Category Archives: Freedom

June 9, 2022

As the U.S. Supreme Court prepares a ruling on the most consequential abortion rights case since Roe v. Wade a ruling that could overturn the right to safe and legal abortions the Board of Commissioners on Thursday passed a resolution protecting access to reproductive freedom in Multnomah County.

The resolution reaffirms the Boards commitment to reproductive freedom and access to abortions. And if reproductive freedoms are weakened or overturned at the federal and state level, the Board commits to considering immediate legislative action to protect the freedom for residents to make decisions about their reproductive health.

Over half of U.S. states are poised to ban abortion if Roe v. Wade is overturned. Last year, the nation saw the highest number of new abortion restrictions in a single year, including provisions that limit abortions before most people know theyre pregnant, and provisions that allow anyone to sue those who provide or support abortion care. Some states are even trying to limit someones ability to travel for safe, legal abortion care.

Abortion will remain legal in Oregon, however, protected by state laws, policies and funding. Consider:

Feminism has taught us that the personal is political, and the political is personal, said Commissioner Susheela Jayapal, who has shared her own story about choosing an abortion.

My individual ability to choose an abortion depended on our collective right to choose abortion, she said. And any restriction on the right to abortion, whether it happens in Idaho or in Texas or in Mississippi, is a restriction on my rights, and on our rights here in Multnomah County.

Dr. Stella Dantas, an obstetrician at Kaiser Permanente, said her role is to improve people's lives by giving them all of their options, without restriction, and then supporting them in their choices. She said its scary to think shes entering a time when her relationship with patients is not respected or protected.

Health policy is best based on scientific facts to provide safe high-quality care and should be free of political interference, she said.

Dr. Maria Rodriguez, an obstetrician and gynecologist at Oregon Health & Science University said her clinic sees some of the most complicated cases in abortion care. And she fears her ability to meet that need will be tested if the U.S. Supreme Court strips people of their federal abortion rights.

The Guttmacher Institute estimates Oregon abortion providers will see a 234% increase in demand if federal protection is overturned. Rodriguez worries providers might not be able to meet that increased need. And shes even more concerned for those who cannot afford to travel and who live in the 26 states that are planning to restrict abortion access.

As we stare headlong into a post-Roe world, we must recognize that making abortion illegal will not stop abortions. It just makes it less accessible and more unsafe, she said.

With federal abortion protections, the medical procedure has become among the safest in the United States. More than 600,000 procedures were performed in 2019, the most recent year for which data was available. In fact, the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine published a study in 2018 confirming that scientific evidence consistently indicates legal abortions in the United States are extremely safe.

OHSU is among just five clinics that provide abortions in Multnomah County. Planned Parenthood and the Lilith Clinic also perform the procedure.

At the Lilith Clinic, which opened in March 2021 and offers abortions up to 22 weeks into pregnancy, 25% of patients are already traveling from other states with almost half of those travelers coming from Texas, where abortions are banned after six weeks and people must jump through hoops to complete care.

No one should have to leave their community for this safe and common healthcare procedure, said Grayson Dempsey, a spokesperson for the Lilith Clinic. But for those who must, we will always be here to welcome and care for them.

Chair Kafoury thanked the speakers.

Im grateful and proud to live in a state that has, over the years, shown up for women who need these services, she said. It has taken a lot of hard work advocating the legislature. It has been session after session after session. And when people said, why are you bringing this up? We are safe here. We always knew it's not luck. Its hard work.

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Board reaffirms commitment to reproductive freedom, abortion access - Multnomah County

LOS ANGELES, June 7 (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken on Tuesday criticized efforts to suppress press freedom in several Latin American countries and said the United States seeks to increase media protection in the region with the most murders of journalists.

Speaking at a press freedom event ahead of the Summit of the Americas, a regional gathering aiming to address economic problems and migration, Blinken said governments in the region were using sweeping legislation and surveillance to quash freedom of press and intimidate journalists.

He has singled out Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela, the three countries President Joe Biden excluded from the Summit of Americas because they were not democratic, saying the act of independent journalism constituted a crime there.

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"No region in the world is more dangerous for journalists," Blinken said, adding that at least 17 media workers have been killed this year in the Western Hemisphere, citing the UNESCO observatory for killed journalists.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken delivers remarks during a panel discussion on the commitment to journalistic freedom at the Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles, California, U.S., June 7, 2022. REUTERS/Daniel Becerril

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Last weekend, British journalist Dom Phillips and indigenous expert Bruno Pereira went missing in Brazil while reporting in a remote and lawless part of the Amazon rainforest near the border with Peru. read more

"Crimes like these persist in no small part because the people who order them and carry them out are so rarely held accountable. That sends a message that these attacks can continue with impunity," Blinken said.

He also criticized El Salvador.

"Governments are using sweeping legislation to quash free expression, as we saw in the recent slate of amendments adopted by El Salvador in March and April of this year," Blinken said.

In March, El Salvador registered 62 murders in a single day, the bloodiest since the end of its civil war in 1992. In response, the Legislative Assembly dominated by President Nayib Bukele's right-leaning populist party declared a state of emergency, suspending citizens' constitutional rights.

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Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk;Editing by Mary Milliken, Robert Birsel

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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U.S.'s Blinken warns of threats to media freedom in Americas - Reuters

If you are looking for big trucks and excitement this weekend, then look no further.

The Monster Truck Freedom Tour kicks off this weekend in Riesel.

You will see several trucks racing, doing cool tricks and more.

You will also see the rattler tank and mini monster trucks.

Ricky Fowler, owner of HyLite Reel Entertainment and the man running the show, said they have been putting the final additions on the track to get ready for Friday and Saturday nights.

Fowler said they love coming to Riesel and cannot wait to put on a show for everyone.

It is ground pounding," Fowler said. "You feel the motors and you feel the noise. You can smell the methanol fumes and stuff. If you like any kind of horsepower, trucks, or racing, this is for you."

The event kicks off at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday at the Riesel Lions Club Fairgrounds.

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Brace yourself: Monster Truck Freedom Tour in Riesel this weekend - 25 News KXXV and KRHD

by Alex BillingtonJune 10, 2022Source: YouTube

"What are you doing out here, how can you be everywhere?" Vertical Ent. has revealed an official trailer for an indie drama titled Land of Dreams, which premiered at the 2021 Venice Film Festival last year. Made by Iranian filmmakers, it's actually an English-language film set in America. Land of Dreams is a political satire set in the near future where America has closed its borders and become more insular than ever. The story follows Simin, an Iranian American woman, on a journey to discover the core of what it means to be a free American. She works for the most important government agency of her time, the Census Bureau. In efforts to understand and control its populous, the government has begun a program to record the citizen's dreams. Simin, one of the Census Bureau's lead dream catchers, is unaware of this devious plot. The film stars Sheila Vand, with Monte Deer, Robert M. Deets, Shannon K. Dunn, with Matt Dillon, Anna Gunn, Christopher McDonald, & Isabella Rossellini. Reminds me of the other dystopian dream film Strawberry Mansion, which has a bit more style. Land of Dreams looks so depressing and dull. Not my jam.

Here's the official trialer (+ poster) for Shirin Neshat's Land of Dreams, direct from YouTube:

Simin is an Iranian woman on a journey to discover what it means to be a free American. She works for the Census Bureau which, in an effort to control its citizens, has begun a program to record their dreams. Unaware of this devious plot, Simin is torn between compassion for those whose dreams she is recording and a truth she must find within. Haunted by the fact that her father was executed by the Islamic regime in Iran, Simin has developed her own coping mechanism through a world of fantasy and playacting. She captures her interviewees' dreams, secretly impersonates them in Farsi and publishes them on social media where she finds a growing Iranian audience. Soon Simin meets Mark; a drifter, a free soul, and a poet who declares his love at first sight; and Alan, a cynical cowboy turned detective, full of machismo and the American spirit of adventure. As Simin enters the triad, she finds the two men's competition and conflicts amusing and silently enjoys the ride. Land of Dreams is directed by Iranian filmmaker Shirin Neshat, director of the movies Logic of the Birds, Women Without Men, and Looking for Oum Kulthum previously, plus tons of other shorts. Co-directed by Shoja Azari. The screenplay is by Jean-Claude Carrire & Shoja Azari. This first premiered at the 2021 Venice Film Festival last year. Vertical will debut Neshat's Land of Dreams in select US theaters + on VOD starting on September 16th, 2022. Is anyone interested?

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Sheila Vand Discovers the Price of Freedom in 'Land of Dreams' Trailer - First Showing

(Image: Thomas Vitali/Unsplash.com)

Prayer is not a matter of getting God to give us what we want, it is a method for making us want what God desires to give. That is, it is not a matter of changing Gods mind, it is a matter of changing our hearts (and by heart I mean our will). Therefore, it is his kingdom that should come, not ours; his will that should be done, not ours; we pray in order to Hallow his name, not ours.

De Caussade writes, To hallow the name of God is to know, to adore and to love the ineffable Being whom this name designates.i (The starting trigger for prayer is the confession that God is God, and we are not.) Jean Grou adds that this petition of the Lords prayer binds our whole being thoughts, affections, and actions to the glory of God. If we do nothing for Gods glory, if it be not the first intention of all our prayers and the chief aim of our actions; if we hardly think of it, even, and consider only our own interests in our worship of God, it is almost a mockery to say to Him: Hallowed be Thy Name.ii

It seems to me, then, that the spiritual tradition was on to something when it thought the matter of prayer included the development of virtue, which means accompanying prayer with mortification. Prayers purpose is to glorify God for the pure delight of doing so, and, as C. S. Lewis observed the joys of Heaven are, for most of us in our present condition, an acquired taste.iii Prayer is not just lobbing our requests heavenward, it includes a matter of acquiring this taste. What, exactly, does that entail? Adopting Jesuss attitude, one which George MacDonald describes this way.

His whole thought, his whole delight, was in the thought, in the will, in the being of his Father. The joy of the Lords life, that which made it life to him, was the Father; of him he was always thinking, to him he was always turning. I suppose most men have some thought of pleasure or satisfaction or strength to which they turn when action pauses, life becomes for a moment still, and the wheel sleeps on its own swiftness: with Jesus it needed no pause of action, no rush of renewed consciousness, to send him home; his thought was ever and always his Father. To its home in the heart of the Father his heart ever turned. That was his treasure-house, the jewel of his mind, the mystery of his gladness, claiming all degrees and shades of delight, from peace and calmest content to ecstasy. His life was hid in God. iv

Constant prayer consists of being sent home to the heart of the Father continually. Prayer is joining Jesus in his hiding place. He is if I dare the phrase the first one to live the Christian life, after which he becomes our model, our exemplar, our paradigm, and the life he lived is the life we seek. To pray is to follow him; to follow him is a life of prayer.

But he makes a condition for following him. If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me (Mark 8, Mathew 16, and Luke 9). Abnegation is the word for denying self, that is, self-denial, and Catholic spiritual authors who write about abnegation explain why Jesus made it central. Jean Grou calls this central to the gospel because in this complete abnegation He admitted no compromise. There is no middle course. He said you must deny yourself, or I shall deny you; you can only belong to Me on that condition.v And Francis Libermann says:

It is not I who preaches abnegation, it is our Lord Himself who has set down the conditions under which He will receive us as His followers: If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, and wife and children and brothers and sister, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. (Luke 14:26-27). No doctrine has ever found more forceful expressions in the Gospels If we are not generous enough to prepare ourselves to renounce everything, we should not follow Him. The words of our Savior allow of no quibbling.vi

This shows an interesting side of prayer, sometimes overlooked. The desire for God is accompanied by a decrease in desire for sin. Following God means not following someone else, or something else. Love of God (prayer) is linked to hatred of sin (mortification), like mercy is linked to justice, forgiveness to penance, grace to labor, and so spiritual theologians speak of prayer and mortification in one breath. The soul is elevated to God raised, we may say, by an updraft under our wings caused by the blowing of the Holy Spirit and spiritual theologians identify the two wings as prayer and mortification. Ravignan refers to St. Bernard of Clairvaux when the latter wrote we have two wings to fly; two, because with one alone we could not fly; and those two wings, he says, are prayer and mortification. That is to say, that prayer with mortification is always heard.

As to prayer without mortification, it may be good sometimes; but it will be far less efficacious. This is hard on nature, but it is what our Lord loveth.vii Elsewhere Ravignan explains the two must go together because he who only mortifies his flesh, without humbling his mind by prayer, becomes proud And, on the other hand, he who gives himself to prayer, and neglects to mortify his flesh, ought to be afraid of our Saviours words in the gospel Why do you call me Lord, Lord, if you do not what I desire of you? viii

To be hidden in Christ requires denying the egocentric self, and this is a hard teaching, Fenelon admits.

Men have a great repugnance to this truth and consider it to be a very hard saying, because they are lovers of self from self-interest. They understand, in a general and superficial way, that they must love God more than all his creatures, but they have no conception of loving God more than themselves, and loving themselves only for Him. They can utter these great words without difficulty, because they do not enter into their meaning, but they shudder when it is explained to them, that God and his glory are to be preferred before ourselves and everything else to such a degree that we must love his glory more than our own happiness.ix

Prayer is therefore coupled with carrying crosses, for crosses are the tools God uses to create persons of prayer. Fenelon wrote letters of spiritual direction to many people (some of them figures in the court of the king of France, Louis XIV). Imagine receiving letters with mortifying advice like this:

As already noted, mortification without prayer can yield pride, while prayer without mortification does not become more than skin deep. But to extend the two wings at the same time will allow the Spirit to lift us off the ground, into the hidden life of Christ, where we can hallow Gods name. De Bergamo calls it a place of humility. The person who practices both prayer and mortification

neither prays nor loves nor desires anything except that in all things the name of God be sanctified: Hallowed be Thy name. Humility is not a sickly virtue, timid and feeble as some imagine; on the contrary, it is strong, magnanimous, generous and constant, because it is founded on truth and justice. The truth consists in knowing what God is and what we are. Justice consists in our recognizing that God as our Creator has a right to command us, and that we as His creatures are bound to obey Him.xvii

Biblical passages about the cross have been worn so smooth by constant repetition that we hardly hear the words anymore, and are scarcely startled when Paul says that he has been crucified with Christ (Galatians 2:20), that he dies daily (1 Corinthians 15:31), that those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh (Galatians 5:24), that our old self was crucified with Jesus (Romans 6:6), and that we must die with Christ (Romans 6:8).

But crosses sound more alarming when applied to us as an exercise of abnegation. Libermann says Do not set limits to the crosses you are willing to bear. Accept all that come as so many precious stones and be afraid to let any escape from your grasp.xviii And I am perfectly certain that the very best moments of your life, whether past, present or future, are those spent upon the cross. It is here that Jesus is always to be found.xix And he places special emphasis on one petition Jesus was trying to get across to us in the prayer he taught: Nothing is more sanctifying than crosses. Remain constantly in your abjectness before God and tell Him, a thousand times a day if necessary, Thy will be done.xx He explains further by taking a familiar image from Jeremiah and Isaiah.

You should remain in the Lords presence like clay before the potter. The workman does what he pleases with it: he beats it, presses it, and beats it again to make it supple. The clay offers no resistance; it leaves the potter perfect liberty to do with it what he wishes. The potter fashions a vase and it often happens that when it is half-finished he breaks it up and reduces it to a shapeless mass. He then starts anew to make of it the particular vase he wants. The more the clay has been battered and crushed, the easier it is for the potter to achieve his purposexxi

Allow God full liberty to handle you, since you are his possession, his property. And because Gods essence is love, when his essence expresses itself it will be as goodness intended for us.

Abnegation is denial of self, denial of self-love, self-will, self-interest, and it is done in order to glorify God more purely, so I have been calling it liturgical abnegation. It is liturgy done on the cross. It is not motivated by practical stoicism, or self-improvement, or autonomous morality, or the esteem gained from worldlings, or any kind of self-love. It is practiced for one reason only: in order to become a burnt offering to God, to please God, to adore God, to glorify God. This is our prayer.

The result of having the cataracts of sin removed from our eyes by graced mortification is to see the world differently. My teacher, Aidan Kavanagh, used to define liturgy as doing the world the way the world was meant to be done. Man is a temporal creature like other creatures of time but with this important difference: he is not supposed to cling to temporal moments. He is meant to eat food that is eternal, that will let him live forever, as Jesus offered in John 6.

Thus, liturgical abnegation is freedom. De Sales uses the word liberty. I speak of a different sort of liberty that of beloved children. And that is a thorough detachment from all things, in order to follow Gods recognised Will. Let me show you what I mean. We ask God above all things that His Name may be hallowed, His Kingdom come, His Will be done in earth as in Heaven. All this is the true spirit of liberty; for so long as Gods Name be hallowed, His Majesty reigning in you, and His Will fulfilled, the spirit cares for nought beside.xxii Mortification consists in always choosing and following that which God wishes.

What else might we be tempted to hallow (revere, fear, glory in) besides God? There seem to be countless options, but they all seem to circle back to an egocentric desire to ourselves be esteemed, honored, satisfied, and praised by the world. That is why we go chasing after the world; that is why the world goes chasing after us. Instead of being hid in Christ, the world invites us to put ourselves on display in it. We may use the world, but we must not be ruled by the world. This is a lesson Ignatius of Loyola taught at the very beginning of his Exercises. First, he writes, Man is created to praise, reverence, and serve God our Lord, and by this means to save his soul; second, the other things on the face of the earth are created for man to help him in attaining the end for which he is created; and third, hence, man is to make use of them in as far as they help him in the attainment of his end, and he must rid himself of them in as far as they prove a hindrance to him.xxiii

All kinds of happinesses put themselves to human nature on this earth, and we may freely admit that there are joys to be had in this world. But they are temporal joys. Read: temporary joys. So Charles Gay suggest we respond to their temptation with the same words John the Baptist used.

To each of these joys which present themselves to us, instinct says: Art thou the felicity we are in search of, or are we to look for another? Art thou the dawn of another day, or the mid-day, in the brightness of which my life is to find its blossom and its fruit? John the Baptist replied to the Jews: I am but the forerunner, a precursor, a prophet, a voice, a testimony It is in the same sense that grace answers to instinct, whenever it is interrogated with regard to the pleasures of this life, in reference to our supreme happiness. It says, that these pleasures are weak signs of the goodness of God: they are shadows, and at most but preludes, of our true happiness; but that they are not this true happiness itself; that they enable us to foresee it, but do not give it; that true joy is further off, and higher; that it will not come to us till after our death; that till then we must wait for it, and, while waiting for it, we must merit it.xxiv

Worldliness can be defined as taking the world without reference to God. Prayer can be defined as seeking God always, everywhere, constantly. The world will reveal him to us, if we look through it to the Creator. Even trials will reveal him to us, if we understand their purpose. Let us seek God by prayer, in spite of distractions, and if sometimes a few sparks of this sacred fire by which Mary was consumed, present themselves, let us receive them gently, and hallowed by their holy influence, accept all the trials which God sends to detach us from earthly affections.xxv

This sacred spark sets fire to both prayer and mortification in our hearts. It produces silence, which is the environment for liturgy.

Prayer, mortification and silence prepare the soul for the action of the Blessed Eucharist. Once the obstacles are cleared away from the soul this great Sacrament of union accomplishes in its perfection that which is its special effect, namely the creation of a union of spirit between the soul and Jesus. Prayer prepares the way for this, for prayer that is good must have as its effect the gradual growth in self-abnegation As the Christian soul empties of self, it fills up with God, not merely with some thought or aspect of God as visualised by a self-centred spirituality or even as revealed in created reflections, but with God as He is in Himself and as He reveals Himself to little ones.xxvi

Endnotes:

i Jean Pierre de Caussade, Abandonment to Divine Providence (St. Louis: B Herder Book Co., 1921), 29.

ii Jean Grou, The School of Jesus Christ (London: Burns Oates & Washbourne, 1932), 308.

iii C. S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain (New York: Macmillan, 1962), 61.

iv George MacDonald, Unspoken Sermons, First, Second and Third Series (Whitehorn, CA: Johannsen, 1999), 171.

v Grou, The School of Jesus Christ, 81.

vii Gustave de Ravignan, Ravignans Last Retreat (London: Burns and Oates, 1859), 159-160.

viii Alphonsus Rodriguez, The Practice of Christian and Religious Perfection , vol 2 (London: James Duffy, 1861), 3-4.

ix Francois Fenelon, Spiritual Progress (New York: M. W. Dodd, 1853), 13.

x Francois Fenelon, The Seeking Heart (Jacksonville, FL: SeedSowers Publishing, 1992), 10.

xi Fenelon, The Seeking Heart, 39.

xii Fenelon, The Seeking Heart, 16.

xiii Fenelon, The Seeking Heart, 30.

xiv Fenelon, The Seeking Heart, 154.

xv Fenelon, The Seeking Heart, 105.

xvi Fenelon, The Seeking Heart, 158.

xvii Gaetano Maria de Bergamo, Humility of Heart (Mandeville, LA: Founding Father Films Publishing, 2015), 41-2.

xviii Francis Libermann, Letters to Religious Sisters and Aspirants , Spiritan Series 5, vol. 1 (Pittsburgh: Duquesne University Press, 1963), 144.

xix Francis Libermann, Letters to Clergy & Religious , Spiritan Series 8, vol. 4 (Pittsburgh: Duquesne University Press, 1964), 354.

xx Francis Libermann, Letters to People in the World , Spiritan Series 6, vol. 2 (Pittsburgh: Duquesne University Press, 1963), 245.

xxi Francis Libermann, Letters to Clergy & Religious , Spiritan Series 9, vol. 5 (Pittsburgh: Duquesne University Press, 1966), 116.

xxii Francis de Sales, A Selection From the Spiritual Letters of S. Francis de Sales , ed. Lear (New York: E.P. Dutton and Co., 1876), 60.

xxiii Ignatius of Loyola, The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius , trans. Louis Puhl (Westminster, MD: The Newman Press, 1951), 12.

xxiv Charles Gay, The Christian Life and Virtues Considered in the Religious State (London: Burns & Oates, 1878), 292.

xxv Gustav de Ravignan, Conferences on the Spiritual Life (London: R. Washbourne, 1873 ), 202.

xxvi Edward Leen, Progress Through Mental Prayer (New York: Sheed and Ward, 1935), 11.

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Prayer and Mortification: Liturgical Abnegation is Freedom Catholic World Report - Catholic World Report

This past weekend Colorado welcomed some of the best-known champions of faith, family and freedom at the 13th annual Western Conservative Summit. The summit is hosted by Colorado Christian University and Centennial Institute the conservative think tank at the University.

The purpose of the event is to educate and motivate grassroots conservatives on criticalissueslike traditional family values, the sanctity of life, compassion for the poor, Biblical view of human nature, limited government, personal freedom, free markets, natural law, the original intent of Constitution, and Western civilization.

The theme of this years summit was Time to Saddle Up and Ride.

Speakers at the event included: Matt Walsh, Kayleigh McEnany, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the Honorable Betsy DeVos, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, Cal Thomas, Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt, Kristan Hawkins, Benny Johnson, Isabel Brown, andmany otherconservative leaders.

Coach Kennedy,defendingthe right to pray by himself on the football field whose case is at the United States Supreme Court, opened the summit with a prayer from the main stage.

Sanctity of life, school choice, religious freedom, parental rights and protecting the innocence of children were some of the many topics addressed by speakers during the two-day event.

Matt Walsh spoke to attendees about the release of his documentaryWhat is a Woman?He said the left is targeting him because hes exposing their lies by asking simple questions.

He believes the left is deliberately and systematically coming after our children. We live in a culture that has seemingly lost its mind. Kids are exploited, lied to and chemically altered in the name of gender ideology. Its a sophisticated and coordinated indoctrination campaign against children.

Despite the dire prognosis, Walsh thinks the path to winning the war of ideas is clear. We can win the gender ideology battle because the left crumbles under questions. Force them to explain themselves. They are weak, scared, and vulnerable. Stand up straight and ask questions. If we do, we will win. And we must win.

Students for Life President Kristan Hawkins called on the pro-life community to step up and get involved in helping women who face unplanned pregnancies. In a post-Roe world, Hawkins told the audience that we must live out our pro-life ethic in tangible ways, starting with supporting local pregnancy resource centers.

Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt also spoke on the significance of preserving the sanctity of life. Governor Stitt and the pro-life Oklahoma legislature made news this spring as they worked together to enact some of the most pro-life pieces of legislation in the country. In fact, Oklahoma is theonlystate in the nation that currently protects preborn human life from the moment of conception even asRoestill stands.

Kayleigh McEnany, former White House Press Secretary for the Trump Administration, shared passionately about her faith journey in the White and her pro-life ethic. Its not a womans right to choose. Its a babys right to live, she told those in attendance.

Former Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos spoke enthusiastically about school choice and the importance of parent involvement in education. School choice and education freedom work, she said. Its what parents want, and its what students need.

Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts also communicated a message of support for school choice and parental involvement when he called on politicians to empower parents and enact universal school choice.

Benny Johnson, a Christian, conservative digital meme creator for Turning Point USA, reiterated the significance of marriage, family and fatherhood. He shared advice he would give to his two young daughters on how to be happy. First, dont be a liberal. Second, remember that God created you and wants you to have a joy-filled life. Third, become a woman of high value. Fourth, build a strong family because strong families make strong nations. Five, be responsible for your own life. And six, God made you for this moment in time live bravely.

Sara Huckabee Sanders challenged the audience to stay engaged in the battle over ideas in the public square. We each have a role to play in preserving this great republic. Help each other. We are at our best when we are in it together.

Jeff Hunt, Co-Chair of the Western Conservative Summit, also urged civic engagement. We can no longer wait for good conservative leaders to rise up and guide our nation. At Colorado Christian University, we are training the next generation of men and women of faith to lead with courage and conviction.

And, of course, theyre both right. America is an exceptional country, but we must all remain on alert to preserve the freedoms we cherish for future generations.

To listen to these and other inspiring speeches from this years Western Conservative Summit, visit theCentennial Institute YouTube Channel.

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Conservative Values of 'Faith, Family and Freedom' Still Celebrated in America's Rocky Mountain West - Daily Citizen

Kentucky was a slave state, although it never joined the Confederacy. However, across the river, Indiana offered a route to refuge. A new show premiering Thursday aims to transport visitors through time to tell the stories of two fictional families pursuing new beginnings.

In Journeys to Freedom the Belle of Louisville isnt just a cruise vessel its center stage. The play combines soundscapes and music that span ages and genres to fully immerse audience members throughout the boat. Sidney Monroe Williams is its playwright and director.

What we mean by immersive is that its happening all around you. Its not interactivebut we do invite you to come and witness, Williams said. Wherever you are on the boat, you can hear original music that is connected to that history. Gambling was really popular on river boats. So weve revived a form of gambling called Faro.

They said performances and multimedia elements will surround attendees from the moment they arrive at the Belle to the time they depart. Visitors will also get boarding passes tol grant them access to different scenes staged in usually restricted areas of the riverboat, including the captains quarters, a cabin and the roof.

Director Sidney Williams describes the research they conducted from the engine room of the Belle of Louisville, where Journeys to Freedom will be staged as an immersive river cruise.

Artist-run nonprofit IDEAS xLab commissioned Williams to develop the play for its (Un)Known Project. The Louisville-based initiative aims to uncover and honor Black names and stories through art.

Hannah Drake, the nonprofits chief creative officer, said having the event out on the water is key to engaging audience members with the history of the slave trade and experiences of formerly enslaved people.

If your state was next to a body, a large body of water, it made it lucrative in the slave trade, which is a history Kentucky doesnt really talk about, Drake said. The dividing line to freedom is the Ohio River. Because if you could make it to Indiana, and hopefully get to the town clock church in New Albany, that was a stop on the Underground Railroad.

Set after the Civil War, the play follows eight people, most of whom are crossing the river in search of freedom and opportunity. Although slavery was abolished by law, anti-Black violence and racism remained.

I want to make it difficult for my audience to rest in that [being] the past, Williams said.

Sidney Williams looks out on the Ohio River from the Belle of Louisville on June 6, 2022.

Theyre inviting audience members to contemplate parallels between the plays character arcs and experiences and todays ongoing fight against racism.

Hopefully you arrive in this space of where youre like, Hmm, maybe I can interrogate my own connection to history, Williams said. You are going to have to do some work, you are going to have to answer some questions.

They hope the show will provoke that kind of introspection.

The play and its characters are works of fiction, but Williams drew from historical events and stories of formerly enslaved people. They said they wanted to encourage audience members to think critically and openly about the subject matter and to avoid centering the play around Black experiences with violence and trauma.

Its the culmination of months worth of work, including collaborations with university students and artists, and hosting community listening and feedback sessions.

People gave me the real tea feedback back in December, Williams said. Thats part of being a community-based artist is that you are transparent in your process and invite artists, collaborators and community in. They tell you where you need to improve, and then you improve.

Artists Sidney Williams and Hannah Drake stand on the deck of the Belle of Louisville, where their Journeys to Freedom river cruise will take place.

Drake said Williams approach offers nuance into the lives of people who, by design, were left out of and erased from historical narratives.

Enslaved people were attempting to have a life. Thats it. Whether it be falling in love or having children or laughing or dancing or singing and, as much as they could, they try to find some sliver of happiness, Drake said.

Williams said their goal was to uplift stories and experiences often untold in historical narratives and records.

When I was doing my research, I kept being like, Where are the Black queer bodies? And why are our stories not being told? Williams said. Then I think its my responsibility to start thinking about, Well, what could that look like?

Their vision was to create space for and represent all facets of race, gender and sexuality in Journeys to Freedom. The show includes a family unit with two female-identifying co-parents and weaves together time periods to explore the influence Black, queer people had in the creation of modern music genres, like house, and where that fits in with telling their stories.

A couple of characters youre going to see are very much modern day iterations of Blackness. But how does that work within this recently enslaved time period? Williams said. Also, how do some of those mentalities at that time period also still resonate today?

There will be four shows this month. More information and tickets are available here. The Belle of Louisville gives financial support to Louisville Public Media, which WFPL is part of.

Note: The immersive cruise includes performances that depict slavery and experiences of people who were enslaved, which organizers said may be triggering or upsetting to some viewers.

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In Journeys To Freedom, actors depict stories of escape across the Ohio River - 89.3 WFPL News Louisville

It was announced at the end of February that Kremlin-backed media outlets Russia Today (RT) and Sputnik would be banned in the EU, and the decision was confirmed by the Council of the European Union on 2 March 2022, meaning that no broadcasters or online platforms are permitted to distribute RT/Sputnik content within the EU, and regulators are expected to monitor compliance. The ban had led to heated discussions regarding the potential consequences for freedom of expression and access to information online, and to a proposal for a new crisis mechanism in the latest version of the Digital Services Act. Here, Professor Natali Helberger of the University of Amsterdam and Professor Wolfgang Schulz of the Hans-Bredow Institute, Hamburg, explain the implications of the ban for media freedom and freedom of communication.

It shall be prohibited for operators to broadcast or to enable, facilitate or otherwise contribute to broadcast, any content by the legal persons, entities or bodies listed in Annex XV.

Just a few months ago, a sentence like this from an EUCouncil regulationwould have been unthinkable. A sacrosanct principle of the European media order is the ban on state censorship. So does this ban goes against the very values and freedoms that the European Union tries to uphold? And if so, what are the implications?

By banning media outlets from being available in the European Union, the Council is intervening in an area (media regulation) that is usually left to the Member States. It is undisputed and has been confirmed many times by the European Court of Justice that it is the sole responsibility of member states to shape the media landscape; this is part of their cultural competence. Even so, most member states remained quiet in the face of their authority being eroded. The general spirit is that we need to stand together to be tough on Russia. That is understandable in the face of the unjustified and atrocious Russian military invasion that is taking place, and the suffering of the Ukrainian people. But what are the ramifications for the future of censorship?

The Council decision repeatedly states that it fully respects fundamental rights, including the right to freedom of expression. The question is: do the deeds follow the words? As a rule, all forms of speech enjoy freedom of expression protection, even disinformation and some forms of propaganda that are not declared unlawful by national laws. Hence, there are reasons to argue that all media, even RT and Sputnik, do enjoy freedom of protection rights. Does Article 11 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, concerning freedom of expression, apply to RT and Sputnik? Some argue that Sputnik does not qualify as media, but is essentially the prolonged arm of the Russian government, and as such cannot enjoy freedom of expression rights.

To answer that question we have to consider two factors. If the companies are affiliated with a foreign state, they cannot invoke fundamental rights under the EU Charter or the European Convention on Human Rights. Here, the status of the actor, not the content, makes the difference. If the companies are not affiliated with a state, the question is then whether the nature of the content precludes protection or at least justifies limitations. The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe distinguishes different forms of propaganda: propaganda for war and hatred, which according to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights is unlawful and demands legal action with appropriate measures in accordance with international human rights law, even though it may not be declared unlawful in all member states. The second type of propaganda may be against professional standards of journalism, but does not necessarily violate international law. Which type of propaganda do we find on RT and Sputnik? How big a proportion on Sputnik and RT is war propaganda? The fact is: we do not know, or at least the Council Regulation does not present clear evidence. Nor does it appear to be a clear cut case, or easy to find out more, not at least because both senders are categorically banned.

Which leads us to one potential and fundamental problem with the ban, namely that European citizens, policymakers and journalists can have a very legitimate interest in seeking an authentic impression of the narratives of Russian propaganda. One of the historical roots of freedom of information in Europe lies in the experience of prohibiting the listening of enemy broadcasters by oppressive regimes. A problematic side effect of such a ban is that it forces RT and Sputnik content into the shadow, preventing EU citizens and the media to recognise and formulate a resilient response to wrongful propaganda, and affecting their right to receive information.

The protection of fundamental rights is not unlimited: limits are possible, provided they are necessary in a democratic society and proportionate. But it is the proportionality of a complete ban of a broadcasting service like Sputnik or RT that is at question here. In normal times, we would need to assess and demonstrate the danger that RT content poses. That is likely to be different between the Baltic states and other countries in which large parts of the population have links with Russia, as compared to, lets say, Portugal or Denmark.Right now, there is simply very little data available on the actual reach of RT and Sputnik in different European countries, and across different platforms (for some first estimates, but also the difficulty of gathering relevant data, see this thread from the Reuters Institute). Other considerations, such as the duration, the existence of potential due process safeguards and the potential effectiveness of the action would need to be considered. According to the regulation, the measures, for example, would be maintained until either the war has ended or the Russian Federation, and its associated media outlets, cease to conduct propaganda actions against the Union and its Member States. Without a clear timeframe or definition of what propaganda entails, this could translate potentially into a perpetual measure. The Council Regulation itself provides little evidence that a process of careful weighting has taken place.

The scope of the measure is also unprecedented, covering audiovisual media and social media. The ban is a fundamental departure from the general monitoring ban in Art. 15 of the E-Commerce Directive. Art. 15 was a critical element of our European approach to the open internet and media freedom. It made clear that any state-imposed orders on social media to monitor their platforms and ban particular types of content are not compatible with European values. The pending Digital Services Act (DSA) does not change this. This flagship response of the EU to the problem of disinformation legislates for more societal responsibility for very large online platforms. Still, it leaves it explicitly to the discretion of the platforms themselves to decide if and how to deal with any risks to fundamental rights and public values, precisely to avoid a situation in which a government tells platforms how to moderate content and instrumentalises platforms for a political goal worthy or not. Doing so can be a legitimate route for content that is clearly unlawful, but for all other kinds of content, a situation in which governments instruct platforms on which voices to allow and which to suppress is very problematic, and could be the beginning of the end of the open internet and media freedom.

The Councils decision in this case made short work of the Commissions restraint regarding regulating social media, with a sweeping ban on enabling, facilitating or otherwise contributing to the broadcast of RT and Sputnik. Many prominent social media platformsbanned accessto RT and Sputnik within a couple of days. The Councils decision can andhas been readin the spirit of finally the platforms take responsibility, but it can also be read as an open invitation to platforms to question some of the critical tenets of responsible content moderation that Europe has tried to impress on them (hereandhere). And indeed, only a few days later, Metaannouncedthat it would temporarily not enforce its community policies and allow posts that include hate speech and calls to violence, as long as those are directed at Russian soldiers and Putin himself. Concerns about the ability of platforms to engage in politically-motivated forms of content moderation were until recently one of the main reasons why the European Commission proposed the DSA in the first place.

The Council may well have been acting with the best of intentions and trying to do its bit in exercising pressure on Russia to stop waging war and blatantly disregarding key principles of the international order and fundamental rights, including Russias war on media freedom. And yet, one cannot fail to notice a certain irony here. The European response to a Russian ban on all media that call this a war, is a European ban on media outlets that do not call the situation in Ukraine a war.

The Council decision has been challenged before the European Court of Justice by RT France, but also by the main Dutch journalists union. According to a spokesperson of the Dutch journalists union, allowing the ban to go unchallenged could set a precedent for banning other politicized news outlets. Meanwhile, the ban did already inspire discussions around including a new crisis response mechanism in the DSA. According to a new Art. 27a DSA, the European Commission will be entitled to demand in times of crisis that Very Large Online Platforms or Very Large Online Search Engines take extra measures, whereby the notion of crisis is defined rather broadly as extraordinary circumstances [that] lead to a serious threat to public security or public health in the Union or in significant parts thereof. The last-minute addition to the regulation has been criticised by civil society organisations because it would constitute an overly broad empowerment of the European Commission to unilaterally declare an EU-wide state of emergency and enable potentially far-reaching restrictions of freedom of expression rights. As EDRi and the other 37 civil society organisations stressed, decisions that affect freedom of expression and access to information cannot be legitimately taken through the executive; rather they should be taken by an independent judicial body and be subject to democratic control, particularly in times of crisis. Suggestions by the Dutch government and others to subject Commission decisions according to Art. 27a DSA to a majority vote from the member states have not made it in the latest version of the DSA.

These concerns about the importance of democratic safeguards and state independence around measures that can potentially restrict freedom of expression and fundamental rights must be taken seriously. So when Europe is agreeing on its approach to disinformation in the DSA, and debating the possible contents and directions of the European Media Freedom Act, it will also have to carefully consider its commitment to media freedoms in times of crisis. It has happened time and again in history that even states and communities committed to the rule of law and human rights act unlawfully in crises with good intentions. Their strength should then lie in creating a regulatory framework for crisis situations for future cases. The European Media Freedom Act could be the right place here to create emergency measures for communication content that safeguard fundamental rights and state neutrality.

Furthermore, the case reveals a fundamental fault line that still runs through the competence structure, not only in times of crisis: How far do the competences of the member states extend in the case of social effects of non-journalistic/editorial content? If their authority is limited to the traditional concept of the media, this would be outside their cultural competence. If one assumes, however, that it is the task of the member states to ensure the functioning of public communication more broadly understood, combating disinformation that is detrimental to democracy is within their remit. Conceptual work still needs to be done here.

This article reflects the views of the authors and not those of the Media@LSE blog nor of the London School of Economics and Political Science.

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Understandable, but still wrong: How freedom of communication suffers in the zeal for sanctions - London School of Economics

Elected members of the Legislative Assembly are hosting a Public Reception at the Town Hall on Saturday 11 June when all members of the South Atlantic Medal Association 1982 will be presented with the Freedom of the Falklands or Freedom of Entry Certificate.

The centuries old tradition confirms the close bond between a certain person, group or military, with a city based on trust and/or exceptional achievements for neighbors of the city.

With Stanley now enjoying the status of city, it seems only natural that Falklands' Veterans, SAMA 82 should be extended such Freedom

The program is as follows,

18:25 Presentation of SAMA 82 and the Falkland Islands People's Standards

Speech by the Honorable Mark Pollard MLA

Presentation of the Freedom Certificate, Assisted by Kaira Manu-Stephenson and Laura Bates (winners of the 40th Logo design competition)

Acceptance speech by Gary Clement MBE

Falkland Islands Military Wives Choir, Carry me, Home Thoughts from AbroadRoyal Marines Corps of Drums to perform Mess Beatings

Auction of the 40th Anniversary Single Malt Scotch Whisky produced by Simon Mercer

Interlude Music by the Royal Marines Band Brass Quartet,

Go here to see the original:

Freedom of the Falkland Islands to all South Atlantic Medal Holders, SAMA82 - MercoPress

Within months of Adolf Hitlers rise to power in 1933, the Jewish-German educator Anna Essinger devised an escape that would take her and her Jewish students and staff out of an increasingly repressive Germany. Under the pretense of a school trip, they divided into small groups, each traveling on its own schedule by train across the border and out of reach of the Nazis. Their destination was Bunce Court, a ramshackle 17th-century country estate in Kent, England, that would serve as their new school. There, over the course of the next 15 years, more than 900 traumatized and orphaned children would receive refuge and care and have a place to call home.

In The School That Escaped the Nazis: The True Story of the Schoolteacher Who Defied Hitler, the British author and BBC television producer Deborah Cadbury provides a persuasive portrait of Essinger (1879-1960) as a lesser-known heroine of the Holocaust and someone who deserves broader recognition.

See the article here:

The School That Escaped the Nazis Review: Field Trip to Freedom - The Wall Street Journal