Arright Bearpitters...question for you:

What will you do if they come for Ed Brown?

As many of you may be aware, Washington is thought to be under some pressure to have New Hampshire tax protestors Ed and Elaine Brown in the courthouse for their sentencing April 24. The elderly Plainfield couple have been holed up in their house since their convicition on tax charges in Januray. Ed is carrying a .45 and has promised to fire upon any government agent attempting to arrest him or his wife. Ed's not perfect, but at least he's taking a stand and hasn't harmed anyone. That's more than I can say for myself, since I tamely paid the Fed tax, which was promptly put to use torturing people. Ed doesn't deserve to die or be locked into a concrete box for the rest of his life.

I'm told it will be an an unusual ocurrance if they are sentenced in absentia. On the other hand, authorities have repeatedly stated they will not initiate an armed confrontation.

In any case, those of you here who care about Ed and Elaine's safety (and I realize not everyone does); I hope you will be especially ready for the possibility of a raid sometime in the next few weeks. I hope you will consider, as I am considering, what you going to do if it ocurrs. I tend to think that the best things to do are those which we do on our own iniatiative, and which are telegraphed to the authorities in advance. However if you are just hunting around for ideas, or you don't have all the information you need to carry out some type of response...This post should be of some assistance.

Here is a list of potential action items which would be appropriate and practical to carry out during the first 48 hours after an attack. Some of them you can carry out now.

1) Go to calendar.nhfree.com and see what types of flash events have been scheduled to occur in response to the raid. Attend them or promote them if you can.

2) Head to your nearest Federal facility with a sign of some type. Plan on being alone at first. Staples has good sign making material...big posterboards are best with lettering at least six inches tall, otherwise car traffic will not be able to read your sign. Better to have this material on hand now, so you are not scrambling to acquire it after the spit hits the fan. You will be three times as effective and visible if you also have a rattlesnake flag and pole. If you need to buy those; I have some. E-mail me at dave97635 (that's a hotmail dotcom address). I accept both Fed dollars and precious metals. I'm posting below some ideas for signs.

3) Write a letter to the editor of a nearby paper expressing your concern. In New Hampshire The Concord Monitor, Keene Free Press and the Union Leader seem to print most of the pro liberty letters they receive, and you can be from anywhere in the state. The Keene Sentinel seems to be pretty good about printing our letters if written from the Keene area. Keep them under 200 words in all cases if possible, especially with the Union Leader.

4) Join some political web forums and voice there your support for Ed and Elaine. I've included a list of good forums below. Better to join now and be ready than to join after the event.

5) Call relevant officials to express your concern. I've included a list below.

6) Maybe go to Ed Brown's house? Haven't really given this much thought. Certainly I hope more folks will go there beforehand as a deterrent. His address: 401 Center of Town Road Plainfield, New Hampshire 03781

But again...the important thing is to be ready, and do *something* constructive in response to any raid or seizure of our flinty acquaintence.

Ideas for post-raid signs:

Free
Elaine
Brown
NHfree.com

Are Feds
Torturing
Elaine Brown?
NHfree.com

Or if things go really badly

Feds
Murdered
Ed Brown

I hope I don't have to carry that one.

List of active web forums where you can voice your support for Ed and Elaine:

in new hampshire:
http://forum.soulawakenings.com/index.php?topic=3868.0 - Ed brown discussion thread on NHfree.com
http://seacoastconnects.com/forums/showthr...19846#post19846
http://merrimackforum.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=66840#66840
http://salemnhforum.org/viewtopic.php?p=14558#14558
http://forum.nashuatelegraph.com/viewtopic.php?p=1793#1793
http://forum.freestateproject.org/index.php?topic=12652.0

Nationally:
http://www.politicalcrossfire.com/forum/vi...1067958#1067958
http://www.bearpit.net/index.php?showtopic=6264
http://thehighroad.org/showthread.php?p=2141241#post2141241
http://www.whistlestopper.com/forum/showth...2279#post672279
http://www.politicaldiscussion.info/forum/...p?p=24787#24787
http://bbs.freetalklive.com/index.php?topic=4478.0 -libertarian forum
http://boards.billmaher.com/showthread.php...3712#post563712
http://www.uspoliticsonline.com/forums/sho...1718#post601718
http://www.worldaffairsboard.com/showthread.php?t=9953
http://www.libertynewsforum.com/
http://www.conservativex.com/yabbse/index.php
http://www.annoyatorium.com/tt.aspx?forumid=25
http://www.freeconservatives.com/vb/index.php
http://www.volconvo.com/forums/
http://www.itsallpolitics.com/general-politics-vf5.html
http://libertypost.org/cgi-bin/latestcomments.cgi
http://www.debatepolitics.com/showthread.p...17544#post17544
http://cheaptalk.marijuana.com/420/forumdisplay.php?f=8
http://merit.nosync.org/index.php?showforum=35 - best category to post usually
http://techreport.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=517252#517252
http://www.strike-the-root.com/cgi-local/y...=;action=login2 - libertarian forum
http://anti-state.com/forum/index.php?board=;action=login2
http://www.fappin.com/board - they request I hit the link button lower right. Stopped posting because it was too complicated
http://www.wendymcelroy.com/smf/index.php
http://tcftalk.com/clairefiles/index.php?&topic=10841.0
http://digg.com/
http://www.christianexodus.us/ - FSP style movement except they are all Christians evacuating to South Carolina


List of public officials in New Hampshire who "serve" Ed and Elaine:

Sullivan County Sheriff Michael L. Prozzo Jr.
14 Main St.
P.O. Box 27
Newport, NH. 03773
PH 603.863.4200
FAX 603.863.0012
or E-mail sheriff@nhvt.net
You can ask him not to cooperate with the Feds in arresting or killing Ed and his friends. One approach is to keep the message under 12 words and ask his secretary to write it down word for word.


NH Sen. John Sununu
603-647-7500
You can ask him what he's doing to keep the other feds from arresting or killing Ed and his friends. One approach is to keep the message under 12 words and ask his secretary to write it down word for word.

Office of NH Governor Lynch
State House
25 Capitol Street
Concord, NH 03301
(603)271-2121 (603)271-7680 (fax) Email the Governor at
http://www.egov.nh.gov/governor/goveforms/comments.asp

NH Sen. Judd Gregg
603-225-7115

U.S. Marshalls, New Hampshire
Stephen Monier, Gary DiMartino
603 225 1632
You can thank them for their restraint thus far and urge them to continue it....or if they do something evil then you can just yell at them!

Colonel Frederick Booth
Director, NH State Police: (603) 271-2450
33 Hazen Drive | Concord, NH 03305
They were involved in arresting Ed last year, you can ask them not to do that again.


U.S. Rep Paul Hodes
Washington, DC Web Address:
http://hodes.house.gov/
Washington, DC Web Mail Address:
http://www.house.gov/htbin/wre ...
Washington, DC Address
506 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: 202-225-5206
Distric Address - Concord
114 North Main Street
Second Floor
Concord, NH 03301
Phone: 603-223-9814

State Representative Matthew Houde (D)
Current District: Sullivan 01
First Elected: 11/07/2006
Birth date: 03/27/1969
28 Bean Road, Apt C
Plainfield NH 03781-5479
603 469 3149
matthewhoude-at-yahoo.com

Ed's other State Representative Carla Skinder (D,R - you can be both at same time in NH)
Current District: Sullivan 01
First Elected: 11/07/2006
465 East Road
Cornish NH 03745-4433
603 542 6065
603 543 6895
603 863 8383
e-mail: cskinder-at-vrh.org carla.skinder-at-leg.state.nh.us

Attorney General Kelly Ayotte
http://doj.nh.gov/
33 Capitol Street
Concord, NH 03301
Phone: 603-271-3658
TTYD Number: 800-735-2964
Fax: 603-271-2110


William M. Gardner (NH)
Current Office: Secretary of State
First Elected: 1976
Party: Democrat
elections@sos.state.nh.us
http://www.sos.nh.gov/
Department Address
State Capitol, Room 204
Concord, NH 03301
Phone: 603-271-3242
Fax: 603-271-6316


US Representative Carol Shea-Porter (D) , NH
The other NH rep. technically she is not ed's rep.
Current District: 1
First Elected: 11/07/2006
Washington, DC Web Address:
http://shea-porter.house.gov/
Washington, DC Address
1508 Longworth HOB
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: 202-225-5456
District Address - Dover
104 Washington Street
Dover, NH 03820
Phone: 603-743-4813
Fax: 603-743-5956
District Address - Manchester
33 Lowell Street
Manchester, NH 03101
Phone: 603-641-9536
Fax: 603-641-9561

There's also a list of Ed's elected officials at

http://votesmart.org/search_zipcode.php?zi...3&go.x=8&go.y=8

Votesmart can also lead you to lists of your own officials if you're outside NH

For those who are wondering what my plans are for the first 48 hours after a raid...my default plan is to go straight to calendar.nhfree.com and set up a couple of minidemonstrations to ocurr within that time frame. These will likely be protests in front of Federal facilities in Manchester, Nashua or Keene. Then I'll probably start working on new signs that match the new situation, and endeavor to attend the demonstrations. It's nothing riviting and is sure to change, but it is my default plan. What's yours?

Dave Ridley
AKA Dada Orwell
NHfree.com

Plainfield: Armored vehicles, power shutoff trigger new concerns

From NHfree.com
June 11, 2007 5:34 p.m.

Bloggers around New Hampshire are reporting additional evidence of a second Federal buildup against income tax protester Ed Brown.

At 1:52 p.m. on June 11 Michael Hampton of HomelandStupidity.us relayed a radio report from Brown:

"Ed Brown just said on the radio," he writes, "that there are men crawling around in his woods and that his (grid) power and Internet have been out for a couple of hours now."

Source:
http://newhampshireunderground.com/forum/i...59881#msg159881

Hampton also reports a pattern of Federal Internet activity similar to that which preceded Washington's June 7 show of force.

Source:
http://newhampshireunderground.com/forum/i...59832#msg159832

As of 5:06 p.m. June 11 the Brown's phone remained disconnected after intermittently working over the previous three days.

Brown supporter Rob James reports a June 11 visit by Federal Marshals at his home in New Hampshire. He says officials missed him but left a business card.

Source:
http://forum.freestateproject.org/index.ph...72308#msg172308

Late on June 10 New Hampshire talk show host Gardner Goldsmith relayed a report from NH Public Radio which claimed armored vehicles were taking up positions near the Brown property.

Source:
http://libertyconspiracy.com/feds_setting_...tation_likely_0

Brown, a tax protester, is holed up in his rural New Hampshire home with his wife Elaine and an ever-evolving collection of supporters. He has been there since a January conviction on Federal tax evasion charges and has threatened to fire upon any policy enforcement officers that enter his property without permission. Federal officials say they do not have any intention of engaging in a violent confrontation with the elderly couple but used a taser on a Brown supporter last week after he discovered Marshals hiding in the woods and attempted to flee.

Well, I can certainly support any form of peaceful civil disobedience in protesting the income tax laws. I think most people would agree that our tax system is tilted in favor of the rich and extremely onerous for the middle class. Any income tax on poor people seems inhumane.

Protests against the government are only effective if they are carried out in the extreme, so I can sympathize with some of Ed Brown threats, such as his threat to use a gun. However, for him to actually shoot and kill someone (other than himself) is way beyond civil disobedience and I could never condone this kind of action.

As for the Feds, I am sure they must be moving in very carefully... which is their responsibility to enforce the law. After the Wako and Ruby Ridge fiasco, I wouldn't expect the Feds to do anything which will make them look bad.

Of course, if Ed Brown wants to make a martyr of himself there is nothing anybody can do about it... it beats dying silently in a hospital with tubes up every orifice in the human body. All I can say is he died fighting against a corrupt taxation system. I can't justify the means, but I can sympathize with his goal of trying to change the tax system.

ps...Have you noticed how many members of Congress do NOT have e-mails? I guess they don't want to hear from the public.

I, too, support non-violent civil disobedience against war and against income tax when the disobedience is based upon spiritual or philosophical grounds, rather than just based upon financial greed. However, some protestors might want to consider effectiveness. Many forms of protest aren't effective.

Here in Thailand, supporters of ousted ex-prime minister Shinawatra just announced they were willing to burn themselves to death in protest. One would say that's not effective. Yet, that's how the protests against the war in Vietnam started, by Buddhist monks.

The Christian movement began when Jesus gave himself up to the pagan, imperial powers to kill him. So it can be effective.