A Holyrood inquiry into freedom of information (FOI) laws has found they have failed to keep pace with public services.

The Public Audit and Post-legislative Scrutiny Committee published a report on Tuesday following an investigation into the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act (FOISA).

In the report which was agreed before the length of time for information to be released was increased from 20 to 60 working days in the Coronavirus (Scotland) Act members of the committee say the divide between the public and private sector has become blurred.

As a result, private firms who are in receipt of public funds or a providing public services are not covered by the Act, which allows members of the public, journalists and politicians to apply for information.

The committee recommended the Scottish Government looks at introducing a gateway clause to automatically include companies and groups receiving public money or providing a service within the remit of the Act, allowing information on the spending of the funds and the provision of services to be accessed by the public.

The report also said the committee is interested in a factors-based approach, which would include the expansion of the law subject to testing.

This could be based on the extent to which an organisation is delivering (or supporting the delivery of) a public function, the degree of public interest in relation to the function/service being delivered and the cost to the public purse in delivering the function or service.

During an evidence session before the inquiry in December, parliamentary business minister Graeme Dey said the functions of private companies relating to public spending should be covered in principle but cautioned MSPs on expanding too far.

He told the committee: Clearly, the activities that are publicly funded absolutely should but we have to be careful to ensure that FOISA captures only the public service element of their work and not anything else that leads perhaps to their competitors gaining a commercial advantage in an area of non-public business.

The report also said the Act should be amended to ensure public bodies and private contractors are unable to rely on confidentiality agreements to keep information about spending or services out of the public domain.

The committee also pushed for the definition of information within the Act to be amended to include private WhatsApp conversations, email accounts and texts to ensure there was no way information could be withheld.

Committee convener Anas Sarwar said: Legislation must be robust, clear and enforceable.

We heard in our evidence sessions suggestions of a shift in recent years in the level of information being routinely recorded in connection with official public business.

We are absolutely clear that there should be no deliberate attempt to evade FOISA.

Consideration should also be given to amending the legislation to make explicit that tools such as WhatsApp, texts and ministerial private email accounts are covered by FOISA.

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Freedom of information laws 'have failed to keep pace with public services' - Aberdeen Evening Express

The first ever Freedom of the City of London ceremony to be conducted virtually will take place on Tuesday (12 May) at 10.30am for Captain Tom Moore, the 100-year-old Second World War veteran who raised nearly 33 million for the NHS.

The ceremony, which is usually held at Guildhall for invited guests only, will be conducted via Microsoft Teams and streamed live on the City of London Corporations YouTube channel - http://www.youtube.com/cityoflondonvideos

One of the City of Londons ancient traditions, the Freedom is believed to have begun in 1237 and enabled recipients, who were also required to join a Livery company, to carry out their trade.

Captain Moore has been granted the Freedom of the City of London by Special Nomination by William Russell, Lord Mayor of the City of London, and Catherine McGuinness, Policy Chair at the City of London Corporation, in recognition of his outstanding charitable work.

Launched on 6 April, his initiative, Toms 100th Birthday Walk for the NHS, involved completing 100 laps of his garden to raise 1,000 for NHS Charities Together, which supports staff and volunteers caring for COVID-19 patients.

The target was reached on 10 April and after gaining widespread media attention, the amount on Captain Moores JustGiving fundraising page climbed dramatically every day, closing at 32,796,405 on his birthday on 30 April.

Captain Tom Moore said:

I am deeply honoured to be granted the Freedom of the City of London.

I remain humbled by the love and gratitude that I have received from the British public, and this honour is something that I will truly value for the rest of my life.

Lord Mayor William Russell said:

My colleagues and I were touched greatly by Captain Moores inspirational efforts to support the NHS and impressed by his remarkable achievement, his commitment to this cause, and the sheer generosity of his supporters.

Captain Moore is a credit to this country, and we are absolutely delighted that he accepted our invitation to receive the Freedom of the City of London.

Catherine McGuinness, Policy Chair at the City of London Corporation, said:

I am very happy to send my warmest congratulations to Captain Moore on his admission to the Freedom, which we are, quite literally, making a virtual reality.

The staggering amount of money that he has raised for NHS charities will support their difficult and vital work in these challenging times.

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Dr Peter Kane, Chamberlain of London, said:

It will be my privilege to conduct Captain Tom Moores ceremony, mindful that this extraordinary gentleman will now be making headlines in the City of London for taking part in our first virtual ceremony.

As well as being nominated for, or applying for, the Freedom, it is also offered by the City of London Corporation to people as a way of paying tribute to their outstanding contribution to London or public life or in this instance, to celebrate a very significant achievement.

Among the many birthday tributes paid to him, Captain Moore was awarded the title of honorary colonel by Sir Mark Carleton-Smith, Chief of the General Staff; given an RAF flypast; and sent a personalised birthday card by HM the Queen. Captain Moore was also invited to open - via video link - the NHS Nightingale Hospital Yorkshire and the Humber, previously, Harrogate Convention Centre.

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Captain Tom Moore receives Freedom award during City of London's first 'virtual' ceremony - FE News

Pupils in reception, year one and year six classes will be the first to go back to school depending on the R rate and the five-stage threat level unveiled by the Government at the weekend.

If the return does not have a detrimental impact, other primary school year groups could return before the Summer holidays.

Secondary school pupils and university students are not going to return before September although ministers propose that children in the crucial first year of GCSE and A-level courses should have one to one meetings with their teachers to discuss their work plans and study needs.

The Association of School and College (ASCL) leaders say vulnerable or priority pupils who are most at risk of not learning at home should be prioritised.

The National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) has joined with other unions in opposing a return unless demands a 'test and trace' system for coronavirus is fully operational for schools and extra funds for deep cleaning and personal protective equipment.

Unions are also seeking flexibility over how they organise the return so that they can have staggered start and finishing times to prevent parents and pupils mixing at the beginning and end of the day.

Road closures are also being considered so parents taking children to and from school can maintain the two metre limit from other families.

Schools will also be expected to introduce strict handwashing regimes on pupils arrival, when returning to class after breaktimes, after sneezing, coughing or wiping nose and to avoid sharing toys, pencils and balls or disinfect after each use. Retailers of non essential goods may also be allowed to reopen in the second phase but it will be conditional on their introducing measures to ensure the two metre social distancing.

This will include measures outside and inside stores, introducing plexiglass screens at tills and limiting numbers both in store and in socially distanced warehousing operations.

The British Retail Consortium has submitted a report to the Government recommending that if non-essential shops reopen, changing rooms should stay closed and in-store seating and services such as advice, personal shopping or nail bars should be limited.

The Prime Minister is expected to announce as part of the second phase that all visitors to Britain will be quarantined in a bid to prevent a second wave of the coronavirus.

Travellers arriving in the UK will be required to fill in a digital form and declare an address where they will then be expected to self-isolate for 14 days.

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Boris Johnson's roadmap to ease lockdown will start with more freedom to exercise and back-to-work moves from Wednesday - Telegraph.co.uk

Liberty and freedom are used interchangeably today. I imagine if you asked anyone on the streetwhether a high school history teacher, a teenager, a business executive a doctor or a sanitationworker if there is a difference between liberty and freedom, you would get five differentanswers. Perhaps the reply would be, "they are the same." How do you answer this question? Isthere a difference? We might even hear someone say, "What makes the difference and why doesit matter anyway"?

Patrick Henry was born in 1736 and in 1775 he gave a famous speech where he said, "Give meliberty or give me death! His speech was the ignitor and inspiration for the AmericanRevolution, which resulted in the freedoms you and I enjoy in 2020. Throughout the course ofthe *Revolutionary War, an estimated 6,800 Americans were killed in action, 6,100 wounded,and upwards of 20,000 were taken prisoner. Historians believe that at least an additional17,000 deaths were the result of disease, including about 8,000 to 12,000 who died while prisonersof war (*Battlefields.org)

Most Americans would say they are free to do what they want. This seems to be the definitionmany Americans have for freedom. Rarely do you hear anyone mutter the word, liberty. Todayin particular we have noticed government stepping into our lives in a moments notice and takingaway the very freedoms our ancestors fought for. Man can take freedoms away. But PatrickHenry was referring to that which no man can take away liberty!

Our birth certificate, the Declaration of Independence, lays out for us that the laws of natureand natures God entitle mankind these truths are self-evident and all men are created equalthat they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, among these are life,liberty and the pursuit of happiness governments are to secure these rights instituted amongmen deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.

Why didnt Patrick Henry say, "Give me freedom or give me death"? To our founders thedifference was, the source. Freedom comes from man. Liberty comes from God! Rights comefrom God not from man. Today, we believe rights come from man instead of God. Our founderswere willing to die for those Liberties. Today, we do not seem to have the same cultural mindsetof those who wrote our Declaration of Independence. The founders mindset as they built thefoundation to our nation was, God gave rights not man. Their mindset led us to liberty andfreedom but all other mindsets will lead to neither liberty or freedom.

God was willing to give us both, liberty and freedom, through the sacrifice of his Son, ourSavior, Jesus Christ. For God so loved the world that He gave his one and only Son that whoeverbelieves in Him will not perish but have eternal life. He alone is the source of liberty andfreedom.

The verdict is in; the consequence of sin is death. All of us have had a birthday and now we allhave coming a death day. You and I cannot avoid it. Are you prepared to say, Jesus, give meliberty and give me life? This is what Patrick Henry was trying to say. We need more PatrickHenrys today. May God bless you and may God bless Ashland.

Dan Phillip is president and founder of Transformation Network.

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God alone is the source of liberty and freedom - Akron Beacon Journal

After just four years in power, Rodrigo Duterte, the president of the Philippines, has turned his country into a deadly dictatorship one again. Now the closure of the countrys major mainstream news platform ABS-CBN on May 5 in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic has struck deep historical chords in a country that has heard this sorry song before.

The broadcaster was ordered off air by the countrys media regulator, which said its licence had expired and needed to be renewed by Congress. But Duterte has had an ongoing battle with the independent ABS-CBN and the move was seen as a clear attack on media freedom.

The regime of former Filipino dictator Ferdinand Marcos also closed the broadcaster down in 1972 when it imposed martial law. Marcoss regime murdered, disappeared and tortured its own people with impunity. Assassinations plagued public life at every level and there were 3,257 officially documented killings.

Now Dutertes death squads put the Marcos years into a chilling context. Some estimate at least 29,000 people have been killed in Dutertes so-called drug war.

The current extent of the alleged genocide is hard to know and will be even harder without ABS-CBN. Investigative journalism and accurate reporting are practically impossible. Journalists are regularly assassinated along with lawyers and human rights workers. Families and society are bereft of justice and accountability. The Philippines has become increasingly perilous for many citizens and an understandable fear of retribution silences many in 2020 despite all the communication tools available.

The timing of the ABS-CBN shutdown could not be worse. Filipinos desperately need their largest broadcaster the oldest in south-east Asia for reliable information about COVID-19. Anti-vaxxer conspiracies around dengue fever and measles vaccinations have caused recent tragic outbreaks of both diseases in the Philippines. And yet Dutertes brand of medical populism has spread misinformation, claiming people can rely on fictional Filipino antibodies to fight COVID-19.

Few checks on power remain

The velocity of Dutertes reign of death and abuse has caught weak institutions and opponents unprepared. His populist electoral victory can in no way excuse the atrocities and yet Dutertes chauvinistic style and cavalier actions still remain politically popular.

His hashtag friendly campaign title Du30 has become a powerful brand if not now a violent and well-connected clan. Du30-ism is undeniably a cultural and political juggernaut that shows very few signs of abating, or being met by an emerging counter-force. Duterte now controls every aspect of public administration and there are no checks and balances to his power. The fourth estate is now severely if not mortally disabled and Du30s power absolute, for now.

Dutertes power over the security forces is based on an old and unsubtle system of patronage normally employed by local clans, mayors and alike. Now that the provincial big boss is resident in the presidential palace in Manila, he has a vast network of people in every institution in the country in his debt. The military has been overtly politicised and, conversely, politics and culture have become increasingly militarised.

Duterte enables both masked assassins on the back of motorbikes, and killers in uniform. Just as with Marcos, it will take decades to repair public trust and legitimacy in the security services.

Big Bossism reigns

Politicisation of supposedly independent judicial and legislative branches of government is all but confirmed with the shutdown of ABS-CBN. Dutertes appointees dominate 11 of the 15 judges on the High Court, which protects him and his cronies from justice. The regime has now begun to target the education sector, robbing the next generations of a more progressive future.

Mandatory military training is being pushed in high schools to further militarise society. University students are being falsely targeted in the drug war and in the fight against communist insurgents using crude divide-and-conquer tactics.

Without a free media, new forms of cultural and political dissent will be needed. So far, social media has been no salvation it was the horse Du30 rode in on and still dominates. His DDS Duterte Diehard Supporters or Davao Death Squads, referring to the city where Duterte was a former mayor patrol online and offline.

At times, it feels little has changed across much of south-east Asia since 1971 when Bruce Lee busted out of Hong Kong to global appeal in his film The Big Boss. The cultural trope of Big Bossism is entrenched through computer games, film and TV across south-east Asia only now the battle is fought with bots and keyboards, not Kung Fu.

Shutting down ABS-CBN is not merely an echo of the Marcos dictatorship it is a continuation of the enduring weaknesses in the Filipino state. Duterte is the most recent incarnation of the Marcos-era Big Boss, wielding the same power in a more potent and deadly fashion. And just as with Duterte, its possible other strongmen or authoritarians could follow.

Tom Smith, Principal Lecturer in International Relations, University of Portsmouth

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Image: Reuters

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'Deadly Dictatorship': How Rodrigo Duterte Has Attacked Freedom of the Media in Latest Closure of Main Broadcaster - The National Interest

Afia Atakoras debut novel evokes a haunting period in American history

May 7th 2020

Conjure Women. By Afia Atakora. Random House; 416 pages; $27. Fourth Estate; 14.99.

RUE KNEW she was a liar. When she was enslaved, and then during her first years of freedom, she often said, falsely, I know. As a child, she only pretended to understand why her mothers love felt so fierce and unforgiving. Years later, as her plantations resident healer, she was not sure why so many babies fell ill, or why women felt certain pains in childbirth, but she assured people otherwise. Rue saw that healing demanded faith and that she had to seem confident to get others to believe in her power. Her magic ought to be absoluteor it wasnt magic at all.

Conjure Women, Afia Atakoras atmospheric debut novel, is largely Rues story. Born into slavery in Americas South, she tends to the plantations pregnant and sick in the years after the civil war. Her mother, May Belle, made her name and living crafting curses for fellow slaves. Hoodoo, May Belle would say, is black folks currency. From her, Rue learned to heal, but she is wary of witchcraftand troubled by a shameful secret. When an illness claims the lives of local children, grieving parents accuse her of devilry. Meanwhile, Bruh Abel, a handsome itinerant minister with a too-wide grin on his face, arrives peddling salvation to a community too nervous about reprisals to feel truly free.

The book opens in the 1860s (Freedomtime), when Rue is around 20, but it skips back and forth before and after the war. By juxtaposing the brutality of slavery with the uncertainty of freedom, Ms Atakora captures the disorientation of the era. After Rues first whipping, her father reassures her that her cuts will harden sos the next time and the next time they beat you it wont hurt quite so bad. A few years later, he will be lynched by a white mob, his dangling toes making circles in the dirt as his body spun on the rope. Naturally, Rue and her fellow former slaves remain wary of breaking the white mans nonsense rules. She had never seen that thing the Yankees were promisingfreedomand she did not trust in what she could not see.

Ms Atakora poetically evokes the anxious, cloistered life of newly emancipated slaves. She notes the aroma the earth made when it sighed, and the stale air in the bedroom of the masters daughter, which smelled of rosehip and burning hair and sweat. Repetitious as it sometimes feels, her novel is a vivid portrait of a time in American history that remains both haunting and unresolved.

This article appeared in the Books & arts section of the print edition under the headline "A kind of freedom"

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Conjure Women is a tale of slavery and its aftermath - The Economist

SAN DIEGO (KUSI) Freedom Haven was born to address the overwhelming need for families that are faced with the choice to stay and possibly be killed or leave and live on the streets.

Currently, there are 3 short term and long-term domestic violence shelters in San Diego County.

Freedom Haven is not just another short-term shelter. Freedom Haven Emergency Shelter and Transitional Living Home offers short term and long-term housing. It will provide;

Supportive services for women and children in need of immediate protection from their abusers in a secure, confidential facility. Clients will live in private rooms.Services will focus on safety planning, case management, therapeutic counseling, and housing stability as they begin to recover from trauma.

The mission of Freedom Haven is to empower domestic violence survivors to gain freedom in life through housing, education and placement programs in the San Diego area with a vision to be expand nationally.

The vision of Freedom Haven is to inspire domestic violence survivors to turn fear into safety, helplessness into strength and belief that they are enough.

In order to make a dent in the crisis the organization is on a mission to raise 1 million dollars to break ground on housing that will give freedom to women escaping domestic violence.

Megan Fenyoe, a licensed psychotherapist, is the Founder and CEO of the I Am Enough 501C(3) organization that Freedom Haven is a part of.

Fenyoe joined Good Morning San Diego to discuss Freedom Haven.

Consider donating http://thefreedomhaven.com

Continue reading here:

Freedom Haven Emergency Shelter and Transitional Living Home - - KUSI

PROVO Americas Freedom Festival at Provo is the latest in a string of summer events postponed to 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but a fireworks show in honor of essential workers and first responders battling the virus will still be held.

The safety and health of our guests is always the first priority at any Freedom Festival event, period, said Jim Evans, executive director of Americas Freedom Festival, in a statement. Even in a typical year thats the prevailing theme. But with so many of our loved ones at risk from this illness, including so many wonderful military veterans, we have to be especially careful this year.

Evans said organizers are excited to offer a safe and big free fireworks show on July 4th as a thank you to Utahs brave essential workers and for a community thats supported the festival for so many years. According to a news release, it will be visible to those wishing to social distance.

More information on the show will be forthcoming.

Americas Freedom Festival at Provo is a nonprofit foundation with the mission of teaching and honoring U.S. values like family, freedom and country. The festival holds more than 25 events throughout the year, with the largest set in July expansive work that utilizes thousands of volunteers. Events postponed until 2021 include the Stadium of Fire, the Grand Parade, the Balloon Fest, Freedom Days and all other events that had been scheduled for this summer.

Spring events like student art, essay, speech and teacher contests are all ongoing in a virtual format. Submission deadlines have been extended to May 18.

The festivals signature event, the Stadium of Fire, is held at Brigham Young Universitys LaVell Edwards Stadium before an audience of 50,000 people not conducive to social distancing.

Steve Shallenberger, chairman of the Freedom Festival board of trustees, said next years Stadium of Fire will be the 40th anniversary and the biggest and best yet.

Orem resident Isaac Thomas has been going to festival events with his family for more than 20 years. An Air Force veteran, Thomas said the festival sums up the freedom and liberties that we enjoy and is a good opportunity to talk to his children about what it means to serve in the military and serve a country.

It really gives a good history of our country and what its all about, he said. It honors the military all branches, and I enjoy that.

Also canceled in July is the Days of 47 celebration, Bountiful Handcart Days and the Deseret News Marathon, as well as Salt Lakes annual arts festival in June. Organizers for Ogden Pioneer Days, another major July event, have yet to reach a decision on whether it will be held.

Event organizers said that canceling the respective celebrations was a decision not taken lightly and that first priority in determining what to do was given to local officials public health guidelines.

Still, the news was met with some disappointment from the community as the celebrations have long been fixtures in the area.

The Bountiful Handcart Days has been going on for 70 years. Citing unprecedented circumstances, organizers announced most of the events cancellation on April 15 because of the constraints social distancing restrictions place on organizing activities.

Officials said they hope restrictions will be eased by July, which would enable them to still have a performance from the band Joshua Creek and a free fireworks show.

The Days of 47 Pioneer Day celebrations that pack downtown Salt Lake City every July were postponed to 2021 on April 28.

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Freedom Festival events postponed to 2021, firework show will be held - Deseret News

For gardeners like Karin Hamilton, the states stay-home orders have meant more time working their plots.

Hamilton has been casually cultivating little gardens in her yard in Dover for two years, but in this spring of pandemic, working from home and economic slowdown has allowed Hamilton to focus on her garden.

Lockdown started mid-March, and thats really too early to start, but I was itching to get going, Hamilton said.

She started seeds under grow lights in her garage, put up a cold frame and built a small greenhouse. With help from online communities and a lot of YouTube videos, shes learning about potatoes and strawberry towers, and thinking about how she can grow more food for herself and her 84-year-old father.

I dont want to be reliant on supermarkets for food that is so easy to grow she said.

Karin Hamilton moves a tomato planting in her greenhouse in Dover last Sunday. The greenhouse is a new addition for Hamilton, a longtime casual gardener who has dug into the hobby this year.

There has been a certain amount of trial-and-error involved, Hamilton said with a laugh.

I lost a bunch of stuff, I gave a bunch of stuff away, and I kept replanting.

Growing food, and the simple act of caring for beds, has been soothing, she said.

If you open up to it, youre able to get from it what you need to calm yourself, Hamilton said. Music is an island for some people. For me, its gardening. If Im anxious, I go out in the garden (and) it all goes away.

Larry Stout, from Manchester, puts bags of topsoil in his cart at Demers Garden Center in Manchester on Wednesday.

More people are seeking that oasis.

Goffstown gardener Jane Turcotte said her friends and family people who never expressed any interest in growing things have been coming to her for gardening advice this spring.

In Turcottes own garden, the balance has shifted from flowers to food, a reflection of a little bit of anxiety about how long the food system can be sustained during the coronavirus crisis.

Ive taken less space for my things that I do for joy, and giving more space to the things that are going to feed us, Turcotte said.

Shes trying to help her elderly parents curb their trips to the supermarket. Shes planted cucumbers, zucchini, strawberries, peas and carrots, and is cultivating an asparagus patch. And of course, tomatoes.

Everybody wants the tomatoes, she said.

Shes mailing seeds to friends around the state, and is on call to give gardening advice to the novices.

I get a lot of messages, Does this look right? Am I doing this right? Turcotte said.

She loves knowing more people are finding comfort in the garden.

I hate this is all happening, but I love the fact that others are getting into this too, she said. I hope when things go back to normal, theyll keep doing it.

Danielle Demers works in the greenhouse with her family at Demers Garden Center in Manchester on Wednesday. Garden centers around the state have been busy this spring as residents have turned to their gardens for a release from coronavirus anxiety.

Plant sales disrupted

For New Hampshires garden clubs, the pandemic has shaken up the way they grow. Small town plots cant be tended to, plant talks had to be postponed and several clubs have canceled annual plant sales.

The Epping Garden Club sold pansies earlier this year, said club president Eunice Miller. But instead of customers coming to pick up their plants when they arrived in mid-March, club members made doorstep deliveries for most of the plants.

The towns garden plots really need to be raked and mulched, Miller said, but you need a few people for that heavy work and the plots arent big enough to keep gardeners six feet apart.

Its disappointing to watch spring coming without being able to spend time with the garden club, Miller said, but she sees it as a necessary sacrifice.

Its for the health of more than just us, she said. Weve just been staying home and working on our own gardens.

The Colonial Garden Club of Hollis knew their annual Mothers Day plant sale could not go on as usual this year.

When we had this coronavirus came on, the executive committee said were going to try to outsmart it and do an online sale, said club secretary Carol Ace. This coronavirus has definitely changed things up a bit.

The clubs website, hollisgardenclub.org, will have an ordering form online from May 14-19, and buyers will pay online. Then club members will deliver the plants to buyers homes.

We could have just said were not going to do it, Ace said. But there are hundreds of plants waiting for new homes. And gardeners around the state eager to get growing.

Martha Smith cleans up some of the 600 plants kept at her home for the Colonial Garden Club of Hollis on Saturday.

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Granite State confined at home find freedom and calm in the garden - The Union Leader

MSNBC contributor Anand Giridharadas argued Wednesday that Americans are "freedom-obsessed" to the point it blinds them to other types of threats, including "a virus" or "climate change" in a commentary that sparked some blowback on the right.

One of the fundamental questions to me is, whats going to be our relationship to government, the idea of government after this? We kind of look at it at three levels this week, Giridharadas told "Morning Joe" regarding a post-coronavirus America.

Theres a primordial American tradition going back to the founders of being freedom-obsessed, even though were a country founded on slavery and genocide, the Vice TV host continued. Being freedom-obsessed to the point where were always so afraid of the government coming for us, that were blind to other types of threats whether its a virus, whether its bank malfeasance, climate change, what have you," he said.

Giridharadas pointed to distrust in governmentbeginning in earnest during the Reagan administration.

Theres also a more recent, kind of 40-year version of this, which is the Reagan war on government, he said. Thats not just an idea on the right. Theres a hard version on the right, theres a small-c conservative kind of militant version of it, but it has also infected many people on the left in this passive sense, like I believe in government, but I would never go work there, or I believe in government, but I kind of like dont like my taxes too high,' or I use trusts in the Cayman Islands.'

Reagan, who consistently advocated for smaller government, said in his 1981 presidential inaugural address, "Government is not the solution to our problem, government is the problem," a quote still echoed by conservatives.

The 40th president declared in a later speech that "government's first duty is to protect the people, not run their lives.

The commentary by Giridharadas spurred blowback mostly from the righton Twitter, including from fellow MSNBC contributor Noah Rothman.

I dont know how you could survey how states and the federal government has performed over the last eight weeks and conclude anyone had any idea what they are doing. https://t.co/66rlIOXbMV

Authoritarians like @AnandWrites have trouble making coherent arguments. On one hand he claims that Americans are freedom obsessed and on the other he argues that we're really not about freedom at all. https://t.co/6jlF3VC1E4

MSNBC contributor Anand Giridharadas thinks you're all a bunch of freedom-obsessed rubes. https://t.co/jiSdK7NoHk

Originally posted here:

MSNBC contributor: Americans 'freedom-obsessed' to point 'we're blind to other types of threats' | TheHill - The Hill

Express News Service

CHENNAI: Of late, due to the situation we are in, online education has come to the forefront, and in some instances, it is also replacing the classroom experience. I recently read a report about high school students pursuing online advanced placement program classes (AP classes), which universities abroad require, even while they are in school, to get admission into the university of their or their parents choice. These online AP classes provide an opportunity for children to school themselves learn, assimilate knowledge and work, even in the physical absence of a teacher.

The basic component for this kind of self-schooling largely comes from intrinsic motivation based on a structure offered through coursework. But whats even more significant and encouraging for a child is the trust that parents and teachers have in him/ her. Trust in our children, in their choices, and the right learning environment is the key to a childs happiness and success. This has to be preceded with information regarding the opportunities available to them, the long-term effects of choices and an analysis of the pros and cons. For all parents, the biggest roadblocks in their childs life can be anxiety, need to make choices for their children and sometimes a lack of trust in their instincts.

However, if our children had the aforementioned freedom it must be accompanied with guidance from parents.Often, opportunities come in the form of adversities, and the pandemic-induced lockdown has created a new opportunity for parents and children to adapt to online learning. As parents, coming from the traditional school of thought, we worry that our children might miss out on many lessons due to the absence of classroom experience. In our new role as parent-teachers, we want them up to speed with the next academic years syllabus, learn a new skill, practise the piano...the list is endless.

We want them to be the best! These expectations come only from a place of love, but the pressure right now might trigger fear and anxiety, or other issues which could be wide-ranging, say mental health experts. The question then is why cant we trust our children and their abilities? Do we think that children and young adults, when left to themselves, are not capable of making informed choices? On the contrary, there is empirical evidence to prove that the best recipe to help a child attain goals should include a few tablespoons of intrinsic motivation, advice and structure, and dollops of faith in his/her ability after we have prepared him to use this freedom effectively. This has precisely been Dr Montessoris approach towards children.

She emphatically stated that each child is unique, and comparing children is like comparing apples and oranges. Each child is put on earth with his/her purpose and if everyone became doctors and engineers what happens to teachers, artisans and people who work with their hands? Being a Montessori mom and teacher, I too have been questioning myself and have similar worries. But after listening to my colleagues from different parts of the world, the voice is one having faith in the child is the key to success. My daughter represented her school at a national swim meet, competing against national-level swimmers. But it is her approach to regional and national-level practice that made all the difference to us as parents.

While trying for regionals, she practised tirelessly as she wasnt yet in the rigour of class 10. But for nationals (when she was in class 10), she practised whenever she had a moment to spare showing self-motivation and the ability to make well-informed choices, balancing her studies and love for swimming. As parents, we were not involved in the decision-making process, and in fact, didnt want her to participate. She ranked fourth at the nationals and took it well in her stride. Aware of the volume of classwork, my daughter told us that she wasnt interested in winning; she aimed to better her timing, for which she had worked out a plan along with her coach.

This is true self-realisation. Children have their turning points when they learn to make informed choices coupled with parental guidance. Parenting is the only occupation that doesnt come with a handbook or coursework to prepare us. It is a tough journey but a joyful one. So, place your faith in your children, discuss and explain the options to them and let them make their choices. You need not put your child in a Montessori school to follow the philosophy i.e. freedom within boundaries and to follow the child.

Watch for signs of emotional well-being. At this moment, their mental health is far more important than an online class. Always keep the channels of communication open, talk to them, but most importantly, listen.

(The author has been a teacher for 20 years and is the co-founder of The Redwood Montessori school, LLP. She has worked with children with special needs, and is on the board of the Madhuram Narayanan Centre for Exceptional children.)

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Faith and freedom of choice are key ingredients for parenting - The New Indian Express

A campaign to keep Britons locked down and protected from the coronavirus may have proved too successful, according to new research, with many now scared to leave their homes.

A leading Cambridge University statistician warned that the governments stay-at-home message had caused many people to grow particularly anxious about going out.

Many people are definitely overanxious about their chance of both getting the virus and the harm they might come to if they do get it, Cambridges David Spiegelhalter told the BBC.

Fully one-third (33%) of Britons said they would feel uncomfortable meeting friends and family outside their household, according to polling released by research firm Ipsos Mori on Friday. Just under two-thirds (61%) said they would feel uncomfortable using public transport or going to bars and restaurants. The data also showed 67% saying they would feel uncomfortable attending large public gatherings, such as sports or music events, compared with how they felt before the pandemic.

Keiran Pedley, research director at Ipsos Mori, said: Clear majorities of Britons are nervous about using public transport again or going to bars, restaurants or live music and sporting events.

These numbers suggest that it will take some time for parts of the British economy to return to any semblance of normality, even after lockdown has ended.

Its a very different story in parts of America as protesters in Michigan stormed the state capitol demanding an end to lockdown, and Teslas TSLA, -1.94% Elon Musk told investors on Thursday that stay-at-home orders were forcibly imprisoning people in their homes against all constitutional rights.

Read:Elon Musk says coronavirus shelter-in-place order is fascist and breaking peoples freedoms

Britons, meanwhile, are not only scared for themselves but are so fearful neighbors might spread the virus more widely that 200,000 of them have called the police to tell tales about fellow citizens breaking the rules.

According to a report in the Times, police investigating illegal house parties and public loitering have issued 9,000 lockdown fines in England and Wales.

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Just after Elon Musk denounced coronavirus lockdowns as infringements of freedom, research shows Britons are too scared to leave their homes anyway -...

Mrs Pallett (85) still lives in St Saviours Road, now with her husband, Bill, and is just a stones throw from the site of the old Continental Hotel now Liberation Court where she remembers watching German soldiers on parade.

Today with enforced lockdown, her daughter Juliette collects their shopping, queuing in much the same way as she remembers her mother used to queue for milk, carrying a tin can to be refilled.

Then I used to go with my aunt and my mum to Simon Place to the cook-house because some of the time there wasnt any gas, so we used to take our bean crock, or our potatoes and swedes to be cooked there wasnt anything else, she remembers.

One advantage her family had, an unusual one for town-dwellers, was the luxury of a garden where they would grow whatever fruit they could and then barter it for such meat as could be tracked down in the early years of the Occupation.

Mrs Palletts family had bought the plot of land, previously the playground of the school which occupied the adjoining Elysian Terrace at the beginning of the 20th century.

She lived in the cottage at 19 St Saviours Road during the Occupation and then in a bungalow that her husband built across the garden from the early 1960s. Apart from a seven-year period in Hilgrove Street, she has always lived there.

Ive never lived in the country. Ive always lived in town and Im used to it. I dont know what else I can say, really. Its handy and were quite out of the way she said.

Lockdown in 2020 is, therefore, not an entirely new experience for Mrs Pallett who, as a young girl during the Occupation, was not given the freedom to roam afforded to her brother, Charles.

Yes, it is similar today. Years ago the butcher used to deliver the meat and the grocer would deliver the groceries. Thats how it was. Its the same sort of thing really.

But of course, we didnt have the food in those days. I remember my mum having a plate in the middle of the table with bread, and there was a slice and a half each. I can remember me being hungry and saying, Im going to have a piece of bread now, Im hungry, I just cant wait. I had my piece but when we sat down I could see that I still had my piece and a half left.

My mother went without and gave me the extra piece because I was hungry. We just didnt have the food. The children didnt realise it but it was the parents for whom it was really hard. It was sad for them. We were looked after, Mrs Pallett said.

A phone call earlier in the day with a friend of a similar age afforded the opportunity to discuss how lock down is affecting older Islanders and Mrs Pallett agrees that it is not an easy experience, though one for which the Occupation provides some preparation.

But while queues and home deliveries may ring bells, other aspects of life during the Occupation bear little comparison.

Now you can buy what food you like, but you couldnt in those days, she said recalling one particular memory when hunger was at its most acute.

I was at school at St James and we used to pick the tar off the road and chew it. Really, it was a whole different life in those days, she said.

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Celebrating freedom in the same garden 75 years on - Jersey Evening Post

SEMINOLE A 70-year-old resident of the Freedom Square retirement community died Wednesday after battling COVID-19 for more than three weeks, according to a medical examiner report.

Freedom Square has suffered one of the worst death tolls among Floridas long-term care facilities, with two dozen deaths.

Patricia Lewandowski was transferred to Largo Medical Center on April 15, where she tested positive for the coronavirus and pneumonia, according to the report released Friday. She had a history of cirrhosis and diabetes and was placed on a ventilator.

She was transferred to a hospice facility on Tuesday, where she died the next day.

That brings the total number of coronavirus fatalities in Pinellas nursing homes and assisted living facilities to 42, according to the state. That is 70 percent of the 60 virus-related deaths in the county.

The Freedom Square retirement community in Seminole, where Lewandowski lived, has been dealing with a major COVID-19 outbreak that so far has infected 104 staffers and residents, killing 24. Most of the infections came from the Seminole Pavilion Rehabilitation nursing home on Freedom Squares campus.

Infections and deaths in long-term care facilities in Pinellas matches the situation across the state: Residents and staffers of long-term care now account for at least 665 of the states death toll, 40 percent of those who have lost their lives to the coronavirus in Florida.

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Another Freedom Square resident has died of COVID-19 in Pinellas - Tampa Bay Times

by Charles C.W. Cooke - Wednesday, May 6, 2020

The American gun-control movement has long insisted that public opinion is firmly on its side, and that its aims are thwarted not by their political unpopularity but by the obstinacy of a handful of over-powerful players. What happened in Virginia at the beginning of this year demonstrates once again that this claim of public support is flatly untrue.

By now, we are well-accustomed to hearing that Republicans! or the NRA! or extremists! have hijacked our elections and set about destroying the prospect of meaningful gun-safety reforms in the United States. But, if that is true, what should we make of Virginias failure to push through the gun ban that the governor and others had so confidently promised?

Certainly, one cannot blame the Republican party, which fared so poorly during the last set of state elections that the Democrats were left in charge of every branch of state government. Nor can one blame the countrys pro-Second Amendment advocacy groups, which, as usual, were outspent in the state. And one cannot claim with a straight face that the Democrats did not care enough about the issue, given that they campaigned on imposing new restrictions, promised after they won that they would impose new restrictions and, at the first opportunity, tried to impose new restrictions. Could it be, perhaps, that when push comes to shove, limiting the right to keep and bear arms is a losing proposition in America?

The scale of the reaction in Virginia suggests the answer is yes. Gov. Ralph Northam and the Democratic legislature insisted they were going to prohibit the sale of the most-commonly owned rifle in the United States and ban and confiscate standard-capacity magazines. In return, the people of Virginia insisted they were going to do no such thing. Six cities and 91 out of the states 95 counties passed resolutions declaring themselves Second Amendment sanctuaries. In Richmond, NRA-ILA organized lobby day, where more than 2000 members met with lawmakers to voice their opposition to new gun laws. A week later a rally against the proposals drew more than 22,000 peaceful protestors. And the letters and phone calls flew in by the day. Eventually, the legislature backed downfirst by pretending to water down the proposals in a number of entirely meaningless and wholly unconvincing ways, and then by pulling bills before they got out of committee.

At the heart of the gun-control movement lies a terrible misconception as to who American gun-owners area misconception that explains a great deal about our debates over the Second Amendment and helps to explicate what happened in Virginia. In the gun-control activists imagination, meaningful support for the right to keep and bear arms is a fringe phenomenon, present only among societys oddballs and outliers, and gun owners are a small, rural, homogeneous and dangerous minority.

In reality, that support exists across the spectrum. Why? Because gun owners are half of the country. Electricians are gun owners. Bankers are gun owners. Teachers are gun owners. Stay-at-home moms are gun owners. Your neighbors are gun owners. They may be quiet about it most of the time, but, when the government tries to strip them of their elementary rights in the name of protecting them, they will break that silence in an instant and stand up to say no. In Virginia, it looked for a while as if all the chips had fallen in the wrong place. For the first time in decades, the Democrat Party not only controlled the entire State government, but it seemed determined to use its power to infringe upon the Second Amendment. The game was up, we were told.

And then, it lost its central attempt at a gun ban and possible confiscation.

What happened? You happened. I happened. We the People happened. Not today, Virginia.

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Freedom Is An Issue That Stirs Voters - America's 1st Freedom

Take a short break from the grim pandemic headlines, and let me share with you three bright spots.

In April, this journal saw significant growth in the number of new readers, an increase of about 180 percent compared to the same period last year. (To all our new readers, welcome!)

Our AynRandCon conferences planned for Philadelphia and Chicago, but instead streamed online attracted an unprecedented live audience of more than 3,750 viewers combined and a deluge of thoughtful, engaged questions.

And the number of subscribers to ARIs YouTube channel has climbed to more than 51,000. Thats up 45 percent since last year.

Beyond these bright spots, I could mention many more signs of progress in advancing ARIs mission. What powers the Institute is the financial commitment of our donors. To all of you who are donors thank you! You enable us to bring Ayn Rands philosophy of reason to ever more people.

And during this global crisis, we can see even more starkly the need for reason, for science, for innovation, for production and the freedom that makes these possible. Thats why our work at ARI is more important now than ever before.

If you appreciate the ideal of reason, join our fight today. Join us in building a future of freedom: Become an ARI Member by setting up a recurring monthly donation.

By supporting ARI, you advance your own ideals and multiply your impact, in two key ways.

1. On behalf of your ideals, we work on a vast scale to bring Ayn Rands books and ideas to tens of thousands of individuals globally through our online courses, the Ayn Rand University mobile app, our journal New Ideal, our burgeoning YouTube and social media platforms, and our public events.

2. Moreover, as an ARI Member, your recurring donations enable us to maximize ARIs impact. Thanks to consistent, monthly donations, were able to confidently plan for the long-term and grow our projects. Thats hugely important, particularly in a time of economic upheaval. (After I first learned about this upside of monthly donations, I eagerly switched over to become an ARI Member, myself.)

So, by taking a minute to sign up and for the cost of two trips to Starbucks a month, you can have a long-term, outsized impact in the world.

You can drive forward the cause of reason, individualism, and capitalism.

When you become a Member youll receive, along with several forms of recognition, updates on our progress and invitations to exclusive online events with ARIs leadership and experts.

Will you join us today?

And if youre already an ARI Member and can increase your monthly giving from $10 to $50 or more, wed welcome your added support. Thank you.

SUPPORT ARI: If you value the ideas presented here, please become an ARI Member today.

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How You Can Advance the Cause of Reason and Freedom - New Ideal

It takes a lot to keep a Spaniard at home.

Even when bombs were falling on the Madrid streets during the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s, the streets would fill up as soon as the all-clear sounded, sending people back to their beloved plazas and avenidas. So when Spain loosened up coronavirus restrictions over the weekend, allowing adults an hour a day to exercise, people here in Madrid took full advantage.

As the coronavirus infection, hospitalization and death rates have mercifully slowed, one of Europes strictest lockdowns has been eased. After weeks in which only one adult could go out of the house at a time for food and medicine, with kids allowed out a week ago, there is now a full schedule according to which everyone can get fresh air.

Saturday morning marked the inaugural of the 6to10 a.m. exercise shift for adults, and by 9 a.m. Madrids sidewalks parks remain closed were jammed. Two adults from the same household may go out together, which remains strict for a country whose citizens have been starved of human contact, particularly those who live alone. Rules are looser for Spanish towns with fewer than 5,000 inhabitants.

The later exercise shift of 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. kids can go out from 12 to 7 p.m., with elderly people allowed the 10 a.m.tonoon hours and 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. slots was even more populous. To the untrained eye it looked like a spontaneous fiesta, with many spilling onto the roads, and groups of two morphing into three and more, several lounging on the grass in front of the Royal Palace. Even a kiss hello between two pals was witnessed.

The looser rules proved too great a temptation for frustrated young people, with reports of dozens of parties across the capital city Saturday evening. The Interior Ministry announced 119 arrests and 16,490 fines on Saturday across Spain, with 116 arrested and 20,272 fined on Sunday. The grip remains so tight here that police stopped three people ambling across Plaza Mayor on Saturday evening as they shouted through a loudspeaker to tell everyone to keep moving no sitting.

Read:Texas park ranger pushed into lake for asking visitors to follow social-distancing guidelines

These outings may be the highlight of the day for some as the country faces a painful downturn that looks set to bring the unemployment rate to 19% this year, according to a government estimate (the International Monetary Fund has pinned its forecast two percentage points higher, as El Pas reported).

A Twitter post, perhaps mindful of the dire outlook, fired back at the penalties being meted out by authorities for lockdown violations, saying: If you think youre going to fix this with fines, then lets do it:

Thanks to the thousands of young people who went out in Madrid, another tweet carped sarcastically. Without your fines, the economy would have collapsed:

If there is one perk for partially liberated adults, many of whom now again face an uncertain economic future less than a decade after la crisis, its that the air is clean even if you cant fully enjoy it through the face masks donned by almost everyone and mandatory on public transport. Ecologistas en Accin, a confederation of ecological groups in Spain, reported a 58% reduction in air pollution in the country between March 14 and April 30.

Read:La Liga taking steps to get players back on pitch in Spain

The rest is here:

As Spaniards got their first real taste of freedom this weekend, hundreds of them got arrested and thousands were fined - MarketWatch

AS from today Monday, Mallorca and all the Balearic Islands have moved into Phase one of the coronavirus crisis lockdown de-escalation, meaning an easing of some of the restrictions, but also some confusion over exactly what is open and what is now allowed.

New openings

Open-air markets where local councils give the go-ahead, but with restrictions on stall numbers and no self-service, and shops up to 400sqms, but with restrictions on the number of customers at one time.

Also, by previous appointment, car dealerships, ITV stations and garden centres.

Bar, cafe and restaurant terraces, but with maximum occupancy of 50 per cent. No more than 10 people can gather at one table and there has to be a two-metre distance between tables.

Hotels and tourist accommodation establishments are free to open to overnight guests, but communal areas must remain out of bounds.

Museums and libraries can reopen, with limits on entry numbers.

Friends and family

Gatherings of up to 10 people in private homes or on terraces are permitted.

Religious services and funerals

Places of worship are allowed to open their doors, with capacity limited to 30 per cent.

Wakes with a maximum of 15 people are permitted if its open air and 10 in an enclosed area. Up to 15 people can take part in a funeral.

Private vehicle use and travel

All people living in the same household are allowed to travel within the same vehicle. If the occupants are not from the same household there is a maximum of two people per row of seats, with an obligation to wear a face mask and keep a distance from each other.

Travel is possible anywhere on the island.

It is now permitted to travel to and stay overnight in a second home, as long as it is in Mallorca.

On public transport wearing a face mask is obligatory. One seat should be left free next to every passenger and the row behind the driver.

Beach access

This is down to individual councils, and access is only for walks and exercise. Bathing and sunbathing are not allowed.

Activities

Pre-arranged, organised active and outdoor tourism excursions are allowed for groups of up to 10.

Boats can be take out for private leisure or sport activities, but are restricted to sailing between ports or points on the coast within the same municipality and to uninhabited nearby islands.

Exercise times

Time slots for an hours walk or outdoor exercise remain unchanged.

For adults this means from 6am to 10am and from 8pm to 11pm. The designated time for outings with children is from 12pm to 7pm. Over-70s and people who need to go out with a carer have from 10am to 12pm and 7-8pm

The time slot restrictions do not apply in municipalities with less than 5,000 inhabitants.

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Lockdown phase one freedoms in Spains holiday island Mallorca - Euro Weekly News

As gun rights and gun control advocates, political surrogates, spokespeople, and groups contend over the future of the Second Amendment to the Constitution, Dr. Miguel Faria, Jr., M.D. published a book that gives extensive background, history, context, and insight into the politicization of Second Amendment-related research within the last decade.

image screenshot from books Facebook page

Faria painstakingly detailed the politicization of academic research on the issue of guns and public safety, which he saw firsthand within the academic community and scientists in the federal government. Specifically, he criticized the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) for permitting politicized pro-gun control (and by extension, anti-gun rights) research for years, until Congress nixed the politically-charged research by passing bipartisan legislation in 1996.

He saw firsthand the politicization of academic research in the name of gun control as the editor of a state-level academic journal, the Journal of the Medical Association of Georgia. There, he read other medical journals published research and noted the multiple survey and research flaws that went unnoticed by other editors and the authors themselves, such as selection bias (i.e. selectively choosing data points that would validate a hypothesis). For example, Faria criticized the scientific procedures (such as selection bias) behind at least one particular gun violence survey, which survey claimed that guns led to significant increase in violence in Vancouver, Canada and in Seattle, Washington. Faria debunked the surveys conclusions because the surveys data was flawed; Faria discovered that the survey ignored racial and ethnic data that would lead the survey to the opposite conclusion. The original conclusion was that more guns in cities led to more homicides, but when accounting for the missing data, that conclusion was fictitious at best.

The book informed readers that, for the most part, scientists received federal grants to conduct biased and incomplete gun violence research, which he helped debunk and spurred Congress to defund. Faria named several prominent gun research scientists who were unapologetic of their gun control advocacy, and claimed those scientists injected their own hypotheses about gun violence into their federally-funded research.

Then-President George W. Bush appointed Faria to a grant review committee position within the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (NCIPC) at the CDC, in part based on his longtime criticism of the CDCs alleged pro-gun control advocacy research. During his appointment, he helped reform the CDC standards to eliminate any potential partisan bias in their grant-making processes.

Faria also outlined the decline of the once-prestigious American Medical Association (AMA), noting that many doctors have left the dues-based organization because of its politicization on issues such as gun violence. Due to the growing influence of gun control advocates in the medical community, the AMA dove headfirst into the politics of gun violence and has not turned back since then. One of the groups Faria became very familiar with was the group Doctors for Responsible Gun Ownership (DRGO), which opposed politicizing gun violence as medical professionals.

Farias book was an insightful and informative read because of the detailed information it laid out for the reader. Despite the medias feigned ignorance of the ingrained biases at the CDC and in the research profession, Faria exposed their misinformation and propaganda campaigns at their very core: a partisan, ideological battle to disarm law-abiding Americans.

Link:

Book Review: America, Guns, and Freedom - Accuracy in Academia

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Letter to the editor: Freedom & rallies to reopen - TribLIVE