Category Archives: Freedom

January 10, 2021

Phil Marsh has a strong appreciation for downtown Mount Airy dating to his childhood, when many fond memories were made there.

Id come about every Saturday when I could, Marsh recalled of the days growing up on his familys farm in the Beulah community, where a trip to town was a welcome diversion from the tobacco fields.

Marsh, now 73, says his father would drive him into Mount Airy and set him out in front of the Earle Theater, where the venerable downtown movie house typically screened three feature films on a Saturday.

The weekend jaunt also usually included a stopover at another popular establishment of that era.

I used to hang out at The Canteen when I was young, Marsh said of a diner/malt shop specializing in ice cream and milkshakes.

Overall, he spent so much time in the downtown area that it got into his blood. It just sort of stays with you, he said of collective experiences there which have kept such feelings strong to this day.

I guess I just love downtown.

His early excursions there would lead to Marsh actually living in the citys central business district later in life, and becoming involved with the Downtown Business Association (DBA), an organization he now heads.

Marshs service with that group includes playing a key role in coordinating various events, including holiday parades, cruise-ins and Mayberry Farm Fest, among others.

While he has a reputation for serving quietly behind the scenes without fanfare, Marsh has attracted the attention of downtown observers and the state Main Street Program. It named him the 2018 Main Street Champion for Mount Airy Downtown Inc.

Local Main Street Coordinator Lizzie Morrison called Marsh the epitome of that designation when the award was announced.

I cant thank him enough for his dedication and service to our community, Morrison commented. He is one of the most hardworking and humble people that I know, and I dont know where we would be without him.

In addition to his service with the DBA, Marsh owns two older buildings on North Main Street, including one housing an office for his electrical contracting business, which has further entrenched him in downtown Mount Airy.

Marsh was born in 1947 a few blocks from the citys main drag at Martin Memorial Hospital, which would be destroyed by a fire several years later.

Lessons of hard work

Phil Marshs youth was filled with more than kicking back at the theater on leisurely Saturdays, however.

When I was growing up, I had to work every day, he observed during an interview last Monday.

My parents, both of them, worked in textiles, Marsh said of Herman and Carolyn Lankford Marsh, and we also were tobacco farmers.

That was true of many people in Surry County in those days, which also included his grandparents on both sides and other family members. Everybody was tobacco farmers.

Being an only child meant Phil Marsh probably spent more time in the fields than youths from larger families, whether it included priming tobacco, topping the plants or other tasks.

He also somehow found time to help on the farms of neighbors, along with mowing yards whatever I could to make extra money.

When the work day was done, neighborhood youths were not above engaging in pranks from time to time. One night Marsh and other boys donned sheets and pretended to be ghosts, concealing themselves in a church cemetery at Pine Ridge and jumping out as vehicles passed.

One woman was so terrified she ran her car into a ditch. It turned out she was the sister of a local law enforcement official who was not pleased about that event.

Yet the lessons of hard work learned early in life have helped define Phil Marsh as a person who continues to put in many hours with his electrical business and community endeavors.

I guess thats the way I was brought up I mean, I have to stay busy doing something, he said, instead of just sitting around as some in his generation might do.

If you know Phil, you know that he is always on the move, and hes usually on his way to go help someone else, Morrison, the Main Street coordinator, agreed.

He stops in my office almost daily to ask if there is anything he can do to help. It has been such a wonderful blessing to have Phil as a downtown leader, a mentor and a friend.

Energized by electricity

Marsh attended the now-defunct Beulah School during his elementary years before advancing to North Surry High School en route to the electrical field.

After I left high school, I went to work for Duke Power in Winston-Salem and I worked on a line crew, Marsh said, explaining that he actually was contracted to Duke through another company employing his cousin, Jerry Southern.

Southern had encouraged Marsh to also try to get on there.

He said if you can learn to climb poles, you can make more money, Marsh said, which included becoming well-versed in the use of equipment for that job.

So he brought his hooks and belts home and we practiced in a cow pasture.

Marsh says his reason for pursuing a career in electricity stemmed from the fact it is a skilled trade offering rewards. That was the type of work you could go into and make money.

In addition to Duke Power (now Duke Energy), the local man held jobs with such companies as Reynolds Tobacco, in its electrical department, and Inman Electric in Mount Airy.

While those positions paid well, the electrical profession also offered its share of risks. It is dangerous work, Marsh emphasized.

Along with being around high-voltage lines posing electrocution hazards, there are other ways a person can get hurt, he said in relating a couple of close calls during his lengthy career.

On one occasion, while working with a crew unloading light poles, one gave way and clipped the top of Marshs head. If it wasnt for the hard hat it would have probably hurt me good, he said of the standard protective gear.

Another time Marsh was trying to scale a utility pole, in which the unexpected presence of a hole made by a woodpecker caused him to fall.

And I slid down the pole my arms were burnt up, he said, prompting some first aid by co-workers.

That was when I was 18 and Im still doing it, he said of electrical work.

Though it might appear he jumped from job to job, Marsh explained that the positions tended to be temporary or part-time which filled in around a farming operation he also maintained in Beulah.

Marsh later went into business for himself, which he said was at least 35 years ago.

The Phil Marsh Electrical Co. handles both residential and commercial jobs, about 75 percent of which are in the latter category. He works with his son John, 50, and grandson Eli in the business, along with wife Peggy, a retired nurse. Marsh also has a daughter, Suzette.

Overcoming tragedy

Marsh continued to farm after launching his electrical business.

He grew 35 to 40 acres of hay, some of which was used on his spread that included a horse farm, with the rest sold to other farmers. And at one time I had strawberries, said Marsh, who also maintained an apple orchard containing about 500 trees.

The horse operation which involved raising, training and showing quarter horses became a major source of enjoyment for him.

My wife, she got interested in it, too, and we started going to horse shows, he said of his first wife Chris. The horse farm, which might have stabled as many as 12 purebred mounts at a given time, served as both a successful business and competitive outlet for the couple.

Tragedy would strike, however, in the form of one of lifes challenges Marsh has had to overcome.

My first wife passed away of cancer, he said of Chris Marsh, who died in 1999.

That was quite a challenge, to work and look out for her, Marsh added. She got in real bad shape and I had to sit up with her all night.

Other family members also helped out, including the couples son and daughter and Chris sister who took a leave of absence from an airline job to care for the patient at home.

I slept in a chair for six months thats how bad it got, Marsh said.

His wife eventually succumbed to the disease, dying at age 51 on her birthday.

Undying love for downtown

Marsh, who later remarried, decided to quit farming around 2004 and moved to Renfro Lofts downtown. While there, he became involved with the Downtown Business Association, which coordinates events and other promotional activities to keep the central business district thriving.

There were a lot of good merchants and people involved with downtown and everybody wanted to see the downtown do good, Marsh said of his reasons for joining the DBA. That involvement has spanned 16 years, including serving multiple terms as the organizations president.

Marshs foray into downtown Mount Airy soon became more than residential in nature. After moving there, he turned an eye toward the business Something Different on Main, located in the historic Banner Building.

We bought the business and started running that, too, Marsh said in addition to other pursuits.

The DBA official resided at Renfro Lofts for 12 years before relocating to the Pine Ridge area, to the old homeplace of his wifes grandparents. While that mirrors his love for the countryside, it is also a better place for storing electrical equipment, Marsh says.

He now owns both the Banner structure and the old Merle Norman Building downtown, which Marsh has worked on as part of his busy schedule.

Spearheading events

While he no longer resides in downtown Mount Airy, Phil Marshs heart and soul remains as entrenched there as ever, including playing a key role in organizing the various events held there by the DBA.

The advent of COVID-19 spelled disaster for those activities during 2020, Marsh said in condensing all the cancellation-related frustrations into a single word.

It seems like as far into the year it got, the worse it got, he said of the coronavirus impact that routinely led to the scrapping of events boosting the local economy.

I mean we planned and talked about it, Marsh added of trying to work in events around the pandemic, which always seemed to boil down to maybe next month.

People constantly stopped him on the street to ask when the next cruise-in would be held, he said of one example of the uncertainties faced with public gathering restrictions. The annual cruise-ins from June through October are heavily attended affairs boasting car owners and fans from near and far.

It just hasnt worked out for us, the Downtown Business Association president said.

He is hoping for a better 2020, including the fate of the next big event planned downtown, Mayberry Farm Fest this spring.

Marsh considers that his favorite, due to his agricultural background, but gives credit to fellow DBA member Gail Hull for being the ramrod behind that festival showcasing the areas farming culture.

It includes such attractions as live animals, displays of antique equipment and a tractor parade that might have 60 or more entries, including many older ones that have been lovingly restored.

Its good for families, kids its good for farmers, Marsh said of Mayberry Farm Fest.

They love it, he mentioned regarding the latter, especially those desiring to show off their prized tractors.

Marsh also is fond of the Mayberry Cool Cars and Rods Cruise-In series presented by the Downtown Business Association.

Thats coming from the vantage point of someone who has loved rebuilding and restoring old cars and hot rods and drag-racing them which he admits engaging in along local roadways at times during his younger days.

Marsh says the success of the central business district over the years has been due to a team effort. Its one including not only the Downtown Business Association, but the Greater Mount Airy Chamber of Commerce, Mount Airy Visitors Center and Mount Airy Downtown Inc.

We all work together and help each other.

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Wanted: 'freedom to live our lives' - Mount Airy News

ALBUM OF THE DAY Lon Moshe & Southern Freedom Arkestra, Love Is Where the Spirit Lies By John Morrison January 12, 2021

Jazz has always been a spiritual endeavor, but as the 1960s gave way to the 70s, the political and spiritual consciousness of the Black Power movement naturally began to permeate the music. From the meditative works of Alice Coltrane and Pharoah Sanders to the ecstatic fire of Albert Ayler and Gary Bartz, jazz in the 1970s was largely characterized by a deep connection to the spiritual.

When DJ and promoter Jimmy Gray and saxophonist James Plunky Branch founded their Black Fire label in 1975, they opened up a space for musicians to freely express the full spiritual dimensions of their music. One musician who took this initiative was vibraphonist Lon Moshe. Moshe & The Southern Freedom Arkestras album Love Is Where The Spirit Lies is a gem of a recording from a time in which so many jazz greats were using the music to call on the power of a higher force.

The album opens with Prayer for Saude, a heavy and somber spoken-word piece that calls for Black self-actualization through a revived connection to our ancestral ways. Urged on by the bands free yet measured playing, poet Ngoma Ya Uhuru says, We face East to the creator, our old-time religions lost in centuries past. Whether its the driving post-bop abstraction of Low Ghost or the dreamy standout Ballad For Bobby Hutcherson, Love Is Where The Spirit Lies is equally powerful when considered as a challenging collection of music and a reverent offering of spirit.

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Lon Moshe & Southern Freedom Arkestra, Love Is Where the Spirit Lies - bandcamp.com

It was cutting it fine, but a long-awaited UK-EU trade deal was finally agreed on Thursday in Brussels, closing the chapter on a nearly five-year-long saga that hung like a cloud of uncertainty over the travel industry.

The details in the 1,500-page document have yet to be made public, but the headline so far is the new accord means there will be no tariffs on goods when they cross borders, which will keep down the cost of trade. There are also no quota limits.

Critically for the travel industry, it avoids a much-feared hard Brexit that would have seen the UK quitting the European Union without a withdrawal agreement or a framework for a future relationship in place. Trading would have reverted to World Trade Organization terms.

If theres one thing markets dont like, less than a pandemic at least, its uncertainty. Securing a deal before the end of the year offers some reassurance going into 2021.

As well as trading, this deal means the UK and EU will continue to work together on areas such as transport, climate change, energy and security.

However, there will be uncertainty over how tourism will operate seamlessly between the countries, as border checks will change. Freedom of movement ends, and with it a new points-based immigration system.

UK citizens will now need aminimum of six months validity on a passport that is less than 10 years old to travelwithin the EU from January 1, 2021. The UK will also no longer be subject to the European Court of Justice.

In terms of aviation, its unsure how new border rules will impact airline operations in the long term. Whatever the outcome of the Brexit negotiations, we will continue to fly you to your destination, British Airways has previously stated.

The accord follows the U.S. and the UK formally signing an open skies agreementallowing unlimited flights between the two countries. The new deal applies from January 1 when the UK will no longer be part of the U.S.-EU open skies agreement.

Airline ownership structures suddenly become a lot more complicated. British investors will no longer be classed as EU investors, raising questions for those carriers that have a majority-UK shareholder base, as well as EU-licensed carriers.

The Air Charter Association said it welcomed todays announcement of a UK-EU trade deal. Aviation transcends borders, links communities, drives trade and connects families, friends and colleagues, it said.

Perhaps one of the biggest blows for non-EU visitors tourists heading to the UK will be the scrapping of value-added tax (VAT) free shopping. Theyll no longer be reimbursed for most of the 20 percent VAT they pay.

And passengers traveling from the UK to non-EU countries will no longer be able to buy tax-free goods such as electronics and clothing at airports.

However, British passengers traveling to EU countries will be able to take advantage of duty-free shopping from January 2021, the UK government has said, bringing its approach to the EU in line with the rest of the world.

The UKs HM Revenue & Customs has also said VAT charged on holidays through the Tour Operator Margin Scheme (TOMS) on travel outside of the UK will be zero rated.

Meanwhile, Brexit hasnt dented Hyatts expansion appetite within Europe. The hotel group will add more than 20 hotels to its 63-site European estate, according to reports.

The main benefit for business travel will be that a trade deal, without tariffs or quota, has been struck.

This is positive news and provides some sense of certainty, said Martin Ferguson, vice president of public affairs, American Express Global Business Travel. A tariff and quota-free arrangement limits trade barriers, which helps businesses plan for the future. We are still poring over the detail, but the accord should lessen the risk of disruption to seamless travel between the UK and Europe.

However, the UK will be leaving EU student exchange programme the Erasmus Programme. As a result, therell be less freedom for students, and teachers, who would have previously benefitted from long-term permits. The Department for Education said the government remains committed to international education exchanges, both with the EU and beyond.

Overall, the UK will remain an attractive tourism market.

It has the fourth largest international travel spend worldwide, with especially the EU benefiting from a strong drive from UK residents to travel beyond their countrys borders. Meanwhile, the UK is the fifth largest destination for travelers, according to Skift Researchs UK Traveler Profile and Key Statistics: The Brexit Effect report.

For our citizens and businesses a comprehensive agreement with our neighbour, friend and ally is the best outcome, said Charles Michel, president of the European Council. Over the past years the EU has shown unity and determination in its negotiations with the UK. We will continue to uphold the same unity. These have been very challenging negotiations but the process is not over.

European Union ambassadors will meet on Christmas Day to review the post-Brexit trade, while Britains parliament will vote to approve it on December 30.

Brexit turned into one of the most divisive developments in the UKs recent history. The deal may be done, but travel is far from immune to the impacts of a post-Brexit world.

For more of Skifts Brexit coverage, go here.

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Brexit Miracle Arrives But Losing Freedom of Movement Will Hurt Travel - Skift

By Rob Boston

Judging by the diversity of holidays observed this time of year, humans seem to have a need for a communal celebration in early winter. As the days grow shorter and cold weather grips much of the Northern Hemisphere, its comforting to be reminded that sunlight and warmth (and the crops they nourish) will return. Thus, many of these festivals, from the Saturnalia of pre-Christian Rome to todays Christmas, often feature the use of evergreens and lights and encourage merriment and gift-giving.

Winter festivals have evolved over time, and as the centuries passed, the way people celebrate them has also changed. In previous ages, the government sought to compel people to behave in certain ways when it came to religion.

Theocratic European states of the Middle Ages believed there was only one correct expression of Christianity and forced everyone to follow the national or local model. But the right of conscience could not be squelched forever. Dissent was inevitable, and it came with righteous fury and, unfortunately, a similar spirit of religious intolerance. Americas early Puritans made it illegal to celebrate Christmas, considering it popish.

After Americas revolution, our founders decided to chart a different course: They disentangled religion and government, putting each on its own path to secure its own destiny and success. In doing so, they gave each of us a great gift: the power to decide for ourselves what faith, if any, we will follow and how we will practice it.

Today, there are some people who, like those old theocrats in Europe, are convinced that only their mode of worship is right and true. At this time of year, we often hear them complain about an alleged war on Christmas. What these people are really saying is that they are angry that not everyone chooses to celebrate the same way they do.

For millions of Americans, Christmas is a deeply religious holiday that marks the birth of Jesus. They attend religious services, pray, sing hymns and listen to scripture readings. For others, the holiday is primarily secular, with figures like Santa Claus, Frosty the Snowman and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer taking front and center. And many Americans mix the secular with the sacred and embrace elements of both.

But there are other choices. Some Americans celebrate holidays such as Hanukkah, Kwanzaa or Diwali, and others dont celebrate at all. Its a wonderful time of the year, really, because we have the right to choose.

The Christian nationalists among us who enjoy playing the role of the Christmas Police would love nothing better than to compel the rest of us to celebrate the holiday in just one way theirs. They press government officials to display Christmas symbols in public places. They seek to infuse our public schools with pageants and events that elevate the spiritual elements of Christmas something better done in a church. They even complain when they fail to hear Merry Christmas from a clerk in a big-box store or their coffee cup doesnt look Christmas-y enough.

These people seem to think that unless the government, culture and even big business are actively endorsing their faith, then its under attack. In fact, religion does best when left to prosper on its own; it does not need the interference of the state. Americas tradition of separation of church and state has gifted us a vibrant, diverse religious life marked by thousands of Christian and non-Christian faiths. You are free to choose one. You are free to create your own, highly personal spiritual experience. You are free to reject them all. You are also free to change your mind, to argue, to debate and to contend for your ideas. What youre not permitted to do is employ the power of the government as your theological enforcer.

During this time of year, lets reflect on one of the greatest gifts we, as a people, enjoy: complete religious freedom secured by our constitutional promise of separation between church and state. That freedom gives you the right to worship or not as you see fit, as long as your actions dont harm others or take away their rights.

This means that Dec. 25 can be a deeply moving and profoundly spiritual experience if thats what you want. Or it can be a day to watch silly holiday movies and open presents. Or it can be just another day on the calendar.

Freedom of conscience gives us the right to make that choice. What a wonderful gift it is. Lets be thankful for it all year-round.

Rob Boston is editor of Church & State magazine, published by Americans United for Separation of Church and State in Washington.

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The greatest gift this season freedom of religion | Opinion - NJ.com

Freedom and Fashion Executive Director, Laverne Delgado said it was back in October, during Domestic Violence Awareness Month when she first learned that the Kern County Alliance Against Family Violence and Sexual Assault had lost their sponsors for the holidays. While Delgado may not have a connection to the North Pole, she did have a friend at a toy company.

Were friends with the wonderful people at Mattel toys, so I wrote an email there right on the spot, and within ten minutes, I got a response, Delgado said. We made the order that day.

It was an order for almost 500 toys, to be exact. Louis gill, the CEO of the Kern County Alliance Against Family Violence and Sexual Assault, said that this order was a huge help, since they not only try to get toys for the two shelters they oversee, but to hundreds of local families around town in need, at the request of case managers.

Families are struggling right now, and Im sure children are wondering if Christmas is going to happen, Gill said. So theyre going to get to wake up and know that theyre cherished, because people cared and wanted to make sure families were taken care of.

Normally the Kern Alliance has a Santa Shop for their clients who are parents. Instead, Kern Alliance has created a wish list and checking it at least twice! Case managers then fill that wishlist according to what the child may want.

"Hope matters. and that's what it is. There's a child going, maybe? Is it possible? I'll just see! I'll ask.' Then they wait and the anticipation builds. 'Did I get it?' They tear it open, and there's their wish," Gill said.

As a domestic violence survivor herself, Delgado said she sees the importance in giving back to during a year when the extra help is needed. That's why her team has sent shipments across the country.

Generosity is whats going to get us through a crisis, whether its a pandemic, or anything else for that matter, Delgado said.

The drive thru for Kern Alliance clients will take place right here on Christmas eve at 6 a.m.

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Freedom and Fashion donates 500 toys to Kern County kids in need - KERO 23ABC News

AUBURN HILLS, Mich., Dec. 23, 2020 /PRNewswire/ --

2021 Jeep Wrangler Sahara 4xe, featuring 375 horsepower, 470 lb.-ft. of torque, Jeep capability and enough pure electric range to handle most daily commutes, carries a starting U.S. manufacturer's suggested retail price (MSRP) of $47,995 before taking advantage of available $7,500 federal tax credit (all prices exclude destination)

Jeep Wrangler Rubicon 4xe has a starting U.S. MSRP of $51,695

All Wrangler 4xe models include premium content in addition to standard features on Sahara and Rubicon models

Most technologically advanced Wrangler ever delivers electrified, open air, quiet off-roading for the first time

Fun-to-drive 4xe experience as electric power delivers immediate response, instant torque and vastly improved acceleration with smooth, seamless operation

Exclusive 4xe hybrid technology allows for longer trips and more time between fill-ups without range anxiety

Electric vehicle technology and the capability improvements it provides are the natural evolution following 80 years of Jeep 4x4 capability leadership

Deliveries of the Wrangler Rubicon and Sahara 4xe launch editions are scheduled to begin in the first quarter of 2021

There's a new twist in off-road prowess. Jeep enthusiasts looking for another level of capability combined with electrification can now have it in the 2021 Jeep Wrangler 4xe.

The most capable and efficient Wrangler yet will launch with two models, the Jeep Wrangler Sahara 4xe and the Jeep Wrangler Rubicon 4xe. The Wrangler Sahara 4xe model carries a starting U.S. manufacturer's suggested retail price (MSRP) of $47,995; the Wrangler Rubicon 4xe has a starting U.S. MSRP of $51,695. All prices exclude the available $7,500 federal tax credit, any additional eligible state and local credits, and $1,495 destination charges.

"The 2021 Jeep Wrangler 4xe is the greenest, most efficient and capable Wrangler we have created yet," said Christian Meunier, Global President of Jeep Brand - FCA. "We are committed to making Jeep the greenest SUV brand, and the new Wrangler 4xe is part of that goal, delivering an efficient, eco-friendly and fun-to-drive experience both on- and off-road."

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The 2021 Jeep Wrangler Sahara 4xe and Rubicon 4xe launch editions feature 375 horsepower, 470 lb.-ft. of trail-crushing torque, a 0-60 miles per hour performance time of just 6 seconds and a 17 kWh battery to readily handle most daily commutes and hours on the trail with electric-only power.

The first-ever electrified Wrangler will be initially offered on two trim levels, Wrangler Sahara 4xe and Wrangler Rubicon 4xe, both of which are loaded with additional premium content as standard equipment, including:

Jeep Wrangler Sahara 4xe Launch Edition:

20-inch wheels

Leather-trimmed bucket seats

LED Lighting Group

Uconnect 4C NAV with 8.4-inch display

Nine speaker Alpine audio system with subwoofer and a 552-watt, 12-channel amplifier

2.72:1 Selec-Trac Full-Time 4WD System

Dana 44 HD wide axles

Jeep Wrangler Rubicon 4xe Launch Edition:

LED Lighting Group

Uconnect 4C NAV with 8.4-inch display

Nine speaker Alpine audio system with subwoofer and a 552-watt, 12-channel amplifier

4:1 Rock-Trac Heavy-Duty Full-Time 4WD System

Jeep Wrangler 4xe is assembled at FCA's Toledo Assembly Complex in Toledo, Ohio. Vehicles are scheduled to start arriving at dealers in the first quarter of 2021.

A New Way to Enjoy the Jeep WranglerThe Jeep Wrangler 4xe provides a unique on- and off-road experience. The most advanced powertrain ever developed for a Jeep Wrangler maximizes efficiency with an estimated 50 miles per gallon equivalent (MPGe) while eliminating range anxiety, delivering pure-electric operation for most daily commutes and hours on the trail.

Torque from the electric motors in the Wrangler 4xe's hybrid powertrain arrives instantly on demand from the driver. The powertrain also delivers fuel-saving, seamless start-stop operation of the engine.

Jeep has demonstrated 4x4 capability leadership for nearly 80 years. Jeep vehicles were the first to feature an automatic full-time four-wheel-drive system, first 4:1 transfer case and first electronic front sway-bar disconnect system. Merging electrification into the Jeep lineup is a natural evolution of 4x4 technology.

The Jeep Wrangler 4xe will be sold globally, with electric vehicle (EV) charge port plugs tailored to specific regions.

Wrangler 4xe Advanced Powertrain Combines Electric Motors, Turbo EngineThe Jeep Wrangler 4xe powertrain integrates two electric motors and a 400-volt battery pack with a fuel-efficient, turbocharged, 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine and TorqueFlite eight-speed automatic transmission. This configuration maximizes the efficiency of the hybrid propulsion components and mates them with the Wrangler's world-renowned and proven driveline.

Key output of the Wrangler 4xe powertrain includes 375 horsepower (280 kW), 470 lb.-ft. (637 Nm) of torque and an estimated 50 MPGe from the following components:

2.0-liter turbocharged I-4

Engine-mounted motor generator unit

Transmission-mounted motor generator unit integrated into eight-speed automatic transmission (ZF 8P75PH)

400-volt, 17-kWh, 96-cell lithium-ion, nickel manganese cobalt battery pack

The 2.0-liter turbocharged I-4 engine is part of FCA's Global Medium Engine family. The high-tech, direct-injection engine uses a twin-scroll, low-inertia turbocharger for exceptional responsiveness, performance and fuel efficiency.

The high-voltage, liquid-cooled eTorque motor generator unit mounts at the front of the engine, replacing the conventional alternator. The motor generator spins the engine for nearly seamless, fuel-saving, start-stop operation and generates electricity for the battery pack. The second high-voltage motor generator is much more powerful. Mounted at the front of the transmission case, this large e-motor is key for pure electric operation of the Wrangler 4xe.

The Jeep Wrangler 4xe's 400-volt, 17-kWh, 96-cell lithium-ion battery pack uses nickel manganese cobalt (NMC) graphite chemistry. The pack and controls mount underneath the second-row seat, where it is protected from outside elements.

Wrangler 4xe E Selec ModesThe Jeep Wrangler 4xe driver can tailor the hybrid powertrain to best suit each trip, whether it is filling the needs of most daily commuters in pure-electric operation, a night on the town or quietly exploring nature off-road.

Off-road LegendJeep Wrangler's heritage is defined by its legendary off-road capability. The seamless integration of electric power into the 4x4 drivetrain elevates the Wrangler 4xe to new levels of off-road performance.

'Electric Blue' Design Cues Mark Wrangler 4xeExclusive content identifies the Jeep Wrangler 4xe as the most technologically advanced Wrangler ever. New Electric Blue coloring on the front and rear Rubicon tow hooks stands out against the black bumpers. The unique blue coloring also traces the Rubicon name on the hood, Jeep badge and the Trail Rated badge. Inside, the Wrangler 4xe Rubicon includes unique Electric Blue stitching on the seats and trim.

Jeep Wave Customer Care ProgramJeep Wave is a premium owner loyalty program filled with benefits and exclusive perks created to give Jeep owners the utmost care and dedicated 24/7 support. The Jeep Wave customer service program is available to the entire 2021 model year Jeep brand lineup.

Jeep Wave program highlights include:

Three years of worry-free maintenance at Jeep dealerships, including oil changes and tire rotations

24/7 support via phone or online chat

Trip interruption and first-day loaner coverage

VIP access to select, exclusive Jeep brand events

Jeep BrandBuilt on 80 years of legendary heritage, Jeep is the authentic SUV with capability, craftsmanship and versatility for people who seek extraordinary journeys. The Jeep brand delivers an open invitation to live life to the fullest by offering a full line of vehicles that continue to provide owners with a sense of security to handle any journey with confidence. Jeep Wave, a premium owner loyalty and customer care program that is available to the entire Jeep lineup, is filled with benefits and exclusive perks to deliver Jeep owners the utmost care and dedicated 24/7 support.

The Jeep vehicle lineup consists of the Cherokee, Compass, Gladiator, Grand Cherokee, Renegade and Wrangler. To meet consumer demand around the world, all Jeep models sold outside North America are available in both left- and right-hand drive configurations and with gasoline and diesel powertrain options. Jeep is part of the portfolio of brands offered by global automaker Fiat Chrysler Automobiles. For more information regarding FCA (NYSE: FCAU/ MTA: FCA), please visit http://www.fcagroup.com.

Follow Jeep and FCA news and video on:Company blog: http://blog.fcanorthamerica.comMedia website: http://media.fcanorthamerica.comJeep brand: http://www.jeep.comFacebook: http://www.facebook.com/jeep or https://www.facebook.com/FiatChrysler.NorthAmerica/Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/jeep or http://www.instagram.com/FiatChrysler_NATwitter: http://www.twitter.com/jeep or http://www.twitter.com/FiatChrysler_NAYouTube: http://www.youtube.com/thejeepchannel or http://www.youtube.com/fcanorthamerica

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AS part of his polemic against the lockdown, author Jeffrey Tucker applies the term brutalism to this policy and strategy against the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).

Brutalism denotes a style of architecture or art characterized by a deliberate plainness, crudity, or violence of imagery. The term was first applied to functionalist buildings of the 1950s and 1960s that made much use of steel and concrete in starkly massive blocks.

In the context of the pandemic, brutalism connotes the image of the state imposing what it wills on the people, and the people submitting to draconian orders.

A stark choice between liberty and lockdown

Tucker continued his polemic in his book Liberty or Lockdown (American Institute for Economic Research, New York, 2020) in this vein:

The politicians panicked. They feared being blamed for any and all deaths from this one virus while forgetting other ailments. The Covid-19 fear drove out every other consideration. It was madness but it was only supposed to last a couple of weeks until it turned out to last six months and longer.

Why didnt we revolt? Part of the reason was that most of us were in shock. We had to believe that there was some good reason, some rationale, for these policies. But as the weeks and months rolled on, the terrible truth began to dawn on more people. This was all for naught. We destroyed the country, and much of the world, and everything people had worked hard for centuries to build, to try out something that had never been tried before. It didnt work. The virus took its own path. And today we are left with the wreckage.

As I type today (Sept. 1, 2020), Im feeling ever vindicated by the research, and ever more optimistic that we are going to get through this, the world will open up again, and we can begin the rebuilding. The work that is before us is not only national, institutional and economic. It is also psychological. Our lives have been shattered in incredible ways.

We are not the first to go through this. It is something experienced by prisoners, and by previous populations under lockdown.

How do we come back from this? By reflecting, learning and acting on the promise of renewal. It can happen, but only once we fully come to terms with the stark choice between liberty and lockdown. Liberty is right and it works. Lockdown is wrong and it does not. Its not complex, but it takes courage and determination to live out that principle.

This book is assembled from my writings over these past months, placed in an ordering that makes sense, and edited to update the information. They cover history, politics, economics and the relevant science as it pertains, and especially on this latter topic Ive been very careful to rely on the expertise of others from whom Ive learned so much.

They were all published by the American Institute for Economic Research (AIER), which found itself in the position of being a major distributor of research and critical analysis of the greatest government-caused crisis in our lifetimes. AIER was perfectly positioned to do this but I must tell you that it has not been easy. Weve been subjected to denunciation, censorship, shaming, threats and even worse, from people who didnt believe there should be any dissent.

The virus will vanish from the public mind as viruses do: inauspiciously as our clever immune systems incorporate its properties into our internal resistance codes. But we will have another struggle facing us in the years ahead concerning what precisely we are going to tolerate from our state officials and how much of a priority we are going to place on retaining our rights and liberties. This choice is something we must all face in our own lives, and then work to see instantiated in the legal structures of societies we hope can maintain their freedom.

Worst human rightsTragedy in 21st century

To conclude this column on the thinking of Jeffrey Tucker on the coronavirus pandemic, I want to highlight excerpts from a review of Liberty or Lockdown by John Tamny, which was published in Forbes magazine on December 18. Tamny wrote:

Jeffrey Tucker has provided a forum at the American Institute for Economic Research (where hes editorial director) for an impressive team of economic thinkers to make a case for freedom, and against forced economic desperation as a way to combat what causes illness in some, and in the rarest of circumstances, death.

Tuckers tireless work proved crucial for providing people around the world with information that put them in the position to comfortably and confidently push back against acceptance of unemployment, starvation and death as punishment for the spread of a virus that over half infected dont even know theyre infected with.

Without Tucker, the response to tyranny would be much less informed, and quite a bit less confident. We also wouldnt have the Great Barrington Declaration, which Tucker organized, and that millions around the world have signed. When histories are written about the tragedy foisted on the world by inept politicians, Tuckers name will loom large as someone who led the shell-shocked back.

Liberty or Lockdown is an essential and very excellent read that will deeply inform its lucky buyers.

Its no reach to say that whats taken place over the last nine months is easily the worst human rights tragedy of the still young 21st century. The numbers back this up. As the New York Times reported last summer, 285 million of the worlds inhabitants are rushing toward starvation. Hundreds of millions more are being reacquainted with the poverty they had worked so diligently to escape. Poverty is easily historys greatest killer, at which point we have to contemplate the unseen deaths related to so much focus on the coronavirus; as in how many will be brought to an early grave by tuberculosis, malaria, diarrhea, and other killers thanks to global health officials paying less attention to some of the worst health challenges in the world after poverty and starvation

In Tuckers words, weve been subjected to a sadistic social experiment in the name of virus mitigation. So true

Lost in all the hysteria about a virus that traveled around China is that there are few ways to fight a virus. The book confirms what Tucker already knew; that there are only two ways to defeat a virus: natural immunity and vaccines. Translated, viruses eventually die out because enough people get them only for those infected to develop immunity to them.

As Tucker makes plain, no vaccines were ever developed for viruses that spread in 1918, 1957 and 1968. Theyre still with us, but society has grown naturally immune by staying together as opposed to pursuing the life-and-nature wrecking path of living apart.

As the world contracted amid broad takings of personal and economic freedom, politicians piled on. It wasnt just a shutdown of global travel, it was also limits on travel within countries, including the US.

A virus cares nothing about borders, executive orders, and titles.

Common sense means nothing to politicians, and those who enable them. Were talking about a class of people that believes cheap rent can be decreed, that healthcare cost curves can be bent downward, and that expensive credit can be made easy via central banks.

And so they proceeded to try and fight the virus with borders, executive orders, and titles. It mocked them. Arguably to our betterment. As Tucker explains it, A virus is a thing to battle one immune system at a time, and our bodies have evolved to be suited to do just that. Historically this is what families that couldnt afford to be ridiculous did: when one family member got sick, others were required to not separate from the ill. Family immunity is arguably what revealed itself before the better known population immunity or herd immunity.

Politicians eventually did discover the virus, only to lose their minds in the cruelest of ways. Their hysteria will exist forever as a reminder that emotion in front of the camera combined with force doesnt correlate with positive outcomes. Tucker knows this intuitively simply because he knows that central planning logically fails precisely because it suffocates the immense knowledge that is a consequence of a decentralized, free society.

Tucker didnt need the central-planning tragedies of the 20th century to open his eyes to the certain failure of centralized force.

Tucker is clear that there is no relationship between lockdowns, transmission of the virus and death. Whether a country locked down or not had as much predictive power over deaths per million as whether it rains today is related to the color of my socks.

Which is why Tucker is for freedom first and foremost. Just as free people produce abundance that has always enabled a much more than fair fight against death and disease, so does freedom produce abundant health advances precisely because decentralized experimenting and decision-making always trumps one-size-fits-all.

Tucker concludes that we must reject the wickedness and compulsion of this current moment in American life. It needs to counter the brutalism of the lockdowns.

This excellent book is filled to the brim with information about the meek nature of the virus, how ineffective the lockdowns were, how typically feckless government officials were.

Much as the numbers about the virus work in our favor, we risk winning the argument while losing the battle. Thats the case because as Tucker acknowledges, this wont be the last virus to reveal itself. Numerical and lethality arguments are fascinating, but they set the stage for future lockdowns

Which is why Tucker is most right and most compelling when he calls for the countering of the brutalism of the lockdowns. Thats the only answer. No more lockdowns. Never again. Any other argument fails.

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By mid-November, hospitals in Lubbock were stretched thin as cases of COVID-19 spread quickly and widely throughout the West Texas community. A large number of new cases had erupted among young people who continued to flock to bars and restaurants in the college town.

There are several steps that can be taken now that, as an enforceable mandate, would slow the avalanche descending on our local hospitals, area doctors, nurses and other health care workers wrote in a petition to Gov. Greg Abbott, in which they pleaded for harsher restrictions.

That same day, at a press conference on Texas Tech Universitys campus in Lubbock, Abbott declared that statewide, there will not be another shutdown.

Abbott blamed local officials for failing to enforce existing restrictions, including a statewide mask mandate he put in place in July, and occupancy reductions for businesses and mandated bar closures that are triggered when the proportion of a regions COVID-19 patients exceeds 15% of hospital capacity for seven days.

Just getting more tools wont mean anything, he said. They need to be enforcing the protocols in place right now.

But three months after Abbott announced the 15% rule, a Texas Tribune analysis of state data shows that in regions with the worst outbreaks, including El Paso, Amarillo and Lubbock, the restrictions have done little to ease an overburdened health care system.

A number of local leaders almost all Democrats say that even with rigorous enforcement, the protocols have done little to curb the spread of the coronavirus, which is continuing to surge across the state. More than 10,000 people in Texas were hospitalized with the virus as of Monday for the first time since July, and there were fewer than 800 available intensive care beds, a near record low.

Though the arrival of the COVID-19 vaccine in Texas last week marked a historic milestone in the battle against the virus, it will be months before vaccine doses are widely available.

And many local elected officials say theyre handicapped by an executive order that blocks them from using more restrictive measures than those in place statewide.

Its an unfortunate reality because the virus doesnt respond to politics, Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins said. It only responds to following the best medical advice from the medical experts.

Jenkins, like other local officials including Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, said he wants more latitude to set his own guidelines, such as closing indoor dining and limiting in-person gatherings. Without aggressive action, he said, the virus will continue to spread.

Im confident that those [state] restrictions alone will not bring the virus under control, Jenkins said.

Abbott spokesperson Renae Eze disagreed. The proven course of action is to enforce the existing protocols, she said in a written statement. That strategy was effective in slowing the spread over the summer and containing COVID-19, while allowing businesses to safely operate. The protocols work, but only if they are enforced.

Texas 254 counties are divided among 22 regional bodies known as trauma service areas. Once one of them exceeds the 15% benchmark for seven consecutive days, according to an October executive order, area bars must close in counties where officials had allowed them to reopen, restaurants must scale back capacity from 75% to 50% and hospitals must halt non-emergency surgical procedures.

Abbott had ordered businesses to close during the first wave of infections in the spring. The shutdown eased overloaded hospitals and new cases of COVID-19 plummeted. But Abbott quickly lifted the order amid fierce blowback from Republicans who felt he had overstepped his authority. Cases spiked again in the summer, then plateaued.

Abbott announced the 15% threshold as part of a September order that allowed restaurants to open at 75% capacity, and he explained that it would be triggered if COVID-19 patients made up 15% of all hospitalized patients'' in a region. But in October he changed the metric to 15% of total hospital capacity or total beds. The change effectively moved the goalposts, requiring more COVID-19 patients to trigger the restrictions in a given area.

The October order also allowed bars, which had been closed statewide since late June, to reopen in counties where officials opted in. Counties that did so included two that would later become COVID-19 hot spots: Randall, home to part of Amarillo, and Lubbock.

Dr. Brian Weis, chief medical officer at Northwest Texas Healthcare System, told Amarillo city officials in October that many Texas hospitals have additional beds to respond to COVID-19 surges, but often lack the personnel to staff them.

By using that number, that overestimates our capacity to handle COVID-19 patients, he said.

Tiffany Radcliff, professor and associate dean for research at the Texas A&M University School of Public Health, said that even a trauma service area thats below the governors 15% threshold could still be struggling with new admissions for COVID-19 if there are not enough available ICU beds or trained staff to care for patients who need intensive care resources.

As of Tuesday, 10 TSAs containing more than 100 counties had crossed the 15% threshold, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services.

The additional restrictions have done little to free up hospital capacity in all but one of them, data shows.

For example, in Trauma Service Area T, which includes the border town of Laredo, the proportion of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 has steadily grown since it first crossed the 15% threshold on Nov. 14. On Monday, the region reported 14 available intensive care beds, and more than a third of available hospital beds were occupied by COVID-19 patients. That number has exceeded 24% for more than a month.

In Trauma Service Area A, home to a number of Panhandle communities including Amarillo, Abbotts restrictions took effect on Oct. 24. In the two months since, the percentage of COVID-19 patients has largely remained above 30%, though it fell to 25% on Monday. At one point, COVID-19 patients occupied two out of every five beds. Just nine intensive care beds were available on Monday for the 25-county region.

The COVID-19 situation improved in at least one region where the enhanced restrictions took effect: the one that contains the neighboring cities of Odessa and Midland. After crossing the threshold on Nov. 17, the area remained above the 15% threshold for a couple of weeks, but has since consistently remained below the benchmark meaning businesses can again scale up capacity.

The trauma service area that includes the Dallas-Fort Worth area is the most populous in the state currently subject to the enhanced restrictions. Since the region crossed the 15% threshold on Nov. 25, cases of COVID-19 have continued to grow, stoking fear among health officials that North Texas medical infrastructure will be pushed to its limits headed into another potentially catastrophic holiday season.

The Dallas County health department reported 33 available intensive care beds on Sunday for the countys 2.6 million residents. And Tarrant County on Sunday reported a record 1,078 people in area hospitals with COVID-19.

Dallas County did not allow bars to reopen in October, while neighboring Tarrant County did.

Jenkins, the Dallas County judge, said the enforcement of Abbotts order is a balancing act between county and city officials and the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission, which regulates the states bars. In practice, county health officials often work in tandem with local governments to educate businesses about occupancy and mask regulations, while city code compliance officers regulate businesses within each of the countys myriad cities.

City of Dallas officers have found nearly 23,000 infractions since early April and issued more than 6,100 notices of violation. A city spokesperson said businesses with reported violations have been very cooperative. In all, inspectors have issued just 37 citations.

Jenkins said most Dallas County businesses are likewise adhering to Abbotts restrictions. Those that are not acting in good faith, Jenkins said, are mostly bars and nightclubs.

A state loophole allowed these businesses to reopen under the promise that they convert themselves into restaurants. But many county officials, including Jenkins, said bars are openly flouting guidelines and the TABC is not enforcing the rules.

Chris Porter, a TABC spokesperson, said agents have conducted more than 26,000 inspections statewide since June 26 and found about 700 instances of noncompliance. About 200 of those led to a 30-day liquor license suspension, he said.

TABC has been conducting inspections across the state and our agents are monitoring compliance to ensure bars and restaurants are following the governors COVID-19 executive orders, Porter said in a statement. What weve found is that the majority of businesses more than 97% are committed to operating safely and have taken thorough steps to ensure the health of their customers and employees.

TABC dispatched about 20 additional agents to both the El Paso and Lubbock regions, Porter said, to assist local officials with enforcement.

But even the added personnel isnt enough to monitor county bars that are operating under the state loophole or are not complying with mandated closures, said El Paso County Judge Ricardo Samaneigo, who did not allow bars to reopen in October. The region has remained above the 15% threshold since Oct. 12, and the additional restrictions have done little to ease the burden on a health care system that has been pushed to the brink for months.

In late October, citing a need for more aggressive action, Samaneigo ordered all nonessential businesses to close for 14 days. Local business owners and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued, arguing that Samaneigo was acting outside his authority.

By the time a state appeals court struck down the shutdown order on Nov. 13, it had been in effect for 14 days. New cases and hospitalizations have since fallen from their November peaks, though 490 people were hospitalized and the county reported more than 35,700 active infections on Tuesday.

Earlier this month, Eze, Abbotts spokesperson, pointed to El Paso as evidence that the governors restrictions are effective at curbing the spread of the virus. But Samaniego credits the progress to his stay-at-home order.

I think we proved that we did help the spread because, whether I was allowed to, I actually did the 14 days, Samaneigo said. I really believe that the numbers arent going as high as other places because of our curfew and our shutdown.

The few tools left for local officials, who are barred from imposing measures more restrictive than those in place at the state level, can be difficult to enforce, Samaneigo said.

A statewide mask mandate remains in effect, but authorities can issue fines for disobeying the mandate only on the second documented offense. Fines for violating reduced capacity restrictions or closure requirements are capped at $1,000 and scofflaws cannot be jailed.

In most cases, local officials said they focus on educating wrongdoers instead of punishing them.

Our practice is to work with businesses, said Dillon Meek, the mayor of Waco, where advanced restrictions first took effect on Nov. 29, after McLennan County Judge Scott Felton had allowed bars to reopen in October. We issue a warning first, before we issue a citation. Its generally a productive means.

Since the start of the pandemic in late March, Meek said the citys enforcement team has issued 316 warnings and 30 citations.

In Lubbock, lines of often maskless people still flow from the citys bars and restaurants, said Dr. Ron Cook, the citys health authority. Restrictions under Abbotts order have been in place since Oct. 25. Meanwhile, the city reported 245 people hospitalized with the virus on Sunday, down from a peak of 360 in late November but still enough to concern local health officials.

Masking is required the problem is it isnt an enforceable mandate, Cook said. Theres no teeth behind the mandate.

In a state as large and diverse as Texas, Cook said local governments need the power to respond to mounting cases as they see fit. Cook and other health experts warned, despite the start of the vaccine rollout, COVID-19 remains a dire threat and large holiday gatherings could prove devastating.

Were still pedaling and treading water and doing everything we can to take care of our patients, Cook said.

Chris Essig contributed reporting.

Disclosure: Texas A&M University and Texas Tech University have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here.

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On average over the past decade, one journalist has lost their life every four days, according to UNESCO, the UN Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization, in a statement on Wednesday.

Although 2020 saw one of the lowest tolls in years, UNESCO Director-GeneralAudrey Azoulay, said that rarely, if ever, had journalism been so relevant to democracy and to the protection of human rights, as the world continues battling the coronavirus and the infodemic that surrounds it.

The pandemic has been a perfect storm that has affected press freedom worldwide, Ms Azoulay continued, before insisting that protecting journalism is protecting the truth.

With 22 killings each, Latin America and the Caribbean, together with Asia and the Pacific, registered the highest number of fatalities among journalists.

This was followed by the Arab States Region with nine deaths, and Africa with six.

Impunity for crimes against journalists has continued to prevail in nearly nine out of 10 cases, despite a small improvement in 2020, UNESCO said.

The2020 UNESCO Director-Generals Report on the Safety of Journalists and the Danger Impunity, publishedto coincide withtheInternational Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists, provided insight into the patterns of killings of journalists over the past two years.

The launch of the report was accompanied by a high-impact global awareness-raising campaign from UNESCO,Protect Journalists. Protect the Truth.

All too many killings still occur and non-fatal attacks and harassment continue to soar.2020 brought to the fore the dangers facing journalists as they report on protests such as Black Lives Matter demonstrations and other movements around the world, said UNESCO.

Earlier this year, the agency identified 125 protests in 65 countries at which journalists were attacked or arrested, between 1 January 2015 and 30 June 2020. Twenty-one of these events took place during the first half of 2020, but the number of incidents has gone on rising during the second half of the year.

Additionally, said UNESCO, the safety of women journalists remains a major source of concern. Targeted for their profession and gender, women journalists are particularly affected by online harassment and gender-based violence.

Challenges to the safety of journalists were exacerbated by COVID-19. The crisis it unleashed has threatened the very viability and survival of professional media outlets, said the agency, due to the associated advertising revenue loss, creating an even more precarious environment for media workers with new challenges to their right to seek, receive and impart information.

Additionally, in many countries, emergency legislation and measures adopted to curtail the spread of the virus have served as an alibi to restrict freedom of expression and of the press, the agency noted.

Journalists have also been prosecuted for exposing the failings in how governments have handled the pandemic.

Together, these conditions have formedwhat many have called a perfect storm, UNESCO added, leading to fear that the profession of journalism risks facing extinction, as noted in the agencys briefJournalism, Press Freedom and COVID-19.

To face these challenges, UNESCO has reinforced its awareness-raising programmes, engaged with the judicial systems worlwide to fight impunity; reinforced the UN Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity; produced rapid and reliable information about the challenges, and increased capacity building opportunities for journalists and other media workers.

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Indian captain Ajinkya Rahane has acknowledged that the role of the openers will once again be crucial to the visitors fortunes in the upcoming Boxing Day Test against Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground but he has also asserted that he does not want to put additional pressure on them as he wants to give them complete freedom to play their natural game.

As has been the case with almost every overseas tour, the failure of the openers was one of the biggest talking points after the eight-wicket defeat that the Men in Blue suffered at the Adelaide Oval.

Mayank Agarwal and Prithvi Shaw [Photo-IANS]In both the innings, India got off to a horrendous start with the Australian bowlers exploiting the glaring chink in Prithvi Shaws technique. Mayank Agarwal looked gritty in the first innings but failed to convert the start he had got into a big knock. In the second innings, Agarwal fell to a rampaging Josh Hazlewood. India have dropped Prithvi Shaw from the Boxing Day Test and debutant Shubman Gill will open the innings alongside Mayank Agarwal, who would be looking to repeat his performances of two summers ago at the G.

See the openers role not only in Australia but everywhere is really crucial and I dont want to put any pressure on our openers. Just want to give them freedom so that they can play their game, Ajinkya Rahane told ANI during the virtual press-conference on the eve of the Boxing Day Test.

India will be without its talisman Virat Kohli in the next three Tests as the charismatic skipper has traveled back home in order to be with his wife for the birth of their first child. Ajinkya Rahane admitted that the team will certainly miss the champion batsman as they aim to exorcise the horrors of the Adelaide Test and stage a fightback in the four-match series.

Having said that as mentioned, openers role is very crucial when you get that partnership going it becomes really easy for the coming batsmen. We definitely miss Virat (Kohli), obviously when you have him its a great thing so we will definitely miss him as he is not there, he added.

Also Read- Its All About Staying In The Moment: Ajinkya Rahane Ahead Of The Boxing Day Test

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Just Want To Give The Openers The Freedom So That They Can Play Their Game: Ajinkya Rahane - Cricket Addictor