Last November, each of the presidential campaigns received a questionnaire about an issue seldom discussed on the campaign trail, but one crucial to our democracy freedom of the press. To date, only Michael BloombergMichael Rubens BloombergDemocrats at debate criticize the candidate who isn't there: Mike Bloomberg Bundlers see fundraising problems for Biden Five things to watch in New Hampshire primary debate MORE has replied.

Where are the rest?

This is a trying time for journalism. Its a moment begging for new ideas to build trust, for a new tone to our discourse, for transparency over obscurity. A good place to start is with those who seek to occupy the White House.

Thats why we at the National Press Club Journalism Institute, together with the National Press Club, the Society for Professional Journalists and other industry partners,asked presidential candidatesfrom both parties to describe what a free press means to them, to define their obligations to the free flow of information, and to articulate their commitments to transparency. Bloomberg deserves credit for giving the questions serious consideration.

The Bloomberg campaign said the former three-term New York mayor wants the next president to be afirm and outspoken champion of the news media, has misgivings about the need for a federal media shield law and would restore regular press briefings to the White House.

Bloomberg, of course, is not a disinterested party. He is the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, which includes Bloomberg News. Bloomberg Philanthropies is a donor to the National Press Club and the NPCJI. Widely respected, the news organization has nonetheless drawn flack for apolicy of not investigating Bloombergas a candidate and for applying that policy to the other Democratic presidential candidates.

The Institute submitted the same questionnaire to President Donald TrumpDonald John TrumpFive takeaways: Fear of Trump hangs over Democratic debate Klobuchar raises million since start of debate Buttigieg, Sanders aim to build momentum from New Hampshire debate MOREs campaign as well, though his track record answers some of the questions, and his contempt for journalists and news organizations is a recurrent theme in his Twitter feed.

But over the course of the presidential campaign most other candidates have given only passing reference to issues of press freedoms.

At theDec. 19 Democratic presidential debate, former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete ButtigiegPeter (Pete) Paul ButtigiegFive takeaways: Fear of Trump hangs over Democratic debate Klobuchar raises million since start of debate Buttigieg after debate: I would be 'most progressive' nominee in party's history MORE took note of the presidents disdain. When the American president refers to unfavorable press coverage as the product of the enemy of the people, democracy around the world gets weaker, he said.

At the same debate, Sen. Amy KlobucharAmy Jean KlobucharFive takeaways: Fear of Trump hangs over Democratic debate Klobuchar raises million since start of debate Buttigieg, Sanders aim to build momentum from New Hampshire debate MORE (D-Minn.) noted that in separate Senate Judiciary Committee hearings she asked Trump attorneys general Jeff SessionsJefferson (Jeff) Beauregard SessionsBloomberg has thoughts on press freedom; the other candidates should give us theirs, too Doug Jones says he will vote to convict Trump Senate Democrats outraise Republicans, but GOP has cash edge MORE and William BarrWilliam Pelham BarrRepublican senators call on Twitter to suspend Iran's Khamenei, Zarif The Hill's Morning Report Trump basks in acquittal; Dems eye recanvass in Iowa Trump 'apoplectic' in phone call with UK's Johnson about Huawei decision: report MORE whether they would imprison journalists for doing their jobs and neither gave her an unequivocal answer. My dad was a newspaperman, Klobuchar said. So this is not just talking points to me.

Meanwhile, Andrew YangAndrew YangYang hits candidates for acting like Trump is 'the cause of all our problems' Overnight Defense: Impeachment witness Vindman escorted from White House | Esper says Pentagon protects service members from retribution | Trump ousts EU envoy Sondland Watch live: Final Democratic debate before New Hampshire MORE hasproposed invigorating journalismand sowing news deserts with a $1 billion fund administered by the Federal Communications Commission to make grants to for-profit, non-profit, and local government entities to help support local news operations.

Good for them for addressing the issue.

It deserves more.

Its time to hear from the rest of the pack. Its time for voters to demand a commitment to press freedom. Its time to ask: Do you believe the president has a role in restoring faith in a free press and the checks it places on our institutions?

Record numbers of journalistsare being imprisoned abroad. Killings, miraculously down, still continue. In many cases, as in the coldblooded murder of Jamal Khashoggi, the responsible parties are state actors who make a mockery of justice.So we have asked the candidates how they would use diplomatic tools to promote a free press across the globe.

Wouldcandidates grant asylum to journalists such asEmilio Gutierrez Soto, who fled Mexico amid death threats from the military?Gutierrez' asylum claimshave twice been rejected by an immigration judge; deportation would mean returning tothe deadliest country for journalists.

At home, the last two administrationshave targeted journalistic sourcesas if they were spies. Forty-nine states have statutes or case law that protect reporters from revealing sources to government officials. Yet, the federal government offers no such protection.

Journalists working in the United States havebeen detained, their equipment confiscated, their homes searched. Federal agencies and the Supreme Court have limited information available to the public through the Freedom of Information Act. And journalists are routinelydenied access to government experts, no matter the subject.

Journalism is the key to an informed public. And in the end, only an informed public can govern itself. We need to know where the candidates stand. Its time.

Jim Kuhnhenn is a veteran Washington correspondent for the Associated Press and Knight Ridder who is now the Press Freedom Fellow for the National Press Club Journalism Institute. He is a former member of the congressional Standing Committee of Correspondents and a former president of the Washington Press Club Foundation. Follow him on Twitter @jkuhnhenn

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Bloomberg has thoughts on press freedom; the other candidates should give us theirs, too | TheHill - The Hill

There has been considerable anxiety, anger, angst and agonising about the role language plays in contemporary times, and in the dark times.

Language is under attack when used in certain ways in the university and academia, on the streets and in polemics. It is also under scrutiny when used in and as poetry. As though poetry which makes nothing happen (W.H. Auden) would overthrow regimes, incite people and shred nerves. But why are we afraid of a mere poem?

When poets sought to channelise public outrage or personal anguish into words, poetry was a genre that appealed to them, for various reasons. It was crisper, shorter.

It was not easy to decode and meanings in its compressed sentences, involved myths and convoluted syntax, and so hidden meanings about protest in the form of metaphors were not visible at first.

One had to work with the text and we all know the people in power, when they do read, rarely have the time for this. But the question for us readers is: how do we see meanings like dissent or freedom or resistance in poetry written for and within contexts as diverse as racism and civil rights in the USA, totalitarianism in the USSR, the freedom struggle, the French Revolution and 18th century British monarchys excesses?

The protagonists, when identifiable in poetry, are different, the victims and perpetrators different and the contexts, radically divergent. Ostensibly. Yet symbols of oppression or protest, freedom and aspirations in poetry seem to work across continents.

Literature is the hunger for Otherness, as diverse critics from Geoffrey Galt Harpham and Martha Nussbaum to, more recently Ranjan Ghosh and Hillis Miller have argued.

Also read: Amid Conflict, Young Kashmiri Writers Are Finding Solace in Literature

When we read, we seek to enter the lifeworlds of Others, other characters and their lives. The Other lifeworld is the exotic, which by definition is distanced and distant from ours and is best consumed detached from its original contexts. The literary as exotic enables us to encounter the Other world, but without the messiness of living in it. Thus hunger for the Other is not limited by geocultural boundaries: in fact, quite the opposite, it is a hunger for cross-cultural solidarity.

Cross-cultural solidarity that enables us to bridge different historical circumstances is possible, if we read ethically, as argued elsewhere. To read the suffering of the Other in literary texts, and in certain ways, is to be hungry not only for accounts of suffering but hungry for an end to that suffering.

Like the Ancient Mariners guest who wakes up sadder and wiser after the consumption, via listening, of the Mariners tale, the hunger for the outsider ought to engage with the Others suffering. Even aesthetic norms of specific cultural forms are ignored in our quest for Otherness, producing then an ethical aesthetics. For a cross-cultural solidarity to occur via aesthetics, the latter must be consumed as ethical aesthetics, unrestrained by its original context but infused by it.

Also read: No Longer the Other: How Holocaust Poetry Reclaims Identities

Thus, Holocaust texts, slavery narratives, and trauma texts from Rwanda may be read with a degree of fidelity to their origins but need not be restricted to them.

Reading literature is an act of deviance then, travelling away from originary aesthetic norms of the text, as Ghosh puts it: Becoming aesthetic owes to sahityas ability for deviancy, detouring competencies in the form of an imposed aesthetic or trained habits of aesthetic response.

Reading as deviation and detour enables us to slide across geocultural formations. Reorganising the reading of Otherness could possibly be transcultural when, for instance, we practise an aesthetic that maps, for example, forms of dehumanisation across contexts to see dehumanisation, as a global condition (what Michael Rothberg would pioneer as multidirectional memory studies. And yes, yes, this reinstates to a considerable measure the old universal nature of the literary.)

Even when we do not know of an-Other context, we are able to imagine that world. Like peace and poetry, we need to be able to imagine this. In the words of Denis Levertov:

But peace, like a poem,is not there ahead of itself,cant be imagined before it is made,cant be known exceptin the words of its making,grammar of justice,syntax of mutual aid.

With the above sense of literature-as-deviance-and-detour in mind, it was intriguing to see Poetry Foundations collection, Poetry of Protest, Resistance and Empowerment. The assortment of poems cut across numerous contexts and cultures, and yet, they made sense even though, in a few cases, one had to look up a historical reference or two.

Partially illustrating how tropes of oppression, protest, suffering and hope can emerge from very different spatio-temporal contexts we can skim through some of the poems here.

There was on the site, Langston Hughes who in I look at the World writes

I look at the worldFrom awakening eyes in a black faceAnd this is what I see:This fenced-off narrow spaceAssigned to me.

I look then at the silly wallsThrough dark eyes in a dark faceAnd this is what I know:That all these walls oppression buildsWill have to go!

If Hughes was speaking of walls of oppression, another text in the collection pointed to the walls that are blackened with the sorrows and blood of the oppressed. Here are William Blakes lines from his astonishing London, from the 18th century:

the hapless Soldiers sighRuns in blood down Palace walls

The radical poet of 18th century England speaks to us alongside Hughes from 20th century racially segregated America, employing the same trope of the wall.

Claude McKay in America would describe his country as feeding him the bread of bitterness, but admits he loves this cultured hell. And then proceeds to tell us how he stands with respect to this nation:

Yet, as a rebel fronts a king in state,I stand within her walls with not a shredOf terror, malice, not a word of jeer.

Within Americas walls, this is how a citizen stands.

James Baldwin in Staggerlee Wonders, deeply critical of the exclusionary policies that run his country, is caustic about how white America worries about China, Vietnam and planting a flag on the moon, but does not honour any treaty anywhere in the world:

They have hacked their children to pieces.They have never honoured a single treatymade with anyone, anywhere.The walls of their citiesare as foul as their children.

So much for walls across time and space. And, not on the website, a poem that resonates throughout India since the early 20th century, also gives us the oppressive wall, the metaphor of restricted freedoms and the prison, in the lines of Gurudev himself:

Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high;Where knowledge is free;Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls;Where words come out from the depth of truth;

Where the mind is led forward by thee into ever-widening thought and actionInto that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.

The freedom to transcend walls, to not be limited, is the aspiration of a nation, says Tagore.

Or, look at how Anna Akhmatovas justly famous Requiem ends, at a wall, imposing, unmoving, behind which many loved ones have disappeared forever :

I pray not for myself alone,but for everyone who stood with me,in the cruel cold, in the July heat,under the blind, red wall.

This is the wall at which people wait for their loved ones.

Shifting the trope slightly, but continuing with the image of a lock-down, a carceral and an immobility regime is Maya Angelous legendary Caged Bird:

a bird that stalksdown his narrow cagecan seldom see throughhis bars of ragehis wings are clipped andhis feet are tiedso he opens his throat to sing.

And Angelous bird sings of what else butfreedom :

The caged bird singswith a fearful trillof things unknownbut longed for stilland his tune is heardon the distant hillfor the caged birdsings of freedom.

So many walls, from America through London and Russia to Egypt and India. Capturing oppression, resistance, resilience and employed as a trope, the wall or the cage, is a potent transcultural sign: it tells us of Others whose lives are led (and end) within immobilising walls.

If Tagore and Angelou speak in their poetry of life beyond the walls that enfold, secure and limit them, Constantine Cavafy goes further, and wonders why we never protested when the walls were being put up. Here is Cavafy in Walls:

Without consideration, without pity, without shamethey have built great and high walls around me.And now I sit here and despair.I think of nothing else: this fate gnaws at my mind;for I had many things to do outside.Ah why did I not pay attention when they were building the walls.But I never heard any noise or sound of builders.Imperceptibly they shut me from the outside world.

Like the German pastor Martin Niemllers famous lines Niemllers lines are engraved at the New England Holocaust Memorial Museum in Boston, USA, having deviated from its origins to energize the imagination of visitors elsewhere about the one who never protested when various people were being taken away (first they came for the socialists) so that when his turn came there was no one to protest, Cavafy alerts us to the risk of not resisting and with the metaphor of walls.

Each of the poets here was dealing with a specific cultural context, from civil rights to the anti-colonial struggle. They all found the image of walls, walling in, plastic enough strange, for inflexible walls to employ.

When we read Blake or Cavafy, we see in our minds eye, an abstract human, incarcerated, yearning for justice and freedom. The incarcerated are the exact opposite of us readers, who are free to read, to roam. The freedom to read Literature is the freedom to know about Others who are unfree, albeit in different conditions of immobility. The study of Literature and poetry has never been more urgent than now.

Just one poetic trope across centuries and contexts reminds us that people behind walls are not always secure: often they are immobilised with terror.

The language of poetry, when speaking of immobility regimes, breaks free.

Pramod K. Nayar teaches at the University of Hyderabad.

Continue reading here:

Poetry, Walls and Freedom - The Wire

Captivity is a mentality! Has Netflix renewed OA for the fourth season???

OA, an American mystery drama, is all set to say our goodbye as Netflix has canceled further seasons of it. This is one of the saddest news for the fans who were eagerly waiting for the suspense left in season 2 to get revealed in the third one. Soon, after the release of 2nd season on 22nd March 2019, which was a massive hit as it broke the records of the previous seasons. On 5th August 2019, Netflix officially canceled the further seasons of the show, leaving the suspense with a big question mark. The news extremely hurts fans.

What is OA all about???

OA is a science-based fuction series. The co-creator of it is Brit Marling. It was premiered on Netflix on 16 December 2016. The director is Batmanglij. Previously, the OA story was divided into 5 phases and therefore ought to be directed in 5 seasons. Still, after the release of the second season, Netflix canceled its further seasons leaving behind the unveiled secrets. When co-creator Brit Marling got the news, she was shocked and said while posting on Instagram Zal and I are deeply sad not to finish this story. The first time I heard the news, I had a good cry.

When is Releasing??

As it is canceled. So, how will it release??

Cast-

The cast of season 2 included Brit Marling, Jason Isaacs, Patrick Gibson, Emory Lohen,Ian Alexander, Phyllis Smith, Brandon Perea, Brendon Meyer, Will Brill, Alice Krige, Chloe Levine and many more.

Plot :

As season 3 cancelation has been done. Therefore, there is no need to discuss the scheme. But let us talk about the plot of the second season

The second season follows the OA as she traverses to another dimension and ends up in San Francisco to continue her search for her former laptop. Hap and her fellow captives, as prarie passes paths with private eye Karim Washington to assist in the investigation of surreal disappearance of a missing girl.

The news of cancellation is a heartbreak for the fans, and they will need time to heal themselves.

The rest is here:

You Will Find Your Freedom : Has Netflix Renewed Season 3 of OA? - Union Journalism

On Jan. 24, Secretary of StateMike Pompeo abruptly ended an interviewwith NPR reporter Mary Louise Kelly after she asked hima series of pointed questions about Ukraineand following his statement that he has defended all State Department personnel if he could point to his remarks defending Marie YovanovitchMarie YovanovitchTrump ousts impeachment witness Gordon Sondland Impeachment witness Alexander Vindman escorted from White House Yovanovitch: Standing up to our government should not be 'dangerous act' MORE, former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine. A few minutes later, a State Department official asked Kelly to accompany her (without a recorder) to Pompeos private living room. Inside the room, according to Kelly, Pompeo berated her, frequently using the f-word. Do you think Americans care about Ukraine?, he asked, and challenged her to identify the country on an unmarked map.

The following day,Pompeo issued a statementclaiming Kelly had violated the basic rules of journalism and decency, saying she lied to him about the subject of the interview and broke a promise to keep their subsequent exchange off the record (Kelly disputes both). Other than implying that Kelly (who has an advanced degree in European Studies from Cambridge University) mistook Bangladesh for Ukraine, he did not dispute Kellys account of his post-interview comments.

A few days later,the State Department barredNPR reporter Michele Kelemen from accompanying Pompeo on a trip to the United Kingdom, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. The Department did not give a reason for its decision.

Americans across the political spectrum should be denouncing the intimidation of a journalist. They arent.

To be sure,five Democratic senators condemnedPompeos behavior as insulting and contemptuous. Sen. Bob MenendezRobert (Bob) MenendezMedia's selective outrage exposed in McSally-Raju kerfuffle Dem senators say Iran threat to embassies not mentioned in intelligence briefing Overnight Defense: Iran crisis eases as Trump says Tehran 'standing down' | Dems unconvinced on evidence behind Soleimani strike | House sets Thursday vote on Iran war powers MORE declared that, As the United States chief diplomat, the Secretary of State should know that freedom of the press is a fundamental human right, a foundational pillar of democracy, and an indispensable check on authoritarian overreach. And the White House Correspondents Association called the retaliation against NPR outrageous and contrary to American values.

In the hyper-partisan, siloed world in which information is disseminated and issues are framed, however, millions of Americans have not learned thatemail exchangesbetween Kelly and aides to Pompeo demonstrate that the NPR reporter did not agree to limit her questions to Iran and ask no questions about Ukraine. Although her plan was to spend a healthy portion of the interview on Iran, she said I never agree to take anything off the table. She specifically mentioned Ukraine as a topic. Kelly insists as well that no one ever asked her to keep Pompeos post-interview comments off-the-record.

Perhaps, not surprisingly given its brazen-it-out and never-apologizemodus operandi comments from Trump world are, at best, disappointing.

During an appearance with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin NetanyahuBenjamin (Bibi) NetanyahuMORE in the White House on Jan. 28, PresidentTrump pointed to the great Pompeo, inducing a standing ovation from the assembled guests. That reporter couldnt have done too good a job on you, Trump (who, in November 2015,mocked Serge Kovaleski, a New York Times reporter with a physical disability, and has often called the press the enemy of the people) said, I think you did a good job on her, actually.

In covering the incident,Fox News reportedthat NPR stood behind its reporter, but then changed the subject, reminding readers that in December 2018, her news organization had been forced to issue a lengthy correction after falsely accusing Donald TrumpDonald John TrumpFive takeaways: Fear of Trump hangs over Democratic debate Klobuchar raises million since start of debate Buttigieg, Sanders aim to build momentum from New Hampshire debate MORE Jr. of lying to the Senate about plans to build a Trump Tower in Moscow.

And presidential impeachment lawyer Alan DershowitzAlan Morton DershowitzPelosi: Republicans embraced 'darkest vision' of executive power by acquitting Trump Trump couldn't get Ukraine to smear Joe Biden, so Senate Republicans did it for him Trump's acquittal may have profound impact on presidential power MORE,who patted Pompeo on the backat the White House as Trump praised the Secretarys very impressive behavior, emphasized that he thoroughly disapproved of the way he has reportedly treated a reporter, only to opine (in a non-sequitur, usually applied to excuse the actions of demagogues and dictators) that if Pompeo can help bring about peace in the Middle East, Ill forgive him.

In an op-ed in theNew York Times, Kelly summarized whats at stake. Committed to the free and unfettered flow of information, journalists sit down with senior government officials to ask tough questions, on behalf of our fellow citizens, she wrote, and then share their answers or lack thereof with the world. Freedom of the press is enshrined in the Constitution so that people in positions of power will be held to account. The stakes are too high for their impulses and decisions not to be examined in as thoughtful and rigorous an interview as is possible.

These values, which are fundamental to democracy, it seems clear, are under assault. They deserve the visible and vocal support of every American.

Glenn C. Altschuler is the Thomas and Dorothy Litwin Professor of American Studies at Cornell University. He is the co-author (with Stuart Blumin) ofRude Republic: Americans and Their Politics in the Nineteenth Century.

Originally posted here:

The latest assault on freedom of the press | TheHill - The Hill

Recently, the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Yogi Adityanath said during a pro-CAA rally that anyone raising azaadi slogans will be booked for sedition. This stern warning by a chief minister whose administration has brutally cracked down on anti-CAA protesters is not a surprise. The important question is, who is afraid of the azaadi slogan?

In the last few months, this slogan has come under severe attack from the right-wing media ecosystem. Several fake videos have been broadcast on mainstream media platforms, aiming to delegitimise the detractors of the BJP government, who have raised slogans demanding azaadi.

The azaadi slogan went viral in 2016 in the aftermath of the infamous 9 February incident at JNU in Delhi. When then JNUSU president was released on bail, the university students had raised cries for freedom from poverty, from Brahmanism and from capitalism, feudalism, casteism, unemployment and hunger. Thereafter, the rhythmic chanting of azaadi slogans captured imaginations across the country.

The slogan was further popularised in 2019 when Zoya Akhtar featured it in her blockbuster movie, Gully Boy. Since then, several versions of the azaadi chant have been floating online. They have become so popular that a section of Pakistani students have also chanted it in their own country. In any case, in India the azaadi slogan has become a solid part of the protest repertoire.

For example: When women are not able to go out in the night without fearing molestation and harassment, what they are experiencing is a lack of azaadi.

The azaadi slogans began in Kashmir, but perhaps were first heard in mainland India in 2012-13, during the anti-rape movement after the Nirbhaya incident. Those protesters rejected the idea of protection as a deterrent for sexual crimes and advocated the opposite idea, that of freedom without fear. Several places in Delhi had then reverberated with azaadi slogans. Those protesters, who included men and women, demanded freedom from rape culture, freedom from patriarchy, freedom to move around at night, to love, and freedom to marry or not marry, and so on.

Curiously, even the right-wing groups such as the ABVP, which participated in the 2012-13 protests in Delhi, raised these slogans, probably because the anti-rape movement had also taken on a strong anti-Congress flavour. Azaadi slogans of that time were an attempt to break away from notions of victim-blaming, to which is related the idea of forcing on women the protection of patriarchy. They argued the converse; that the more women stepped outside the confines of their homes, the safer the streets would be for them. The movement therefore redefined the meaning of azaadi from political to social freedom.

One curious aspect of azaadi is that in order to have it you have to fight for it, reclaim it. During the colonial period, Indians fought for azaadi from the British. They wanted Indians to be the masters of their own fate. This is what azaadi actually meansthe capacity to decide your present and future. Naturally, when you try to break the shackles that are holding you back, you come up against them in all their power and fury: the British also unleashed brute force upon Indians countless times during colonial rule.

Freedom is never complete. Azaadi is an ongoing process that you have to assert and fight for at every turn. In India, where communities hold a large measure of control over individuals and their aspirations, where identities are controlled by caste or patriarchal structures and their moralistic orders, the fight for azaadi is even more important. The demand for freedom exists only in those conditions where an individual or group feels that their aspirations are being hindered by unfavourable political conditions or economic and social constraints. Thus the demand for azaadi is an expression of unequal power relations in the socio-economic and political spheres.

Naturally, those in the upper echelons of the power hierarchy, who believe they are the sole custodians of culture, will resist any movement that threatens to take away their power. That is why the chants of azaadi have been met with both outright physical violence and symbolic violence. Women demanding azaadi to take their own decisions are being vilified and slut-shamed. This conservative backlash is well-represented by Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattars utterances. He once remarked that if youmeaning womenwant freedom, then why dont you just roam around naked.

Those who believe in azaadi are routinely branded as tukdey-tukdey gang members. We also encounter slogans such as Afzal wali azaadi, Burhan wali azaadi, bandook se denge azaadi, Gauri Lankesh wali azaadi; and so on from right-wing organisations. Their slogans are directed against voices that are critical of the present regime. Yet, for all the reactions it has invoked, azaadi has continued to reverberate across India as a powerful slogan of protest.

Logically, those who are afraid of azaadi slogans are those who fear a political and economic change that would topple them from their position of power. Their fear also emanates from a psychological condition whose origins lie in a crisis of legitimacy. Over the last five years, many celebrities, intellectuals and media personalities have advocated for the present regime. Their future and interests are linked with the present government and so they have thrown their weight behind it. Any political change will create a deep legitimacy crisis for them. The situation is a kind of downward spiral: they have to continuously create a fear psychosis and narrative that favours the regime while delegitimising the protesters and their repertoire.

For example: When you are strolling in the park with your sweetheart and suddenly a bunch of people come and start thrashing you, you are experiencing a lack of azaadi.

Though the azaadi slogans are political, as the saying goes, the personal is also the political. So you find the younger generation seeking azaadi against curfew hours in hostels and opposing the strong societal and familial resistance against own-choice marriages, against moral policing and so on. Each of these are instances of lack of freedom experienced by the youth in one way or another.

The following slogan sums up this sentiment: When you want to pursue education, but are unable to or you are unable to avail quality medical services due to lack of money, you experience a lack of azaadi.

Arguably, the azaadi slogans also add a dimension to the fertile discourse over what constitutes development in India. The Nobel laureate economist Amartya Sen has been arguing that development should also be measured through the lens of freedom, which means that it should entitle people to basic services such as education, healthcare, and employment. Development, in this context, also means building capacity, especially among the marginalised. Therefore, when the youth, women and marginalised groups hit the streets with slogans demanding azaadi, they are not just protesting against a law but breaking their shackles to become more confident and empowered.

For instance: When Dalits are not able to enter temples or fetch water from public sources, they are experiencing a lack of azaadi.

Azaadi cannot be boxed in. Its meaning is redefined by every generation based on their context. The contemporary popularity of azaadi slogans reflects the ambitions of the youth. To criminalise their hopes and aspirations is just the old resisting the birth of the new.

The author is a PhD scholar at JNU in Delhi. The views are personal.

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Azaadiphobia: Who is Afraid of Freedom and Why - NewsClick

Theres only one political body that is more incompetent than the Iowa Democratic party. That body was delivering what could be its last State of the Union speech on Tuesday.

For the fourth year, Donald Trump pretended to address Congress like his presidential predecessors, with some kind of legislative agenda worthy of the chief executive of the most powerful country on the planet.

But our reality-TV president has shown a stubborn resistance to playing anything like the normal role of a commander-in-chief. This time last year, he threatened war if Congress continued to investigate his many varied scandals, crimes and impeachable abuses.

If there is going to be peace and legislation, there cannot be war and investigation, he said in a nonsense rhyme that sounded like the vaguely ominous threats of a childish bully armed with nuclear weapons. It just doesnt work that way!

Strangely enough, the investigations continued all the way to impeachment, and the Democrats still voted for his new North American free trade legislation. So his assessment of politics was as perfect as his call with the Ukraine president.

Trump is supposed to be a straight shooter but his State of the Union speeches are as unruly as his tweets. Two years ago he said his administration was working on a bipartisan approach to immigration reform. The next year he said that countless Americans are murdered by criminal illegal aliens.

This time around, he insisted he was building the worlds most prosperous and inclusive society. That was shortly before he recounted a gruesome spree of deadly violence by one immigrant.

As someone famously said, it just doesnt work that way.

In case you were wondering how Trump was going to demagogue his way through the next eight months of an election, you can now rest easy. He has identified the enemy, and it is something called free government healthcare for illegal aliens.

Like some Frankenstein amalgam of spare body parts, Trump is fabricating an entirely new Republican party by sewing together its most nightmarish fears. Its only a matter of time before he declares a war on Islamist atheists.

Sitting behind Trump was his chief tormentor. Nancy Pelosi, the House speaker, was dressed in white, along with several dozen Democrats marking the centenary of womens voting rights in the United States.

Trump showed his respect for the institution of Congress by refusing to shake Pelosis outstretched hand before he launched into his annual exercise in teleprompter reading. For most of Trumps speech, Pelosi adopted the posture of a schoolteacher reviewing the grade paper of one of her worst students.

Socialism destroys nations, said Trump after welcoming Venezuelas opposition leader, Juan Guaido. But always remember, freedom unifies the soul.

Pelosi shook her head as she mouthed the words to herself over again. Freedom unifies the soul. Can a soul be divided and shattered like a horcrux? How does freedom put a soul back together? And most importantly, did this speech get reviewed before it passed the presidents lips?

Trump's ideas about freedom are as strange as his devotion to Vladimir Putin

Trumps ideas about freedom are as strange as his devotion to Vladimir Putin. With a grand flourish, he awarded the nations highest civilian honor, the presidential medal of freedom, to the spectacularly racist hate-monger known as Rush Limbaugh. Trump said he was giving him the medal in recognition of all that you have done for our nation [and] the millions of people a day that you speak to and inspire. The fact that Limbaugh is now stricken with cancer does not erase a career of spewing the opposite of an inclusive society, especially through the Obama years.

At this point we should spare some thoughts and prayers for the people with the worst job in the White Houses west wing. Working as a speechwriter for Donald Trump is as thankless a job as trying to style his hair: theres not a lot to work with.

You start out with the doorstopper volumes of great presidential speeches, and you end up writing a line that sounds like youre driving a bulldozer. We are moving forward at a pace that was unimaginable just a short time ago, said Demolition Donald, and we are never ever going back!

This is the kind of rhetorical flourish a speechwriter crafts when the facts fail them. Trump constructed his big speech around some economic statistics his team had cherrypicked about the active workforce.

Somehow he failed to say that economic growth has slowed to 2.1% for the last two quarters. When economic growth under Obama was around this level, back in 2012, Trump himself thought this was less than great. The economy is in deep trouble, said the man with a tweet for all occasions.

The sick joke of the Trump presidency is that its becoming increasingly hard to tell the difference between funny strange and funny haha. After bragging about getting his NATO allies to help pay their fair share, Trump pointed to his greatest military innovation.

Just weeks ago, for the first time since President Truman established the Air Force more than 70 years earlier, he declared, we created a new branch of the United States Armed Forces, the Space Force.

At this point the cameras turned to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley, who looked like he could barely stifle his giggles.

It has long been unclear how much of this presidents entourage is engaged in a daily stifled giggle.

On the eve of his impeachment acquittal, so many of the jurors listening to Trumps state of the union treat him like a man-child whose conduct cannot be judged by normal adult standards. I believe that the president has learned from this case, Senator Susan Collins of Maine told CBS News. The president has been impeached. Thats a pretty big lesson.

Yes, thatll teach him. Now he knows he can ignore congressional budgets, use military aid for his own personal gain, and coerce a foreign government to interfere with an American election.

This is a special place, Trumps America. Its the kind of country where senators can openly surrender their principles and power out of fear for their own reelection. Its the kind of country where half of Congress can cheer race-baiting radio stars and a president who demonizes immigrants.

And its the kind of country where a presidents speechwriters can just give up on the whole speechwriting thing to list a bunch of randomly famous American names to wind up one final Trumpian state of the union.

This is the home of Abraham Lincoln, Frederick Douglass, Amelia Earhart, Harriet Tubman, the Wright Brothers, Neil Armstrong, and so many more, Trump said as his speechwriting staff threw in the towel. This is the country where children learn names like Wyatt Earp, Davy Crockett, and Annie Oakley.

One day they will learn the name of Donald Trump too. Hes the guy who put kids in cages, watched TV all day, and made a Space Force. He got caught lying and cheating but there were no referees, so he never stopped.

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Freedom unifies the soul: Trump's State of the Union speechwriters have thrown in the towel - The Guardian

Judge James Boasberg of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia independently reviewed the records without redactions and found the Justice Department had overreached in its efforts to conceal information.

Boasberg wrote in an opinion, nowhere does the White House directly ask for legal advice in the email, nor is there any other statement that can even be fairly construed as a solicitation of legal counsel.

As the Courts review makes clear, the communications here reveal no deliberative process that could expose the agencys policy deliberations to unwarranted scrutiny. Absent more, the privilege cannot apply. A record is not protected merely by virtue of being a relevant predecisional communication, he found.

As previously mentioned, the FOIA Improvement Act of 2016, the most recent amendment of the law, included provisions specifically seeking to constrain overuse and abuse of Exemption 5. One requires agencies to apply a foreseeable harm standard when seeking to withhold records under the exemption. The standard would require agencies to sufficiently show that disclosure of the requested records would cause a specific harm.

An amicus brief filed by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press in an ongoing FOIA appeal in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit notes the purpose and intent of the foreseeable harm reform to curtail abuse of Exemption 5. (Amicus briefs are legal documents filed by parties not involved in the case but who have an interest in the subject and want to offer expertise or perspective on the issues under consideration by the court.) Congress enacted the foreseeable harm standard to reverse the growing trend toward excessive government secrecy; Congress was concerned, in particular, with overuse of the deliberative process privilege, the Reporters Committee argued in the brief.

The brief also emphasizes the importance of requiring agencies to identify a specific harm that FOIA exemptions were meant to prevent. An agency cannot prevail by speculating that harm might result from disclosure, or by reciting generic rationales that could be applicable to broad categories of agency records, the Reporters Committee wrote. If an agency fails to satisfy the foreseeable harm standard as to any particular record or portion thereof, the [FOIA Improvement] Act makes clear that it must be released.

Effectively reining in overuse of Exemption 5 might also require new FOIA reforms. One potential reform would be to further shrink the amount of time records can be withheld under that exemption, perhaps to 12 years, the same cap for shielding presidential records involving deliberative process.

Another promising reform would involve mandating a balancing test if an agencys redactions are challenged. CREWs Anne Weismann recently wrote in support of such a change that Congress should reform the [FOIA] statute to mirror how the deliberative process privilege is treated in the discovery context.

When a litigant challenges the governments invocation of the deliberative process privilege in discovery, a reviewing court balances the governments interest in secrecy against the litigants interest in disclosure. Exemption 5, by contrast, has no balancing test when considering an agency claim that material is protected by the deliberative process privilege, she wrote. Accordingly, Congress should amend Exemption 5 to require agencies and reviewing courts to weigh an agencys need to protect the quality of its decisions against the publics interest in disclosure.

As Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) said in support of the FOIA Improvement Act of 2016, a truly democratic system depends on an informed citizenry to hold their leaders accountable. Allowing agencies to use Exemption 5 as a get out of jail free card to avoid disclosing embarrassing or politically problematic records whenever they want runs directly contrary to that goal.POGO will continue working with our partners to pursue further reforms to improve FOIA and increase transparency and accountability in government.

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The Most Abused Freedom of Information Act Exemption Still Needs to Be Reined In - Project On Government Oversight

Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images

President Donald Trump awarded the Medal of Freedom to conservative radio personality Rush Limbaugh on Tuesday in an unprecedented move during the State of the Union address.

First lady Melania Trump placed the medal on the visibly surprised Limbaugh, one day after the talk show host revealed he has advanced lung cancer.

"Here tonight is a special man, someone beloved by millions of Americans who just received a Stage 4 advanced cancer diagnosis. This is not good news, but what is good news is that he is the greatest fighter and winner that you will ever meet," the President said during his speech, thanking the radio host for his "decades of tireless devotion to our country."

Trump, in announcing the award, highlighted Limbaugh's charity work.

"I am proud to announce tonight that you will be receiving our country's highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom," Trump said, instructing the first lady to bestow the medal on Limbaugh.

Limbaugh had not been publicly announced as a White House guest for the State of the Union until Tuesday evening, just prior to the address' start.

Trump told network anchors during a private lunch earlier Tuesday that he planned to award Limbaugh with the Medal of Freedom.

Limbaugh has been a staunch ally of the President's for years, and dined with him at his Palm Beach golf club over the holidays. Once, during an event in the Rose Garden, Trump praised Limbaugh as someone who "can speak for three hours without a phone call."

Trump wished the conservative radio talk show host a speedy recovery Monday after Limbaugh told his audience he is beginning treatment, which will require him to miss the show some days.

"I wish I didn't have to tell you this, and I thought about not trying to tell anybody, I thought about trying to do this without anybody knowing, because I don't like making things about me," Limbaugh said Monday during a live broadcast. But "there are going to be days that I'm not going to be able to be here, because I will be undergoing treatment, or I'm reacting to treatment."

Limbaugh has been hosting "The Rush Limbaugh Show" for 31 years.

The Medal of Freedom is bestowed to "individuals who have made especially meritorious contributions to the security or national interests of the United States, to world peace, or to cultural or other significant public or private endeavors," according to the White House.

People close to Trump say he personally enjoys granting his friends the nation's highest civilian honor. He bestowed the award upon seven recipients in 2019, and several more the year prior.

Like presidents before him, Trump invites anchors from all the major networks to dine with him at the White House in advance of his State of the Union address. The conversation is considered off the record, but CNN was excluded this year, and therefore did not agree to the mandate. Other anchors did attend the lunch.

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Trump says he will award Rush Limbaugh with Medal of Freedom - msnNOW

Visitors to the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center were greeted today, by the sounds of jazz and treated to a day of art culture and history.Andre DuBois of Arts Wave said the Freedom Center was the perfect location to recognize the art of the Queen City.What better place than the Freedom Center during Black History Month to celebrate all the diverse arts that we have in our city. Dubois said.Docents guided tours, sharing lessons of the past and perhaps inspiring visions of a more perfect future.The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, Arts Wave's community partner, offered free admission to the public, including its brand-new exhibition, "Motel X," a multimedia interactive experienced designed by Cincinnati artist Christine Shrum.Katie Branell of The National Underground Freedom Center describes Arts Wave's kickoff as a perfect compliment to the Freedom Centers mission.We are able to talk about Black History Month and tell people why we are here, the underground railroad, and feature our special exhibit Motel X which is an interactive multimedia exhibit on human trafficking.Arts Waves partnered with the museum as part of Lifting as We Climb in commemoration of Black History Month. Watching the reaction of patrons, DuBois said he is encouraged by the agencys mission. In this particularly event, I just love the interaction we have with different African-American artists. I think it is so important, because art is always a reflection of life.For many in the tri-state and even around the world, this Freedom Center has served throughout its 15 years as a beacon to talk about the social crises of humanity. Organizers say with Arts Wave, the internationally renowned research center serves as a bridgeWe want to be the premier institution that talks about what we call inclusive freedom. So we want to teach people about this history and then encourage them to become active on fighting against injustices today.Branell said. Arts Wave raises more than $12 million annually to support the fine arts in the Cincinnati region.

Visitors to the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center were greeted today, by the sounds of jazz and treated to a day of art culture and history.

Andre DuBois of Arts Wave said the Freedom Center was the perfect location to recognize the art of the Queen City.

What better place than the Freedom Center during Black History Month to celebrate all the diverse arts that we have in our city. Dubois said.

Docents guided tours, sharing lessons of the past and perhaps inspiring visions of a more perfect future.

The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, Arts Wave's community partner, offered free admission to the public, including its brand-new exhibition, "Motel X," a multimedia interactive experienced designed by Cincinnati artist Christine Shrum.

Katie Branell of The National Underground Freedom Center describes Arts Wave's kickoff as a perfect compliment to the Freedom Centers mission.

We are able to talk about Black History Month and tell people why we are here, the underground railroad, and feature our special exhibit Motel X which is an interactive multimedia exhibit on human trafficking.

Arts Waves partnered with the museum as part of Lifting as We Climb in commemoration of Black History Month. Watching the reaction of patrons, DuBois said he is encouraged by the agencys mission.

In this particularly event, I just love the interaction we have with different African-American artists. I think it is so important, because art is always a reflection of life.

For many in the tri-state and even around the world, this Freedom Center has served throughout its 15 years as a beacon to talk about the social crises of humanity. Organizers say with Arts Wave, the internationally renowned research center serves as a bridge

We want to be the premier institution that talks about what we call inclusive freedom. So we want to teach people about this history and then encourage them to become active on fighting against injustices today.Branell said.

Arts Wave raises more than $12 million annually to support the fine arts in the Cincinnati region.

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Arts Wave partners with the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center to celebrate Black History Month. - WLWT Cincinnati

LABORCase of Freedom Trail guides headed to the NLRB

Freedom Trail tour guides fighting for their first union contract are set to face their employer in a National Labor Relations Board hearing next month, following charges by the union that the Freedom Trail Foundation withheld tour guides scheduled pay raises. Lizzie Short said she was was one of several guides denied the extra $3.50 per tour they were entitled to, following a review process, after two years of service. The reason, Shorts boss told her each time she brought it up, was the ongoing contract negotiations. The union filed a complaint with the labor relations board late last summer, and in December, the board found that the Freedom Trail Foundation had failed to bargain in good faith and set a hearing date for March 3 in Boston. The board also ordered the foundation to provide back pay to guides who had been denied scheduled pay increases. In its response to the labor relations board, the foundation denied any wrongdoing. The 30-plus guides, who take visitors to local historic sites dressed in Colonial-era garb, voted to join Unite Here Local 26 a year ago. Their main demands: the ability to use microphones, to cancel tours during bad weather, to wear more weather-appropriate garb, and to call in sick without feeling obligated to find their own replacements. They also want more money. Guides base pay $45 for a 90-minute tour, plus time beforehand getting into costume and promoting their tours hasnt increased in 12 years, the guides said. KATIE JOHNSTON

The Baker administration has named Patrick Woodcock as its new Department of Energy Resources commissioner, following Judith Judsons departure to the private sector. Woodcock had been appointed interim energy resources commissioner in December because Judson took a job with Ameresco, the Framingham-based renewable energy company. Before joining the administration, Woodcock was director of Maines state energy office from 2013 through 2016. Woodcocks current boss, state energy and environmental affairs secretary Katie Theoharides, announced his new job at a meeting of the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center board on Wednesday. Also on Wednesday, the administration announced that Jim Montgomery has been appointed commissioner of the Department of Conservation and Recreation, and Shaun Santos was named colonel of the Massachusetts Environmental Police. Both roles are also overseen by Theoharides. JON CHESTO

L.L. Bean is eliminating 200 jobs across the company and closing its call center in Maines second-largest city as part of a reorganization. The outdoor retailers job cuts will occur at all levels, company spokeswoman Carolyn Beem said Wednesday. All 130 call center agents in Lewiston will be offered the opportunity to move to a call center in Portland or work from home, she said. The company has dealt with flat sales and a difficult era of belt-tightening that included a previous reduction in workforce, a tightening of its generous return policy, and a paring of product lines to refocus on the companys outdoors roots. But the company last year reported a small increase in sales. ASSOCIATED PRESS

Online mattress pioneer Casper Sleep Inc. is slashing the price of its initial public offering. The New York-based company said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday that it now anticipates offering approximately 8.4 million shares at $12 to $13 per share. Last month Casper said it expected to price the IPO between $17 and $19 per share. Investors may be cautious after some recent IPO flops. The ride-hailing companies Uber and Lyft debuted on the market last year, but have continued to lose money and both have traded well below their IPO prices. Office-sharing company WeWork scuttled its IPO in September. ASSOCIATED PRESS

US companies added 291,000 jobs in January, a big increase from December, but much of that strength likely reflected unusually warm weather during the month. Payroll processor ADP said Wednesday that the January job gain, which was larger than had been expected, compared to a revised December figure of 193,000. Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moodys Analytics, said that warmer-than-normal weather for January played a big role in the increase. He said without that impact, the job gain would probably have been around 150,000. The ADP report is coming out ahead of the Labor Departments release of the January jobs report on Friday. ASSOCIATED PRESS

Spotify announced Tuesday that it had entered into an agreement to acquire The Ringer, a podcast-focused pop culture and sports company founded by former ESPN writer Bill Simmons. Terms of the deal which had been rumored for weeks were not announced, though Recodes Peter Kafka reports that Spotify intends to hire The Ringers 90 employees and keep its website up and running. But the audio companys main desire was to acquire The Ringers successful podcast network, which includes offerings such as Simmons eponymous podcast and shows covering the NBA, NFL, the media, and pop culture. WASHINGTON POST

Drug maker Merck beat Wall Streets fourth-quarter profit expectations, but investors werent as happy with the biggest move Mercks made in years: deciding to spin off its womens health division and other operations with $6.5 billion in annual revenues. The maker of cancer blockbuster Keytruda announced the plan along with its quarterly results, saying the two resulting companies each would be able to grow faster and develop more new medicines, benefiting patients. But investors sold off shares in heavy trading early Wednesday, pushing their price down more than 4 percent initially before closing 2.9 percent down. The maneuver culminates a steady shift of Mercks business the past several years from a primary care drug maker with more than 160 products, to a company which will have half as many, focused on its surging but young oncology business, and growing sales of its vaccine, hospital products, and veterinary medicines. ASSOCIATED PRESS

Walt Disney Co.s crusade to become a streaming giant is off to a swift start. Subscribers to the new Disney+ online service soared to 28.6 million by early February, suggesting the company founded nearly a century ago can challenge Netflix Inc. in the crowded market for online TV. Analysts were forecasting a year-end total of 20.8 million, according to Bloomberg Consensus. BLOOMBERG NEWS

Johns Hopkins University dislodged Harvard University as the top fund-raiser among US colleges, fueled by a $1.8 billion donation from Michael Bloomberg. Schools raised almost $50 billion in the 12 months ended June 2019, a record year and the 10th consecutive period of increased donations, according to a study released Wednesday by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education. Hopkins brought in $2.7 billion after Bloomberg in November 2018 announced the gift for his alma mater to help low- and moderate-income students attend. Harvard, the richest US college, had topped the list every year since fiscal 2016. It raised $1.4 billion, followed by Stanford University at $1.1 billion, according to the data. BLOOMBERG NEWS

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Case of Freedom Trail guides headed to the NLRB - The Boston Globe

Fiveyoung peoplewith theSunflower CountyFreedom Project put on a play Saturday afternoon at the Meridian Arts+Entertainment Experience to highlight theperspectives of black, female activists.

A Song for Coretta, by Pearl Cleave, takes the audience to the outside of Atlantas Ebenezer Baptist Church, where people of different generations are waiting in line to pay their respects to Coretta Scott King.

The conversations that ensue, make up the play, with moments of serious discussion about past experiences, historical moments and generational differences, mixed with moments of light-hearted fun.

Each character was played by a young member of the Sunflower County Freedom Project.

The cast was comprised of Kennedye Rash, 13; Amyah Nash, 13; Phillystity Gray, 16; Braelyn Ingram, 14; and Jamiyah McCloud, 14.

After the play, the cast answered questions from the audience.

One person asked, Why this play?

InBlack History Month, people dont always talk about what the females did, and thats why I liked this play, because its about what she (Coretta) did, not what her husband (Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.) did, McCloud said.

The rest of the cast echoed that sentiment, as they believe that sometimes the classroom lessons dont always give credit where its due.

They also said the play was an effort to educate people.

The play is to inform people about black history and how much it changed from then to today, Rash said.

The group was led by Kandace Stevenson, director of programming for the Sunflower County Freedom Project.

I first wanted to find a play to reflect our history, and I noticed this was a group of young ladies auditioning, Stevenson said. This is my second year with this drama troupe. I noticed the growth and maturity, the raw emotion, dedication and trying to do better than last year.

Im super excited, I think it was fantastic. These five young ladies came to Meridian, out of their shell, totally unaware of what they would run into and they showed out, said Adrian Cross, executive director of the Meridian Freedom Project.

They were very open, especially during the question and answer segment, I think that was one of my favorite parts because they got a lot of feedback and they took their constructive criticism, but they were also able to express themselves even more.

The play was received with a standing ovation at its close.

Audience members took some thoughts back with them after viewing the performance.

I feel that we dont get the chance to hear from the female perspective on the civil rights movement, and I liked how they talked about the trauma during the Katrina hurricane, the young lady in the military, and it was all done from womens perspectives, Deborah Todd, of Meridian, said.

More information on the group can be foundwww.sunflowerfreedom.org. More information about The Meridian Freedom Project can be foundat TheMeridianFreedomProject.org.

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Freedom Project: Play highlights civil rights perspective of black women - Meridian Star

As I headed to LAX after a recent trip to Los Angeles, my Lyft driver insisted that we stop at In-N-Out Burger so that I could enjoy one last California experience. We ate the burgers outside, as planes flew above us. My driver, a professional photographer, works for Lyft to supplement his irregular income. His story is common. Most drivers that Ive encountered in California and elsewhere drive as a side job, while also, say, working in restaurants or selling real estate.

But if Californias state government has its way, driving for Lyft or Uber wont be easy in the future. The passage of Assembly Bill 5 (AB5) aims to make contract workers, like my Lyft driver, regular employees.AB5 is well-intentioned but doesnt account for how the labor market has changed. This will bring higher pay and benefits to retained workers, but it will also increase costs, which means higher prices for customers. And if employers ultimately incur the costs of adding more regular staff, odds are that they will start to mandate when and where employees work, reducing gig-work opportunities.

Under the new law, to be permitted to hire someone as a contractorand not as an employeebusinesses must pass whats known as the ABC test, which involves proving, in court, that the contractor is free from control and direction of the hiring entity, that the contractor supplies similar services to other vendors, and that the work performed falls outside the usual course of the hiring entitys business. My Lyft driver, and many others, would be unable to satisfy those conditions.

AB5 is well-intentioned. Contract work, with its unconventional hours and pay, is risky and unpredictable, with no benefits, and the prospect of instant termination. The law originated in a 2018 lawsuit, Dynamex Superior West v. Superior Court, involving delivery employees at Dynamex. Though the company considered them contractors, they were expected to wear uniforms and supply their own cars. They sued to be recognized as employees and won, and the suit created the ABC test. Within a year, AB5 became law.

But AB5 doesnt account for how the labor market has changed. In an industrial economy, dependence on a single employer made sense, and attaining skills relevant to a single firm proved valuable. Finding other work, after all, could be difficult. But in a knowledge-oriented economy, where technology makes work easier to find and on-the-job skills are more commonly transferable across companies than in the past, independence can suit both employers and employees. Gig works flexibility also makes it valuable as a fallback, offering extra money when people might need it most.Nontraditional work relationships include a host of different arrangements.

In fact, most gig workers in the U.S. dont work full-time in this capacity. Over the past 15 years, the number of full-time contractors has been stable. According to a Federal Reserve Board survey, only 18 percent of Americans perform gig work as their primary source of income. The plurality, or 38 percent, use it to supplement income from their primary job.

Overall, 30 percent of Americans do some form of gig work, and its common across education levels. Though contract work makes up less than ten percent of household income for three-quarters of survey respondents, 45 percent consider it an important part of their income.

The Fed concludes:

The greater subjective value placed on this income may be related to its ability to smooth out unexpected changes in earnings from main jobs even if the actual amount of money earned is relatively small.

Gig works flexibility also makes it valuable as a fallback, offering extra money when people might need it most. Workers of all income levels find it valuable. Its also a helpful option for stay-at-home parents who want to keep a toe in the labor market. Turning gig work into a regular job undermines this value because it removes its most important characteristic: flexibility.

No wonder, then, that workers and employers are pushing back. Freelance journalists are mounting a challenge to AB5 after many lost jobs. Developing technology calls for better regulation of gig work, not effectively eliminating it.Uber and Lyft say that theyll continue to hire drivers as contractors, but they could face legal challenges, as some trucking companies did. The truckers prevailed in court because their business takes them across state lines.

Its true that technology is transforming the labor market, and employee protections have been reduced. But this development calls for better regulation of gig work, not effectively eliminating it. The leading Democratic presidential candidatesJoe Biden, Elizabeth Warren, Pete Buttigieg, and Bernie Sandershave all endorsed a national version of AB5. They should remember that most workers use gig work as a form of insurance. By eliminating contractors, laws like AB5 will increase risk rather than reduce it.

This article is republished from City Journal.

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Taking the Freedom Out of Freelancing - Foundation for Economic Education - Foundation for Economic Education

Associate head coach Rashon Burno sent the text at 5:49 p.m. Wednesday, about 27 hours before Arizona States home contest against UCLA.

Hey, are you getting shots up tonight?

Yeah I am, Kimani Lawrence answered.

Work on getting shots behind ball screens. Also, get some off the bounce one-dribble pull-up.

Aight, got you.

Lawrence was coming off perhaps his worst game of the season. In last Saturdays win at Washington, the junior forward attempted two shots. Both from 3-point range. Neither hit the rim. A capable shooter, Lawrence boarded the team bus 6 of 38 from the arc on the season.

A nightmare.

Once the Sun Devils returned to Tempe, Lawrence did the only thing he knew: He studied film from last season, watching himself drill 3-pointers. Then he went to the gym, turned on music and went to work, getting up nearly 1,000 shots a day. Before practice.

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The freedom Bobby Hurley gives to players is often criticized, but it might end up saving ASU's season - The Athletic

Gary Hukriede, White Bear Lake Published 5:00 p.m. CT Feb. 5, 2020

The left does not understand President Trump because they do not understand the basis of freedom that he so well addresses. Let me explain.

Evidence shows that from the DNA, the greater number of people are destined to be either liberal or conservative. There is where it all begins.

A researcher, Jonathan Haidt,has synthesized five moral foundations from which all humans process their environment and existence through. Therefore, our polarized ideologies are given to us as a tendency to be one or the otherfrom the DNA.

Of these five moral foundationelements, liberals tend to process the most through predominantly two, while conservatives utilize all five. Functioning predominantly through only two moral foundations is more limiting to the true understanding of the functioning of community, economyand personal freedom.

Haidt states that morality suppresses selfishness [a survival instinct] and thus enables social groups to function.

Haidt has concluded from his research that all successful civilization has functioned through all five moral foundations for balance and success. He writes, Looking at the entire range of human societies, the statistically normal human society is built upon all five foundations. It is modern liberalismwhich requires a special explanation.

Its interesting to note that Haidt was a liberal, who, after his research, now refers to himself as a centrist.

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The basis of freedom - SC Times