Category Archives: Freedom

State Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington Washington D.C. West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming Puerto Rico US Virgin Islands Armed Forces Americas Armed Forces Pacific Armed Forces Europe Northern Mariana Islands Marshall Islands American Samoa Federated States of Micronesia Guam Palau Alberta, Canada British Columbia, Canada Manitoba, Canada New Brunswick, Canada Newfoundland, Canada Nova Scotia, Canada Northwest Territories, Canada Nunavut, Canada Ontario, Canada Prince Edward Island, Canada Quebec, Canada Saskatchewan, Canada Yukon Territory, Canada

Zip Code

Country United States of America US Virgin Islands United States Minor Outlying Islands Canada Mexico, United Mexican States Bahamas, Commonwealth of the Cuba, Republic of Dominican Republic Haiti, Republic of Jamaica Afghanistan Albania, People's Socialist Republic of Algeria, People's Democratic Republic of American Samoa Andorra, Principality of Angola, Republic of Anguilla Antarctica (the territory South of 60 deg S) Antigua and Barbuda Argentina, Argentine Republic Armenia Aruba Australia, Commonwealth of Austria, Republic of Azerbaijan, Republic of Bahrain, Kingdom of Bangladesh, People's Republic of Barbados Belarus Belgium, Kingdom of Belize Benin, People's Republic of Bermuda Bhutan, Kingdom of Bolivia, Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana, Republic of Bouvet Island (Bouvetoya) Brazil, Federative Republic of British Indian Ocean Territory (Chagos Archipelago) British Virgin Islands Brunei Darussalam Bulgaria, People's Republic of Burkina Faso Burundi, Republic of Cambodia, Kingdom of Cameroon, United Republic of Cape Verde, Republic of Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad, Republic of Chile, Republic of China, People's Republic of Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Colombia, Republic of Comoros, Union of the Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, People's Republic of Cook Islands Costa Rica, Republic of Cote D'Ivoire, Ivory Coast, Republic of the Cyprus, Republic of Czech Republic Denmark, Kingdom of Djibouti, Republic of Dominica, Commonwealth of Ecuador, Republic of Egypt, Arab Republic of El Salvador, Republic of Equatorial Guinea, Republic of Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Faeroe Islands Falkland Islands (Malvinas) Fiji, Republic of the Fiji Islands Finland, Republic of France, French Republic French Guiana French Polynesia French Southern Territories Gabon, Gabonese Republic Gambia, Republic of the Georgia Germany Ghana, Republic of Gibraltar Greece, Hellenic Republic Greenland Grenada Guadaloupe Guam Guatemala, Republic of Guinea, Revolutionary People's Rep'c of Guinea-Bissau, Republic of Guyana, Republic of Heard and McDonald Islands Holy See (Vatican City State) Honduras, Republic of Hong Kong, Special Administrative Region of China Hrvatska (Croatia) Hungary, Hungarian People's Republic Iceland, Republic of India, Republic of Indonesia, Republic of Iran, Islamic Republic of Iraq, Republic of Ireland Israel, State of Italy, Italian Republic Japan Jordan, Hashemite Kingdom of Kazakhstan, Republic of Kenya, Republic of Kiribati, Republic of Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Republic of Kuwait, State of Kyrgyz Republic Lao People's Democratic Republic Latvia Lebanon, Lebanese Republic Lesotho, Kingdom of Liberia, Republic of Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Liechtenstein, Principality of Lithuania Luxembourg, Grand Duchy of Macao, Special Administrative Region of China Macedonia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Madagascar, Republic of Malawi, Republic of Malaysia Maldives, Republic of Mali, Republic of Malta, Republic of Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania, Islamic Republic of Mauritius Mayotte Micronesia, Federated States of Moldova, Republic of Monaco, Principality of Mongolia, Mongolian People's Republic Montserrat Morocco, Kingdom of Mozambique, People's Republic of Myanmar Namibia Nauru, Republic of Nepal, Kingdom of Netherlands Antilles Netherlands, Kingdom of the New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua, Republic of Niger, Republic of the Nigeria, Federal Republic of Niue, Republic of Norfolk Island Northern Mariana Islands Norway, Kingdom of Oman, Sultanate of Pakistan, Islamic Republic of Palau Palestinian Territory, Occupied Panama, Republic of Papua New Guinea Paraguay, Republic of Peru, Republic of Philippines, Republic of the Pitcairn Island Poland, Polish People's Republic Portugal, Portuguese Republic Puerto Rico Qatar, State of Reunion Romania, Socialist Republic of Russian Federation Rwanda, Rwandese Republic Samoa, Independent State of San Marino, Republic of Sao Tome and Principe, Democratic Republic of Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of Senegal, Republic of Serbia and Montenegro Seychelles, Republic of Sierra Leone, Republic of Singapore, Republic of Slovakia (Slovak Republic) Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia, Somali Republic South Africa, Republic of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands Spain, Spanish State Sri Lanka, Democratic Socialist Republic of St. Helena St. Kitts and Nevis St. Lucia St. Pierre and Miquelon St. Vincent and the Grenadines Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Suriname, Republic of Svalbard & Jan Mayen Islands Swaziland, Kingdom of Sweden, Kingdom of Switzerland, Swiss Confederation Syrian Arab Republic Taiwan, Province of China Tajikistan Tanzania, United Republic of Thailand, Kingdom of Timor-Leste, Democratic Republic of Togo, Togolese Republic Tokelau (Tokelau Islands) Tonga, Kingdom of Trinidad and Tobago, Republic of Tunisia, Republic of Turkey, Republic of Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu Uganda, Republic of Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom of Great Britain & N. Ireland Uruguay, Eastern Republic of Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Viet Nam, Socialist Republic of Wallis and Futuna Islands Western Sahara Yemen Zambia, Republic of Zimbabwe

See more here:

Freedom Town Column: Selectmen's meetings have resumed at the town office - Conway Daily Sun

Was Sound of Freedom owned by Disney, and was the movie shelved by the studio? Heres what you should know.

Sound of Freedom is a new thriller movie telling the true story of Tim Ballard (Jim Caviezel), a federal agent who launched Operation Underground Railroad (OUR), a nonprofit organization focused on rescuing children from sex trafficking rings.

The film has been the talk of the town due to the controversy surrounding it and its unprecedented box office performance, earning third spot in the domestic charts just behind Indiana Jones 5 and Barbie.

Article continues after ad

Since dropping on July 4, a debate has emerged on social media in relation to Sound of Freedoms distribution and its association with Disney so, heres what you need to know.

Article continues after ad

Yes, Disney was the previous owner of the rights to Sound of Freedom after it completed its acquisition of 21st Century Fox in 2019.

Even though the film only just hit cinemas last week, development on the script started all the way back in 2015. It was shot three years later, during which time a distribution deal was made with the 20th Century Fox movie studio.

Article continues after ad

But when the Disney-Fox merger went ahead and the House of Mouse took over the rights, the media giant shelved the project. What ensued was an alleged battle for the filmmakers to set Sound of Freedom, well, free.

Article continues after ad

The movies producer, Eduardo Verastegui, spoke about the passionate drive to get Tim Ballards story out there, telling the Washington Examiner that despite the film being finished in 2018, no one wanted to distribute it for years.

Article continues after ad

The outlet stated that Netflix and Amazon passed, adding: Every studio was worried about losing money.

But this all changed in fall 2022, when Verastegui met with the CEO of Angel Studios, Neal Harmon, who co-founded the company alongside his brothers Jeffrey and Jordan.

Although the Harmons are reported to be members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS) and the studio is behind The Chosen, a TV series about the life of Jesus, the company isnt formally associated with any specific religion.

Article continues after ad

Article continues after ad

Angle Studios, which runs its own streaming service of the same name, uses equity crowdfunding to finance its projects, allowing investors the chance to buy shares in the firm and its productions.

And when the company showed Sound of Freedom to its investors, they were excited about the project in March this year, Angel Studios agreed to distribute the film.

Jordan Harmon told the outlet that in the space of less than 10 days, approximately 7,200 people invested $5 million to ensure the film went out into the world.

Article continues after ad

So far, it appears theyre set to make a return on their investment, with Sound of Freedom surpassing expectations at the box office.

Fewer Ads|Dark Mode|Deals in Gaming, TV and Movies, and Tech

Article continues after ad

Unfortunately, Disney hasnt released an official statement explaining why it shelved Sound of Freedom, but theres plenty of speculation about the situation online, with some suggesting it could be related to the controversy surrounding the film.

As we explained in our article on the subject, there have been doubts about the legitimacy of OURs rescue missions, with a 2020 investigation led by Vice World News indicating a divide between the groups actual practices and some of its claimed successes.

Article continues after ad

At the time, the Attorneys Office of Davis County, Utah, stated that OUR and Tim Ballard were under criminal investigation in relation to complaints that the organization had carried out illegal fundraising activities, although the investigation was dropped this year.

Article continues after ad

But most alarming for many has been Sound of Freedoms association with QAnon. Both Ballard and the actor who plays him, Jim Caviezel, previously shared their support for conspiracy theories born from the movement, which believes that Satanic elitists are operating a child sex trafficking ring and conspired against Donald Trump during his presidency.

Article continues after ad

In its review of the film, Rolling Stone wrote: Over and over, the far right turns to these sordid fantasies about godless monsters hurting children. Now, as in the 1980s Satanic panic, they wont even face the fact that most kids who suffer sexual abuse are harmed not by a shadowy cabal of strangers, but at the hands of a family member.

Article continues after ad

To know thousands of adults will absorb Sound of Freedom, this vigilante fever dream, and come away thinking themselves better informed on a hidden civilizational crisis well, its profoundly depressing.

Article continues after ad

On the other side of the fence, those in support of Ballard, OUR, and Sound of Freedom have accused Disney of rejecting the distribution deal and the media of linking it to to prevent the truth from spreading to viewers across America.

Some go as far as to claim the House of Mouse is part of the so-called Satanic Hollywood elite. Taking to Twitter, one wrote: Disney TURNED DOWN Sound of Freedom but made a satanic movie about a teenage girl having a baby with a devil. Why was DISNEY against fighting child trafficking but OK with satanism?!

Article continues after ad

Article continues after ad

Another, who shared an image of Ghislaine Maxwell at Disney, said: Disney owned the rights to the newly released anti-child sex trafficking movie, The Sound of Freedom after it acquired Fox Studios.

However, Disney did not release the movie. But instead decided to fight back and forth with Jos Eduardo Verstegui Crdoba who then obtained the distribution rights to the movie and then took it over to Angel Studios so that the movie could finally be released and we the public would finally have the chance to see the movie after it ate dust for 5 years sitting on a shelf.

Article continues after ad

Article continues after ad

And a third asked: @Disney just wondering if you wanted to make a statement about the claims from the Sound of Freedom, people saying you stonewalled the release of their film. A lot of people would like to know your official position on this matter.

Thats all we know about Disneys former ownership of Sound of Freedom, but well be sure to keep this post updated if the House of Mouse releases a statement on the matter.

Article continues after ad

Sound of Freedom can be streamed on Prime Video, which you can sign up forhere. You can also check out our other coverage below:

Article continues after ad

Please note that if you click on a product link on this page we may earn a small commission.

View post:

Did Disney own the rights to Sound of Freedom? - Dexerto

The holiday season is coming to a close and as the Christmas trees are being packed away until next year, local residents have their sights set on 2024. The new year brings new opportunities, and for some, that means a new focus on health and fitness. Austin Nelson, owner of Freedom Fitness 615 says his team is ready for the challenge.

I got started in the training industry in 2016 after attending college at Tennessee Tech. I first went into private training and then in 2021, I opened Freedom Fitness, said Nelson. We are 100% class based and coach led, so even if youre not paying for private training, you still get elements of personal training. We offer bootcamp classes, strength and conditioning for athletes, and private 1:1 training. Our members get access to the facility, six classes a day with extra youth classes added in.

Nelson and his team of six trainers are ready to take on any New Years Resolutions you have in mind, but the first step is defining your goal. The biggest thing we tell people is we need to have an attainable goal in mind, said Nelson. Researching and understanding where you are, gives you a better idea of where you want to go. Talking with a trainer can help you figure all of that out, something we offer here at Freedom Fitness.

Navigating the health and fitness landscape can be daunting and overwhelming. Nelson and Freedom Fitness understand it can be a lot to take on, so theyre offering a 60-day new year fitness challenge to help Portland residents achieve their personal goals both in the gym and in the kitchen. The new 60-day transformation challenge isnt just how much weight you can lose. Each participants goal is unique to them; therefore, the winner is going to be determined based on their personal achievements, not how they measure up to others, said Nelson.

The Transformation Challenge offered by Freedom Fitness isnt just about lifting heavy weights and cutting calories. We want to promote healthy habits and let people see they can learn exercise and nutrition routines that can translate into their lives outside of the gym, said Nelson. However, we are not just a place to come in and do training. Freedom Fitness 615 offers nutritional counseling and body composition scans to track progress. We teach people they can build muscle and not have to rely on the scale to track progress. Our coaching staff are always available to answer questions and instruct on proper form. We take the guess work out of training and strength.

Nelson offered some advice to those who are wanting to take steps toward a healthier lifestyle, but might not be ready to jump in with both feet. Get active! If you can get out and walk 20-30 minutes a day, thats going to help you increase your endurance and health, said Nelson. There is no crash diet that works in the long term, so we want you to learn how to eat a nutritional balanced diet. Its a longer journey than most people understand, so it takes patience.

All year round we offer two free classes and a free consultation to everyone. Even if youre not ready to join, we want to give back, and so if we can get someone connected to the right information, thats a win. Even if the person doesnt end up joining, we are glad they stopped in, said Nelson. Our social media is a great way to receive free health and fitness content as well, we enjoy sharing information that is valuable to our community.

Be sure to follow Freedom Fitness 615 on Facebook for regular updates on what they have on the calendar, and stop in for a free class to get a head start on your new years resolutions!

Visit link:

Freedom Fitness 615 is ready to take on new year's resolutions - Lebanon Democrat

To mark Holocaust Memorial Day on January 27, North Kesteven District Council is holding an educational art competition for secondary school students, aged 11 to 16, in order that they can express who they are and stand up against hatred.

The Holocaust Memorial Day Trust (HMDT) advocates international acts of remembrance and reflection on that day to the six million Jews murdered during the Holocaust of the Second World War, the millions of people who lost their lives due to the discrimination inflicted upon them by the Nazis and the impacts and ongoing incidence of genocide since.

The theme of 2024s Holocaust Memorial Day is Fragility of freedom, which has a different definition to every individual. In every genocide across the world it is clear that individual freedom is restricted and removed.

The Holocaust Memorial Day Trust encourage individuals to come together to learn more, emphasise more and do more.

In order to provoke a thoughtful response, young people are being encouraged to explore the Fragility of freedom theme by expressing their identities and individual freedoms through a self-portrait, including aspects of their life, interests, emotions, and aspirations.

A curated selection of the submissions will be exhibited at the Hub, Sleaford for a week from Holocaust Memorial Day on January 27 to February 3.

We encourage the self-portrait entries to be as creative and unique as possible and completed in any medium or multi-media, 2D or 3D and submitted in finished format or as a photo, up to A3 in size. Their impact will be assessed by visitors to the display who can nominate their favourites and prizes will be awarded.

You can find out full details of the project, visit our Holocaust Memorial Day 2024 Fragility of Freedom competition webpage.

Council leader Cllr Richard Wright, who will be joined by Sleaford artist Ruth Burrows in making the selection for display, said:

Self-expression is a right as much as a privilege, but with that being eroded, restricted or removed for millions of people even today, that should not be taken for granted.

It can be difficult to make the connection between the Holocaust, historic genocides and the lives and freedoms we experience today, but the link and the legacy are strong and in 2024 it is just as important as ever that we understand and respect that.

This exhibition aims to provide a platform for students to see their work collated and celebrate their freedom to be creative. Hopefully through this programme our young people will reflect on the fragility of freedom and how individual freedom was and is affected by the events of the Holocaust and more recent genocides.

Freedom means different things to different people. It is also fragile. In every genocide that has taken place, those who are targeted for persecution had their freedom restricted and removed through actions that ultimately concluded in their murder.

The Holocaust Memorial Day Trusts great wish is that for HMD 2024 we can all reflect on how freedom is fragile and vulnerable to abuse. As we come together through this initiative, lets pledge not to take our freedoms for granted, and consider what we can do to strengthen freedoms around the world.

You can discover more information on the 2024 HMD theme and explorations on the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust website.

Thanks to Sleaford artist Ruth Burrows and the Hub, Sleaford for their support and participation.

For further details see the Councils, the Hubs and Ruth Burrows social media @northkestevendc,@hubsleafordand@rbartshopstudioand visit our Holocaust Memorial Day 2024 Fragility of Freedom competition webpage.

Here is the original post:

Expressing the freedom of self-expression for Holocaust Memorial Day - North Kesteven District Council

To say that Sinead OConnor never quite regained the musical heights of her 1987 debut album, The Lion and the Cobra, is not to slight the rest of her output, which contained jewels. There is no getting back to a record like that first one. It was in some sense literally scary: The label had to change the original cover art, which showed a bald OConnor hissing like a banshee cat, for the American release. In the version we saw, she looks down, arms crossed, mouth closed, vulnerable. The music had both sides of her in it.

A fuzziness has tended to hang over the question of who produced The Lion and the Cobra. The process involved some drama. OConnor clashed with the label and dropped her first producer, Mick Glossop, highly respected and the person the label wanted. In the end, she produced the album largely by herself. But not entirely. There was a co-producer, an Irish engineer named Kevin Moloney, who worked on the first five U2 albums and Kate Bushs Hounds of Love. He and OConnor went to school at the same time in the Glenageary neighborhood of Dublin, where he attended an all-boys Catholic academy next to her all-girls Catholic school. But Moloney didnt know OConnor then, though they took the same bus.

In Asheville, N.C., this fall, Moloney sat in the control room of Citizen Studios, where he is the house producer, and hit play on The Lion and the Cobra. The first song is a ghost story called Jackie. A woman sings of her lover, who has failed to return from a fishing expedition. Youre on deep Irish literary sod, the western coast and the islands. Its the lament of Maurya in J.M. Synges play Riders to the Sea, grieving for all the men the ocean has taken from her, except that the creature singing through OConnor will not accept death. Hell be back sometime, she assures the men who deliver the news, laughing at you. At the end, her falsetto howls above the feedback. She starts the song as a plaintive young widow and ends it as a demon. Gets the old hairs going up, Moloney said.

Where did she get that? I asked. Those different registers?

It was all in her head, he said. She had these personas.

And the words? Were they from an obscure Irish shanty she found in an old newspaper? Oh, no, she wrote it herself, Moloney said. Her lyrics were older than she was.

Moloneys connection with OConnor came through U2s guitarist, the Edge (David Evans). In late 1985, the band was between albums, so Evans did a solo project, scoring a film. He recruited OConnor who had just been signed to the English label Ensign Records to sing on one tune, and Moloney engineered the session. OConnor was 18, with short dark hair.

Ensign put her together with Glossop, who had just co-produced the Waterboys classic album This Is the Sea. But she spurned the results: Too pretty. Glossop remembered OConnor as reluctant to speak her mind in the studio, leading to a situation where small differences of opinion werent being addressed, leaving her alienated from the material. With characteristic careerist diplomacy, she called Glossop a [expletive] ol hippie (and derided U2, who possessed some claim to having discovered her, as fake rebels making bombastic music). Glossop recalled that when he ran into her at a club a couple of years later, she hugged him and apologized which was a nice gesture, he told me.

Nobody has ever heard those first, abandoned tracks from The Lion and the Cobra. They put a big sound, a band sound around her, Moloney said, and she was disappearing in it. Glossop remembered it slightly differently. She had a rapport with her band, he said, and I recorded them as a band. But she was turning into a solo artist.

She was also pregnant, unbeknownst to Glossop (It would have been nice to know, he said). The father was the drummer in the band, John Reynolds, whom she had known for a month when they conceived. According to OConnors autobiography, Rememberings, the label pressured her to have an abortion, sending her to a doctor who lectured her on how much money the company had invested in her.

OConnor not only insisted on keeping the baby; she also told the label that if it forced her to put out its version of the record, she would walk. They eventually caved, Moloney said. They told her, Make it your way. But with a limited budget.

Thats when she reached out to Moloney, in the spring of 1986, saying she needed someone she trusted. He started taking day trips to Oxford, where she was holed up in a rental house. We were in the living room, Moloney said. A bunch of couches and a bunch of underpaid, underloved musicians who were struggling big time.

There was a bit of a little communal hub, he said, always a few joints going around the room. Sinead loved her ganja. A lot of talking, and then somebody would start to play, and people would pick up instruments. And Sinead was, like, captain of the ship.

When they got into the studio in London, Moloney turned the earlier, band-focused approach inside out like a sock. OConnors voice was allowed to dictate. The musicians worked around it.

For the song Jackie, he said, Sinead wanted to do all of those guitar parts herself. And she wanted to do it really late at night, when everybody else was gone home. She didnt feel good about her guitar playing. I got her to do this really distorted big sound, and then we layered it and layered it. It became this sort of seething. She was like, Look at me Im Jimi Hendrix.

The most difficult challenge in recording OConnor, he said, was finding a microphone that could handle her dynamic range, with those whisper-to-scream effects she was famous for. Once we figured out the right way of capturing her vocals an AKG C12 vintage tube mic she did it really fast.

I must have looked amazed the vocals are so theatrical and swooping, OConnors pitch so precise, that I had envisioned endless takes because Moloney said, as if to settle doubts, Within a couple of takes, it was done.

The jangly guitar opening of the third track, Jerusalem, played. I remember hearing her play this for the first time, Moloney said. I got it, knowing her background. OConnor was abused psychologically, physically, sexually by her mother, who died in a car accident, and by the Catholic Church. All the systems had failed her, Moloney said, that were supposed to protect her.

If he was right that he heard trauma in Jerusalem, the song lyrics also drip with erotic angst (I hope you do/what you said/when you swore). It introduces the records main preoccupation: love and sex as they intersect with power and pain.

The streams cross with greatest emotional force in the song Troy, one of the most beautiful and ambitious pieces of mid-1980s popular music. The track sticks out production-wise, with a powerful, surging orchestral arrangement (the product of OConnors collaboration with the musician Michael Clowes, who also played keyboards on the album).

Theres a moment in the song when OConnor repeats the line, You shouldve left the light on. I had never given undue thought to what it meant. Something about tortured desire: If you had left the light on, I wouldnt have kissed you. But Moloney said it had a double meaning. When OConnor was punished as a child and made to sleep outside in the garden shed, her mother would turn off all of the lights in the house. There wouldnt be a light on for her, Moloney said.

OConnor gave birth to her son, Jake, just weeks after Moloney finished the mixes. She told Glasgows Daily Record that although the baby had kicked when she sang in the studio, he slept now when the record came on. She was so happy, Moloney said with tears in his eyes. She said: Oh, my God, I cant believe I went through all of that and Ive arrived here with a record I love. Also, heres my baby! She had two babies in one year.

John Jeremiah Sullivan is a contributing writer for the magazine who lives in North Carolina, where he co-founded the nonprofit research collective Third Person Project.

Go here to see the original:

Harry Belafonte Used Fame to Fight for Freedom - The New York Times

By Dr. Maulana Karenga

Again, this year we wish for Africans everywhere throughout the world African community,Heri za Kwanzaa. Happy Kwanzaa. And we bring and send greetings of celebration, solidarity and continued struggle for an inclusive and shared good in the world. Also, in the still-held-high tradition of our ancestors, we wish for African peoples and all the peoples of the world all the good that heaven grants, the earth produces and the waters bring forth from their depths. Hotep. Ase. Heri. Moreover, among all the goods that are granted, given and gained through ceaseless striving and righteous and relentless struggle, we wish, especially for our people and all other oppressed and struggling peoples of the world, the shared and indivisible goods of freedom, justice and peace, deservedly achieved and enjoyed and passed on to future generations. Indeed, we live in turbulent times of continuing unfreedom and oppression, the enduring evil of injustice and destructive conflicts, and unjust and genocidal war. And freedom, justice and peace in the world and for the good of the world and all in it are urgent, essential and indispensable.

Nana Haji Malcolm rightly and repeatedly taught that freedom is a natural and necessary right in the pursuit and practice of justice and equality, the rightful realization of our full humanity, and the living of a good, meaningful and ever-promising life. Our honored ancestors also taught us the life-giving, life-preserving essentiality of justice, saying in the Husia, Doing justice is breath to the nose. Indeed, they taught the true balancing of the world lies in doing justice. And they said of peace and its importance to the life and community of humankind Exceedingly good is the presence of peace. And there is no blame in peace for those who practice it. But always they and history teach us it must be a peace in freedom and with justice to be a good and rightful peace. Thus, we are morally called, commanded and compelled to bear witness to truth and set the scales of justice in their proper place, especially among the voiceless and devalued, the downtrodden and defenseless, the oppressed, and the different and vulnerable.

Kwanzaa was conceived and born in transformative struggles of the Black Freedom Movement. and was also shaped by that defining decade of fierce strivings and struggles for freedom, justice and associated goods waged by Africans and other peoples of color all over the world in the 1960s. Kwanzaa thus came into being, grounded itself and grew as an act of freedom, an instrument of freedom, a celebration of freedom and a practice of freedom. It was an act of self-determination and self-authorization; a means of cultivating and expanding consciousness and commitment; a righteous reveling in our recaptured sense of the sacredness, soulfulness and beauty of our Black selves; and the practice of principles that engenders and sustains liberated and liberating ways to understand and assert ourselves in the world. And at the heart of this liberated and liberating practice are the Nguzo Saba, the Seven Principles developed and directed in the interest of African and human good and the well-being of the world.

Umoja (Unity) calls on us to work and struggle for principled, purposeful and practiced togetherness in freedom, justice and peace in our families, communities and the world. It stresses the ties that link us and cultivate in us sensitivity to each other, other humans and the world and all in it. Indeed, it is expressed in the teaching of Nana Dr. Anna Julia Cooper who affirmed this ancient and African value. She says, we take our stand on the solidarity of humanity, the oneness of life and the unnaturalness and injustice of all favoritism whether of sex, race, condition or country.

Kujichagulia (Self-Determination) reaffirms the fundamental principle and practice of the right of every people to determine their own destiny and daily lives, to live free in their own place, space and time. And it reaffirms the right to resist all forms of unfreedom, injustice and oppression. It reaffirms Nana Haji Malcolm Xs teaching that Freedom is essential to life itself (and) to the development of the human being. (And) If we dont have freedom, we can never expect justice and equality.

Ujima (Collective Work and Responsibility) reminds us and reaffirms the enduring and essential truth that we must build the good world we all want and deserve. It teaches the centrality of togetherness in our constant quest for an inclusive freedom, justice and peace. And it reaffirms the reality that only in collective work and responsibility can we achieve freedom, ensure justice and build the peace and security of persons and peoples we all long and struggle for all over the world. And as Nana Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune taught us, Our task is to remake the world. It is nothing less than this. And we must do this together, for freedom, justice, peace and other goods are indivisible and they are vulnerable and unattainable in isolation. And we know from the hard lessons of history and the irreducible requirements of our humanity that there can be no peace without justice, no justice without freedom and no freedom without the power, will and struggle of the peoples of the world to achieve and sustain these shared and vital goods.

Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics) teaches us the principle and practice of shared work and shared wealth. Modeled on the shared harvest, it calls for cooperative work, respect of the rights of the workers and the needs of everyone for a life of dignity and economic security and the conditions and capacities to live a free, good and meaningful life. It is rooted in the concept of kinship with and caring kindness toward others and the earth and cultivates a sensitivity for avoiding and resisting injuries to fellow humans and the natural world.

The principle and practice of Nia (Purpose) calls us to do good in and for the world, to pursue and practice freedom, justice, peace, caring, sharing and all that contributes to African and human good and the well-being of the world and all in it. Indeed, the ancestors teach us in the Odu Ifa that we should do things with joy for humans are divinely chosen and righteously challenged to do good in the world. And they remind us in the Husia that the good we do for others we are also doing for ourselves, for we are building the good and promising world we all want and deserve to live in and to leave as a storehouse of good for those who come after.

The principle and practice of Kuumba (Creativity) commits us to work and struggle for a new world and a new us that is rooted in the ancient African ethical imperative of serudj ta which is a moral obligation to constantly repair, renew and remake the world, making it more beautiful and beneficial than we inherited it in the process and practice of repairing, renewing and remaking ourselves. It teaches and urges us, in our relations with each other, others and the earth, to raise up what is in ruins, to repair what is damaged, to rejoin what is separated, to replenish what is depleted, to set right what is wrong, to strengthen what is weakened, and to make flourish that which is fragile, insecure and undeveloped.

And the principle and practice of Imani (Faith) teaches us to believe in the good and strive constantly to achieve it everywhere and in its most essential, inclusive and expansive forms. It reminds us that we must have faith in the future and the new world we seek to bring into being in order to imagine and build them. And it is a faith that teaches us to believe that through hard work, long struggle and a whole lot of love and understanding, we can with other oppressed, struggling and progressive peoples reimagine and redraw the map of the world and put in place and develop conditions and capacities for everyone to live in dignity-affirming, life-enhancing and world-preserving ways and come into the fullness of themselves.

Dr. Maulana Karenga, Professor and Chair of Africana Studies, California State University-Long Beach; Executive Director, African American Cultural Center (Us); Creator of Kwanzaa; and author of Kwanzaa: A Celebration of Family, Community and Culture and Essays on Struggle: Position and Analysis, http://www.OfficialKwanzaaWebsite.org, http://www.MaulanaKarenga.org; http://www.AfricanAmericanCulturalCenter-LA.org; http://www.Us-Organization.org.

Post Views: 144

Read this article:

OP-ED: Kwanzaa, Freedom, Justice and Peace: Principles and Practices For A New World - Black Press USA

The Arkansas Food Freedom Act opens increased opportunities for entrepreneurs to grow their businesses, but those who create food and drink items must be sure theyre legal to sell under the act.

The popularity of homemade goods, also known as cottage foods, has seen a significant uptick in the last two decades, according to the Food Law and Policy Clinic at the Harvard Law School.

Arkansas producers are able to sell certain home-processed food items to the public without inspection from the Arkansas Department of Health, said Jeff Jackson, public health section chief II with the Arkansas Department of Health. While this will present opportunities for Arkansas producers, the details of the Arkansas Food Freedom Act should be clearly understood to ensure that food entrepreneurs know which items are eligible for sale and which are not.

Act 1040 of 2021, which became known as the Arkansas Food Freedom Act, allows Arkansas residents to sell more types of homemade food and drink products in more locations than before, and allows direct sales of certain homemade food and drink products that do not require time or temperature controls to remain safe. Some products, such as pickles, salsas and canned vegetables, may require pH testing or preapproved recipes.

On Jan. 10, Jackson will present An Overview of the Arkansas Food Freedom Act. The webinar will be held at 11 a.m. Central. Registration is free.

The webinar is the second in a three-part series called Plan. Produce. Profit, which provides information to specialty crop producers on how to operate within the Arkansas Food Freedom Act.

The third Plan. Produce. Profit. webinar will be held Feb. 14. Renee Threlfall of the Institute of Food Science and Engineering at the Division of Agriculture will present the webinar, titled Creating and Processing Value-Added Food Products in Arkansas. Registration is available online.

The first webinar, Liability Issues with Food Processing Under the Arkansas Food Freedom Act, was presented by NALC Senior Staff Attorney Rusty Rumley. The recording of the presentation is available online.

The National Agricultural Law Center and the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture are facilitating the webinars which are designed for Arkansas specialty crop producers. The series is funded by the Arkansas Department of Agriculture through the USDA Specialty Crop Block Grant Program.

Follow this link:

Webinar to give overview of Arkansas Food Freedom Act - Searcy Daily Citizen

WASHINGTON - The International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA) was signed into law on October 27, 1998, to elevate religious freedom as a foreign policy goal of the United States, promote religious freedom in countries that violate this basic human right, and strengthen advocacy on behalf of individuals persecuted in other countries on the basis of religion. IRFA established the position of Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom at the U.S. Department of State and created the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF). Both the Department of State and USCIRF issue annual reports that highlight egregious violations of religious freedom and offer recommendations for improvement.

To commemorate the 25th anniversary of the passage of this landmark International Religious Freedom Act, Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) Committee for Religious Liberty, and Bishop David J. Malloy of Rockford, chairman of the USCCBs Committee on International Justice and Peace, issued the following statement:

The Catholic Church has long recognized the essential and inviolable nature of religious freedom. In 1965, Pope St. Paul VI promulgated the Second Vatican Councils Declaration on Religious Freedom, Dignitatis humanae, which stated that this right is founded in the very dignity of the human person, so that everyone has a right to religious freedom. The declaration went on to say governments must protect the rights and safeguard the religious freedom of all its citizens so that no one is to be forced to act in a manner contrary to his own beliefs, whether privately or publicly, within due limits.

Sadly, 80 percent of the worlds inhabitants live in countries where there are high levels of governmental or societal restrictions on religion, and restrictions have been steadily increasing for several years.

As we celebrate the 25th anniversary of the International Religious Freedom Act, let us join with our Holy Father in his prayer that freedom of conscience and freedom of religion will everywhere be recognized and respected; these are fundamental rights, because they make us free to contemplate the heaven for which we were created.

###

Continued here:

Statement to Mark 25th Anniversary of International Religious ... - USCCB

Since 1967, the Freedom of Information Act has provided the public the right to request access to records from any federal agency. It is often described as the law that keeps citizens in the know about their government. Federal agencies are required to disclose any information requested under the FOIA unless it falls under one of nine exemptions which protect interests such as personal privacy, national security, and law enforcement.

To help you determine if filing a FOIA request is the best option for you, visit http://www.FOIA.gov.

The Defense Health Agency Freedom of Information Service Center has principal authority to ensure DHA and its components are in full compliance with the FOIA. Under FOIA, Federal agencies and components are required to make records available to the public unless one of nine (9) specific exemptions authorizes their withholding. Only Federal Executive Branch agencies and components must comply with FOIA. FOIA does not extend to records held by Congress, the courts, or by state or local government agencies, as each state has its own public access laws that should be consulted for access to state and local records.

The best method to submit a FOIA Request to DHA is online via the National FOIA Portal at http://www.FOIA.gov. Click Start Request, then type Defense Health Agency into the search box.

DHA Freedom of Information Service Center 7700 Arlington Boulevard, Suite 5101 Falls Church, Virginia 22042-5101 Phone: 1-703-275-6017 Fax: 1-703-275-6386 Send an E-mail Message

If you are concerned about service received from the DHA FOIA Service Center, please contact the FOIA Public Liaison at:

ATTN: DHA FOIA Public Liaison Defense Health Agency 7700 Arlington Boulevard, Suite 5101 Falls Church, VA 22042-5101 Phone: 1-703-275-6017 Email: DHA.FOIA@health.mil

Policy Office

Fact Sheet

Not all records are required to be released under the FOIA. Congress established nine exemptions from disclosure for certain categories of information to protect against certain harms, such as an invasion of personal privacy, or harm to law enforcement investigations. The FOIA authorizes agencies to withhold information when they reasonably foresee ...

Policy

This document is the Department of Defenses Interim Final Rule as published in the Federal Register.

Policy

This Directive reissues DoD Directive 5400.07, DoD Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Program, January 2, 2008 (hereby cancelled) to update policies and responsibilities for implementing the DoD FOIA Program in accordance with Section 552 of title 5, United States Code (commonly known as the FOIA).

Policy

Public Law #114-185 -- https://www.justice.gov/oip/oip-summary-foia-improvement-act-2016

Policy

The purpose of this section of the E-Government Act of 2002 is to ensure sufficient protections for the privacy of personal information as agencies implement citizen-centered electronic government.

The appearance of hyperlinks does not constitute endorsement by the Department of Defense of non-U.S. Government sites or the information, products, or services contained therein. Although the Defense Health Agency may or may not use these sites as additional distribution channels for Department of Defense information, it does not exercise editorial control over all of the information that you may find at these locations. Such links are provided consistent with the stated purpose of this website.

OK Cancel

Last Updated: October 24, 2023

Read the original:

Freedom of Information Act - Health.mil

Unable to survive on his own because of an injury to his beak as a newborn, Freedom came to Georgia Southern in 2004 and now lives at the Center for Wildlife Education alongside other eagles, raptors, reptiles and waterfowl. He will celebrate his 20th birthday in December.

As an ambassador for Georgia Southern, Freedom has inspired thousands annually at the Wildlife Center, Georgia Southern football games, the St. Patricks Day parade in Savannah, commencements, community events, the Kiwanis Fair Parade and other appearances, such as at the Charles Swab Classic PGA tour event earlier this year in Texas. Freedoms merchandise line came about as a collaboration of the universitys Communications and Marketing Dept., Georgia Southerns office of Athlete Brand Management and Licensing, the Wildlife Center and other GS retail partners

According to a release from Georgia Southern, merchandise depicting Freedom is now available and proceeds from sales will benefit the Wildlife Center and Freedoms care. Items are now for sale atSouthern Exchange,near the Georgia Southern campus in Statesboro and will be available soon at theUniversity Storeon the Statesboro campuses and in the gift shop at theWildlife Centerlocated on the Statesboro Campus.

Read more:

'Freedom' to be featured on GS merchandise - Statesboro Herald