Category Archives: Freedom

WJHL

The Beach Boys to perform at Freedom Hall this spring WJHL JOHNSON CITY, TN (WJHL) The sounds of summer and good vibrations will soon rumble throughout Johnson City. The iconic American rock band, The Beach Boys, will perform in northeast Tennessee this spring. They will perform at Freedom Hall on April ... and more »

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The Beach Boys to perform at Freedom Hall this spring - WJHL

After years of trying, Congress may, finally be set to update the laws surrounding the privacy of emails to the 21st Century. For the second consecutive Congress, the House has passed the Email Privacy Act by an overwhelming bi-partisan majority. After constant and inexplicable delays, perhaps this can be the year that basic due process protections for our online emails and files can make it into law.

The Email Privacy Act addresses a basic flaw in the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986 (ECPA). Ironically, ECPA was designed, as its name indicates, to strengthen legal due process with respect to electronic data and communications. The goal, of course, was to bring legal protections up to date with modern technology at the time. But the law was more protective of communications in transit than of data at rest, especially with respect to third-party data storage.

The actual text of ECPA (18 U.S. Code 2703) provides the means for government agencies to demand that any remote computing service cough up the contents of a wire or electronic communication that has been in electronic storage in an electronic communications system for more than one hundred and eighty days via administrative subpoena. In English, this means that your communications and data stored external to your computer, like in Gmail, Dropbox, or any other cloud service, can be demanded by the feds without a warrant (and without you being notified), so long as the requested files are over 180 days old.

In 1986, this provision wasnt a huge deal because the modern web didnt exist. Data storage was expensive, so most computer users stored their email and other files on their own hard drives. In the present day, tens of millions of people routinely store years worth of their communications and personal files alike on third-party cloud servers. The lack of a basic warrant requirement to access these is an insane breach of privacy.

The need to reform ECPA is so completely self-evident, in fact, that the House of Representatives passed the Email Privacy Act by a vote of 412-0 in 2016. Yet it went nowhere in a Senate preoccupied by the upcoming election, despite bi-partisan support for ECPA reform in that chamber.

Part of the hesitancy in passing ECPA reform has been protests from executive agencies like the Securities and Exchange Commission that they need the ability to quickly grab documents as part of their investigations into various regulatory and criminal offenses. But there is a simple reply: Get a warrant. Court orders dont take a ton of time to get if there is probable cause. Outside of emergency situations, the system isnt supposed to make violating the privacy of peoples files and communications easy or convenient.

But a new Congress means a fresh start, and the Email Privacy Act has not only already been reintroduced by original sponsors Rep. Kevin Yoder, R-Kan. (D, 65%) and Rep. Jared Polis, R-Colo. (F, 20%), but has already passed the House again, by an easy voice vote.

A great start. Now, in the spirit of better late than never, the Senate should take up the bill as soon as the major nomination crunch is over and send it to President Trumps desk.

Josh Withrow is an Associate Editor for Conservative Review and Director of Public Policy at Free the People. You can follow him on Twitter at @jgwithrow.

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Congressional tech forecast: Clouds with a chance of freedom - Conservative Review

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Freedom Boat Club | Private Membership Boating Club

ROME The freedom that comes from receiving the gift of a joyful Christian life can only come to those who are held captive by Gods love, Pope Francis said.

People who are afraid of Gods gift of love, however, seek only the rigid adherence to the law and can only pray a closed, sad prayer, the pope said February 6 in his homily during Mass in the chapel of the Domus Sanctae Marthae, where he lives.

When you become a slave to love, you are free! That is a beautiful slavery, the pope said.

The days responsorial psalm (Psalm 104), he noted, is a song of praise to God who loved his creatures even before the creation of the universe.

God also showed his love in the act of re-creation, sending Jesus Christ into the world to turn ugliness into beauty, error into truth and evil into good, the pope said.

This gift of Gods love, he added, was difficult for the scribes and Pharisees to understand as they did not know how to receive the things from God as a gift and were concerned only with seeking refuge in the rigidity of the commandments.

They did not know how to receive the gift; and this gift is only received in freedom. These rigid people were afraid of the freedom given to us by God; they were afraid of love, the pope said.

Christians, he continued, must become like children who find their security in Gods love and tenderness rather than hiding behind the closed rigidity of the commandments.

May the Lord help us understand this great thing and help us understand what (God) did before creating the world: he loved! May the Lord help us understand his love for us and may we say as we said today You are great O Lord! Thank you, Thank you! Pope Francis said.

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Only a slave to God's love understands true freedom, pope says - Crux: Covering all things Catholic

BBC News

Murdered soldier's family want apology over 'freedom fighters' tweet BBC News The family of a Scottish soldier murdered by the IRA has called for an apology from the SNP after a politician's "freedom fighters" tweet. John Mason, a Scottish parliament member, made the remarks when asked to support a justice campaign for three ... Cousin of soldier murdered in Belfast brands IRA 'freedom fighter' comments an insult and calls for apologyBelfast Telegraph all 4 news articles »

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Murdered soldier's family want apology over 'freedom fighters' tweet - BBC News

WASHINGTON, Feb. 6, 2017 The United States will stand with those who stand in the defense of freedom, President Donald J. Trump told service members at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida, today.

The president visited U.S. Central Command and U.S. Special Operations Command personnel and received briefings from Army Gen. Joseph L. Votel and Army Gen. Raymond Thomas.

The two commands work hand-in-hand to protect America and its vital interests. Special Operations Command has a worldwide mission. U.S. Central Command is especially focused on the threats emanating from the Middle East and Central Asia.

Gratitude

Trump visited the base to express his and the nations gratitude to the men and women of the commands. He also wanted to recognize the military families and spouses who shoulder the burdens of war. I want every military family in this country to know that our administration is at your service, he said. We stand with you 100 percent. We will protect those who protect us, and we will never, ever let you down.

The president also thanked the representatives of the 52 nations in the coalition that work with personnel at Centcom. He said the nation is very proudly standing with you.

Protecting the United States and its vital interests was at the heart of Trumps remarks at the base. He said he has no higher responsibility than the protection of the American people.

Each and every one of you is central to that mission, the president said. The men and women serving in Centcom and Socom have poured out their hearts and souls for this country.

The sacrifices that service members and their civilian support make are real, the president said. Youve shed your blood across continents and oceans, he said. Youve engaged the enemy on distant battlefields, toiled in the burning heat and bitter cold and sacrificed everything so that we can remain safe and strong and free.

He promised to not forget those sacrifices.

Promises Tools, Equipment

He also promised to provide the tools, equipment, resources, training and supplies needed to accomplish the missions given to the commands. We are going to be making a really historic investment in the armed forces of the United States and show the entire world that America stands with those who stand in defense of freedom, Trump said.

The United States will support its allies, but the president said he also wants partner nations to pay their fair share.

Trump added, We strongly support NATO. We only ask that all the NATO members make their full and proper financial contributions to the NATO alliance, which many of them have not been doing.

Centcom and Socom are central to the fight against radical Islamic terrorism, the president said.

We are up against an enemy that celebrates death, and totally worships destruction, Trump said. [The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant] is on a campaign of genocide, committing atrocities across the world. Radical Islamic terrorists are determined to strike our homeland as they did on 9/11, as they did from Boston to Orlando to San Bernardino.

The presidents message to those forces of death and destruction is simple: America and its allies will defeat you, he said. We will not allow it to take root in our country.

(Follow Jim Garamone on Twitter: @GaramoneDoDNews)

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Trump: America Will Stand With Those Who Stand for Freedom - Department of Defense

Today, Missouri became the 28th state to enact right-to-work legislation, which prohibits forced payment of union duesas a condition of employment. Right-to-work laws increase worker choice and research finds they have a positive economic impact.

Primarily, these laws are about increasing worker freedom. No individual should be forced to financially support an organization with which they disagree, or be penalized for refusing todoso. Without right-to-work laws on the books, that is exactly what happens.

Economic benefits also accompany the passage of right-to-work laws. For example, research produced here atthe Competitive Enterprise Institute shows:

Given their benefits to workers and the economy, the popularity of right-to-work laws is no surprise. Survey after survey show that a majority of the public supports giving workers the choice whether or not to pay union dues. Most recently, a May 2015 poll conducted by the Missouri Alliance for Freedomfound that 54 percent of Missourians support right to work, with 35 percent opposed and 11 percent undecided.

However, some free-market leaning organizations criticize right-to-work laws because they interfere with freedom of contract. They claim that employers and unions should be able to agree to union security agreements that require every worker pay union fees whether they want union representation or not. In a system based on freedom to contract, employers and unions should be able to force workers to pay dues. However, a vast majority of these criticisms of right-to-work laws fail to mention that true freedom of contract would also allow employers to completely reject unionization at their establishment, even if every single worker voted to form a union.

There is zero chance in the near to long term future that a system as described above will be implemented.

In the meantime, right-to-work laws that increase worker freedom are preferable to forced unionism laws that force workers to pay for union representation they do not want.

As I wrote previously, Missouri workers deserve the freedom to choose how to spend their hard-earned pay. Enacting right to work in Missouri would give workers that ability, and send a signal to citizens and taxpayers that worker freedom takes priority over the special interests of labor unions.

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Worker Freedom Extends to Missouri - Competitive Enterprise Institute (blog)

Opinion: The Freedom to Be Fleeced Investopedia [David Cay Johnston is a Pulitzer Prize winner and recipient of an IRE medal and the George Polk Award. The author of five books, including "The Making of Donald Trump," he is a featured columnist for Investopedia. . The views expressed by columnists ... and more »

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Opinion: The Freedom to Be Fleeced - Investopedia

Playing Zac Efron's 'Freedom' Speedo During the 'Baywatch' Super Bowl Spot Has Everyone Blushing -- Watch!

Modesty is not a word Zac Efron needs to have in his vocabulary.

The Baywatch actor and co-star Dwayne Johnson hit the beach in the Super Bowl trailer for their upcoming beach bods reboot, and one thing fans couldn't get over is Efron's "Freedom" Speedo, which left very little to the imagination.

WATCH: Zac Efron and Other Celebs Show Lady Gaga's Halftime Performance Love on Social Media

"That's desecration," Johnson's character says of the skimpy swimwear at the end of the 30-second spot.

Fans were obviously all about the super tight fashion choice, even going on Twitter to question whether it really was the Patriots who won the Super Bowl.

WATCH: Best 2017 Super Bowl Commercials, Ranked!

Watch the video below for other ads from the big game that showed a notably smaller amount of Efron's body.

Baywatch squeezes into theaters on May 26.

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Zac Efron's 'Freedom' Speedo During the 'Baywatch' Super Bowl Spot Has Everyone Blushing -- Watch! - Entertainment Tonight

I met Than Htut Aung for the first time a little over a year ago. It was a heady moment. I was visiting Burma as its citizens were taking part in their first free election after long years of harsh military rule, and few people embodied its promise as powerfully as he did.

In the dark days of the old junta,he had dared to create an independent media company whose journalists just three of them at first found bold and creative ways to cater to the publics desperate need for access to the truth. When a reformist government decided to launch a Burmese version of perestroika in 2010, Than Htut Aungs Eleven Media Group was poised to take advantage. By the time he and I met on the eve of the election in November 2015, his company by then encompassing five weekly magazines, several newspapers and one of the countrys most popular Facebook pages had grown to 250 reporters, all of whom were busily taking advantage of the new freedom of expression.

[Welcome to our newest blog, DemocracyPost]

It still wasnt easy. Than Htut Aung told me how his journalists were still coming under severe pressure from the still-powerful military. He himself had been attacked by an assailant during the election campaign, though hed managed to escape without serious injury.

Still, he was optimistic. He predicted that Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel Prize laureate and champion of the democratic opposition, was going to score a big win. The Lady is our greatest hope, he said, using the reverential term favored by many of her supporters. She deserves our support.

He was right about one thing: She won in a landslide. But I dont think he foresaw everything that happened next. Thanks to her electoral triumph, Aung San Suu Kyis National League for Democracy (NLD) came to power at the end of January 2016 to the broad acclaim of the Burmese people. But even though the NLD chose the new president, with Aung San Suu Kyi herself assuming key powers in the government, things soon took a dark turn.

Aung San Suu Kyi promised a far-reaching peace agreement to end the long-running civil war between the central government and restive ethnic minority groups. Since then, however, the conflict has only deepened. And the grim plight of the Rohingya, the beleaguered Muslim minority group whose very existence was long denied by the countrys overwhelmingly Buddhist elite, has only worsened. Some observers warn of potential genocide. Aung San Suu Kyis striking unwillingness to take a public stand on the issue has shocked many of her former supporters.

Now, its true that the new government doesnt have full control. Despite the NLDs big election victory, Burmas junta-era constitution still gives sweeping powers to the military, including virtually total control over all security-related matters. And its the military that has been at the forefront of the brutal treatment of the Rohingya, which has left some 120,000 of them languishing in internment camps and driven 65,000 more across the border into Bangladesh.

None of that, though, ought to have prevented Aung San Suu Kyi from exercising her moral power as the countrys most revered leader. Yet she has been disturbingly reluctant to take a stand even as members of her own government have taken up overtly nationalistic positions on the Rohingya and other issues.

Her defenders insist that her critics should give her time: These are, after all, problems that have been around for decades, and no one could expect her to solve them overnight, especially when the military still has every reason to make it hard for her to do so. Fair enough, perhaps.

But this special pleading wears especially thin when it comes to the governments recent treatment of the press. Dozens of journalists have been jailed since Aung San Suu Kyis government came to power. (PEN Myanmar cites at least 38 such cases.) In several cases, charges were brought after journalists directly criticized Aung San Suu Kyi or other leading members of her party. Many reporters have been charged under a junta-era law forbidding the use of telecommunications to extort, threaten, obstruct, defame, disturb, inappropriately influence or intimidate.

[Aung San Suu Kyis] government has stood by silently as some of the more outdated laws on the books are being used to suppress press freedom, says Shawn Crispin of the Committee to Protect Journalists. These laws are effectively giving her government the legal power to suppress press freedom at a time when the country urgently needs press freedom and open dialogue. Particularly worrisome, says Crispin, are the cases that have targeted Aung San Suu Kyis critics. If she had any say over this, youd assume she wouldnt want people going down for the way they portray her on social media. But thats exactly whats been happening.

The telecom law has also been used against Than Htut Aung himself. Last fall, he and one of his journalists published a newspaper report accusing a leading NLD official of corruption. One might have expected a leader of Aung San Suu Kyis standing to call for an independent investigation of the allegations. But thats not what happened.

[We cant let Trump go down Putins path]

On Nov. 11, police summoned Than Htut Aung and his colleague to a police station. The two men were informed that they were being charged with defamation under the telecom law. In most countries, libel charges dont usually result in the accused going straight into jail but thats what happened to the two men from Eleven Media. They were dispatched to Rangoons notorious Insein Prison, a place well-known to critics of the old regime, and onlyreleasedfive weeks later after paying bail. Than Htut Aung suffered a heart attack during his imprisonment. (His spokesman declined my request for an interview, citing Than Htut Aungs poor health.) Eleven Media issued an apology about the article, but the official in question says hes determined to proceed with the charges.

Needless to say, all of this has had a profoundly chilling effect on Burmas press even as the continuing civil war and the appalling fate of the Rohingya cast their own shadows on the countrys hopes for democracy.

Aung San Suu Kyi certainly isnt responsible for all of her countrys ills. But her status as a democratically elected leader means that she must also expect to be held accountable especially when it comes to those matters where she does have control. She certainly shouldnt be prosecuting her critics, and she shouldnt be allowing members of her party to do the same.

Her compatriots and her friends abroad should continue to hold her to the same high standards that once made her such a shining example of opposition to the old regime. To do otherwise would be to betray her most positive legacy not to mention the Burmese people themselves.

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Press freedom in Burma is under attack again and Aung San Suu Kyi isn't doing anything about it - Washington Post