Category Archives: Freedom

New York archbishop Cardinal Timothy Dolan delivered the benediction Thursday night at the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla., minutes after former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney accepted the party's nomination for president of the United States.

Appearing on stage beside only Speaker of the House Rep. John Boehner, and after hundreds of red, white and blue balloons fell from the ceiling of the Tampa Bay Times Forum, Dolan began his prayer by asking for God's "continued blessings on this sanctuary of freedom, and on all of those who proudly call America home" and "upon those yet to be born and on those who are about to see you at the end of this life."

The archbishop continued, asking God's guidance for Romney, vice-president candidate Rep. Paul Ryan, those in and seeking public office to "remember that the only just government is the government that serves its citizens instead of itself."

The prayer, lasting just over four minutes, was much anticipated by Catholics and other observers, eager to hear what Dolan would say and if his words would suggest any partisan leaning.

Much debate followed the archbishop's acceptance Aug. 23 of the GOP's invitation to pray with their delegates in Tampa, with many questioning whether Dolan, the president of the U.S. bishops' conference, by his presence would signal support of one party over another.

Some of the uproar subsided Tuesday when it was announced Dolan would also lead the final benediction of the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C.

In his benediction, broadcasted live by only a few networks, Dolan focused a significant portion of his prayer on freedom, saying, "Almighty God, who gives us the sacred and inalienable gift of life, we thank you as well for the singular gift of liberty.

"Renew in all of our people a respect for religious freedom in full, that first most cherished freedom. Make us truly free by tethering freedom to truth and ordering freedom to goodness.

Help us live our freedom in faith, hope and love, prudently and with justice, courageously and in a spirit of moderation, and kindle in our hearts a new sense of responsibility for freedoms cause and make us ever grateful for all those for who for more than two centuries have given their lives in freedoms defense."

Below is Dolan's benediction in full:

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At RNC, Dolan prays for freedom, just government

Freedom of the press is restricted in Ukraine. But the World Newspaper Conference begins there next weekend. Can Ukrainian media gain more rights through the event?

From Michael Golden, vice chairman of the New York Times Company, to Rainer Esser, managing director of German newspaper "Die Zeit," the list of speakers at this year's World Newspaper Congress and World Editor's Forum in Kiev, Ukraine is a who's who of global media players. But one name on the list, Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, has come under growing criticism for his government's restrictions on the media.

Growing pressure on journalists

Since taking office, Yanukovych has stated on a number of occasions that press freedom is something he cares for and protects. But the reality looks somewhat different. In 2010, Yanukovych declared Kiev's media union itself "the number one enemy of the press." ON these grounds, the president's bodyguards repeatedly hindered journalists' work. Further, television reports critcial of the president were prevented from being aired.

Ukrainian journalists protest in Kiev in June 2010

International rights organization Reporters Without Borders (RWB) has reported a dramatic decrease in press freedom in Ukraine. RWB's executive director Christian Mihr said pressure on journalists has been mounting in the lead up to October general elections in the country. In RWB's latest press freedom ranking, Ukraine came in at spot 116 out of 179 countries. That was much better than their 2010 spot, but significantly worse than 2009. Under former President Viktor Yushchenko, Ukraine was in spot 89 on the list.

Impetus to boycott Kiev

Against this backdrop, the question arises whether the World Newspaper Congress should even be hosted in a country like Ukraine. Wouldn't it make more sense to boycott the event? In spring 2012, a boycott by leaders including German President Joachim Gauck forced Ukrainian leaders to cancel a summit of central European countries in Yalta. The Euro 2012 soccer tournament in Ukraine in June also saw top European politicians refusing to attend in protest of Ukraine's dismantling of democracy.

Several days before the World Newspaper Congress, the general director of Ukrainian broadcaster TVi discussed a possible boycott. Mykola Knyaschyzki said holding the event in Ukraine gave the false appearance that the country has a free press.

"The Ukrainian regime is somewhat legitimized by participating in the form," he told DW.

The rest is here:
Ukrainian press freedom in the spotlight

August 30, 2012 - Frontier League (FL) Florence Freedom NORMAL, IL - The Florence Freedom bats stayed hot again Wednesday night on the road against the Normal Cornbelters, as the Freedom won 10-6.

John Malloy helped led a balanced Freedom offensive attack by going 2-4 with his 14th home run of the season. He was aided by a big offensive from designated hitter Peter Fatse who went 3-5 with two RBI.

A see-saw battle was finally put away with a three run fourth inning that included Fatse's double to score two and an RBI single by Freedom catcher Jim Jacquot.

Brent Choban (2-1) got the win for the Freedom in relief of starter Brandon Mathes who lasted just three innings. Choban tossed two innings for the Freedom and was aided by the offense in the fourth.

The Cornbelters never got within four of the Freedom after the fourth inning thanks to relief efforts by Mike Hanley, Jose Velazquez and Matt Kline.

The win moved the Freedom's record to 53-39, most every since the Freedom moved to Florence in 2003, and allowed them to keep pace with the Schaumburg Boomers for the Frontier League's final wild card spot.

The Freedom go for the sweep Thursday night in Normal. Game time 7:30 as Andres Caceres (7-3) takes the ball for Florence. Listen to the game live Thursday night on Real Talk 1160 AM with Freedom voice Steve Jarnicki. Pregame show starts at 7:15 pm.

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The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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Freedom Outslug CornBelters

The idea for the Oregon Freedom Festival was first scrawled out on napkins by a couple of friends.

Glenn (Colangelo) and I sat down three years ago in a Subway, said Kim Ullfers. We started mapping out a dream of what we want to do.

Ullfers and Colangelo formed Vision Corps and still pull out those napkins sometimes to make sure they are staying true to their original vision.

Our goal is to do things like this freedom festival, Ullfers said.

The two have known each other for 15 years. Both have military backgrounds and their events have been patriotic in theme. Vision Corps held Memorial Day ceremonies in Salem and Hillsboro in 2011 and 2012.

Sept. 1 will be the first Freedom Festival the group is putting on.

The flavor of the event is a family Fourth of July picnic, Colangelo said.

A watermelon seed spitting contest, bouncy houses, and a puppet show are among the kid-friendly activities.

Shelly Garrett, executive director of the Lebanon Chamber of Commerce, will emcee the evening activities, which include performances by the Victory Voices choir and a tribute to the victims of 9/11.

Pyrotechnician Norm Rose worked on synchronizing the Lights of Liberty fireworks display, which will finish off the night.

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Freedom Festival celebrates patriots

Freedom of speech is more important for Russians than rallies, a poll conducted by the Levada Center pollster showed.

Eighty-three percent of Russians need freedom of speech, 62 percent freedom of rallies and demonstrations, and 76 percent would like to go abroad unhindered, according to the poll whose results were published on Wednesday.

Seventy percent of those polled said individual freedom and personal interests are above all, and the state should guarantee that these are observed. Thirty percent said the interests of the state are above all other things.

A total of 42 percent of respondents - 5 percent more than 11 years ago - said they believe Russia should be a country closed to others to be successfully developing. Fifty-eight percent said Russia should become integrated in the international community not to lag behind other nations.

Seventy-eight percent said they want to see Russia as a country which is comfortable to live in, and which prioritizes its nationals needs, while 22 percent said they need their country to have military power and be respected worldwide.

The poll was conducted on August 17-21, 2012, among 1,601 urban and rural residents aged 18 and above in 130 localities of 45 Russian regions.

The statistical margin of error does not exceed 3.4 percent.

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Freedom of Speech ‘More Important’ for Russians than Rallies

GOP adopts Internet freedom plank: Part of the platform the Republican party adopted Tuesday night included language to protect Internet freedom, something that lawmakers and interest groups on both sides of the aisle have been calling for in recent months.

Several groups that lobbied against the online piracy bills known as the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect IP (Intellectual Property) Act have petitioned Republicans and Democrats to affirm a commitment to the open Internet as planks in their party platforms, and lawmakers such as Reps. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) and Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.) have made similar cases to party leadership.

The Republican plank is focused on removing regulation around technology businesses, as well as language that would protect personal data online from the government. The platform language also says that the party will resist any effort to move Internet governance away from its current multistakeholder model in favor of international or intergovernmental organizations.

The GOP also specifically criticized the Federal Communications Commission, saying that the agencys net neutrality rule and other regulations show the Obama administration is frozen in the past. The platform proposes that the federal government inventory its spectrum to discover how much of it could be auctioned to the public.

Cybersecurity: Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) has asked that President Obama put out an executive order of take other appropriate action to pass measures to enhance the cybersecurity of the countys critical infrastructure, the Hill reported.

On Tuesday, Feinstein sent a letter to the president asking him to take action because she believes that Congress will not be able to pass a strong cybersecurity law by the end of this session.

A broad cybersecurity bill failed in the Senate this month.

LulzSec arrest: The FBI has arrested a second man suspected of being a member of the hacking group LulzSec, which claimed responsibility for cyber attacks against Sony in late spring 2011.

According to Reuters, Raynaldo Rivera of Tempe, Ariz., faces up to 15 years in prison on charges that he aided hackers in posting personal information taken from Sony online.

Challenge to FTC, Google settlement: Consumer Watchdog has won the right to oppose the Federal Trade Commissions $22.5 billion challenge to a settlement with Google on privacy matters, the group said Wednesday.

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GOP adopts Internet freedom plank #thecircuit

By Doug Gross, CNN

President Barack Obama posted this photo of himself answering questions on social-sharing site Reddit on Monday afternoon.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

(CNN) -- This week, Republicans made a free and open Internet part of their party's 2012 platform.

On Wednesday, during a visit with some of the most ardent open-Web supporters, President Barack Obama said Democrats will do the same.

"Internet freedom is something I know you all care passionately about; I do too," Obama wrote during an AMA ("ask me anything") on social-news site Reddit. "We will fight hard to make sure that the Internet remains the open forum for everybody -- from those who are expressing an idea to those to want to start a business."

Obama became the most high-profile person to host one of the site's live chats, during which well-known figures take questions live. The site's two most popular AMA's before Wednesday were astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson and "Jeopardy" champ Ken Jennings.

As such, many users were having trouble following the conversation in real time, with the sheer amount of traffic causing the page to load slowly, or not at all, from time to time.

Obama was responding to a question, noting that Republicans had included an entire section promising protections for Internet freedom in their platform at the party convention being held in Tampa, Florida.

U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa, R-California, has been a leading Web-freedom voice in the GOP and reportedly pushed hard for the language to be included. Obama promised similar action when Democrats convene next week in Charlotte, North Carolina.

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Obama: Web freedom will be part of Democratic platform

'Academic Freedom' By Fr. Roy Cimagala (Cebu) Wednesday, August 29, 2012 02:17:33 PM

ITS a hot, controversial issue, this thing about academic freedom. And its understandable because what is involved is something very intimate to a person working in an academic community.

Ideas, theories, views, opinions are so personal that anything that would tend to obstruct them can be very painful. Everything has to be done to avoid such predicament, therefore.

And so, I somehow understand why this academic freedom can be defined in its extreme form, as Wikipedia would have it, as:

The belief that the freedom of inquiry by students and faculty members is essential to the mission of the academy, and that scholars should have freedom to teach or communicate ideas or facts (including those that are inconvenient to external political groups or to authorities) without being targeted for repression, job loss, or imprisonment.

Some parties involved in this issue have even gone to the extent of describing academic freedom, again taking from Wikipedia, as having the following properties: a) Academics, both inside and outside the classroom, have unrestricted liberty to question and test received wisdom and to put forward controversial and unpopular opinions, whether or not these are deemed offensive, and, b) Academic institutions have no right to curb the exercise of this freedom by members of their staff, or to use it as grounds for disciplinary action or dismissal.

Still, while I and any decent man would respect such freedom, I also could not help to point out that such take on academic freedom is one-sided and is oblivious and quite nave of other factors and conditions that need to be taken into consideration also.

This extreme form of academic freedom has to contend also with the rights of the other parties involved. And more basic to the issue would be that some structure be made in the academic community where a healthy exchange of views could be done, and clear guidelines have to be made.

The dynamics of this exchange of ideas should be closely monitored and managed, otherwise there would be chaos and confusion. And rules of the game should be clearly spelled out for this.

Thing is we cannot deny the fact that academic communities have their basic constitution that, no matter how imperfect it is, should be respected and upheld, unless legitimately revised.

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'Academic Freedom' By Fr. Roy Cimagala (Cebu) Wednesday, August 29, 2012 02:17:33 PM

By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 8/29/2012 9:25:13 AM The Republican Party adopted its platform at the convention Tuesday, and it included a commitment to Internet freedom, kudos for mobile broadband, and a big knock on the current Democratic-led FCC.

In the section entitled "Protecting Internet Freedom," the platform notes that Internet's independence is its power: "We will remove regulatory barriers that protect outdated technologies and business plans from innovation and competition, while preventing legacy regulation from interfering with new and disruptive technologies such as mobile delivery of voice video data as they become crucial components of the Internet ecosystem."

The platform also commits to a multi-stakeholder model of Internet governance, one of the few things Republicans and Democrats are in full agreement on.

The Republican party says it is committed to ensuring that "personal data receives full constitutional protection from government overreach and that individuals retain the right to control the use of their data by third parties," it adds that "the only way to safeguard or improve these systems is through the private sector." The Republicans' focus on the private sector became one of the sticking points in cybersecurity legislation that failed to pass despite both parties acknowledging that there was a need for better cybersecurity protections.

But while the Republicans say they are for Internet freedom, it does not mean they have changed their opposition to the FCC's open Internet rules. The Republicans say telecom regulation is stuck in the last century -- make that two centuries ago.

"Today's technology and telecommunications industries are overseen by the Federal Communications Commission, established in 1934 and given the jurisdiction over telecommunications formerly assigned to the Interstate Commerce Commission, which had been created in 1887 to regulate the railroads," according to the platform in a section entitled: "A Vision for the Twenty-First Century: Technology, Telecommunications and the Internet."

That vision does not include the FCC as currently constituted. "An industry that invested $66 billion in 2011 alone needs, and deserves, a more modern relationship with the federal government for the benefit of consumers here and worldwide," they say. "The current Administration has been frozen in the past. It has conducted no auction of spectrum [and] has offered no incentives for investment."

And while the FCC recently said that broadband has not been deployed in a timely and reasonable fashion, the Republicans lay the blame at the feet of the FCC. "[The commission] inherited from the previous Republican Administration 95% coverage of the nation with broadband. It will leave office with no progress toward the goal of universal coverage -- after spending $7.2 billion more [a reference to the Obama Administration's broadband stimulus package].

"We call for an inventory of federal agency spectrum to determine the surplus that could be auctioned for the taxpayers' benefit... we will replace the administration's Luddite approach to technological progress with a regulatory partnership that will keep this country the world leader in technology and telecommunications."

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Republican Platform Includes Internet Freedom Plank

28 August 2012 Last updated at 17:28 ET

A Lisburn council motion to grant the Orange Order the freedom of the city has cleared its first hurdle.

The council agreed on Tuesday to pass the DUP proposal to the committee stage, despite opposition from Sinn Fein and the Alliance Party.

It will go through equality screening, for assessment on whether it has the potential to impact differently and unfairly on various groups.

The motion was proposed by Paul Givan, a DUP councillor and assembly member.

Mr Givan said it had "nothing to do with getting the right to march in Lisburn".

"This is all about recognising an organisation which has over 600 halls in Northern Ireland, used extensively by the community," he said.

"In Lisburn in particular, the community get excellent value out of the Orange Order - they are part of our society and we want to recognise them."

Sinn Fein councillor Arthur Carson said the Orange Order had "a lot of reforming to do" before his party would back such a proposal.

"The anti-Catholic stance in terms of membership, the refusal to engage with residents groups over parades, expelling members who attend Catholic services - these are all big issues that the Orange Order need to take into consideration," he said.

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Orange city freedom clears hurdle