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Letter to the editor, Union Leader

by Carla Gericke
written by Carla Gericke

The following LTE appeared in the Union Leader on October 11, 2016.

To the Editor: I am the Republican candidate for state Senate in District 20 (Goffstown and Manchester Wards 3, 4, 10 and 11). I ask for your vote on Nov. 8.

You should be free to spend your money as you see fit. You should be free to pursue your vocation without red tape. You should exercise personal responsibility in your own life, and let others be, except when keeping your representatives accountable and transparent. As your senator, I will publicize every vote I make.

We need fresh, rational voices in Concord who apply logic and facts, who are not swayed by propaganda and hysteria. As a former attorney, I have these analytical skills. As an activist, I have dedicated my life to liberty, winning a landmark First Amendment case and cautioning about police militarization.

The “NH Advantage” no longer exists. Even “Taxachusetts” has a better business climate. We must reverse this trend by pursuing free market policies, like the recent business tax cut that created 17,274 new jobs and a $100 million budget surplus.

We need to foster high tech. I worked in Silicon Valley for almost a decade. We need to embrace the inevitable “Uber Everything” future. Imagine if you only paid for what you use, your payment goes directly to your service providers, thereby eliminating government waste.

The GOP platform says: “We believe in free people, free markets and free enterprise.” In the Senate, I will vote to grow the economy for the benefit of young and old.

CARLA GERICKE

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BlogElection 2016

My supporters RAWK! Get involved TODAY!

by Carla Gericke
written by Carla Gericke

The time draws nigh with just a few weeks left to activate! There are lots of great ways to help out. Here are a few:

Volunteer to knock doors or hold signs. Complete this form and my volunteer coordinator, Rhonda Lambert, will be in touch.

Or, join us for a sign wave on Friday, October 14th, 6-7:30PM before the Monarch’s game at SNHU Arena in downtown Manchester. RSVP here so I know how much pizza and beer to get for the after-party.

Good friends have put together a fun way to help my campaign! Buy raffle tickets anywhere you see William K, Bill D, or BuMps–if you don’t know them yet, come to Murphy’s Taproom for any of the next 3 Tuesdays from 5-9PM. The raffle tickets are $5 each, or 5 for $20, and the prizes solicited from the greater New Hampshire liberty community are totally off the hook. (Seriously, click the link, you can win a private plane ride!)

In addition to being entered into the drawing on November 8th, you can redeem the other side for virtual range time at Tactical Tuesdays which will be hosted in the backroom at Murphy’s for the next three weeks. RSVP to today’s Tactical Tuesdays here.

I’ve done the virtual range a few times now, and can tell you from personal experience, it is RAD! Whether you are new to shooting or an experienced marksman, this is an incredibly FUN way to spend a few hours. And you get to improve your skills to boot. Hope to see some new faces there today!

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BlogElection 2016

Speech from rally against MPD radio silence

by Carla Gericke
written by Carla Gericke

Thank you for coming out today!

My name is CARLA GERICKE-if you want an easy way to remember that, Gericke rhymes with America-and I am running for state senate in District 20, which includes Goffstown and Manchester Wards 3, 4, 10 and 11, and City Hall right here, is part of my district.

The last time I stood here to defend our rights as free people was in June when more than 60 people gathered to raise our voices against the unprecedented, unconstitutional West Side Lockdown. I invited Police Chief Willard to attend the rally, but he declined, saying he didn’t want to answer questions from the media.

We respected the decorum of alderman meeting, and only a few of us testified about how we were negatively affected by the lockdown, whether missing work or being ordered back into our homes at gunpoint. After we left the public portion of the meeting, an alderman called us “disgusting,” and then they voted unanimously in support of the MPD’s actions during the lockdown.

If democracy is to work, it is the job of our representatives to LISTEN to us and to REPRESENT US, not special interests and/or their family and friends-the conflict of interests on the alderman board are truly alarming, but that’s a discussion for another day-election day!

Frankly, the lockdown, and the aldermen’s rude disregard for our concerns, are, in part, what inspired me to run for office. They ignore us when we play by their rules, they insult us when we exercise our First Amendment rights to come and speak publicly and critically about things they should NOT be condoning.

And now they voted in support of encrypting police radios without ANY public input?

Open, honest and transparent policing can not come from actions like encrypting all police communications without any prior public discussion. Public access to information transmitted by police radios is a longstanding, healthy tradition, and to unilaterally make these communications encrypted, while increasing the use of military tactics and equipment on the streets of our city is unacceptable. It is unacceptable in a free and open society, and it is unacceptable in our hometown!

When social media lit up about “A Scanner Darkly”, the MPD issued an unsigned letter saying there was “nothing nefarious” behind their decision. As an activist who has spent the past decade working on online privacy issues, I find it astounding that when citizens use encryption, we are accused of having something to hide.

Let me remind you: WE, the people, have a right to PRIVACY, the right NOT to be monitored and surveilled by our own government. Choosing who and what another person knows about you is a fundamental part of personal freedom and human dignity. The STATE, and the POLICE, who work for US, do not have a right to privacy in the execution of their public duties. As your senator, I will always make my votes public, and will explain my reasoning for how I voted.

I’m hopefully the alderman will reconsider and reverse course like they did after the public outcry about filming the reality TV show COPS in Manchester. This is their chance to fix a secret, backroom decision, which, ironically-you can’t make this stuff up!-relates to the transparency, openness and accountability of our public officials. I hope they do the right thing tonight, but I am not holding my breath.

Now, while I have the soapbox, I want to tell you a little bit about myself. I was raised in South Africa in a diplomatic household, which means I lived abroad in the US, Sweden and Brazil growing up, but spent most of my upbringing in South Africa under apartheid, a police state. I finished high school when I was 16. I finished law school when I was 21. I took and passed the California Bar Exam-the hardest in the country-soon after emigrating to Silicon Valley in 1996. I have been an American citizen since 2000.

Perhaps that’s it? Perhaps REALLY studying the history of the founding of this country, its Constitution, its Bill of Rights is the reason I care so much? Perhaps it is because I have experienced a police state before, and know the warning signs:

Things like secret police actions, lockdowns, daytime curfews, illegal, unconstitutional checkpoints, police militarization, police brutality and police murders-yes, even here in New Hampshire, a mentally unstable man was shot and killed just a few weeks ago in Claremont, we all saw the state trooper’s beatdown of a surrendering man in Nashua, and then there’s the video that recently surfaced, eighteen months after the fact, of a MPD officer pepper spraying people cuffed to a bench inside the police station-and, of course, the problem of government surveillance-not only of people like me, an activist sounding the alarm, but YOU. They’re watching YOU too.

Last year, I was involved with the Free Library Project at the Kilton Library in West Lebanon. Long story short, the library was running a TOR node, which allows people to search anonymously online. The Department of Homeland Security tried to shut it down, claiming encryption can only be used for nefarious purposes. You see where I am going with this, don’tcha?

Anyway, some pre-teens wanted to join the protest, but before I would let them hold any signs-things like "Big Brother is Watching!"-I wanted to make sure they understood the issue. I explained to them: Imagine your mom can sneak into your room at any time and read your diary without telling you, and then one day, she wants to bust you for something, and so she uses that information against you and you are not allowed to complain or defend yourself against the original, invasive search. Does that sound fair? “No!” the kids yelled and grabbed signs, chanting: “Hands Off Our Library!” Does this sound like America to you?

You get it, right? The state wants to know everything about YOU, but they don’t want you to know anything about THEM, even though that is the EXACT OPPOSITE of how a functioning constitutional republic is supposed to work.

Look, I can stand here all day and raise the alarm about the encroaching police state, but I’m results-driven, and have some solutions and suggestions:

First: Film every police encounter you see, whether it’s your own traffic stop or you just notice someone being hassled. Don’t interfere or get involved. Just film it. It is protected speech, trust me, I know (brief history of my wiretapping court case). If they take your camera or phone, which they still routinely do as a woman told me at the last rally happened to her this year-call me and I will hook you up with a great lawyer specializing in making them pay-well, unfortunately, the taxpayers pay, but we’ll get into that in a moment. I received more than $57K in my settlement.

Secondly: Demand that your LEOs start wearing body cams. In Rialto, CA, in the first year after body cams were introduced, the use of force by officers declined 60%, and citizen complaints against police fell 88%. Many departments actual welcome the cameras, saying it helps them too. Funny what transparency does, and how it benefits everyone as long as they are behaving properly.

Third: We need to end the war on drugs. It’s a war on people. We need to treat people with addiction with compassion, as patients not criminals. The police use the war on drugs to justify their pay increases and overtime, their tanks and military gear, their asset forfeiture-which is literally when they take your stuff, never charge you with a crime, and then tell you to sue them if you want it back. The forfeited assets go straight into the department’s kitty. It’s called “policing for profit,” and while some good steps have been taken recently here in NH, we still have work to do. We need to close the federally funded equitable sharing loophole. As your senator, I will make this a priority.

Fourth: More community policing and changes to police culture, meaning the Thin Blue Line that thinks it’s OK to protect "bad apples”. I mean REAL community policing, on horses, bikes and on foot. LEOs MUST live in the town they serve. Think about recruitment ads for police jobs: who would you rather have policing your streets? The person who is attracted to community policing (talking to people, deescalating, trained in body language, etc.), or the person attracted to the thrash-metal recruitment video of cops clad in all-black, wearing balaclavas, jumping out of turreted armored vehicles with their guns pointed? I know I prefer the peace keepers.

Fifth: Real accountability–NO qualified immunity for police officers in civil cases. Police should carry private liability insurance, like doctors and lawyers do. Police should be held to higher standard, or, it blows my mind to even have to say this, at a minimum, THE SAME standard as citizens, definitely NOT a lower standard. Neill Franklin, a courageous and long-serving officer of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition once said of “officer safety”: “You signed up for a dangerous job, i.e. there is an assumption of risk and your first priority is to protect those you are sworn to protect, NOT yourself.” If mob boss Whitey Bulger can be arrested peacefully, during the day in a parking lot, why not treat SUSPECTED nonviolent drug offenders the same way instead of invading their homes at night with the sole goal to terrify and disorient?

Have you ever wonder how an authoritarian state arises? How the apartheid regime manifested? The answer is simple: When good people surrender to fear and do nothing when the state starts to overstep its bounds.

The state is overstepping its bounds every day, in more and more alarming ways, and the encryption of the MPDs radios is just one more example. I am not willing to let it go without a fight.

Who here has seen The Matrix? Who do you root for? Neo? Or Agent Smith? If you root for Neo, someone who is fighting for freedom, why, in the real world, in real life, do so many people still support the Agent Smiths of the world?

As Commander William Adama says in BattleStar Galactica:

“There’s a reason you separate military and the police. One fights the enemies of the state, the other serves and protects the people. When the military becomes both, then the enemies of the state tend to become the people.”

I’ll leave you with not my words, but the words from a former NH police officer who served in WWII and the Gulf War, who commented on Facebook regarding the West Side Lockdown:

"Let me tell you something. The term ‘lock down’ makes my fricken blood boil. Prisons get ‘locked down’, not neighborhoods… The ability to move about freely is one of our greatest freedoms… Does it make it easier for the police if the entire citizenry is locked down so that they may methodically search for a bad guy? Absolutely! Would it likewise make it easier for the police if they were allowed to search our homes and property without a warrant? Absolutely you will make it easier. Would it make it easier for the police if they were allowed to beat us and question us for hours on end until we were so tired that we confessed? Of course!
The problem is we do not exist to make things easier for the police. The police exist to make things easier for us.”

This is a battle for the soul of our city. We can either surrender to more and more unaccountable police power-funded largely by the federal government to turn our local police into a standing army with tanks and teargas and a license to kill-or we can take a stand and say, Enough is enough, this is not the future we want! Stop! Just stop!

We have a choice to make, Manchester, and I hope on November 8th, you will choose me!

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BlogElection 2016

A Scanner Darkly: SoapBox Rally, Tues, Oct 4, 5-8PM at Manchester City Hall

by Carla Gericke
written by Carla Gericke

Concerned Manchester Residents to Raise Voices Against MPD Radio Silence

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, September 28th, 2016

Spearheaded by Carla Gericke for NH Senate, concerned Manchester residents will gather at City Hall Plaza on Elm Street from 5-8PM on Tuesday, October 4, 2016 to raise their voices against the encryption of Manchester Police Department’s radios while military-grade equipment continue to be deployed on the streets of Manchester, NH.

Manchester, NH – In Manchester, a city with a population of 110,000 that often ranks highly in affordability and livability and where, according to the police chief, crime is down 20%, the police department recently started encrypting all police transmissions on the city’s new debt-funded $5.8 million emergency radio system. In an unsigned statement, MPD said: “We can assure you that our decision had absolutely nothing to do with trying to hide any type of nefarious activity.”

“The MPD’s unprecedented five hour lockdown of West Manchester in May was pretty ‘nefarious’ in my book,” said Carla Gericke, who organized a rally in response to the lockdown in June. “Seeing such unconstitutional police action with military-grade equipment like BEARCATS and helicopters clamoring overhead while officers roam the streets with rifles at-the-ready is partly why I am running for office.” Gericke is running for NH State Senate in District 20 which includes Goffstown and Wards 3, 4, 10 and 11 in Manchester. “As public officials, we must follow the constitution, and be accountable and transparent to the people we serve.”

The radio encryption has also raised concerns for media, social media and freelance journalists. In an open letter, Jeff Hastings, a freelance photographer and videographer, wrote: “…hearing everyday calls adds a level of transparency and accountability. As journalists and providers of information, we are now reduced 100 percent to what MPD wants to tell us.”

The encryption of the Motorola APX7000L system was done without any public hearing. Appeals at an alderman meeting last week to switch back to unencrypted police radio transmissions fell on deaf ears, with all but one city alderman rejecting the idea.

“I hope when they see us on Tuesday,” said Gericke, “They will take up the issue again, and represent the will of the people.”

Chris Blue, an electronics system technician for the city said other Manchester services like Fire and Ambulance will not be encrypted, stating in the Union Leader that the MPD encryption is, “What the military uses, the FBI, the DEA.”

“That’s exactly what I find troublesome,” said Carla Gericke. “Our local police are not supposed to be the military or agents of the federal government. Hiding behind encryption while increasing the use of military tactics is dangerous to a free and open society. We have a right to know what our police department is up to. In many cases over the last few years, it was ordinary citizens who led to the apprehension of suspects. Instead of keeping us in the dark, the police should welcome our help."

A press conference will take place at 6:30PM on October 4, 2016 at City Hall Plaza on Elm Street, Manchester, NH. Manchester residents are invited to use the “SoapBox” for up to 2 minutes to express their opinions. For more information, contact Carla Gericke at: carla@carla4NHsenate (dot) com.

Please RSVP to the event on Facebook HERE.

Carla Gericke was born in South Africa, raised in a diplomatic household, and moved to the U.S. in 1996 after winning a green card in the Diversity lottery. She became a U.S. citizen in 2000. Carla practiced law in South Africa and at Fortune 500 companies in Silicon Valley before completing her M.F.A. in New York City. After moving to New Hampshire in 2008 as part of Free State Project, a movement to attract 20,000 liberty activists to the Granite State, Carla twice organized PorcFest, one of the world’s largest liberty gatherings. Also in 2014, she successfully spearheaded efforts to remove fraudulent claims about Free Staters from a federal BEARCAT grant application. In 2014, acting as plaintiff, Carla won a landmark First Circuit Court of Appeals case affirming the 1st Amendment right to film police encounters. She was named one of NH Magazine’s 2014 “Remarkable Women.” Carla served as FSP president from 2011-2016, stepping down after she secured the 20,000 signer two years ahead of projections. She remains on the board as president emeritus. Carla writes and speaks on a variety of topics, and has been quoted in The Economist, WSJ, New York Magazine, New York Times, Playboy, GQ, and has appeared on CNN and WMUR. She is working on a forthcoming memoir, Chill Don’t Kill, about the her role in the FSP, her arrest for wiretapping, and the landmark court decision that followed. In her spare time, Carla enjoys cooking, hiking, reading, and traveling. She practices yoga and shooting, and plays a mean game of Scrabble. She lives in Manchester, NH, with her husband of twenty-two years, and their rescued dog, Nervous Nellie. Carla Gericke is the 2016 Republican candidate for New Hampshire State Senate in District 20 (Goffstown and Manchester Wards 3, 4, 10 and 11). Read more about her activism on Wikipedia.

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BlogElection 2016

Liberty Ballot

by Carla Gericke
written by Carla Gericke

The primary is coming up tomorrow, Tuesday, September 13th. Unsure of which Republican candidates share your values?

Liberty Ballot has done your homework for you! Simply click on the link, enter the town you vote in, and bingo, find your pro-liberty representatives.

If you won’t be able to make it to the polls Tuesday, be sure to stop by your Town or City offices for an absentee ballot.

See you at the polling station tomorrow!

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BlogElection 2016

“Zero Tolerance” for the state’s intolerance

by Carla Gericke
written by Carla Gericke

The documentary "Zero Tolerance," (trailer here) explores the role of SROs–law enforcement officers called "school resources officers"– who are stationed in schools across America.

"Why are children as young as five being arrested in schools across the USA? In a misguided attempt to avoid another Columbine, Zero Tolerance policies in schools have detained, fined and incarcerated hundreds of thousands of children for ‘offences’ such as chewing gum or being late for class." ~ IMDB

Set mostly in Texas, the stories are harrowing. But, there was one principal who, at 66 years old and retired, agreed to take on what I can only call a distressed urban high school.

Bertie Simmons did away with ticket writing, met with each student one-on-one "to listen," set up a school court with a 12 person jury made up of seniors who were authorized to mete out punishment, and turned the school around. I was so impressed, afterwards, I wrote her an email to thank her for her positive human action. She wrote back and said: "Thank you. Working together we can make a real difference."

It was moving to see one person make such a remarkable difference in young people’s lives through de-escalation, personal interaction, caring, and civility.

It is also a reminder of how callous and cruel Governor Hassan’s veto of a bipartisan bill and the recent court decision about school choice in Croydon truly is.

The NH Department of Education used YOUR tax dollars to fight parents and a small town school board to FORCE four students out of an environment they were thriving in, and back to the Newport public school this fall. And, remember, the Montessori school was SAVING the taxpayers of Croydon thousands of dollars per year.

Makes you wonder about the motivation of NHDOE, because unlike principal Bertie Simmons, it doesn’t sound like they have the students’ best interests at heart.

The documentary also made me wonder about our schools in Goffstown and Manchester, and whether questionable conduct by SROs might be taking place in our own backyards? I recall there was one excessive force incident a few years ago at West Manchester High.

We already know our schools are being locked down with alarming frequency, e.g. eleven times in three weeks this May. Are all of these really necessary? Or could it, long-term, be creating a more dangerous situation when students start to see these warnings as "the grown-ups crying wolf, again"? What does it condition children to accept?

In the movie, a young lady who was being bullied struck back after being punched. If this happened outside of school, you would be within your rights to act in self-defense and hit someone who hit you back. But inside this school, BOTH students were punished. So basically, children are being taught they are not allowed to defend themselves.

"Zero tolerance" is a terrible idea. The word "tolerance," after all, means a "willingness to accept feelings, habits, or beliefs that are different from your own." When the state says it won’t tolerate behavior that is different from its own stated goals, like we saw recently in Croydon, we are cruising down the road to tyranny.

As your senator, I will work to reverse this trend towards ever more invasive government, encourage openness and transparency, and make sure your individual rights, and those of your family, are protected above all.

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BlogElection 2016

7 Documentaries that make you go, “Hmm…”

by Carla Gericke
written by Carla Gericke

I’m a documentary film junkie. Sometimes, the shortest route to getting someone to understand where you are coming from is not to try to convince them yourself, but rather to let a book or movie speak for you.

Here are 7 documentaries you need to watch:

1: The Ballad of Esequiel Hernández

Narrated by Tommy Lee Jones, this movie features remarkably candid accounts from Marines on a mission near the US-Mexico border that led to the death of an American teenager. Also included are interviews with Esequiel’s family, friends and teachers; Marine Corps investigators; FBI investigators and defense attorneys.

"A Texas grand jury declined to indict the team’s commanding officer for murder, in part due to military pressure not to subject soldiers to state laws." ~ Mother Jones

2: Let the Fire Burn

This 2013 documentary covers the events leading up to and surrounding a 1985 stand-off between the black liberation group MOVE and the Philadelphia Police Department, where the PD dropped a bomb on the MOVE house, causing a fire. The police made the controversial decision to "let the fire burn", resulting in the destruction of more than 60 homes and the death of five children and six adults. The investigation that followed found that city leaders and law enforcement had acted negligently, but no criminal charges were filed.

"This historic footage — from newsreels, TV stations once-live coverage, from several investigating commissions — has been edited, brilliantly into a coherent, important political film." ~ Arts Fuse

3: CitizenFour

You will feel like you are watching a thriller in this Oscar-winning film about Edward Snowden, the heroic whistleblower who provided proof to the world that the U.S. government routinely and secretly spies on us all.

"The message of the movie is as clear as Siberian ice: Whether you’re a Tea Partier, an Occupier or just an ordinary Joe, you might be the next citizen who’s stranded in limbo." ~ St. Louis Post-Dispatch

4: Waco: Rules of Engagement

Think you know what happened at Waco? Think again. Said one film critic: "If you believe the US government is only looking out for your interests, I defy you to watch this film and not find your viewpoint altered."

“Whatever happened at Waco, these facts remain: It is not against the law to hold irregular religious beliefs. It is not illegal to hold and trade firearms. It is legal to defend your own home against armed assault, if that assault is illegal. It is impossible to see this film without reflecting that the federal government, from the top down, treated the Branch Davidians as if those rights did not apply.” ~ Roger Ebert

5: The House I Live In

From the filmmaker who brought us the brilliant "Why We Fight" which is also worth watching, this movie examines the War of Drugs, the problems prohibition causes, and the tragedies that happen when drug users are treated like criminals. More than 45 million drug users have been arrested over the past 4 decades–and for each one jailed, another family is destroyed.

"Whatever your politics, you will find things to astonish and flabbergast and enrage you in what is perhaps the most cool-headed examination of America’s relationship to illegal drugs ever." ~ Flick Filosopher

6: The Internet’s Own Boy

Harvard research fellow and co-founder of Reddit, Aaron Swartz—an internet wunderkind and “open access” advocate—is threatened with 35 years in federal prison for the crime of downloading copyrighted materials from MIT’s library. What follows is a two year legal nightmare caused by overzealous federal prosecutors hellbent on making an example of Aaron.

"A touching, morally outraged portrait that, in memory of Swartz, may inspire people to ask hard questions about how the new world is being shaped away from view, behind closed doors." ~ Globe and Mail

7: Making a Murderer

Filmed over ten years, this 10-part Netflix Original series made quite a splash last year. This true crime docuseries is riveting, addictive, and offers a fascinating look at the US criminal justice system. I recommend you queue this one to binge watch on a snowy weekend this winter.

"If there is any succor to be found, it’s in knowing that in its exceptional depiction of unprecedented events, Making a Murderer may end up changing our justice system for the better." ~ PopMatters

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BlogElection 2016

Let’s reverse the school choice setback

by Carla Gericke
written by Carla Gericke

Today’s Union Leader states: "Sullivan County Superior Court presiding judge Brian T. Tucker has sided with the state Department of Education, ruling against school choice in the Croydon School District."

For those of you not familiar with this case, I’ll break it down as simply as I can:

Croydon, pop. 764, has a one room schoolhouse that goes to middle school. After that, kids have to be sent to a neighboring town’s high school. Some of the kids did not do well in the public Newport School, and their parents, working with the Croydon school board, then selected the Newport’s Montessori school instead.

The private Montessori school costs thousands of dollars LESS than the state school, saving Croydon taxpayers $16,000 for the school year. Oh, and the 4 kids thrived.

Enter the Department of Education. Late last year, they filed a motion for injunctive relief to take the kids out of the Montessori school. In the middle of the school year. Initially, the attorney for the DOE argued the state (not the children) would be irreparably harmed if the kids were not removed. After the judge asked for clarification, the DOE lawyer then claimed the students would be harmed if allowed to remain at the Newport Montessori School as part of the town’s school choice program. Thankfully, the judge did not buy this argument, said the DOE had prior knowledge the children were in the Montessori school, and stayed the injunction, letting the kids remain in their school of choice until the end of the school year.

In the meanwhile, school choice advocates worked with legislators to try to clarify the law. During testimony on the bill, the DOE lawyer argued the private Montessori school did not provide "an adequate education." Most of the room, legislators included, erupted in laughter. One legislator said something like: "Are you really arguing private schools are worse than public schools? Surely market forces prove that to be absurd."

The bill handily passed the legislature, however, Governor Hassan vetoed it. Surprise, surprise, Hassan sided with the Department of Education, rather than parents and children. She vetoed what could have created a school choice precedent for New Hampshire’s small towns. She vetoed what could have provided an incredible benefit to Granite State parents and children. She vetoed the idea that your tax money can go to a school that works for your child. She vetoed tax savings to taxpayers. She vetoed something that would have made parents and children happier. She vetoed a bill that would have taken the burden off public schools by removing students whom they have difficulty serving. She vetoed the idea of competing markets provide the best choice for New Hampshire children. She thinks she knows what is best for YOUR child, and she is willing to force you to comply.

Yesterday, Judge Tucker granted a permanent injunction ordering the small-town school district of Croydon to send all public school students to public school in the fall. By order of the state, these kids–and all Croydon students in the future–will be forced to return to–or remain in–a school that does not serve their needs.

The decision is a setback for school choice in New Hampshire, but I am confident the case will be appealed to the NH Supreme Court.

The questions you should be asking yourself:

  • Why is the state so interested in keeping control over these students? Is it because they fear a precedent that will create more market competition?
  • Why is it that other schools in other districts are allowed to send children to private schools, as we see with, for example, Fryeburg Academy?
  • Is school choice only for the wealthy?
  • Why do private schools cost less than public schools? Could waste be built into the system?
  • If you are a teacher, wouldn’t you rather work with students who want to be in your classroom? Do you realize that longterm, more school choice will give YOU more attractive options as an educator?
  • Ultimately, who should decide what is best for your child and his or her education? Should that decision rest with bureaucrats in Concord, or should it reside with parents, their school board, and, of course, the child?

New Hampshire should be leading the national school choice movement, not taking steps backwards through poor court decisions and vetoes. Between 2001-2013, families making nonresidential school choices via open public school enrollment, home schooling, charter schools and private schools increased 21%.

Students aren’t all the same. Kids don’t all fall into one bucket. Each is unique. We need more choices to address this reality.

As your senator, I will respect this individualism. I will work with you to create more choices in education (and elsewhere), and save the taxpayers some coin in the process.

If you are interested in learning more about NH school choice, join this Facebook group.

Follow me on Facebook at Carla4NHSenate. Please considering donating to my campaign today. Thank you!

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BlogElection 2016

War is coming home

by Carla Gericke
written by Carla Gericke

Having grown up in South Africa under apartheid, I am no stranger to the dangers of police militarization. In high school in the 80s, I attended an all-girls boarding school in Pretoria. The police would frequently come to our school to warn us "the terrorists are coming." The "terrorists" were anyone the regime did not like.

One day, unbeknownst to us, the police detonated smoke bombs in our school to simulate a terror attack. We girls truly believed we were under fire. I was eleven or twelve, a volunteer school fire-fighter, and I leopard-crawled upstairs–fighting the smoke, tears and snot streaming down my face, bruises forming on my elbows and knees–to try to save my friends. Needless to say, when I learned the "attack" that terrified us so was orchestrated BY the police, my views about "good guys" and "bad guys" started to evolve.

America is marching lockstep towards a bona fide police state. This is not hyperbole. America incarcerates the most people on the planet. Today, police commit 1 out of 12 of all killings in the United States. In 2015, 41 officers were slain in the line of duty, while police killed 1,207 Americans. You are 8 times (some say 55 times) more likely to die at the hands of the police than a terrorist. Here in Manchester, an entire neighborhood was recently placed under lockdown, a daytime curfew, something you would never expect to see in a free society.

If you believe police militarization is necessary to protect you from the virtually nonexistent threat of terrorism, understand this fear mongering is being pushed on you by politicians and news media outlets who stand to gain from your fear. Scared people are controllable people.

Your children are being trained in school, like I was, to fear. In Manchester in May, schools were locked down 11 times in 3 weeks. Active shooter drills with "simulated injuries" that "may be visible on volunteer participants" take place in New Hampshire routinely, in hospitals, schools, and elsewhere. In other parts of the country, things are worse, e.g. the CIA forgot a bomb on a school bus after a drill. Do you want this to happen here?

And while you are being scared into submission, the police are being armed and trained to see you as the enemy. The police are being given more and more military grade equipment, funded mostly with federal grants, paid for by YOU, the taxpayer. You are literally paying for your own enslavement.

In 2013, while I was president of the FSP, the then police chief of Concord falsely claimed participants of my organization were a "domestic terrorist threat" in a federal grant application to get a $260,000 BEARCAT–a cuddly name for a Ballistic Engineered Armored Response Counter Attack Truck. The kind of vehicle you see in a war zone, not in a town with 2 homicides per decade. If YOU lie on a government form, you can be fined and/or imprisoned. When government officials break the law, they get off scot-free because "accidents happen," or, when the crimes get Too Big to Jail, they run for president!

Long story short (you can read more here, here, here, and here, which includes links to media coverage), despite more than 1,500 paper petition signatures garnered from Concord residents, the town voted to accept the BEARCAT. The city council flat-out ignored their constituents, siding with the police over the people, something we see all too often in New Hampshire. The police chief kinda, sorta apologized for demonizing peaceful, limited government proponents, and quietly stepped down a few months later.

Even if you think BEARCATs proliferating across the state isn’t a big deal, what about the increasing military tactics being used on our streets, or all the rifles, scopes, and other tactical gear local police are being armed with, even in places like little ole Laconia? Don’t take my word for it, watch what this retired Marine colonel has to say about what is happening:

"We are building a domestic military, because it is unlawful or unconstitutional to use American troops on American soil, so what we are doing is building a military… Homeland Security is pre-staging gear, equipment… What they are trying to do is use standardized vehicles, standardized equipment… Let’s not kid ourselves, what we are doing is building a domestic army because the government is afraid of its own citizens."

Why? Why are they afraid? Could it be because we are over-taxed, over-policed, and over-incarcerated? That 79.8% of people disapprove of the job congress is doing? Could it be because there was no real economic recovery after the 2000 and 2008 crashes caused by the federal government’s inflationary policies and money printing? Could it be they are worried about the ever-growing $19 TRILLION dollars of debt, a number so unfathomable people gloss over it, unaware this astronomical number excludes unfunded liabilities like social security and pensions?

Perhaps it is the fact that for the first time, thanks to the internet and social media, we can discover the truth for ourselves, and communicate directly with thousands of other people across the state, country, and globe? That they realize they no longer control the narrative, that, as Hillary Clinton put it in 2011 in a bid for more funding for the state department’s propaganda machine: “We are in an information war and we are losing that war.”

Sadly, America loves war. Besides the foreign interventions, at home we have the war on drugs, the war on poverty, the war on terror. Frankly, none of these "wars" work out as intended, and all of us end up as collateral damage to failed DC policies.

It is imperative that we reverse the militarization of police here in the Granite State.

As your senator, I will not support legislation to increase police militarization and will actively work to reverse this trend. We also need more accountability and transparency regarding these programs, especially those being pushed locally by the federal government. We need more reporting on what equipment is available, how it is being used, and what training is taking place.

Remember, when all one has is a hammer, eventually everything looks like a nail. As I said in this speech during the pro-police accountability rally I organized as a West Manchester homeowner after the lockdown, YOU are the nail.

If we don’t end this trend towards police militarization, one day soon you will find yourself living under tyranny and wonder how we got there. Not on my watch! Find me on Facebook at Carla Gericke for NH State Senate. Please donate today!

Photo credit: Poster made by concerned West Manchester resident after the lockdown. All photos are from police action in Manchester, NH.

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BlogElection 2016

Review of Clinton Cash

by Carla Gericke
written by Carla Gericke

Clinton Cash, a documentary based on the New York Times bestselling book by Peter Schweizer, is now available [on Youtube.]((https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LYRUOd_QoM)

This movie is a real eye-opener on how the Clintons have enriched themselves to the tune of millions of dollars by trading "speaking fees" for favors of national importance. To the tune of $126 million, to be precise.

According to this review by John Stossel, Schweizer said on his show the Clintons use "speaking fees" to get around bribery laws.

"If somebody gave a politician or family member money for a favor, that’s breaking the law. But if you say it’s a speaking fee, and you pay double or triple the normal rate, that seems to be legal."

Look, paying politicians to listen to them blather is nothing new. But, according to Schweizer, what looks suspicious is how much more Bill started getting paid after Hillary became secretary of state. His speaking fee increased from around $200,000 to as much as $750,000 per speech. He was even paid $750,000 by the same organization TWICE, for 20-minute speeches. As in $1.5 million dollars for 40 minutes of Bill’s time. Good work if you can finagle it!

That’s "evidence that people paying him expect to get something in return," says Schweizer. "She becomes appointed secretary of state, a friend of the president of Nigeria suddenly offers (Bill) $700,000 apiece for two speeches. An investment firm in Moscow that’s tied to the Kremlin who had never paid for him to speak before suddenly gave him $500,000."

These are just two of the remarkable examples cited in Clinton Cash–there are too many to list here–but your jaw will drop when you see what these folks get in return.

Then there is the almost TWO BILLION dollars that has been funneled through The Clinton Foundation, now under investigation by the IRS. In a letter signed by 64 House Republicans, they described the Clinton Foundation as a “lawless ‘pay-to-play’ enterprise that has been operating under a cloak of philanthropy for years and should be investigated.” When you consider that only 10-15% of monies collected go to actual charity work to help needy people, this sounds about right.

The allegations in the movie are stunning, especially when strung together to give a cohesive view of events during Hillary’s time at the state department.

This election, let us not be blinded by the notion that a woman smashing the glass ceiling is more important than ending up with someone in the White House who operates above the rule of law.

You need to make your own determination whether Hillary Clinton is fit to be president. This movie will help you decide.

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