Category Archives: Freedom

Concern about threats to free speech and research in universities is commonly dismissed by the Left as a Right-wing fabrication. Three years ago, the political economist Will Davies argued in the Guardian that the free speech panic had been invented by the Right, because its accustomed authority had been lost to anarchic social media. A year later, the journalist Nasrine Malik wrote that the tale of university campuses succumbing to an epidemic of no-platforming was designed to secure, not freedom of speech, but the licence to speak with impunity.

Then, in February of this year, Jo OGrady, secretary-general of the University and Colleges Union, responded to advance word of a White Paper announcing plans for legislation to bolster academic freedom, by accusing the Government of stoking a culture war despite there being no evidence of a free speech crisis on campus. And only last week, in their submission to the Times Education Commission, Tony Blair and Andrew Adonis wrote that the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill now making its way through Parliament is a reform in search of a problem since free speech is hardly a key issue on university campuses.

The Lefts echo-chamber is just plain wrong. Quite why they doggedly turn such a deaf ear to the problem is a bit of a puzzle. One obvious explanation is that what is being suppressed is speech that criticises ideologies that the Left supports ideologies such as transgender self-identification, Critical Race Theory, and decolonisation which currently enjoy dominance in our cultural and educational institutions. According to last months report by the Policy Institute at Kings College London, of all newspapers it is the Guardian that has made by far the most mention of the culture wars in the past five years. Rather than nonchalant dismissal, this suggests a degree of alarm at the rising challenge to the Lefts present cultural ascendancy.

There is empirical evidence that the freedom to speak and research of significant minorities of university students and teachers in the UK are being inhibited. Those affected range from political and social conservatives on the Right to feminist critics of transgender ideology on the Left. The problem is by no means confined to the limited number of instances of the no-platforming of speakers. It is much wider and includes a variety of kinds of case.

For example, in the summer of 2017 the clinical psychotherapist, James Caspian, was forbidden by Bath Spa University to conduct politically incorrect research into transgender de-transitioning, because of its risk to the University. In May 2018, a junior research fellow attending a seminar on colonialism that I ran in Oxford, insisted that his name and face appear in no record, lest senior colleagues in the Faculty of History damage his career as punishment for associating with me. In October 2020, a student at the Centre of Teacher Education at Warwick University, after objecting to the suggestion of non-gendered classrooms for young children and disapproving of the imposition of transgender ideology on them, attracted complaints from fellow students. This student was referred by the University to a suitability panel and suspended until the panels hearing, suffered a collapse in mental health, and now, eight months later, remains formally absent on grounds of sickness. And, in January 2021, Cambridge Universitys School of Arts and Humanities wrote to all of its departments, requiring them to explain how they were going to promote decolonisation. Permitting no conscientious space to those doubtful of the inbuilt assumptions about colonialism and racism, the School marched ahead as if dissent was, literally, unthinkable.

For every individual who finds himself censored, ostracised, made ill, or bulldozed, there are hundreds of others who look on aghast and resolve to keep their mouths shut, lest they attract trouble. Moral courage is quite as rare on campus as it is everywhere else, and fear is no less prevalent. The public censoring of one causes the self-censorship of many.

This is evidenced, not only by anecdotes, but by hard social scientific data. In 2017, a report on academic freedom produced by Jo OGradys own union reported that 35.5 per cent of its members polled admitted to self-censorship, above all of their political views. It also found that [i]n sharp contrast with the other 27 EU nations, the constitutional protection for academic freedom (either directly, or indirectly via freedom of speech) in the UK is negligible, as is the legislative protection for the substantive (teaching and learning) and supportive (tenure and governance) elements of academic freedom.

In its 2018 report, the parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights acknowledged that instances of the no-platforming of speakers who challenge the assumptions of identity politics and the disruption of meetings organised by social conservatives could be having a wider chilling effect on free speech. A 2019 Policy Exchange study of academic freedom in the UK presented evidence of such an effect on students speech, such that some mainstream political views cannot be discussed in the classroom. A follow-up report in 2020 showed that the chill extends to professors. Since more than 80 per cent of academics lean to the Left, Right-leaning professors tend to perceive their professional environment as hostile. Mindful of their careers, they censor themselves, going into inner exile and keeping their conservative thoughts to themselves.

These threats to freedom of speech and research are not right-wing fantasies; they are real. And their effect can only be to deepen the lack of political diversity in our universities and to widen the gap between the academic elite and the rest of the population.

The good news is that the Governments Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill will go a long way toward thawing the chill. By creating a new post of Director for Freedom of Speech and Academic Freedom, it will enable the Office for Students to focus on analysing the various problems and working out a consistent set of solutions that will establish sector-wide norms. By authorising the Director to recommend redress, even sanctions, it will encourage busy vice-chancellors to push the issue closer to the top of their agendas. By allowing academic staff to appeal beyond their own institutions, it will at once support beleaguered individuals and render those institutions externally accountable. And by extending the duty to secure free speech directly to student unions, it will give student leaders pause before they yield to pressure to stifle dissent.

Since the Bill was published, it has attracted a number of criticisms. One is that legislation cannot change culture, so as to lift the fear of social or professional rejection that causes self-censorship. But that is not true. Legislation can nudge culture in the right direction by reassuring dissidents that an external body stands ready to hold universities to account, by giving them the power to appeal outside of their own institutions. By laying down a set of liberal norms over time, the new law would help to dissipate the climate of fear.

Another objection is that persuasion would be better than the threat of sanctions. That is both true and untrue. It is true insofar as it would be ideal if universities could be persuaded to do what they should, without the Government ever having to pick up the punitive stick. But it is untrue insofar as sight of that stick in the course of negotiations is often necessary to encourage serious nibbling at the diplomatic carrot.

A third criticism is that the new law would burden universities with even more bureaucracy, by requiring the demonstration of compliance, especially in the promotion of free speech and academic freedom, in order to gain or maintain registration. This is true, but, unfortunately, it is also necessary and the issue is important enough to make it proportionate. Besides, if universities find themselves stretched for resources, they could always divert some away from the promotion of reporting portals, whereby students are encouraged to lodge anonymous complaints about academics guilty of microaggressions and the like. Moreover, after the relevant systems have been set in place and the norms established, the number of cases will decline and the burden will lighten.

Some have even argued that the legislation would have the perverse effect of making both students and academics more cautious in issuing invitations, lest they be cancelled and invite trouble. But the Bill will shift the balance in favour of taking risks for free speech by imposing a duty to promote it. And besides, cancellations dont just happen; they are not Acts of God. Student unions and universities have the agency to disallow them.

The Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill promises to go a long way in addressing the real problem of the stifling of the freedom to speak in our universities. But it could go further still.

As it stands, the Bill adopts an extraordinarily narrow definition of academic freedom, confining it strictly to an academics field of expertise. Consequently, it fails to protect expressly the freedom of students and academics to voice critical opinions about their own universities, and in particular to dissent from politicised curricular change such as decolonisation without fear of disciplinary action on the ground of bringing their institution into disrepute.

Further, in its current form it would still allow discussion in an academic context to attract allegations of having the effect of harassment under Section 26 of the Equality Act 2010.

And it does not yet give academic staff access to affordable justice via an employment tribunal, in case of failure to be appointed or of being dismissed for speaking or researching freely within the law. Access to a tribunal is relatively straightforward and shields complainants from the threat of having to pay huge costs, if they lose. A tribunal can also order re-employment.

If it were amended so as to fill these gaps, the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill could make a vital contribution to reducing political polarisation in our country. For what is at stake is not merely the freedom of individuals, but the preservation of universities as places where young citizens are educated to voice, entertain, and discuss controversial ideas and views, exciting fierce passions, and to do so in a civil, rational, and responsible mannerso that light might prevail rather than heat. What is at stake is the future of liberal public culture in Britain.

Nigel Biggar, CBE, is Regius Professor of Moral and Pastoral Theology at the University of Oxford

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A liberal public culture needs the Freedom of Speech Bill - TheArticle

Our early PPP data analysis shows Black-owned businesses secured just 3% of PPP loans worth $150,000 or more in the Carolinas

CHARLOTTE, N.C. From Paycheck Protection Program loans to mortgages, marijuana arrests to SWAT Team raids, widespread disparities persist 156 years after Union soldiers shared the news of freedom to enslaved Black people in Texas on June 19, 1865. Those disparities remain the result of systemic barriers that single out Black members of the community. Despite the lack of equity, advocates in the community are working tirelessly to close the gaps.

A WCNC Charlotte analysis of early PPP data found white men received the vast majority of forgivable loans. Of the owners who identified race in their applications, Black-owned businesses secured just 3% of PPP loans worth $150,000 or more in the Carolinas.

"Are we invisible?" NAACP President Rev. Corine Mack asked in response to our findings. "Does our pain not feel like pain to some folks? When we cry, do you not see our tears? This is a serious problem and it's not just in Charlotte."

The far-reaching disparities resulted in Small Business Administration changes in subsequent rounds to address the lack of equity.

PPP is just a snapshot of the lending divide. When it comes to regular mortgages, a WCNC Charlotte analysis of federal home loan data found most of Charlotte's largest lenders deny Black applicants far more often than their white counterparts. The denials were blamed on poor credit and high debt to income ratios, which is a byproduct of centuries worth of unfair treatment.

Banks, lawmakers, advocates, borrowers, and now the Biden administration are working to make sure every person has a fair shot at owning a home, but they caution change will be gradual.

"You see the will and the work going in to really make some fundamental changes," U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Housing Finance Senior Adviser Alanna McCargo said.

New first-time homeowner Sadia Vanager wants her kids to know how much work goes into buying a home. Not only does she credit education and her realtor, but she's also grateful for her partner for helping financially support the possibility.

"I don't want it to be like, 'Mommy's just making these things happen,'" the mother of three said. "They need to know stuff takes hard work. It takes being a steward of your money, being a steward of your credit."

Data show widespread disparities in policing too. Public records show the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department has significantly decreased the number of people arrested and cited for marijuana possession, but data show when officers choose to take someone to jail or write a ticket for weed, the majority of the time that person is Black.

"We're making the arrests, we're writing citations, we're making traffic stops in those areas where we're seeing the violent crime," CMPD Deputy Chief Stella Patterson said, defending the department's practices.

CMPD data show Black communities are also far more likely to come face-to-face with a SWAT Team when police serve search warrants. More than six years' worth of department records identified only one SWAT Team-served search warrant in predominantly white South Charlotte.

"I think the optics of it could be problematic for some people certainly, but we have to understand why is it that this is occurring," Deputy Chief Patterson said.

According to the deputy chief, South Charlotte doesn't have a violent crime problem, unlike other parts of the city, which is why that part of town sees so few SWAT raids.

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Data shows major Black and white divide 156 years after the freedom of slaves - WCNC.com

Rock the Vote, the leading nonpartisan nonprofit that connects politicians to young voters, is partnering with the Womens National Basketball Players Association (WNBPA) for a brand new campaign initiative called the Freedom to Vote.

Organized by the people who campaigned for For The People and John Lewis Voting Rights Act, the Freedom to Vote campaign protects residents' right to vote, especially in states like Arizona, Georgia and Texas that have instituted what critics call voter suppression mandates, the organization told Changing America.

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Most of us believe for democracy to work for all of us, it must include all of us. But, weve seen extremist politicians in states putting up barriers to silence voices and manipulate our elections, Rock the Vote President and Executive Director Carolyn DeWitt said. When it comes to our elections, we want a transparent process we can trust, where Americans have equal freedom to vote. Federal legislation would enact national standards for voting, take big money and special interests out of our democracy, and protect against voting policies that discriminate. Thats why its critical we empower voters with information about these pieces of legislation and provide resources so they can make their voices heard.

As the organization states, educating young voters about political discourse is a challenge across various states, and knowing where to engage civic voters is also a hurdle.

Among the other partners that are funding the campaign are the following:

18 Million Rising

Advance Native Political Leadership Action Fund

All on the Line

American Association of University Women (AAUW)

Amplifier/Amplifier Art

Athlete Ally

Black Male Voter Project

Black Voters Matter Fund

End Citizens United / Let America Vote Fund

Ignite National

Indivisible

Major League Soccer Players Association (MLSPA)

MoveOn

National Black Justice Coalition

National Center for Transgender Equality Action Fund

National Women's Soccer League Players Association (NWSLPA)

Pulso

The Andrew Goodman Foundation

Voto Latino

Voice in Sport

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Rock the Vote partners with the WNBA and others to spread awareness of 'Freedom to Vote' | TheHill - The Hill

Theres a lot of discrimination against LGBTQ people here in the US. There are still a lot of laws in place that pose a challenge for specifically transgender and non-binary people to get access to jobs and equal access to housing. Tremaine Jones (He/They), Project Director, The LGBTQ Freedom Fund

Advocate and health educator Tremaine Jones is acutely aware of why he does the work that he does. Prior to serving as the project director for the LGBTQ Freedom Funds bail out and HIV programs, Jones worked primarily in public health.

I always knew that the system was messed up and that mass incarceration was a big issue in this country. But when I really got to understand more of the criminal legal system, it just made me realize that the system is meant to fail, and its meant to put people in harms way, he said.

This is key to why Jones views mass incarceration as both a public health concern and LGBTQ issue.

Nearly 1 in 3 LGBTQ persons will face incarceration and 1 in 6 transgender people will be sexually assaulted while incarcerated, according to Jones. Statistics like these paired with the fact that most suicides occur in the first week of a persons incarceration highlight why the LGBTQ Freedom Fund is working to secure the safety and release of LGBTQ-identified people who are in jail and immigration detention.

Im Black and Im queer. So at some point I have a likelihood of getting incarcerated because of who I am, said Jones. The fact that systems are in place to entrap people who are like me, and also have very similar experiences that I do, is why its really important that we have this conversation.

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The non-profit posts bond for pretrial detention throughout the state of Florida and has done immigration bonds for people who have been detained in over 20 states in the US, some of whom engage in underground economies to make ends meet.

Many people are being lost in the cracksespecially LGBTQ people, people of color, and poor peoplewho dont have access to resources, who are doing things that are considered not legal in this country simply because they need to survive, said Jones.

This is why community bail funds (the Freedom Fund is a part of the National Bail Fund Network) are necessary because they help serve those who might others face violence and abuse while incarcerated.

We post bond for people at least three times a week. And lately weve been posting for at least three to five individuals to get them out of jail or immigration detention, said Jones, who also added that if you have the means to give, give your money and resources to LGBTQ organizations, especially Black and Latinx owned LGBTQ organizations, because those organizations are really doing the work.

Tremaine discusses more about the LGBTQ Freedom Funds work, shares his thoughts on police at Pride events, and offers advice for allies and accomplices to the LGBTQ community in the video above. Check it out.

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The LGBTQ Freedom Fund Is Doing the Work to Bail Out People In U.S. Jails and Immigration Facilities - The Root

WHAT: The LBJ School of Public Affairs and the Center for the Study of Race and Democracy at The University of Texas at Austin will commemorate Juneteenth during the inaugural Juneteenth Freedom Summit: Birth of a New American Freedom. Speakers will discuss education, housing, wealth, and why Juneteenthmatters now more than ever, amid a national political awakening on racial justice and equity.

WHEN: Saturday, June 19, 11 a.m. CT

WHO: Peniel Joseph, scholar of race and democracy, LBJ School of Public Affairs

Richard Reddick, Associate Dean, College of Education

Sylvester Turner, Houston Mayor

Annette Gordon-Reed, historian and Pulitzer Prize-winning author of On Juneteenth

WHERE: The event is free and open to the public. It will be held via Zoom Webinar. Registration is required.

BACKGROUND:Juneteenth commemorates the end of slavery in the United States, when federal troops informed enslaved Black Americans in Galveston, Texas, of their freedom on June 19, 1865 more than 2 years after the Emancipation Proclamation was issued. Texas was the last state to free enslaved African Americans.

MEDIA: Members of the media are permitted to record the event but are not permitted to publish, use or distribute any portion featuring commentary from Annette Gordon-Reed. Media assets are available in advance. Please contact victoriajyu@austin.utexas.edu.

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UT Austin's Inaugural Juneteenth Freedom Summit to Explore Education, Housing and Wealth - UT News - UT News | The University of Texas at Austin

Legendary whistleblower Dan Ellsberg leaked the Pentagon Papers fifty years ago, a courageous act of truth-telling for which he later faced life in prison. He hasnt stopped since. Last May, just weeks after turning 90 years old, Ellsberg made yet another disclosure of classified national security information. He was speaking on a panel at the University of Massachusetts Truth, Dissent, & the Legacy of Daniel Ellsberg conference with whistleblower Edward Snowden, which one of us [Amy] moderated.

Let me tell a truth that Ive had for 50 years, Ellsberg said, before reading from a secret 1958 report describing the willingness of U.S. officials to launch a nuclear war. I copied that study. It was in my top-secret safe in 1969. And Ive had it ever since, he continued.

Ellsberg was working at the RAND Corporation and as a consultant to the Kennedy administration. He was also a U.S. Marine officer, and participated in combat missions in Vietnam.

In 1969, inspired by the growing anti-war and draft resistance movements, Ellsberg photocopied the Pentagon Papers, a secret, 7,000-page history of U.S. decision-making during the Vietnam war. Unable to find a U.S. Senator willing to take the documents, he leaked them to the New York Times.

The Times published its first Pentagon Papers piece on June 13th, 1971. Two days later, a federal court granted President Richard Nixons request for an injunction, blocking further publication. After Ellsbergs identity as the leaker became public, he and his wife Patricia went underground, as he continued to distribute copies of the documents to other newspapers.

Nixons national security adviser, Henry Kissinger, called Ellsberg the most dangerous man in America. Nixon, in a recorded Oval Office conversation with his Attorney General, said, weve got to keep our eye on the main ball. The main ball is Ellsberg. Weve got to get this son of a bitch.

On June 30th, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the New York Times, barring government censorship of the press and allowing continued publication of the Pentagon Papers.

Nixon intensified his campaign targeting the whistleblower, afraid of what he might release next. As Ellsberg recounted on Democracy Now!, He burglarized my former psychoanalysts office, sent 12 Cuban assets of the Bay of Pigs up to incapacitate me totally on the steps of the Capitol. On May 3rd, he overheard me on illegal, warrantless wiretaps. When the Nixon administrations misconduct was revealed, the judge threw out the espionage case against him.

Dan Ellsbergs example has encouraged other whistleblowers, among them Edward Snowden, who, while a contractor at the National Security Agency (NSA), participated in the development of the governments secret, global, dragnet surveillance program. He leaked a massive trove of documents in 2013, and has lived in exile in Russia ever since.

At the conference on May 1st, Snowden said of whistleblowers who inspired him, They had stood up at great personal risk to tell the public an essential truth that was being intentionally denied to them for political purpose. Eventually, you believe that this is what looks more right than going back into the office and perpetuating a system of injustice quietly, day after day.

Snowden continued, Reality Winner and Daniel Hale and Chelsea Manning, Thomas Drake, Terry Albury and others who have come forward in the last decades have vindicated Daniel Ellsbergs approachbecause the abuse of power is not something thats going away.

Reality Winner was an NSA contractor when she leaked information to the press describing alleged Russian interference in the 2016 elections. Imprisoned for over four years, she was released on June 2nd to a half-way house for the remaining months of her sentence. Her family is demanding a pardon.

Daniel Hale pled guilty to leaking documents about the U.S. drone program of targeted assassinations in Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq, which he participated in while in the Air Force. He will be sentenced in mid-July.

Ellsbergs May 1st disclosure was about a 1958 conflict over several small islands, between mainland China and Taiwan. The U.S., Ellsberg revealed, drew up plans to launch nuclear weapons against China to support Taiwan. The report predicted that a U.S. first-strike on China would provoke a nuclear counter-strike by the Soviet Union, killing millions.

At 90, Ellsberg is still tirelessly advocating for the rights of whistleblowers and a free press, calling on the Biden administration to drop its case against Julian Assange, the Wikileaks founder who published leaked information documenting war crimes, and its prosecution of Daniel Hale.

He concluded his recent interview on Democracy Now!, Ive certainly been led, more than almost anyone, to appreciate the necessity of our First Amendment, the protection of the freedom of the press, the freedom of thought. You cant have democracy without it.

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The Pentagon Papers at 50: Press Freedom and Whistleblowers Still at Risk - Democracy Now!

GREAT FALLS, Mont. A Proclamation was made declaring Juneteenth an official city holiday.Juneteenth commemorates the day when the last slaves in the United States were officially freed on June 19, 1865For city commissioner Mary Sheehy Moe, it was the call to action and unrest around our nation along side a little help from Malmstrom Air Force base that made the decision to host a Juneteenth celebration an easy one.We have had a heightened awareness since the George Floyd death and the subsequent reactions to that throughout the country to how we might improve race relations here in great falls, Sheehy Moe said.Sheehy Moe worked beside airwoman and sergeant at arms of the diversity and inclusion counsel, Michelia Rivera-Acosta.I think the reason why its important is because there is so much black history here that a lot of people dont know. I think adding this to the black history is going to open minds to okay great falls is celebrating Juneteenth a small city in Montana, Rivera-Acosta said.Malmstrom Airforce Base is key to bringing diversity to Great Falls, as airmen from all over the U.S. try to make this place home for the short time that theyre here.The people that are stationed here, most of them are from the south, different parts of the world and they are not able to celebrate Juneteenth I think this is the greatest opportunity to say well I know youre not home but lets make this a home. And Juneteenth is going to provide that, Rivera-Acosta said While Saturday will be a day of celebration of freedom, its the work the city has been doing over the last year to really help bring things to light for everyone who lives her.We have been engaged in conversations both as city staff and leadership and as the city commission with various groups around town to make sure that we are living up to the full measure of our creed as Americans. And those discussions have been very productive, I feel very good about what we are doing and have done as a community, Sheehy Moe said. I want everyone to know that great falls is progressive and they surely are progressive and if this doesnt show that then I dont know what else, Rivera-Acosta said.Juneteenth is all about celebrating freedom but for some it carries a bigger meaning. To me it means I feel your pain, Im here with you and Im going to do something about it. I know I will because I have a good fight in me, Rivera-Acosta said. The Juneteenth celebration will be held Saturday at the Gibson Park bandshell from 1 P.M. to 5 P.M.

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Juneteenth- celebrating freedom and diversity in the electric city - FOX 28 Spokane

Early planning is underway to determine potential locations in Carthage where a permanent display housing replicas of Americas founding documents could be constructed.

On Tuesday, County Board Chairman Frank Quis reiterated the importance that the Charters of Freedom project proceed as a bipartisan effort.

We encourage everyone who is interested to get involved during the appropriate phase of the project to help complete this display, which the County will maintain as a legacy of our freedom for all to enjoy, Quis said, reading from a short prepared statement.

The concept was initially presented to the Board of County Commissioners in April by a representative of Foundation Forward, Inc., a Burke County-based educational nonprofit founded by Vance and Mary Jo Patterson. The organizations goal is to install permanent replicas of the Declaration of Independence, United States Constitution and Bill of Rights in all 100 North Carolina counties and, eventually, all 3,142 jurisdictions across the country.

Each Charters of Freedom setting is installed on publicly owned land while the actual project costs are funded entirely through private donations. In May, county leaders unanimously approved the donation of county-owned land -- or more accurately, the use of the future site -- for the project.

A Charters of Freedom setting located in Buncombe County, N.C. Contributed photo

Quis said several citizens, including veterans, have already stepped up to offer their support, leadership and fundraising capabilities, for which we are grateful. The project also has the support of several prominent Republicans stakeholders, including Pauline Bruno, president of Moore Republican Women, who was instrumental in kicking off the proposed local project.

County staff have been in touch with community contacts as part of their research into potential locations for a permanent display in Carthage, which is Moore Countys government seat.

We continue to consider the most appropriate location for the Charters of Freedom with input from various stakeholders. Our next step in this project will be the signing of a letter of intent from Foundation Forward. Once received and reviewed, we will assemble a steering committee to move the process along.

As stated by Foundation Forward, this is a nonpartisan effort, said Quis.

Typically each semi-circular Charters of Freedom setting also includes permanent pavers for citizens to honor family members, military or first responders, or business sponsors. In addition, a donors plaque would be placed prominently at the Charters of Freedom setting, and a time capsule is also sealed at each project site to be opened on Constitution Day, Sept. 17, 2087, which is the 300th anniversary of the Constitution.

In other discussion on Tuesday, June 15, the Moore County Board of Commissioners:

Heard a request from Vass resident John Misiaszek for elected leaders and county officials to show strong and public support for vaccination efforts against COVID-19. He said current data indicates less than 50 percent of eligible citizens have been vaccinated, The fact remains that Moore County residents have not done their part.

Approved a $41 million contract with New Atlantic Contracting, Inc. for construction services at the Court Facilities project.

Approved a one-year general management contract with Moore County Airport Authority.

Reappointed Jimmie Ann Lassiter to the Jury Commission.

Reappointed Joe Garrison as chair of Moore County Planning Board for fiscal year 2022.

Appointed Caroline Brigmon to the Workforce Development Board.

Appointed Vice Chair Louis Gregory as the countys voting delegate to the NCACC annual conference.

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Bipartisan Participation Sought in Charters of Freedom Project - Southern Pines Pilot

The spectre of ongoing coronavirus restrictions in England hangs over the front pages of Tuesdays papers after Boris Johnson confirmed a widely anticipated delay to the final lifting of lockdown.

The Mail splash headline is PM: curbs could go on and on, and flags anger among Tory backbenchers in the strap line above the story. Inside the paper, columnist Richard Littlejohn reflects some of the discontent by saying the UK has snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.

The Suns headline reads Will we ever be free?, beneath the words Nations torment.

The Times splash headline is We must learn to live with Covid, warns PM and inside it has a detailed analysis of the data that delayed the end of restrictions.

The Guardian has a picture of a glum-looking prime minister and the headline Time to ease off the accelerator: Johnson delays end of lockdown. However, the paper says that Johnson says 19 July will be the terminus barring the emergence of another variant.

The Telegraph takes another angle on that line with its headline Its definitely July 19 unless its not focusing on the prime ministers caveated remarks. Its all too much for the papers former editor and columnist, Charles Moore, who thunders: I no longer support lockdown. The government is making a mistake and it will pay the price.

The Express, ever-loyal to Johnson, has the headline Boris: Lets be sensible delay will save lives, while the Mirror makes play of the big push to get more people vaccinated before 19 July: Vax to the future.

The FT goes with the disappointment of business sectors about the delayed end to lockdown. Business has hopes dashed as lockdowns end delayed, it says. The is headline is No unlock for another four weeks.

The lockdown is also the big story for the papers outside London with the Northern Echo saying Freedom is put on hold for now, and the Yorkshire Post headline reading Lockdown easing date delayed.

The Scotsman is also concerned about the spread of the Delta variant and reports: New variant of virus leaves twice as many seriously ill.

The National says Weeks of delay Scottish Covid curbs warning, while also including an onwards and upwards message from first minister Nicola Sturgeon after Scotlands 2-0 defeat to the Czech Republic in their first outing at Euro2020.

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Will we ever be free? What the papers say about the Freedom Day delay - The Guardian

Sen. Chuck Winder had it right when he recently said the so-called Idaho Freedom Foundation was one of the biggest threats we have to our democracy in our state.

Winder, a Republican and president pro tem of the Idaho Senate, had just witnessed the disruptive role played by the Freedom Foundation in one of the worst legislative sessions on record. He bemoaned the fact that so many legislators had followed the Freedom Foundations lead in making it such a fiasco.

The Freedom Foundation is a member of the State Policy Network, which supports operations like the Freedom Foundation in the 50 states with the objective of driving state governments ever further to the right. The Freedom Foundation and its companion organizations and financial supporters conduct cultural warfare as a means of winning elections and growing their power.

The Freedom Foundation has established itself as one of the most powerful drivers of policy in the state of Idaho over the last several legislative sessions. Its acolytes in the Legislature regularly vote Freedom Foundations party line on divisive issues. Some of the most disruptive legislators in the recent session have the highest scores on Freedom Foundations Freedom Index.

One of the primary goals of the Freedom Foundation is to dismantle Idahos public education system. Its president, Wayne Hoffman, spelled out the groups antipathy to public education in a February 2019 op-ed: I dont think government should be in the education business. It is the most virulent form of socialism (and indoctrination thereto) in America today. He claimed Idaho teachers and students were victims of Idahos Constitution, which requires the state to maintain a general, uniform and thorough system of public, free common schools.

Idahos public schools, guided by local school boards, have been responsible for properly educating Gem State children since statehood, even though they have been chronically underfunded in recent decades. Despite that fact, the Freedom Foundation and its cadre of legislators wreaked havoc on public education at all levels, from preschool to college, during the just-concluded legislative session.

Even though numerous studies have established the value of early childhood education, the Freedom Foundation was responsible for the states failure to accept a federal grant of $6 million for that worthy purpose. Hoffman crowed about rejecting the grant, falsely claiming it would have led to the indoctrination of babies and toddlers.

Even though the Legislature has failed for many years to carry out its constitutional responsibility to adequately fund public schools, the Freedom Foundation sought to divert public monies to fund private schools and students this year. The legislation passed the House but was narrowly defeated in the Senate. It is likely the Freedom Foundation will be back with a similar proposal next year.

The Freedom Foundation falsely accused Idaho public schools and universities of indoctrinating students, which resulted in chaos with education funding bills. A jury-rigged bill, purportedly prohibiting the teaching of an undefined racial theory, was approved so that the funding bills could proceed. As a result of the Freedom Foundation-caused chaos, Idahos universities were undeservedly deprived of $2.5 million of needed funds.

Freedom Foundations most egregious act during the legislative session was to raise its unfounded indoctrination claim. It produced no credible evidence to support the claim. The fact that local school boards oversee the operations of their schools would indicate the falsity of the charges. We will probably never know whether the Freedom Foundation actually believed that its claims were valid. That was not likely the point of making them. The point was to smear public education in hopes of discrediting and weakening our education system. That is a direct threat to the economic and social well-being of our wonderful state.

The time has come to dispense with the Freedom Foundations legislative zealots in next years primary and general elections. The future of our state depends on culling the legislative herd.

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Opinion: The Idaho Freedom Foundation is a threat to the future of the Gem State - Post Register