Category Archives: Freedom

Most important lessons arent learned in the classroom. In 2003, the year after Houston money manager Perth Tolle graduated from Trinity University in San Antonio with a degree in finance, she spent a year in Hong Kong living with her father, reconnecting with her Chinese roots. On a visit to Shanghai, Tolle befriended a woman named Maggie. Both were 23 years old, but her new friends dark backstory shocked Tolle. While Tolle had enjoyed a suburban upbringing in Plano, Texas, Maggie lived in the shadows. She had no birth certificate, no school or hospital records and no safety net. To the Chinese government, Maggie didnt exist. She was one of tens of millions of kids victimized by the Communist Partys one-child law, in effect from 1980 through 2015. Because her parents already had a son, they concealed her upbringing.

That policy changed the culture of my generation, and the effects of the demographic disaster in China are irreversible, says Tolle, 42, who was born in Beijing but came to the U.S. at age 9. I had this realization that freedom made a difference in my life and in the markets.

China is a core holding of most emerging-markets funds, making up 30% of the MSCI Emerging Markets Index, but if you were to peer into the portfolio of Tolles Freedom 100 Emerging Markets ETF, you wouldnt find a single Chinese stock. The fund she manages with Havertown, Pennsylvaniabased ETF issuer Alpha Architect is still relatively small, but it has grown from $30 million at the beginning of 2021 to $200 million today. It has no investments in Vladimir Putins Russia either. As a result, year to date MSCIs emerging-markets index is down 17%, but Tolles Freedom fund is off only 7.5%. Think of the Freedom ETF as a close relative of popular ESG funds, but instead of worrying about the environment or corporate governance, Tolle avoids investing in regimes that infringe on personal and economic freedoms.

Those risks crystallized last year, when China imposed a series of arbitrary fines against its largest tech companies, including a $2.8 billion penalty on Alibaba. Tencent and Alibaba were forced to pledge more than $30 billion to the governments common prosperity initiativesa gesture of appeasement Tolle calls shareholder theftand their stocks cratered. China also forced its thriving online tutoring companies to become nonprofits. Multibillion-dollar fortunes were erased overnight: Larry Chen, the founder of Gaotu Techedu, lost $10 billion last spring. Chinas woes dragged the MSCI Emerging Markets Index to a 2.5% loss in 2021, while Tolles fund gained 6.9%.

What does the Freedom ETF hold? Currently 21% of its portfolio is in Chilean companies such as Sociedad Qumica y Minera de Chile, one of the worlds largest producers of lithium (in demand for electric vehicle batteries) and iodine, which is essential for X-rays. Taiwan also ranks highly, as do South Korea and Poland.

Freer markets have more sustainable growth. They recover faster from drawdowns and they use their capital and labor more efficiently, Tolle says. I always expected that they would outperform, but I didnt expect it to play out this quickly.

Tolle originally intended to go to law school, but after her year in Hong Kong she began working as a financial advisor for Fidelity, first in Los Angeles and then in Houston. She had clients from Russia, Iran and Saudi Arabia who told her they wanted to avoid investing in their home countries, likening it to funding terrorism. That sensibility mirrored how she felt about China.

In 2014 she quit Fidelity to raise her daughter but continued attending industry conferences as she mulled the idea of a freedom fund. In 2016 she was invited to Cumberland Advisors exclusive Camp Kotok gathering of investment managers, traders and economists in Maines northern woods. On her way there she shared a seaplane with Rob Arnott, founder and chairman of Newport Beach, Californiabased Research Affiliates and an advocate of non-cap-weighted indexing strategies.

He heard my idea while I had him as a captive audience in the plane, because he couldnt do anything about it. He loved it, Tolle recalls.

After three days of fishing and drinking wine at the camp, Arnott committed to backing Tolle and later became an investor in her firm, Life & Liberty Indexes. Tolle created her index and shopped it to BlackRock and State Street, which turned her down. In 2018, she struck a deal with Alpha Architect, launching her ETF with the ticker FRDM in May 2019. Freedom 100 Emerging Markets ETF has a 0.49% expense fee, most of which goes to Tolle.

Working from her Houston home, Tolle rebalances her index yearly using the Human Freedom Index score calculated for 165 countries by the Cato Institute and Fraser Institute. The index rates economic and personal freedom on a scale of 0 to 10, using 82 variables covering everything from jailed journalists to international trade policy.

The freest emerging nations with liquid markets in 2021 were Taiwan (No. 19), Chile (28) and South Korea at 31 (the U.S. ranked 15th). Tolle takes the top 10 or 11 emerging markets and weights them based on their freedom scores; she then examines the 10 largest non-state-owned stocks in each country and weights them by market cap within their country weights.

Russia and China ranked 126th and 150th, respectively; from 2019 to 2021, India dropped from 94th to 119th after it blacked out the web to suppress farmers protests. Tolles ETF cares little about traditional ESG matters like carbon footprint, owning stock in Brazils iron giant Vale and Chilean forestry and energy conglomerate Empresas Copec.

Although the fund is down in 2022, its assets are double where it ended 2021 thanks to record inflows following Russias invasion of Ukraine.

What Russia did opened investors eyes to the risk in China, Tolle says. Market-cap weighting just doesnt work as well with emerging markets because it creates a dictatorship-funding monster. Thats what were here to solve.

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Beat The Market By Investing In Freedom And Shunning Places Like Russia And China - Forbes

Summer reading is back at the Oak Park Public Library. Our new program, Oceans of Possibilities, starts June 1 and runs all summer.

Oceans of Possibilities is for kids age 3 and up, and we have different activities for different age groups, including advanced-level challenges and prizes just for middle-schoolers (for kids under 3, check out our 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten program).

You can choose to read whatever you like: chapter books, graphic novels, the newspaper, or ebooks. You can listen to audiobooks and podcasts, or have someone else read aloud to you.

Keep track of your reading time and earn a bead or vinyl sticker for every hour, plus bonus beads for every five hours.

You could read to a dog and it would count (sorry, it doesnt count if a dog reads to you).

Your book does not have to be in English. It doesnt have to come from the library.

All reading is good reading. There are so many possibilities!

And reading isnt the only way to learn and have fun. We have tons of activities to choose from, to earn special beads too. Make art, move your body, listen to music, explore the world, or do a little science.

Everyone, everywhere is welcome to participate, and no library card is needed. So challenge your cousin in Kalamazoo, or a friend in Fargo, to join in.

Starting June 1, you can sign up online and start logging your reading and activities with Beanstack. You can access it through a web browser or download the Beanstack app to any device, including an Oak Park public school device.

If your family would benefit from a paper version of the program, stop into any library branch to pick one up, or its available to print at oppl.org/summer. Once you start earning prizes, you can stop into the library to pick them up when its convenient.

Visit the librarys Day in Our Village booth in Scoville Park on June 5, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., to learn more, or catch us out and about all summer on the librarys Book Bike (oppl.org/bike).

There are Oceans of Possibilities! Find all the details at oppl.org/summer.

Eileen Saam and Genevieve Grove are childrens librarians at the Oak Park Public Library.

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Summer reading: freedom, possibilities and fun - Wednesday Journal

On May 18, the House Judiciary Committee held a hearing Revoking Your Rights: The Ongoing Crisis in Abortion Care Access. Among those testifying was Dr. Michele Bratcher Goodwin, chancellors professor of law at the University of California, Irvine, and executive producer of Ms. Studios. A portion of her testimony submitted to Congress is published below.

Soon the Supreme Court will issue a ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization, a case that involves a Mississippi abortion ban at 15 weeks of pregnancy. If the Supreme Court allows Mississippis ban to go into effect, it will be endorsing Mississippis solicitation to overturn Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Caseythe two cases underpinning the constitutional right to abortion in the U.S.

If the Supreme Court dismantles Roe v. Wade and its legacy of jurisprudence, it will bring significant harm to all women and all people capable of pregnancy in anti-abortion states, while imposing a death sentence for Black and Brown women.

In this term, the Supreme Court demonstrated its willingness to selectively read and ignore its own jurisprudence when it allowed a draconian Texas abortion ban, Senate Bill 8, to go into effect. S.B. 8 is a ban on abortion after six weeks of pregnancy, before which many women, girls and pregnant-capable people even realize they are pregnant. As with its shameful predecessors, the Fugitive Slave Acts, the bounty provision incentivizes private individuals to spy upon, surveil and interfere with others who are asserting fundamental human and constitutional rights such as bodily autonomy, privacy and freedom.

When states coerce and force women, girls and people with the capacity for pregnancy to remain pregnant against their will, they create human chattel and incubators of them.

Similar to Texass S.B. 8 law, Mississippis ban provides no exceptions for cases of rape or incest.Stripping away these exceptions and forcing abortion providers to close their doors exposes the illogic and cruel political nature of these bans, which showcase the dismantling of democratic norms and principles. Two dozen states will likely respond with bans, some that trigger if Roe is overturned, that will gut reproductive freedoms in those states entirely or by significant degree.

When states coerce and force women, girls and people with the capacity for pregnancy to remain pregnant against their will, they create human chattel and incubators of them.By doing so, state lawmakers force their bodies into the service of state interests.

There is a cruel irony to this, buttressed on one end by the abolition of human slavery in the U.S., and on the other end, the repeal of draft laws that forced young men to surrender their bodies to the state in order to protect our nation.Today, Texas, Mississippi and other states with trigger bans make clear that the essences of chattel bondage and the draft have returnedbut only for women, girls and pregnant-capable people.

It was no secret the grave sexual harms and predations that Black girls and women experienced during chattel slavery, including forced reproduction under the most shameful and brutal circumstances.The writings of Harriet Jacobs, Frederick Douglass, W.E.B DuBois, and even receipts archived by President Thomas Jefferson, reveal the barbarism found in exploiting Black girls and womens reproduction for the interests of others rather than their own.

Since 1865, the Congress of the United States has considered the question of Black womens freedom from coercion and condemned bodily exploitation. Lawmakers were neither nave to the sexual exploitation and forced pregnancies of Black women, nor intended that only Black men would become freed from the bowels of slavery. In short, the originalist meaning of the 13th Amendment applied equally to Black women as Black men.

Not satisfied by the 13th Amendment alone making the strong case for Black peoples liberty and freedom, including that of Black women and not limited to that of Black men, Congress followed in 1868 with the ratification of the 14th Amendment.Neither the 14th Amendment nor any other article or amendment in the US. Constitution makes reference to fetuses, embryos or unborn children.

Notably, the 14th Amendment further secures the liberty interests of Black women who had been subjected to cruelties inflicted on them physically, reproductively and psychologically.

Clearly, the 13th and 14th Amendments were not intended only for Black menin text, practice or enforcement.Legal history demonstrates Congress did not intend that Black women would remain in the confines of human slavery. But time and again, the judiciary has overlooked this text and its application to all women and especially Black women on matters of reproductive health, rights and justice.

Both the Texas and Mississippi bills emerge from male-dominant legislatures that pay little attention to keeping women and girls alive during pregnancy in their states.Sadly, as history shows, the Texas and Mississippi of old, are also the Texas and Mississippi of todaystates whose legacies of resistance to the equality and freedom of Black and Brown women linger today.It continues to be the case that Black women are rendered invisible and dispensable in states that historically and legislatively have shown little regard for their lives.Black women are the canaries in the coal mine, and this period marks the New Jane Crow.

A dramatic proliferation in anti-abortion legislation in the United States has coincided with this nation becoming the deadliest in the developed world to be pregnant and attempt to give birth.

Simply put, in these states, women and girls cannot trust lawmakers with their livesand state and national health data explain why. During the past decadewith the chilling rise of extremism in American state legislatures and buttressed by the former presidents alarming promise to only nominate anti-abortion judgesa dramatic proliferation in anti-abortion legislation in the United States has coincided with this nation becoming the deadliest in the developed world to be pregnant and attempt to give birth.This crisis in America affects all women, girls and people of reproductive age and capacity.Yet, this crisis does not affect all women equally: Black women are 3.5 times more likely to die due to maternal mortality than their white counterparts.

Thus, despite claims to the contrary, banning abortion will not help Black women. In fact, the opposite will occur. Many will die. It is no coincidence that the states with the highest maternal mortality rates also lead the nation in anti-abortion legislation.

As a first step toward preserving womens health and protecting their constitutional interests, Congress can enact the Womens Health Protection Act, which would codify protections for abortion access in federal law and guarantee that even in a state such as Mississippi, a woman who needed an abortion could have one.

As a second step, Congress can enact a Reproductive Justice New Deal. This would protect women, girls and members of LGBTQ communities from potential future laws that would seek to ban abortion and punish pregnant people who seek to terminate a pregnancy. It would also proactively address poverty, which tethers the most vulnerable Americans to poor housing, education and health.

Finally, history reveals the cruelties of racism, sexism and white supremacy in forced labor and reproduction.It is an undeniable history recorded by this very Congress. And, should the Supreme Court dismantle Roe v. Wade, its decision will be the modern day corollary and appendage to Plessy v. Fergusonanchoring separate but equal legal discourse in matters of reproductive health, rights and justice.

Care about reproductive health, rights and justice?We do too.Sign Ms.s relaunched We Have Had Abortions petitionwhether you have had an abortion, or stand in solidarity with those who haveto let the Supreme Court, Congress and the White House know: We will not give up the right to safe, legal, accessible abortion. (Orgo back to the Beyond Roe essay collection.)

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The Urgency for Reproductive Freedom: From Slavery to the New Jane Crow - Ms. Magazine

Photo courtesy Tyler Baker

Guest speaker Alexander Kachin speaks about the differences between modern amphibious warfare and amphibious warfare during World War II at East Coweta High School.

Students in Tyler Bakers Advanced World War II class at East Coweta High School recently had a visit from Marine Corporal Alexander Kachin.

Kachin, a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom who served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 2004-2008, spoke to Bakers class about modern Marine Corps training, particularly in the field of amphibious warfare.

Kachin told students how modern amphibious warfare relates to the type of amphibious warfare Marines undertook during the island-hopping campaign in the Pacific Theater during World War II, as well as giving students insight into his Marine Corps service while on deployment in Iraq.

The second half of the discussion focused on the Russian invasion of Ukraine, with historical analysis of the current crisis. Kachin immigrated to the United States with his mother in 1997, and he has been using his knowledge of the region and its geopolitical dynamic to educate local civic groups as well as students about what they can do to make a difference for the Ukrainian people.

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Operation Iraqi Freedom vet speaks to ECHS history class - Newnan Times-Herald

I really believe that there is a strong relationship between the most intimate thing and the most political, says director Audrey Diwan. Her film Happening (now in theaters; streaming June 21) follows an ambitious high schooler, Anne, who faces an unplanned pregnancy in 1960s France. In choosing to get a covert abortion, Anne risks everythingher relationships, her lifefor a shot at a brighter future. Given the recent leaked Supreme Court decision set to overturn Roe v. Wade, Happening feels all too timely in its telling of a young girls quest for an abortion or, as Diwan puts it, her quest for freedom.

Happening is based on writer Annie Ernauxs 2001 autobiography, which struck Diwan for its brutal honesty. Diwan couldnt shake the stark differences between Ernauxs experience and her own medicalized abortion. I realized how lucky I was being born in 1980, she tells ELLE.com. Illegal abortion is filled with randomness. Who is the woman going to meet? Is this person going to help her or turn her in to the police? Is she going to end up in jail? Is she going to survive or die?

Ernauxs book stayed with Diwan for a year and a half before she began writing the screenplay. As it revealed itself, the story became one not so much about abortion, but about a driven girls desire for sexual and intellectual freedom. This is where Diwan drew inspiration from her own life. She and co-writer Marcia Romano discussed how best to bring sexuality into the story. Its part of our lives, Diwan says. Why should we be ashamed? I think that pleasure is beautiful, and the shame is a social product. So, she brought these subjects into the fold organically, first as a conversation between girlfriends, then in sexual imagery, then with a friend showing another how you do it, until finally, Anne is ready to think about her own pleasure, to embrace it, Diwan explains.

Happening is the kind of movie that stays with you long after its over, perhaps because of its intimacy and immediacy. The films crew, which was made up of some of Diwans longtime friends and collaborators, operated as a single brain. The director of photography became Annes shadow, pulling the focus of her eyes. Diwan approaches her subject patiently and without judgement. Her camera sits with Anne during some particularly excruciating moments in the process, making for a visceral, intensely physical viewing experience. We dwell in Annes silences and in her pain. Thats the point. What if we dont watch this girlwhat if we are this girl? What if we can relate to her beyond age, beyond gender? Diwan asks.

Embodying others experiences is the reason Diwan became a filmmaker to begin with. Through cinema, she says, Ive traveled through many lives and Im not the same person because it touches my psyche somehow. Shell pursue another womans story on her next project, which was announced this week: a reinvention of the 60s erotic novel Emmanuelle, starring La Seydoux. In a continuation of her work on Happening, its a story told through the body.

[Abortions are] happening, no question. The only question is how much pain we as human beings agree that girls should go through.

Diwans primary purpose in making Happening was to create art. But, from a political lens, she welcomes the dialogue that her film has sparked. At best, it becomes a vehicle for conversation, for opening minds. We all know that when girls are not allowed to have legal abortions, they go illegal. This is happening, no question. The only question is how much pain we as human beings agree that girls should go through.

In the film, those questions and confrontations are brought forth by actor Anamaria Vartolomei, in whom Diwans found an intellectual partner. As a director, I want to build with the actor, she says. Vartolomei thrived in the roles simplicity, which served the film well, as even the smallest inkling of a smile is magnified through Diwans camera.

Despite the years Diwan spent on the projectwriting it, pitching it, selling it, and ultimately receiving the 2021 Venice Film Festivals Golden Lion award for itits difficult for her to remove herself from the story. When you tell the truth, you get hurt, she says. I remember during one sequence on set, I was very concentrated until I was crying so loudly that the sound engineer came to me and said, Audrey, Im sorry, I cant hear anymore. Im the first viewer, the first audience, of the movie. It wasnt easy to make, for sure.

Diwans portrayal of a young girl undergoing an illegal abortion is unflinchingbut at no point did the director set out to make a moral movie. I love the fact that the book starts, and she has already decided. So, its not a movie about how you make the choice. Its about how you actually make it happen. Partway into the film, after Anne has gone through a brutally painful abortion attempt, she defends her decision to her doctor. I would like a child one day, but not instead of a life, she says. Herein lies the radical earnestness of Diwans storytelling. Its the story of one girl with big dreams in 1960s provincial France. But, as is the case with the most deeply personal stories, it might just be the kind of story that helps others.

I never tried to make the movie a manifesto, Diwan says, but I knew that it would become organically political because I was really trying to tell the truth about that girl, and then, it becomes a story about many girls in the world. While touring with the film earlier this month, Diwan found herself in Atlanta days before the Supreme Court leak. After the screening, a group of young girls approached her and said, We are the girls that are going to die. I went back home, hearing those girls and thinking, Where are the people that actually listen to them? Diwan says. It was a very strange and strong moment, feeling between fiction and reality.

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Director Audrey Diwan on 'Happening,' Abortion, and Women's Freedom - ELLE

In an age of specialization in high school sports, its a rarity to find student-athletes who attempt multiple sports much less excel at them.

In the 2021-22 school year, few athletes excelled in more than one sport better than Freedoms Connor Bevan and Allentown Central Catholics Julia Roth.

Not only did they shine on various sports stages, but they also were among the best in the classroom. Thats why Bevan and Roth were announced Tuesday night as the male and female athletes of the year on The Lehigh Valley Orthopedic Institutes ninth annual Athlete of the Year Awards broadcast on PBS39.

The Athlete of the Year event was the culminating celebration of the Athlete of the Week program, sponsored by Lehigh Valley Orthopedic Institute. The 35-week program, featured in The Morning Call, gives the public an opportunity to vote from three male and three female student-athletes weekly. Each weekly male and female winner, 64 in all, received a $500 scholarship.

All weekly winners were eligible for the top prize of a $10,000 scholarship, an award based on academics, community leadership, and athletic accomplishments.

In addition to the Athlete of the Year winners, other non-monetary awards announced during the broadcast included Comeback Athlete of the Year, Coach of the Year, presented by The Morning Call, and the Community Support Award, presented by PBS39.

Bevan was a state qualifier in wrestling and perhaps made an even larger mark on the lacrosse field where he helped the Patriots make the EPC tournament for the first time.

Freedom's Connor Bevan, top, wrestles Liberty's Elijah Reid at 152 pounds Jan. 26, 2022, during a match at Freedom High School in Bethlehem. (April Gamiz / HANDOUT)

He went over 100 goals and 200 points in his career, both Freedom records, even though he lost his sophomore season to the pandemic. He had six goals in a game against Emmaus this year and is headed to Misericordia.

On the PBS39 show, Bevan was reached while on the team bus as the Freedom lacrosse team was returning from its 15-8 win over Delaware Valley in the District 11-2 subregional. He was surrounded by his teammates who celebrated as he got the news. He also got his teammmates fired up by saying theyre going to be going for a championship Thursday night against Easton.

Thank you so much, he said from the bus. Thanks to my family, my friends, my teammates, my coaches ... everybody who pushed me hard in academics and athletics to get this award and this scholarship. Thank you Lehigh Valley.

Roth is a standout four-sport athlete who earned 16 varsity letters in her career at Central. She was a four-year letterwinner in cross country, soccer, basketball, and track, and field. In the fall she balanced and excelled competing in both cross country and soccer. She medaled at the District 11 cross country championships with a ninth-place finish and was named team MVP in soccer in helping the Vikettes win the PIAA Class 2A crown.

She was also an EPC all-star, an all-state selection, and The Morning Calls player of the year in soccer and praised for excelling on the defensive end and for her leadership as a team captain.

She only scored one goal in soccer but scored much more in basketball. She led legendary coach Mike Kopps final team in scoring at 12.5 points per game and was also the teams top rebounder and was named first-team all-EPC. She was also a four-year letter winner in track and was the schools nominee for EPC scholar-athlete in three sports cross country, soccer, and basketball. She is ranked among the top students in her senior class.

Allentown Central Catholic's Julia Roth earned 16 varsity letters in her high school career. (Amy Shortell/The Morning Call)

Roth is rehabbing from a major knee injury suffered late in the basketball season but plans to continue her basketball career at Susquehanna University.

This is so exciting; I cant believe it ... its incredible, Roth said from just outside a downtown Allentown restaurant where she was watching the event at a viewing party. This is such a great surprise and its so nice to have so many family and friends here with me to celebrate with me because weve been through everything together.

Asked by Amy Fadool, the shows host, about navigating through four sports in one school year, Roth said: I definitely couldnt have done it without my family, especially my parents, who made it work with all of my busy schedules and also my coaches. They had a lot of patience with me [from coaches] to let me do everything they let me do. It was just an awesome experience and I cant thank them enough.

While Roth is vowing to make it back from her injury, another member of her family was celebrated for making her own comeback.

Roths younger sister, Samantha, a sophomore at ACCHS, who competed with her sister in soccer, basketball, and track and field, was presented with the comeback athlete award after battling back from an ACL injury and scoring the game-winning goal in the 2-1 win over Avonworth for the PIAA Class 2A soccer title.

That ACCHS state championship soccer team, coached by Rob Spatzer, won the fan favorite girls team award after going 17-3-3 overall record,.

Central Catholics Meredith Eisenmann (15) celebrates after scoring the first goal of the game against Holy Redeemer in the first half of play during a Class 2A soccer playoff match Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2021, at Catasauqua Middle School. (Rick Kintzel/Morning Call)

Parkland High Schools Demi Olatilo, a member of the girls soccer team, was the Community Support Award winner.

The Parkland boys basketball team, which won the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference and District 11 6A championship, was the fan favorite boys team.

Skyler Searfoss, the phenomenal Jim Thorpe talent who was The Morning Calls girls basketball player of the year, was the female athlete fan favorite. She finished her career with 1,787 points, plus loads of assists and steals.

Cooper King, who was the quarterback on Northamptons record-setting 12-1 football team and a clutch player on the Konkrete Kids boys basketball team that reached the third round of the state tournament, was the male athlete fan favorite.

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Chad Shirk, who led Saucon Valley to the PIAA Class 2A team championship in wrestling, was the male coach of the year.

The other boys nominees were Liberty swimming coach Reik Foust and Nazareth cross country coach Ken Rolek.

This award wouldnt have been possible without the amazing student-athletes who were on our team this year, Shirk said. Without their hard work and sacrifices none of this would have been possible.

Emmaus field hockey coach Sue Butz-Stavin. (Amy Shortell / The Morning Call)

The legendary Sue Butz-Stavin, who led Emmaus to its second straight PIAA Class 3A field hockey crown and 14 overall was the female coach of the year. Butz-Stavin has the Green Hornets on a 44-game winning streak. Last fall she reached her 1,000th career win and her 46-year career is a staggering 1,015-87-35.

Other girls nominees were Spatzer, Parkland girls basketball coach Ed Ohlson and Parkland girls wrestling coach Jon Trenge.

Its an honor to receive this award and many thanks to our assistant coaches who do an amazing job and our student-athletes for their dedication and excellence on the playing field and in the classroom, Butz-Stavin said, who won the honor for the second straight year. Congratulations to our players for their accomplishments. Im so proud of them. Im honored to be their coach.

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Freedom's Connor Bevan and Allentown Central Catholic's Julia Roth earn Athlete of the Year honors - The Morning Call

Leading proxy advisors, asset managers and institutions are backing a shareholder proposal filed by SHARE and the Catherine Donnelly Foundation

TORONTO, May 24, 2022 /PRNewswire/ - Leading independent proxy advisors Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) and Glass Lewis recommend votes for the first shareholder proposal on freedom of association and collective bargaining to be heard at Amazon.com, Inc.'s annual meeting Wednesday.

Leading proxy advisors & institutions are backing a shareholder proposal filed by SHARE at the Amazon AGM May 25.

The shareholder proposal filed by SHARE (Shareholder Association for Research and Education), representing the Toronto-based Catherine Donnelly Foundation, urges Amazon's board of directors to review how the Company's actions in the face of union organizing efforts align with its stated commitment to freedom of association and collective bargaining and core International Labour Organization Conventions.

The vote comes as Amazon is navigating a storm of controversy over reports of recent attempts to undermine workers' rights to form or join a union.

Major institutional investors including the US$1.2 trillion Norges Bank, the US$1 trillion asset manager Schroders, the $263 billion New York City Pension Plans, the $250 billion Florida SBA and the $312 billion pension fund CalSTRS have also indicated they will vote for the proposal.

In its report, ISS recognized that "the company is facing ongoing controversy with respect to its warehouse operations and suppliers, and agreed that "[s]hareholders would benefit from increased disclosure and transparency, in order to comprehensively assess how the company is managing human rights-related risks, especially regarding freedom of association issues in its warehouse operations in the U.S. and abroad."

"You can't tell shareholders one thing and then do exactly the opposite," said Kevin Thomas, SHARE CEO. "When Amazon tells us they respect freedom of association but we see public reports of repeated anti-union behavior by management, the integrity of this company's management and the integrity of its statements to shareholders are called into question. As Amazon shareholders we have a historic chance to show management that fundamental rights are not to be messed with."

Over the past years, Amazon has been subject to negative high profile and overwhelming media coverage in the U.S and internationally accusing the Company of limiting these fundamental rights through the use of several anti-union tactics, including intimidation strategies, retaliation actions and surveillance systems. Such practices directly contradict Amazon's own commitment "to non-discrimination and non-retaliation that ensures equal treatment for union and non-union employees."

A reportpublished by the Center for Law and Work (CLAW) at Berkeley Law on May 16, 2022, indicates that "that Amazon's freedom of association policy, on its face, is non-compliant with international labor standards, and Amazon management's conduct before and after issuing the policy continues to violate international standards."

"Amazon's track record of aggressive suppression of freedom of association deprives its workers of the fundamental rights to organise together and bargain collectively for fair wages and working conditions, and vital health and safety protections. Shareholders, by voting to support the people who make Amazon's business work, can help change this" said Sharan Burrow, General Secretary, International Trade Union Confederation.

Amazon must respect the freedom of working people to come together in a union and negotiate for a fair return on our work," said AFL-CIO President Elizabeth Shuler. "By voting for this proposal, shareholders can uphold workers' rights and help make Amazon a better company for its employees, customers, communities, and investors." she added.

About SHARE

SHARE is a leader in responsible investment services, research and education for institutional investors, providing shareholder engagement, consulting services, education and timely research that help investors integrate environmental, social and governance issues into the investment management process.

SOURCE SHARE (The Shareholder Association for Research and Education)

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AMID GROWING CONTROVERSY, AMAZON SHAREHOLDERS SET FOR HISTORIC VOTE TOMORROW ON FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION AND COLLECTIVE BARGAINING - PR Newswire

As the nation is reeling again from a violent act of white supremacy to the pending SCOTUS decision on abortion rights to the fragility of the access to vote, Black women are still facing unrelenting attacks on their fundamental rights and freedoms in America.

Since the 2013 Shelby v. Holder decision, state-level voter suppression laws have increased where anti-choice bills and laws are plentiful. These laws disproportionately impact Black womens right to vote and access to all forms of reproductive healthcare and abortion literally silencing their voices and controlling their bodies.

With the threat to end Roe v. Wade at the forefront of our national discourse, many often forget that the majority of women who seek an abortion in the United States are already mothers. According to the Guttmacher Institute, an estimated 59 percent of abortions were obtained by women with children.

Voting is being touted as a tool to offset the impact of a Roe reversal, but the reality is voting as a Black mother has barriers, especially in Georgia. As a new mother in 2018, my fianc and I decided to vote early, believing wed be able to avoid major lines. We ventured out with our four-month-old daughter to one of our local early voting locations.

We were shocked by the line wrapped around the building because there werent enough voting machines for the number of people in line. I remember struggling to keep my baby swaddled in the crisp November air and thinking about where I could nurse her once I was inside. We waited in line for three hours that day, and I know my experience isnt unique.

At the organization I founded and lead, Women Engaged, we listen to the stories of other Black women across the state who have to navigate similar challenges when voting. Mothers have critical decisions they must make to exercise their right to vote.

Will my child or children be able to handle waiting in line for multiple hours? Can I make it to my childs daycare on time to pick them up if I find myself waiting in a long line to vote? How can I ensure a safe environment for my family when voting?

As mothers, so much is on the line for us, our families and our communities this year. But the question remains, how do we ensure every mother can cast their ballot?

During Women Engageds 2018 election protection work in the predominantly Black neighborhood of Pittsburgh in Southwest Atlanta, we were able to hand out snacks to waiting voters and their hungry children, many of who had been waiting in line for four hours.

The so-called Election Integrity Act of 2021, otherwise known as SB202, prevents people from distributing food or water to voters standing in line, which impacts the voter and anyone standing in line with them, including their children. Voters in Georgia must now navigate voter suppression bills that attempt to restrict voters basic needs to vote, disproportionately impacting Black women and creating another obstacle for disenfranchised populations to exercise their right to vote.

When Black women vote consistently and their access is protected, they vote with their communities and families in mind. Something SB202 attempts to undermine. Given the history of long lines and wait times, we cannot assume every person can take time off.

Voters who lack adequate childcare or paid time off to vote may choose between their childrens comfort and waiting in a long line to vote. Paid time off to vote is not universal, nor are companies required to provide it to employees.

Also, as major decisions regarding the bodies of Black women continue to be on the ballot, local and federal policymakers must ensure our right to vote is fully protected under the law. Congress must pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, which would prevent states from attempting to police elections without federal approval.

Black mothers and women must have a space to use their voices and champion the critical issues that affect our bodies through free and fair access to the ballot box. In a statewide poll, funded by ProGeorgia and administered by my team at Women Engaged and other community partners, out of 30,000 people surveyed, nearly 80 percent reported childcare for children under 12 would help them vote.

We believe that state policymakers and the Board of Elections should partner with childcare centers near polling locations to better support Black mothers and others needing childcare while they vote. When Georgians take the Women Engaged pledge to vote, they can indicate their needs, such as childcare, and we help connect them to resources to assist them in those services.

Access to comprehensive reproductive health care can help reduce Georgias high maternal mortality rate for Black women. Georgias expansion of Medicaid would ensure all Black women can afford and access quality healthcare.

Voting rights are fundamental to a healthy democracy, and reproductive rights are critical to self-determination. Black mothers can create the changes we hope to see in the future for ourselves, our families, and our communities and we demand to have our voices heard and needs met.

Malika Redmond is the co-founder and CEO of Atlanta-based Women Engaged.

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Original post:

Black Mothers Vote With Autonomy And Freedom In Mind - NewsOne

By John DiGenio

Monday, May 30, Memorial Day, is a time of and a time for solemnity to honor our distinguished fallen heroes.

A hero, in this sense, is any member of the Armed Services valiantly executing his (or her) duties, sometimes wondering why, for, at times, it seemed so foolish, so worthless, and so wasteful. But the courageous service member performed, sometimes at the cost of his (or her) own life.

Memorial Day makes me reflect on the Korean War. The Demilitarized Zone the DMZ separating North and South Korea allows one to fully comprehend the true meaning of Memorial Day. It reinforces the important lesson that the blessings of liberty come at a great cost.

Korea remains one of the worlds remaining flashpoints. The DMZ, the final frontier separating liberty from tyranny, serves as a grim reminder that the acrimonious flames of the Cold War have yet to be fully extinguished. An eerie, thunderous silence permeates the Joint Security Area, the Demilitarized Zone, running along the 38th Parallel that separates the prosperous south from its bellicose neighbor to the north.

North Korea maintains one of the largest, forward deployed standing armies in the world. North Koreas offensive posture -- coupled with its continuing development of ballistic missiles, weapons of mass destruction, and highly trained special operations forces -- causes the Korean peninsula to be highly volatile. North Korea has reneged on almost every international agreement. That rogue state participates in illicit activities such as prostitution and human trafficking, supporting terrorist activities, narcotics and weapons trade, and counterfeiting U.S. currency to disrupt the stability of the Korean peninsula and the Pacific theater, undermine efforts to combat international terrorism, and weaken the enduring and endearing alliance between the Republic of Korea and the United States of America, an alliance forged on the battlefield and sealed by the lives of those who courageously fought to preserve freedom and democracy.

Some 72 years ago, on June 25, 1950, well-equipped military forces from a Soviet-backed North Korea invaded the South. By that time, considering the events that had just occurred in Europe, the Western world had become more aware, more concerned and more apprehensive about the aggressive and oppressive maneuverings of rogue nations. Consequently, led by the United States, the Allied world responded to the Norths aggression.

Technically speaking, since no peace treaty has ever been signed to permanently terminate hostilities, South Korea, the Allied nations and North Korea remain at war. Instead, an armistice, an agreement to temporarily cease hostilities, remains in effect. By the time the armistice was signed on July 27, 1953, some 37,000 U.S. and 138,000 South Korean military members had given their lives to defend and secure freedom on the Korean peninsula. Their ultimate sacrifices were not in vain!

Today, the Republic of Korea stands as a living testimony to the sacrifices made during the Korean War. The Republic of Korea is a miraculous success story. Antiquated infrastructures have succumbed to modern technological developments. Parochial economic systems have acquiesced to expanding interest and active participation in international markets, to the extent that the Republic of Korea has the 10th largest economy in the world.

Without the hardships endured by U.S. service members heroically executing their duties in places such as the Busan Perimeter, the Chosin Reservoir, Heartbreak Ridge, and Pork Chop Hill, South Korea would have been denied the opportunity to emerge as a free, independent, and self-determined nation.

The Republic of Korea and the United States continue to stand shoulder-to-shoulder in a combined effort to defend Freedoms Frontier along the 38th Parallel. Our two nations are firmly committed to preserving the peace, prosperity and liberty in the Republic of Korea.

Over the years, we have corrupted this day of reverence into just another national holiday. Sadly, we tend to take for granted the ultimate sacrifices that brave individuals have made to preserve those endearing and enduring freedoms and liberties that all of us enjoy.

On Memorial Day, we should remember the valuable lesson of the Korean War: Freedom is never free. We should take some time to reflect on those brave individuals of the Armed Services who died so we can continue to enjoy the blessings of liberty and live in freedom.

John DiGenio is a resident of Jersey City currently employed with U.S. Forces Korea. The views expressed are his and do not necessarily represent the official views of the U.S. government.

Send letters to the editor and guest columns for The Jersey Journal to jjletters@jjournal.com.

Read the original:

Letter from Korea: Freedom is never free | Opinion - NJ.com

It was no surprise that the recent law proposed in India forcing VPN companies (among others) to retain data for up to five years, sparked such outrage across the tech industry and its users. A number of the best VPN services vocally criticized the new directive, raising concerns over the negative impact it would have on people's privacy.

However, India is not alone. This is just the latest attempt to curb the freedom of the internet as we know it. As ExpressVPN vice president Harold Li told us: "While we find their actions deeply concerning, this type of excessive government interference is neither new nor unique in the current geopolitical landscape."

According to the 2021 Freedom House report, at least 48 countries out of the 70 analyzed carried out legislative or administrative actions with the aim of regulating tech companies over the past year. New regulations range from how platforms treat content to how these need to store and share users' data.

Although all this isn't necessarily a bad thing - if well-crafted these directives actually have the potential to mitigate online harm - these regulations can easily be abused to enforce mass surveillance on citizens while repressing dissident voices.

In a world where the freedom of the internet keeps worsening - according to Freedom House this has already been happening for 11 years in a row - what's at stake for people's privacy and free speech online?

India's new data law is only the latest move from governments to acquire more control over people's data while undermining the work of security software like proxies and virtual private networks. As a government official said to The Economic Times: "It's an evolution. All the countries are moving in that direction."

That's sadly true. Around 38 nations pursued legal reforms affecting tech companies management of users' data in 2021, Freedom House reported. Like in the case of India, domestic data storage is particularly worrying in countries with a bad track record when it comes to citizen surveillance in the name of public security.

This type of excessive government interference is neither new nor unique in the current geopolitical landscape.

Across Asia, governments have been recently active in drafting new rules or implementing old legislation. As Pakistani lawyer and internet activist Nighat Dad told Wired UK: "South Asian governments are basically competing with each other in this operational Olympics around violating the digital rights of their citizens.

Vietnam's Cybersecurity Law now requires both large and small online platforms to collect data on local servers for authorities to access in case of public order related matters. The vagueness of this directive puts journalists and activists at high risk. The same thing happened in Bangladesh with its new data protection bill, while Pakistan is seeking to force social media companies to establish data servers within the country.

Concerns have also been raised in Indonesia where, since the end of 2020, digital platforms must register with the communications ministry whilst granting access to their systems and data on request. Not to mention China with its 2017 Cybersecurity Law that is forcing tech companies to store users' data on local servers and decrypt those following authorities' orders.

And the trend keeps enduring with countries like United Arabic Emirates and Turkey, for example, requiring the local storage of users' confidential data. In Iran, if the proposed Regulatory System for Cyberspace Services Bill becomes law, foreign tech firms will need to collect and provide the identity and history of their users activities upon government request.

Not just the privacy and security of users' data is under siege, governments across the world are threatening to undermine encryption too. This process to scramble data to make it unreadable to third parties is the base for cybersecurity tools like Tor and VPN services as well as secure messaging apps such as Signal.

In May 2021, WhatsApp sued the Indian government stating that the traceability requirements of identifying the "first originator of information" will actually violate the constitutional right to privacy. At the same time, Pakistan requires social media and service providers with more than 500,000 users to share with authorities decrypted data if requested.

Under the proposed Internet Freedom, Responsibility, and Transparency Act, in Brazil private messaging apps will need to store for three months data of viral messages - these are those forwarded to more than five accounts that reach at least 1,000 users.

There are also many countries where VPNs have been made illegal (like in Russia, Turkey, North Korea), while other nations are trying to ban (Iran, for example) or limiting their use for similar reasons (China and UAE).

The battle against end-to-end encryption seems to be at the top of worldwide democratic leaders' agenda, too. They see this practice as an impediment to national security, criminal, and child sexual abuse investigations. However, these regulations still have the potential of being misused to the detriment of civil liberties.

Take the controversial EU draft rules to counter child abuses online as an example. Once becoming law, it will force messaging companies to scan private chats to check for harmful content. If implemented, the directive will bring in a de facto ban to end-to-end encryption.Privacy experts are calling the invasive proposal unworkable, leading to creeping mass surveillance. While other fears that this could also undermine US users, where abortion rights are rapidly declining.

Furthermore, the attempt to moderate the content shared online is sparking concerns among experts. With more and more countries proposing new legislations aimed to take direct control on social media platforms' moderation content, a limited freedom of expression and increased censorship online seems to be the possible outcomes.

"The danger posed by the worst initiatives is immense," reads the 2021 Freedom of the Net report. "If placed in the hands of the state, the ability to censor, surveil, and manipulate people en masse can facilitate large-scale political corruption, subversion of the democratic process, and repression of political opponents and marginalized populations."

Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Myanmar, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka all have been reported to experience a decline in internet freedom, with Myanmar marking the most severe downturn that the report has ever documented.

Not to mention countries like Russia, China and Turkey where social media platforms and dissident voices are actively censored on an almost daily basis.

However, even Western democracies are seeking to expand their control over what people post online. Even if the apparent intention might be aimed to eliminate harmful speech, the opportunity for these regulations to be abused is high.

Even though the UK Online Safety Bill - currently being discussed in the House of Common - recognizes the duty to protect journalistic content and free of expression, every day users will have their posts removed if deemed "legal but harmful" content.

The vagueness of this directive, together with the fact that politicians will have a say to what social media platforms will need to censor, has sparked many concerns. So far, a petition against this point has already reached more than 50,000 signatures.

As the founder of Hide.me VPN, Sebastian Schaub, wrote recently on TechRadar: "Internet freedom is very much under threat. When you see governments around the world making moves to exert greater control over their internet fiefdoms, it is done under a banner of falsehoods - citizens are told that it is being done for some kind of greater good, to provide safety or to keep business strong.

The truth is that they want greater control over their people, the ability to spy on them, to deny them platforms from which they can espouse their views. That people should be free to share ideas, knowledge and opinions with others underpins the notion of free speech, democracy, freedom."

Compare the best India VPN services right now:

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How 'excessive government interference' is threatening internet freedom as we know it - TechRadar