Category Archives: Freedom

Before the lawsuits and the retreat into federal bankruptcy court, before the change in ownership in a veiled roll-up by an out-of-state coal baron, before the Justice Departments environmental-crimes investigation, the presidentially declared emergency, and the National Guards arrivalnine years before all of thatthe co-founder of Freedom Industries, the company at the center of the Jan. 9 chemical spill that cut off tap water for 300,000 West Virginians, was convicted of siphoning payroll tax withholdings to splurge on sports cars, a private plane, and real estate in the Bahamas. And 18 years before that, in 1987, before he started Freedom Industries, Carl Kennedy II was convicted of conspiring to sell cocaine in a scandal that brought down the mayor of Charleston.

Little known, even locally, Freedom was born and operated in a felonious milieu populated by old friends who seemed better suited to bartending at the Charleston-area saloons they also owned. These people who were running Freedom Industries werent the sort youd put in charge of something like chemical storage that could affect the whole community, Danny Jones, Charlestons current mayor, says. Who are these guys, anyway?

Good question. Kennedy kept the books for bars and restaurants, including a rib house Mayor Jones used to own, although he hadnt gotten to know him well. He was pleasant enough, Jones says. Until the spill, the mayor had no idea his former accountant had been enmeshed with Freedom. That really seems troubling, Jones says, especially with the cocaine stuff in his history.

Kennedys main partner was a college buddy named Dennis Farrell, who had some technical background and took over Freedom after Kennedy went to prison in 2006. By Farrells own account, the company, founded in 1992, nearly ran aground on his watch. Only a rescue in 2009 funded by the federal antirecession stimulus program kept the company going.

The third member of the companys leadership triad, Gary Southern, has served as Freedoms public face since the spill. He lives in Marco Island, Fla., and says hed been advising the company for several years before becoming full-time president in 2013. Not blessed with a talent for public expression, Southern didnt mention in the first days after the leak of 10,000 gallons of coal-processing compounds that Freedom had been acquired, only 10 days earlier, by Cliff Forrest.

A different sort of character from Kennedy, Farrell, and Southern, Forrest founded and heads Rosebud Mining, the third-largest coal producer in Pennsylvania and the 21st-largest in the country. Hes a prominent figure in his industry and an opponent of what he calls the Obama administrations war on coal. Why he wanted Freedoms decrepit facilities for blending and distributing chemicals remains a mystery. Publicly, Forrest hasnt said a word. His connection to Freedom wasnt confirmed until Jan. 17, when his lawyers put the company into bankruptcy. The Chapter 11 filing in Charleston required disclosure of a financial paper trail that led to Forrests coal company headquarters near Pittsburgh via another entity called Chemstream Holdings.

So while the spill revealed once again that porous legislation and murky assumptions about industry self-policing hinder oversight of dangerous chemicals, it also highlighted a peculiar and deeply troubling element of American commerce, one where holding companies and roll-ups make it difficult to determine whos accountable. Kennedy grew up in Montgomery, W. Va., a small city on the Kanawha River. He went to college there at West Virginia University Institute of Technology. It was later, in Charleston, that he attained a measure of notoriety.

West Virginias rugged mountains and forested hollows are home to struggling coal-mining communities. Locals call the Kanawha region Chemical Valley because of the network of foul-smelling refining plants spread across it. The state ranks among the nations poorest. Charleston, with its office towers and expensive eateries, is a place apart: Home to a social and business elite of lawyers, lobbyists, and coal executives, the capital enjoys a wealth and lan alien to the states rural and industrial precincts.

In the mid-1980s, Kennedy moved easily in a narcotic-fueled night scene associated with Charlestons Republican mayor at the time, James Mad Dog Roark. Targeted by a federal investigation, Roark pleaded guilty to cocaine possession in 1987, resigned as mayor, and went to jail. The same year, Kennedy, then 30 years old, was charged with distributing the not-trivial amount of 10 ounces to 12 ounces of coke. In a plea deal, he admitted to one distribution count and was sentenced to five years probation. In all, federal prosecutors notched some 30 convictions.

A forgiving town, Charleston didnt ostracize Kennedy. Despite his criminal record, he and Farrell became prolific business partners. Farrell had earned a masters degree from West Virginia University and for a time was employed by a company called Sherex Chemical. Together they invested in commercial real estate and a saloon in Montgomery called the Bank Bar & Grill. In a laudatory 2002 article, the Charleston Gazette marveled at the pairs far-flung array of business ventures, which included a manufacturer of a synthetic fuel additive, a trucking company, and a plant in the town of Nitro, W. Va., that mixed chemicals. Kennedys portfolio also contained Freedom Industries, which he incorporated in 1992, according to filings with the West Virginia secretary of state. (Kennedy, Farrell, and lawyers who have represented them over the years all failed to respond to telephone and e-mail messages.)

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The Mystery Men Behind Freedom Industries

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A crackdown on freedom camping in the greater Christchurch area could be on the cards.

Christchurch City councillors have voted for a staff investigation into what action can be taken to control, restrict or designate specific areas for freedom camping in Banks Peninsula and Christchurch city.

On Banks Peninsula, freedom campers have created tension at Akaroa's boat ramp. Up to 20 campervans have been parking by the ramp, clogging up the carpark and creating chaos when boaties want to launch early in the morning.

In nearby Duvauchelle, freedom campers had been parking outside the campground and using its facilities.

The council has also received complaints about freedom campers using some of Christchurch's urban parks.

Banks Peninsula councillor Andrew Turner said he was against over-regulation but felt the council had to act.

He had returned from holidays to a flood of complaints from local residents. It was clear some were acting inappropriately and quite disrespectfully, he said.

The council needed to come up with some solutions before next summer, Turner said.

In other popular tourists areas, councils have brought in bylaws to stop freedom campers but the Christchurch City Council has no such bylaw.

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Freedom camping controls likely

THE STAND: Idris Elba as Nelson Mandela, Tony Kgorge as Walter Sisulu, Riaad Moosa, as Ahmed Kathrada and Thapelo Mokena as Elias Motsoaledi in a scene from the film Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom.

REVIEW: Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom was released in South Africa only days before the man died.

There is no mention I can find that Mandela saw the film. And that strikes me as a pity.

Because I think that Mandela, with his great wit, his sense of mischief, his legendary forgiveness, and even his famous vanity, would have enjoyed the film immensely.

Mandela takes us from Madiba's early days as a street-tough lawyer, through his conversion to freedom fighter and state-branded 'terrorist', the twenty-six years of imprisonment, to his eventual international re-emergence as the great reconciliator, and the father of modern South Africa.

It is a sweeping, at times breath-taking story, and Mandela tells it very well indeed. The big moments are here, and enough detail and irreverence to let us know that we are in the hands of competent and confident film-makers.

I saw the story I expected to see, but I also saw a great deal more.

Director Justin Chadwick also has The First Grader on his CV, and that film would make a fine training ground for this.

In the lead, Idris Elba is wonderfully good. He gives the young Mandela all the swagger, the charm, and the incorrigible flirtatiousness that the man surely had.

You don't earn that twinkle in your eye at 70 without breaking a few hearts in your day, and Elba's portrayal of a sharp suited carouser with one foot always on the dance floor is beautifully done.

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Review: Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom

Advocates of press freedom are concerned about recent moves by some governments to arrest journalists and restrict Internet access to their citizens. Freedom House is a Washington-based group that supports democracy and free speech activists. The group says these restrictions on freedom of expression undermine both human rights and the foundation of democratic societies.

Charles Dunne is director of Middle East and North Africa programs at Freedom House. He says reports that journalists in Egypt are being harassed and arrested and that a proposed law in Turkey will increase restrictions on Internet access are an alarming turn toward repression in the Middle East and other countries where democracy is not firmly established.

Our annual Freedom of the World Report that was released in January did find a trend of authoritarian pushback, certainly in many Arab spring countries, but elsewhere in repressive countries, focusing not only on journalists but on bloggers, even Tweeters in many cases. So this is something that is very concerning to us," said Dunne.

The proposed law to restrict Internet access in Turkey has sparked public protests. The government says the new restrictions are to protect peoples privacy, but Turkish free speech advocate Selin Kaledelen says the purpose is to protect government officials from media scrutiny.

So for me, it's dictatorship of the authorities in terms of law. It's a censorship law, and we don't recognize it," said Kaledelen.

In Egypt, the arrest of journalists with Al Jazeera on charges of aiding a terrorist group has been condemned by UN Human Rights spokesman Rupert Colville.

It is extraordinary to find this being put into the kind of terrorist dialogue that journalists are supporting terrorists. This is really an alarming development and we hope it changes very quickly," said Colville.

U.S. State Department Spokesperson Jennifer Psaki says the U.S. government is also troubled by reports of journalists being arrested in Egypt.

Any journalist, regardless of affiliation, must not be targets of violence, intimidation or politicized legal action. They must be protected and permitted to freely do their jobs in Egypt," said Psaki.

She said the United States government advocates freedom of the media and freedom of the press as something that should be respected and valued.

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Concern Voiced About Media Repression in Middle East

Assassin #39;s Creed III - Freedom Edition Unboxing178

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The Freedom to Grow: How Standards in Communication Facilitate Our Industry with Noz Urbina - DCL
Standards -- either in the XML sense or simply communication best practices -- help grow, accelerate and "professionalize" an industry. Where would construct...

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Born to Kill - Call of freedom
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Will having a JOB give you Financial Freedom

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Golden Nuggets From The Freedom Event
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By: Tavon Diggs

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