Daily Archives: April 11, 2022

To the Editor,

What is freedom?

It is defined as the absence of necessity, coercion, or constraint in choice or action -

For most of us it means the right and privilege to live our lives OUR WAY without others telling us what we can or cannot do. And if we do that without causing harm to others, that is exactly what should be happening in our community. However, it feels less and less free as we deal with the consequences of recent elections.

We have ideology driven elected officials that hold a world view that isnt based on freedom, yet they wave our national flag as if they believe in true freedom. But then also use that flag, like the point of a gun, to threaten to withhold OUR tax dollars from an after-school program unless they consider hanging that flag in their building. They use THEIR ideology to tell our community that THEIR personal, political, and religious views on child rearing and childcare will be what is used to deny the building of a childcare facility on Port property. They use the eternal communist boogeyman to create fear of change and of people that look, worship, think and vote differently than they do. My grandmother was born in the late 1800s and joined a new-age religion back in the 20s they were terrified of the communists back then too. They had chants and prayers to keep them from attacking the shores of the US. We saw the fear of communism roll through again in the late 40s/50s with the McCarthy Era. And it seems we have entered another fear cycle.

Fear is not a good place to lead from. It is an inhibitor in making thoughtful, well-rounded, and logical choices that serve the entire community. Fear inhibits freedom. It restricts it and if leaders are leading from fear, they will begin to restrict the freedoms of those they are here to serve. And that seems to be the direction we are headed.

As a Republican and a firm believer in personal freedoms, it concerns me that people who once ran under the Republican banner and are now CCC members and elected officials, are, through their words and deeds, threatening the personal freedoms of our county citizens by making decisions based on ideology that isnt freedom-centric. None of us need them to decide for us how to raise our children, how we should display our patriotism, or how we should do ANYTHING in our personally free lives. Its not any of their business. And frankly, moral busybodies have no place in leadership.

Vicki Zoller

Dayton, Wash.

Excerpt from:

What is freedom? - The Times - Waitsburgtimes

Matzo, bread made without leavening, is the staple Passover food. Photo: Liz Hafalia / The Chronicle

The weeklong Jewish holiday of Passover begins at sundown on Friday, April 15, and is observed through Saturday, April 23. The main festivities are focused around a theatrical feast for family and friends, which encourages taking liberties with drinking wine and relaxing at the table.

Stories of the Jewish peoples liberation from enslavement and their exodus from ancient Egypt are related through discussion, song and food-based rituals. It is, at heart, a celebration of the basic right for all to be free and it honors human resilience in times of unexpected and difficult circumstances.

Heres how the holiday is typically observed:

In the weeks leading up to the holiday, many people get ready for the celebration by undergoing a deep spring cleaning. Most important in this particular bit of tidying up is the removal of all leavened grains, known as hametz, from the house. It is customary to pile up all the rogue crumbs and bready bits from the pantry that are not suitable to donate and nullify their leavened state by (safely) burning them up outside in the yard.

The festive, long-form, structured meal for family, friends and allies called a seder (which in Hebrew translates to order) is the main focus of the Passover celebration. Though it is most often held on the first and second nights of the holiday, many families enjoy attending and hosting them throughout the week. The idea that there is room for all at the table is an important value in Jewish households, and this is especially notable during Passover.

Traditionally led by a family elder, the food-, drink- and ritual-filled gatherings follow a printed program special to the occasion called a Haggadah. The guidebook can be made fresh every year or handed down from past generations celebrations, but all should follow a basic flow of events. The nonprofit website haggadot.com offers free online templates and inspiration to help hosts create a Haggadah that serves the unique dynamics of their group.

The seder typically includes a handwashing ritual, candle lighting, drinking plenty of wine or juice, dipping parsley (representing renewal and spring) into saltwater (symbolizing the tears of enslaved ancestors) before eating it, and breaking and hiding a piece of matzo, the afikomen, which the children search for later in the evening.

When the Jews reclaimed their freedom and left Egypt, it is said they left in such a rush that they had no time for bread dough to rise before their departure. Instead, the unleavened dough was hastily cooked and thus remained flat. During the entire week of Passover, only unleavened bread is supposed to be eaten in honor of this quickly assembled staple food.

Matzo is featured during the seder meal, eaten alone and also topped with chopped up bitter herbs (usually horseradish) known as maror, representing the bitterness of enslavement. The cracker-like bread is also eaten during the meal accompanied by a sweet mixture, often made of chopped apples with honey and raisins, called haroseth, which symbolizes the mortar used by those enslaved to hold stacked bricks together.

Whether you are planning to host your own, or are thinking of attending a local community seder in the Bay Area, 2022 is a good year to celebrate Passover and its meditation on the spirit of liberation and renewal.

Join Tkiya Musics Carla Friend on an interactive musical journey through the story of Passover. There will be craft activities, books to explore and snacks for nibbling.

10-noon a.m. Sunday, April 10. Free, registration required. Stow Lake Picnic Area in Golden Gate Park, S.F. 415-292-1200. jccsf.org

Join Jeni Clancy of Jewish Baby Network, and Rabbi Katie Mizrahi from Or Shalom Jewish Community, to celebrate the holiday with a kid-friendly event including songs, craft activities, dancing and socializing. Snacks and drinks will be provided. Masks are required for participants 2 and older.

10:30 a.m.-noon Sunday, April 10. Free, registration required. Mothers Meadow, 573 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, S.F. jewishbabynetwork.org

Join Jennifer Altman of Jewish Baby Network for a fun morning of socializing, singing, puppets and parachute play withyour baby or toddler. Snacks and drinks will be provided. Masks are required for participants 2 and older.

10:30 a.m.-noon Sunday, April 10. Free, registration required. Willard Park, 2730 Hillegass Ave., Berkeley. jewishbabynetwork.org

A holiday celebration with Rabbi Batshir Torchio. Dine on traditional Pesach fare, sing songs and experience the richness of Passover and the spring season.

11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 12. $10, vaccination proof and registration required. SFJCC, 3200 California St., S.F. 415-292-1200. jccsf.org

Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra violinists Noah Strick and Maxine Nemerovski, violist Anthony Martin, cellist Paul Hale, and bassist Farley Pearce plan to perform works by Handel, Beethoven, Mendelssohn and others in a program based around the Passover themes of exodus, redemption, freedom and renewal.

1-2 p.m. Tuesday, April 12. Free, registration required. SFJCC, 3200 California St., S.F. 415-292-1200. philharmonia.org

A chocolate-themed Passover seder, designed for students in seventh through ninth grade, combines the traditional celebration of Passover with the fun of a chocolate-themed version for each part of the event. A real, non-chocolate dinner will also be served.

5:45-8 p.m. Wednesday, April 13. Vaccination proof and registration required. Congregation Rodef Sholom Courtyard, 170 N. San Pedro Road, San Rafael. 415-479-3441. rodefsholom.org

Not feeling up to doing all the cooking for the seder yourself? Wise Sons deli plans to offer online ordering of seder plates and supper foods that will be available for pickup at scheduled pop-up locations around the Bay Area throughout the holiday. You can also combine a Wise Sons lunch date with a visit to the Contemporary Jewish Museum, where Wise Sons runs the on-site cafe.

10 a.m. Thursday, April 14. Through 3:30 p.m. Saturday, April 23. At various Bay Area locations. See online schedule for pickup details. 415-787-3354. wisesonsdeli.com

The virtual film festival seeks to engage viewers with themes of Passover featured in films. For 10 nights, watch a diverse selection of Israeli movies. Check out conversations with the filmmakers as well as companion essays and activities to enrich your festival experience.

10 a.m. Thursday, April 14. Through 2:45 p.m. Sunday, April 24. $18-$20, registration required. Discount from the JCC East Bay available by entering the code jcceb2022 during checkout. Online event. 510-848-0237. jcceastbay.org

Pass the matzo and join a first-night seder with San Franciscos Rabbi Batshir Torchio and song leader Jonathan Bayer, for an evening dinner and celebration including song and stories. Vegetarian, gluten-free and childrens meal options are available.

6-9:30 p.m. Friday, April 15. $44-$79, vaccination proof and registration required. SFJCC, 3200 California St., S.F. 415-292-1200. jccsf.org

Celebrate with a special Passover dinner out provided by chefs Michael Dellar and Mark Dommen, who take their inspiration from a combined love of the elevated Jewish deli cuisine of both Los Angeles and Manhattan.

Reservations available for in-restaurant dining Fridays and Saturdays from April 15 to 23. $29.50-$59, reservations required. 11 a.m-8 p.m. April 15-23 for to-go orders. Mark n Mikes inside of One Market Restaurant, 1 Market St., S.F. 415-777-5577. onemarket.com

The Berkeley old-school deli is offering to-go seder foods, as well as dine-in options for Passover this year. Make a reservation, bring a Haggadah and your guests, and leave the cooking to them.

5-8:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday, April 15-16 for dining-in. Reservations required. To-go orders available 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Friday, April 15-Saturday, April 23. Sauls Restaurant and Deli, 1475 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley. 510-848-3354. saulsdeli.com

Everyone is welcome to reserve a spot at a public seder, featuring a kosher Passover buffet dinner and wine. Journey through the program with traditional songs, stories and spiritual insight.

5-7 p.m. Friday, April 15. $20, vaccination proof and registration required. Oshman Family JCC, 3921 Fabian Way, Palo Alto. 650- 223-8700. paloaltojcc.org

All are welcome to enjoy a seder with handmade matzo, wine and dinner hosted in a heated outdoor courtyard.

7-11 p.m. Friday, April 15. $36-$75, registration required. San Francisco Mint, 88 Fifth St., S.F. chabadsf.org

Celebrate with Congregation Chevra Thilim at a first night seder with gourmet Passover cuisine, warm company, Haggadah reading, insight and live music.

7 p.m. Friday, April 15. $30-$180, reservations required. Congregation Chevra Thilim, 751 25th Ave., S.F. 415-752-2866. sfshul.org

Join a seder with East Bay community on either the first or second night.

7 p.m. Friday-Saturday, April 15-16. $36-$72, registration required. 510-859-8808. jewishemeryville.com

Join Rabbi Menachem and Adina Landa for a seder bringing to life the story of the Exodus through Kabbalistic insights and mystical teachings. Using an English-friendly, artistic Haggadah, everyone can feel welcome.

7:30-8:30 p.m. Friday, April 15. $40-$50, registration required. Chabad of Novato, 695 De Long Ave., Novato. 415-878-6770. jewishnovato.com

Join the ritualistic feast that encompasses observances of the Passover festival through telling the story of the Exodus, eating matzo, bitter herbs, drinking wine, and other symbolic foods and music to commemorate liberation from slavery.

7:30 p.m. Friday, April 15. $20-$50, registration required. Chabad Jewish Center, 2461 Summerfield Road, Santa Rosa. 707-577-0277. jewishsonoma.com

Families are invited to a Passover-friendly picnic. Enjoy the musical stylings of Cantor Luck, Cantor Attie and Eric Shoen, along with a Passover story from Rabbi Jonathan Singer. Coloring pages for children will be provided.

10 a.m.-noon Saturday, April 16. Registration required. 11th Avenue Meadow (near Mountain Lake Park), S.F. 415-751-2535. emanuelsf.org

The San Rafael congregations seder is back in person and will be hosted by Rabbi Stacy Friedman and Rabbi Elana Rosen Brown.

5-7 p.m. Saturday, April 16. $55-$75, registration required. Congregation Rodef Sholom, 170 N. San Pedro Road, San Rafael. rodefsholom.org

Celebrate in person with Rabbi Jessica Graf and Cantor Toby Glaser at a family-oriented seder. The event also serves as a fundraiser for Chicken Soupers and HaMotzi programs, which feed homebound seniors, those in need of healing and residents of local shelters.

6-8 p.m. Saturday, April 16. $20-$50, registration required. Sherith Israel, 266 California St., S.F. 415-346-1720. sherithisrael.org

Music in the Afternoon presents a concert of Sephardic music featuring the Aquila Trio. The Bay Area ensemble includes include vocalist Phoebe Rosquist; Shira Kammen, vielle/medieval harp/voice; and percussionist Peter Maund.

1 p.m. Tuesday, April 19. $20, vaccination proof and reservations required. Live-stream ticket option available. Oshman Family JCC, 3921 Fabian Way, Palo Alto. 650-223-8700. paloaltojcc.org

Celebrate poetry, the return of spring and the holiday of freedom. Learn why love poetry from the Bibles Song of Songs is often read during Passover celebrations with UC Berkeley Professor Robert Alter. The scholar plans to recite selections from his 2018 translation of the work. Marin Poetry Center members will also read complementary modern poetic works. Gather before the readings for honeyed mead and snacks in the outdoor courtyard.

6:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 20. Free, registration required. Osher Marin JCC, 200 N. San Pedro Road, San Rafael. marinjcc.org

A special evening with Rabbi Jonathan Singer featuring a screening of The Frisco Kid, starring Gene Wilder and Harrison Ford, Passover desserts, wine and soft drinks.

7-10 p.m. April 20. Registration required. Congregation Emanu-El, 2 Lake St., S.F. 415-751-2535. emanuelsf.org

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Passover 2022: Celebrate freedom and renewal with seders and more in the Bay Area - SF Chronicle Datebook

The Freedom of the Town event will be celebrated in Qualicum Beach on May 7.

The event is a historic ceremony with roots dating back to the 15th century when towns were endangered by invading military units. Before a military unit would be admitted to the town, council would need to grant the unit Freedom of the Town, which would entitle the unit to enter with drums beating, banners flying and bayonets fixed.

This high honour was only afforded to military units with a long and co-operative relationship with the municipality.

Qualicum Beach council on April 6 passed a resolution that bestows the right, privilege, honour and distinction of marching with colours flying, bayonets fixed and drums beating to 19 Mission Support Squadron, 19 Wing Comox within the bounds of the Town of Qualicum Beach.

READ MORE: Qualicum Beach Legion begins planning for Canada Day 2022 celebrations

The event is being organized in collaboration with Royal Canadian Legion Branch 76, the 19 Mission Support Squadrons (19 MSS), 19 Wing Comox. It will feature a formal military parage through town with an array of festivities lined up on May 7. There will also be a military fly-over and performances by the Esquimalt Naden Band of the Royal Canadian Navy.

Starting at 2 p.m. at the Civic Centre on 747 Jones St., in keeping with the historic ceremony, 19 MSS, will request permission of council to march through town.

The squadron will then parade from the Civic Centre to town hall on 660 Primrose St., where the mayor will present the Key to the Town to 19 MSS. The parade will continue to the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 76, where there will be refreshments and entertainment.

The public are invited to attend this historic event and watch the parade from the Civic Centre to town hall on Second Avenue East.

NEWS Staff, submitted

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Freedom of the Town ceremony to take place in Qualicum Beach May 7 - Parksville-Qualicum Beach News

The BDN Opinion section operates independently and does not set newsroom policies or contribute to reporting or editing articles elsewhere in the newspaper or onbangordailynews.com.

Charles Kniffen of Lubec is a combat-wounded veteran of the Vietnam War and the author of Fifty Years in a Foxhole.

Does Washington County really need the worlds largest flagpole? Morrill Worcester and company are already planting wreaths on gravestones across the country, waving flags every Tuesday, and reminding passersby on Route 1 of the exact words of the Pledge of Allegiance that we all learned in elementary school. Surely a few have forgotten the text, but to see every phrase hammered onto a post, in both directions, for nearly a mile causes the message to become little more than the drivel of insecure Americans flailing in the fear that the traditions of this beautiful country are being lost.

Maybe a few traditions (elective wars?) we could afford to let go. I maintain my sanity and curb my ire at the disrespectful intrusion into my drive down an otherwise pleasant stretch of highway by pretending that I am a draft-horse wearing blinders. Foolishness is my defense against the sheer trembling rage I feel within at these grotesquely intrusive modalities of free expression.

If that big pole and giant flaggo up, I will wear a hat with a large bill to block the sight of such a monstrous testimony to misspent money (a billion dollars?), a beautiful wooded tract trammeled by roads, manicured grounds, and nine miles of wall to honor all the vets lost during our various wars.

Veterans are largely a humble lotand the respect of our families, neighbors and local community is plenty sufficient, thank you. I have made few plans for the disposal of my remains: burnt, buried at sea, or planted in a little plot are all good. The one thing I asked for was: Please please, dont bury me in Worcesters graveyard.

I attend a biweekly meeting of a dozen local combat veterans; these are the veterans I listen to. Whenever you see the word billion and dollars in the same sentence, be wary that someone is taking home a hefty paycheck.

This proposed extravaganza is purported to be apolitical. Regardless of political persuasion, it looks like an effort to cash in on the flag fetish of America grown beyond all bounds of reason and discretion and far beyond any claim to respect.

The American flag demands and deserves respect as testimony to the honor, courage, self-sacrifice, and spiritual values which we all hold dear. I have fired my weapon in a 21-gun salute as the folded flag was handed to the family of a fallen warrior while serving on the Admirals Guard at the Newport Naval Station. Respect is not adoration, worship, or idolatry.

This proposed giant flagpole is an affront to any honest show of respect for our veterans and is a sensational bauble offered to a population that quails in guilt over the way veterans, particularly of the Vietnam war, were treated. No one wants to speak out against any effort, regardless of how inane or self-aggrandizing it appears for fear of being viewed as non-patriotic and worse anti-American.

Veterans do not need a theme park. They are people who have struggled, fought, and died to see this country flourish, in freedom, in harmony, and with the promise of prosperity. The efforts to idolize and immortalize veterans as heroes goes contrary to their very effort. Washington County has a large concentration of veteransin Maine because it is remote, quiet, and peaceful. A giant flagpole marring the beauty of our land and beckoning with an unsightly frenzy of flags to persons from afar is no honor.

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A proposed giant flag pole and 'freedom park' in Washington County is an affront to this veteran - Bangor Daily News

The Oklahoma state legislature has been busy. This week, in a surprise move, the state house passed a bill criminalizing all abortions. The bill had been passed by the state senate last year but had been largely abandoned as Oklahoma conservatives sought other, more promising, ways to restrict abortion in the state. As an outright ban on abortions, enforced by the state, the Oklahoma bill that now heads to the governors desk for signature would be in plain violation of Roe v Wade, and unlikely to survive a court challenge while that precedent stands.

The passage of the bill which makes abortion a felony and would imprison doctors for up to 10 years per procedure indicates that the state, like most legal observers, expects the supreme court to overturn Roe soon. The bill, which Oklahoma Republicans voted on while many of their Democratic colleagues were away participating in an abortion and civil rights rally, provides no exceptions for rape or incest. Oklahomas governor, Republican Kevin Stitt, has previously stated that he will sign any anti-choice bill that is sent to him. If he signs this one, it will go into effect this summer.

The day after the Oklahoma legislature sent the outright ban to Stitts desk, Oklahomas House Committee on Public Health approved another bill, this one banning abortion at six weeks. That bill is modeled after Texas SB8, the abortion ban that the supreme court allowed to go into effect in September, which bypasses Roe by having the ban on abortions be enforced by private lawsuits instead of state prosecution. Instead of imprisoning doctors, as the outright ban would do, this law aims to bankrupt them. The Texas-style bill, SB1503, now heads to the full Oklahoma house for approval. If it becomes law, it will take effect immediately.

The moves by Oklahoma come as the state has been playing host to reproductive refugees fleeing neighboring Texas for the past seven months. Ever since the supreme court allowed SB8 to go into effect on 1 September, Texas women in need have been flocking to Oklahomas four clinics, enduring the labyrinthine restrictions that Oklahoma already has in place including an ultrasound, a 72-hour waiting period, and mandatory anti-abortion counseling at great expense, in order to end their pregnancies. Texans fleeing the state for care have wound up in clinics from California to New York, but more of them have gone to Oklahoma than to any other state. More than half of Texas women who have fled the state for abortions since SB8 went into effect have gotten their care in Oklahoma. The states clinics two in Tulsa, and two in Oklahoma City have been slammed with these out-of-state visitors.

What we saw very immediately after SB8 is, we doubled our volume, Kailey Voellinger, the director of a clinic in Oklahoma City, told NBC News. We went from seeing about 100 to 150 patients to almost 300 in a month. She says the demand is so great that her clinic has had to turn women away. Now, these new laws might stop her from treating anyone at all.

These are the final days of reproductive freedom in America. The supreme court will almost certainly overturn Roe in Dobbs v Jackson this spring. Once it does, 21 states have laws or amendments already in place that would make them certain to ban abortion as quickly as possible, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive rights research group. Twelve states have so-called trigger bans, laws that declare abortion illegal as soon as Roe is overturned. Nine have pre-Roe bans that are still on the books, which could go back into effect once Roe is gone.

The result is that in the span of a few short weeks, womens rights are likely to be snuffed out in vast swaths of the country from the deep south, across the great plains, and into the mountain west, women will lose the freedom, and the dignity, that comes with the right to choose. The human tragedy of this the dreams that will be denied, the pain that will be endured, the humiliation and the enforced poverty that will inflicted on women forced to become mothers against their interests and against their will is incalculable.

What has the White House done to help mitigate this catastrophe? Very little. When the supreme court allowed SB8 to go into effect, nullifying Roe, Biden promised a whole-of-government response to safeguard abortion access. But that whole-of-government response has not materialized. The administrations reaction to the end of reproductive rights has been tepid and underwhelming. The Department of Justice vowed to step up its enforcement of the Face Act, a law that aims to stop anti-abortion protestors from blocking the entrances to abortion clinics a nice thought, but one that doesnt go very far if all those clinics are forced to close. The justice department also sued to block SB8 in the courts, but the supreme court, predictably, threw that out.

At the time, legal experts on the left offered ideas for inventive ways that the Biden administration could step in to protect the rights of Texas women provided that they were willing to bend some norms, and ruffle some feathers, in doing so. The Biden administration declined.

Even Bidens public statements are not especially strongly worded. Throughout his presidency, abortion rights activists have been frustrated with the presidents unwillingness to say the word abortion. He prefers euphemisms such as constitutional rights or womens rights, and the avoidance, according to some activists, suggests a stigmatizing disdain for the issue. At any rate, as the sun goes down on abortion rights in America, one does not get the impression that Biden will be willing to fight for a right that he is not even willing to name.

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We are witnessing the final days of reproductive freedom in America - The Guardian

This is a lightly edited excerpt from Guerrilla Radios in Southern Africa: Broadcasters, Technology, Propaganda Wars and the Armed Struggle (Wits University Press, 2021), edited by Sekibakiba Peter Lekgoathi, Tshepo Moloi and Alda Romo Sate Sade.

Since the 1950s radio has been the predominant medium of mass communication in Africa. Not only was radio broadcasting employed by the colonial states in the service of empire, but the liberation forces also appropriated it as a weapon in the struggle for independence. With the turn to the armed struggle and movement into exile in the early 1960s, access to a radio station became a top priority for the nationalist movements in southern Africa. Through radio, the guerrilla movements sought to maintain a sonic presence among their supporters at home. It was a means through which they could shape their supporters political views and behaviour and more especially their activities in resisting white rule.

The liberation movements also, of course, used other media (particularly print), but radio occupied a very special place in the struggle for independence in southern Africa. Sound had the most appeal. Through radio, the liberation movements could address their supporters instantly and directly behind enemy lines. They could maintain their presence at home without being physically present. The appropriation of radio by the nationalist movements nevertheless caused severe nervousness on the part of the white minority regimes in the region, unwilling to surrender their monopoly over the airwaves.

Radio first came to Africa as a tool of empire. This was true of radio throughout southern Africa, where this modern technology was inaugurated, as Mhoze Chikowero writes in chapter four of this volume, as an instrument of contending European imperial propaganda wars against each other and on colonised Africans. Radio symbolised a European presence.

The first broadcasting stations were mainly in European languages and directed primarily at white audiences in the colonies. The first propaganda radio that made a concerted effort to influence political opinion in southern Africa was the Nazi station Radio Zeesen. Broadcasting in Afrikaans in the 1930s, before World War II, this radio was aimed at certain elements in Namibia and South Africa that were sympathetic to the Nazi cause. Radio broadcasting in African languages was first established in the early 1940s, against the backdrop of growing interracial mistrust during the war. There were growing fears among the white rulers at the time that Africans would scupper the war effort unless they received regular war communiques, in their own languages, that urged support for the war. Those who championed radio broadcasting in African languages saw it as the most effective tool for educating the masses and instilling loyalty to the empire.

In South Africa during the apartheid era, as Sekibakiba Lekgoathi argues, the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) introduced African language radio stations that were ethnically divided. Collectively named Radio Bantu, radio in African languages was introduced to reinforce the Bantustan policy of ethnic separatism. Radio became a critical tool of modern technology for achieving the ambitions of those who were determined to govern the Black population by domination rather than consent. It was in the interest of those in power to control and contain African access to radio, and when African nationalist movements flipped the script and adopted radio as a means for contesting colonial domination and attaining liberation, a protracted warfare of the airwaves ensued.

Radio played an inimitable role in the liberation struggle in southern Africa, particularly after the turn to the armed struggle. It became a tool for pushing the liberation struggle propaganda and galvanising opposition against white minority rule. Yet no substantial work has been conducted that has made an effort to situate guerrilla radios within a broader regional context apart from some cursory hints in the voluminous body of essays, memoirs, biographies and autobiographies of former activists and political leaders in southern Africa about the role that radio played in the liberation struggle. Most of the works produced tend to be parochial in approach, analysing each guerrilla radio within the framework of the nation-state. There has been very little sustained research to provide historical and social analyses of the use of sound in the liberation struggle in the region as a whole. We know very little about how the nationalist movements were able to engage in a war of the airwaves against the white minority regimes, or to capture the hearts and minds of the people from their bases in exile. We know even less about content production and reception of the messages broadcast on these radio stations.

Guerrilla Radios in Southern Africa is a collection of chapters on the histories of the radios attached to the armed wings of the liberation movements in the region. It is about the experiences of the broadcasters and listeners during the era of the armed struggle. Using archival sources such as sound recordings of the guerrilla radio stations, together with interviews conducted with former broadcasters and listeners, the chapters contained in this volume ask complex questions about the social histories of these stations. They explore the workings of propaganda and counter-propaganda and probe the effects the radios had on the activists and supporters of the liberation movements and, on the other hand, on the colonial counter-insurgency projects. The chapters also examine the relationships that these radios forged at their multiple sites of operation in host countries, and look at international solidarity and support, specifically for radio broadcasting initiatives. In the end, this book pushes the frontiers of knowledge production beyond exploration of broadcast content toward a more nuanced conception of radio as a medium formed by social and political processes.

Guerrilla radio broadcasting, we argue, became a very powerful technology for disseminating insurgent propaganda messages of the liberation movements and for mobilising African workers, peasants, students and youth in the struggle against white minority domination in the entire region. From Angola to Mozambique, and from Zimbabwe to Namibia through to South Africa, the modern technology of radio provided the liberation movements in exile with a platform for an aural or sonic presence among the followers of the liberation movements back home. It became an effective instrument for propagating the ideologies of the liberation movements and for countering the propaganda messages of the oppressive white minority regimes.

The cheapest and most direct medium of communication, guerrilla radios transcended boundaries and were widely listened to, albeit illegally. These radio stations existed, according to Marissa Moorman, beyond the jurisdiction of colonial law but within the broadcast range of the colonial state and the territory it claimed. Their public and legal operation behind enemy lines and outside the reach of the colonial or apartheid laws, coupled with the reality that many people within the colonial territories tuned in, caused severe anxiety on the part of the state. We borrow the concept of the nervous condition of the colonial state from Mhoze Chikowero (in this volume), who in turn coined the term from Nancy Rose Hunts work on the condition of the Belgian colonial state in the Congo. Because of the invisibility and transience of sound and the insecurity of the authorities, the police and the military were put on the defensive. As Moorman shows in chapter three of this volume, the colonial state listened in to the guerrilla radios and transcribed the broadcast messages and arrested and prosecuted anyone caught listening. Quite commonly, as Sifiso Mxolisi Ndlovu illustrates in chapter nine, the white minority regimes sought to counter guerrilla radio propaganda with their own propaganda disseminated through state channels such as Radio Republic of South Africa (Radio RSA). Simultaneously, surveillance was put on guerrilla radios and their frequencies were jammed.

The support that the independent African countries (Egypt, Algeria, Ethiopia, Ghana, Tanzania, Zambia, Congo-Brazzaville, Congo-Kinshasa and Angola, among others) and other international solidarity groups and governments gave to the southern African liberation movements in exile was immense. Yet the existing studies on the liberation struggles only provide perfunctory hints, at best, of this. Very few historical works have uncovered the multi-layered histories of these radios and analysed the dynamics of the relationships fostered at the points of operation in exile. The paucity of regional scholarship on the liberation struggle generally, and on broadcasting in particular, is unfortunate given the regions shared experiences of white minority rule, the continental initiatives to fight against it, and the growing significance of radio as a medium of mass communication in the era after World War II.

In his chapter in this volume Lekgoathi shows that substantial financial and logistical support was advanced to the African National Congresss Radio Freedom by governments, solidarity groups, and civil society organisations in eastern and western Europe (the Soviet Union, the German Democratic Republic, the Nordic countries, the Netherlands and others). While the fight against the injustices of the apartheid system was important, these countries and support groups also had other underlying motivations. During the Cold War, the communist bloc supported the liberation movements in order to expand their ideological influence in Africa. The Scandinavian countries and the Netherlands saw support for Radio Freedom as part of a larger struggle against state monopoly of the airwaves and the promotion of media pluralism and democracy. Informed by their pan-Africanist outlook and commitment to a decolonised Africa, sovereign African countries such as Egypt, Ethiopia, Tanzania and Zambia (despite their own struggling economies and sociopolitical challenges) accommodated these radios on the external services of their national broadcasters. The sacrifices they made were significant. Some endured spates of military incursions and air bombardment by the South African military that destabilised the entire region. Radio Freedom, Voice of the Pan Africanist Congress, Voice of Namibia, A Voz da Frelimo, Voice of the Revolution, Voice of Zimbabwe and others benefitted greatly from such magnanimity by the frontline states.

Link:

New Books | Radio in the fight for freedom - newframe.com

FREEDOM A wildfire ignited and burnt nearly three acres of land in Freedom on Tuesday after a man burned materials without a permit, officials said.

The fire began at a 200 Getchell Ln. home while a resident was reportedly burning cardboard in a burn bin. The flames then got out-of-hand, said Freedom Volunteer Fire Department Chief James Waterman.

Waterman and his crew responded to the call at 1:32 p.m. and were on the scene for around two hours battling the blaze, he said. Around two and a half to three acres of forest land were burnt, he estimated.

It was a good size space, Waterman said.

The Freedom Volunteer Fire Department calls for mutual aid during the day when they are shorthanded, Waterman said. Albion, Unity, Montville Fire Departments responded to the wildfire for mutual aid, while Troy and Searsmont fire departments, along with Morrill Volunteer Fire Department, were on standby.

The individual is being processed by the Maine Forest Service since he did not have a permit to burn.

Waterman said it is free to get a burn permit in Maine, and certain permits are valid for one day only. With a burn permit, a person can only burn after 5 p.m. and before 9 a.m. on low or moderate fire-danger days.

Tuesday was considered a low fire-danger day for most of the state, including Freedom, according to the Maine Forest Services Wildfire Danger Report.

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Man burning cardboard sparks wildfire in Freedom, setting nearly 3 acres of land ablaze - Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel

Police officers and protesters clash during Parliament demonstration. Video / Supplied

OPINION

It could be assumed that in New Zealand, the fourth safest democracy in the world in 2021, freedom is everywhere.

Apparently not according to many disparate and unhappy groups of people in this country.

The country, for weeks, watched as several thousand Kiwis have mobbed together to assert their loss of freedom in various parts of Aotearoa, particularly in Wellington at Parliament recently, the very seat of our safe democracy.

A haven for freedom.

Freedom is a word that means many things to different people. To me, it means living in my beautiful homeland safely, without the prospect of war, enjoying my rights and responsibilities as I personally choose.

I am free to do what I wish, within reason.

As long as I do not impinge upon the freedoms of others in my community I am pretty much left to just get on with things.

Live my life as I wish according to my personal values and views. Not hard, really.

There are some areas in life where we are not free to do as we wish.

27 Mar, 2022 09:00 PMQuick Read

13 Mar, 2022 08:00 PMQuick Read

27 Feb, 2022 04:00 PMQuick Read

In this country, we all have to drive on the left side of the road. No ifs and buts, we must.

That is the law, in place to keep us all safe. No one I know disagrees with that or purposely disobeys that rule.

We are not free to wander uptown naked. We can do it, but it is likely someone will take us aside and point out to us that this behaviour is, at the least, inappropriate.

We might even have to talk to a judge about it.

Some would argue it is their body, they should be allowed to. They maybe do not understand that others may find their behaviour offensive.

As we all watched the mob express their freedoms by abusing and threatening others on the streets around Parliament for having the freedom to wear masks to protect themselves and others, most of us would have seen the wrong-headedness of their actions.

The fact that these people were free to be able to behave the way they did argues against their cause, whatever that may have been.

In most places in the world, the official response would have been quick and very brutal. Not in little old Welly.

The local cops rolled up, tried a few tactics, decided that this was too dangerous bearing in mind the makeup of the crowd including young children and older people, so settled for the long game.

Let's wait them out. Only in New Zealand.

Photos of police doling out lollies, laughing and chatting with the mob, trying to keep all safe flashed around the world showing a tolerant society.

Some would say a little too tolerant.

As time drifted by, the loos backed up, the ground became a fetid swamp and sickness began to take its toll. Many drifted away to fight another day.

The faceless leaders of some of the groups present also abandoned ship when they realised they had nothing further to gain. They left their deluded followers to their fate.

I concede that some in the mob held sincere opinions, however wrong, about their freedoms being impinged. The thought process that made this happen is interesting.

New Zealanders have never been compelled to be vaccinated by law.

It has been left as a choice to our population, at least 94 per cent of the population who qualified chose to exercise that choice.

This majority did this for their own protection and for the protection of others, a community responsibility shared. Something New Zealanders should be very proud of.

Some of those who chose not to be vaccinated suffered the consequences of their decision.

They lost jobs and maybe homes. These people chose this course, knowing the possible outcomes.

How then has their freedom been taken from them?

How has a Government who, overall, managed the Covid pandemic very well compared to other governments, taken freedoms away from New Zealanders?

These people took their own freedoms away.

Let's be honest - no one likes the mandates.

Most have ended with our borders slowly re-opening to the world and us all learning to live with some form of endemic Covid-19 together with yet another annual vaccination going forward.

But losing freedoms? Really?

Freedom includes various rights, but with rights, come responsibilities - to ourselves and others. Most people understand this but a few simply cannot.

The causes displayed in the Wellington mob were wide-ranging with some strange bed-fellows sharing time together.

It seemed every unhappy soul in the country got together for a major whinge. Many with very strange agendas and views, many perhaps simply not well.

Watching the mob fight each other at times said it all, really.

Read more:

Rob Rattenbury: Freedom comes with responsibilities - New Zealand Herald

Regarding As Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson makes history, Ted Cruz and John Cornyn call her a threat to freedom, (April 7): It is highly ironic that Sen. Ted Cruz would call Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson a threat to freedom. On Jan. 6, Sen. Cruz led the insurrection caucus in the Senate in their attempts to shred American democracy by overturning the will of the American voting public in the 2020 presidential election.

The junior senator from Texas has refused to state unequivocally whether he had been in communication with his longtime friend, conservative attorney John Eastman, who was promulgating the bogus theory that Mike Pence could stop the certification of the election for Joe Biden, in an attempt to coordinate a multi-pronged strategy for undermining American democracy.

As Republican Rep. Liz Cheney has observed of Cruz, It was a very dangerous proposal, and, you know, could very easily have put us into territory where we got to the inauguration and there was not a president. And I think that Senator Cruz knew exactly what he was doing. I think that Senator Cruz is somebody who knows what the Constitution calls for, knows what his duties and obligations are, and was willing, frankly, to set that aside.

Andrew Edmonson, Montrose

Regarding Ted Cruz and other Republicans walk out during applause for Ketanji Brown Jackson, (April 7): Once again, Sen. Cruz is unable to help himself in displaying the antics of an immature fifth- grader. News flash senator: regardless of ones political beliefs, its called class look it up, you might learn something. By the way, it reminds me of the same amount of class you displayed when you threw your daughters under the bus upon your return from your ill-fated trip to Cancun.

Chris Brown, Houston

Regarding Republicans find defining woman not so easy, (April 8): Once again, the Supreme Court confirmation hearings did not disappoint in providing entertainment, compliments of Rep. Madison Cawthorn, Sen. Josh Hawley and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene.

A simple definition for woman became the weapon of choice for the strategy to bring down Supreme Court nominee, Ketanji Brown Jackson. Columnist Monica Hesse summarily exposed each simple definition to be under-prepared and, at best, failing to prove whatever point they were trying to make.

It would be even more entertaining to hear these same individuals simple definition of man, providing it be given in complete humility.

K. Salstrom, Sugar Land

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Opinion: The only threat to freedom here is you, Senator Cruz, not Justice Jackson - Houston Chronicle

Aaron Ramsdale lamented a very tense and slow performance as Arsenal suffered a hugely damaging 2-1 defeat at home to Brighton.

Coming into the game off the back of Mondays 3-0 defeat at Crystal Palace, manager Mikel Arteta had emphasised a need to put things right immediately but the Spaniards tactical decisions seem to throw his players off their game as they produced a horribly cumbersome showing.

Despite problems of their own in recent months, Graham Potters side had little problem containing Arsenals attacking unit and on the break they showed a ruthless side as Leandro Trossard and Enock Mwepu finished off slick moves either side of half time.

Its not good enough, Ramsdale told Arsenal.com. Two games on the spin where the first 45 minutes has got away from us. You make it an uphill battle against any team in the Premier League if youre losing at halftime.

We were not in the rhythm of the game, thats unlike us, especially at home where weve normally started really well all season. It was a really poor performance and as I said we, went to the end but thats a given at any club, especially this club. When you give a team a step up in the Premier League its always hard to get back in the game.

One-nil down is tough enough, two-nil down in the Premier League is even harder, so if wed have got the first goal back even earlier we might have pushed and pushed but there was too much to do in the end.

Todays defeat means Arsenals hopes of qualifying for the Champions League are no longer in their own hands. Whats more with a daunting run of games ahead, its going to be a real scramble to even secure a place in the Europa League.

The manager said afterwards that his players lacked purpose, created a cold atmosphere and are currently on a road that is taking us nowhere.

If the pressure is on, Ramsdale is keen for the players to try and strip things back to basics.

This was supposed to be the reaction game but it wasnt, he said.

Weve lost and not managed to pick up any points and next week is even bigger. I think we just need to go out there and be free and play our game, you know?

Its a game of football and I think in the first half we were very tense and slow so we just need to go out there next week, trust what the manager and the coaching staff are saying and go and play our football, which weve done all season.

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Ramsdale calls on "tense" Gunners to play with more freedom - Arseblog News