very successfully leveraged their voting power to get some of their priorities into the state budget,” Brown said. “So the narrow margin had the effect of actually creating a budget that was farther to the right.”

And with the space for error so slim, any member could be the spoiler vote. “Everybody has infinite leverage,” said Berry.

In order to shore up votes, the next House speaker and their majority team will need to be strategic. They may need to make concessions with more hardline members of their party to get something approved. Or they might attempt to find moderate members across the aisle who are willing to buck their party.

One approach could lead to more ideological bills; the other could lead to more watered-down, neutral legislation. Berry predicts much more of the latter will prevail.

But those seeking to create those rebel factions will also need to be careful, Berry argues. Voting against key legislation too often could reduce the effectiveness of the threat.

“The expression is ‘shoot the hostage,’ right?” he said. “You know, it only takes four or five people to continue to shoot the hostage and it’s like, ‘Well, they’re just gonna shoot the hostage.’”

Read the article. You're wrong, but you're also right.

This is the issue you and your lot had Tuesday - you're unwilling to have reasonable discussions. I talk about 'sensible,' something supported by everyone but special interests, and you jump to "disarming."

Goodnight.

I've lived in NYC and the thought of everyone carrying is kinda horrifying. There's room for sensible gun laws that a clear majority of gun owners support. Polls suck, but nothing much has changed regarding sentiment for 'sensible' regulation.

No one mentioned expansion. We were talking about control.

I don't remember any bills from ten years ago... Care to share? Would love to be informed if any of them were draconian, because even ten years ago I think anything that wasn't pure common-sense, the Dems knew would be rejected so I'd be surprised if it was anything radical.

If that's really what the Free Staters were for instead of moving into areas and imposing their will on longtime residents, I think we'd have no reason to shit on Free Staters. But that's not what we've seen over the last decade or so from them.

>abortion was definitely never a right in the constitution

Neither were a lot of things. Right to a fair trial, right to vote, right to a jury of peers, right to marriage, right to privacy, etc. I don't think we want to go down this road, right?

Yeah, but the fears of the nationwide ban I'm sure had a ripple effect on legislature votes. It's a rational fear. For 50 years, people thought it wasn't. Now they know it is, thanks to GOP overreach nationally.

Um, since when was gun control, taxes, etc. EVER going to gain traction in the NH legislature? You're conflating the national Democratic organization with the local NH Democrats. The two are different in makeup.

Also LOL'd at "civil liberty improvement bills." :D

I'm not. A lot of that local legislation wasn't popular. The question is, are the Free Staters/GOP going to double down on the culture war issues?

I think you're right. If anything, I think 2022-2024 is going to show the entire country which legislators/reps are serious, and which aren't - state-by-state, and nationwide.

I hope so. The question is - what legislation and priorities can the FS loonies hold hostage with the entire House?