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Category Archives: Freedom

Freedom of the press versus free will of the press

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There is an essential distinction between freedom of the press and free will of the press. Freedom of the press is a matter of rightthe freedom to report only what is true and factual or to render an opinion as long as it is founded on truth and facts and good faith without any malicious intent to malign and destroy the rights of others, such as the right to life or the right to ones individual or

collective beliefs.

Freedom, therefore, is not absolute. It is relative to or limited by the corresponding rights of others. Unjustly harassing or infringing on the rights of others is not a matter of freedom. In like manner, intentionally telling or reporting lies is not covered by freedom of the press.

On the other hand, free will is a personal power. An individual may choose or decide to do what he/she knows or believes to be right or to do what he/she knows or believes to be wrong. A news reporter or a media man, on his own free will, can choose to tell or report what is false or untrue, but he does not have the freedom to do so; if he does, he is liable for the deed. In fact, the publishing company should fire him as he is a liability.

In other words, just because you can exercise your free will to tell lies or report willful inaccuracies to malign other people does not mean you have the freedom to do it. You may call it free will of the press, but definitely not

freedom of the press.

AMAY P. ONG VAO,

epov111@yahoo.com

Originally posted here:

Freedom of the press versus free will of the press

Freedom fighters deserve better treatment

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It is a regular event on every Republic Day or Independence Day for the district administration to honour freedom fighters or their spouses/kin with shawls/mementoes.

But many of the family members of such heroes have started feeling that these honours were more ritualistic and confined to that particular day, with the authorities concerned not so keen to listen to their grievances later.

Anyone closely watching the R-day and I-day celebrations here over the last few years can easily make out how the officials rush through the gesture of adorning shawls and giving mementoes to the freedom fighters or their kin without even engaging in a pep talk with them, says P. R. Nataraj, son of freedom fighter P. Ramasamy and state general secretary of Tamil Nadu Freedom Fighters and Legal Heirs Association.

Mr. Nataraj was of the view that freedom fighters or their kin need to be honoured in a more honourable manner.

The Association wants the district administration to hold grievances redress meeting frequently for the families of freedom fighters. For example, Palaniammal, wife of freedom fighter Palaniappan who fought for Independence along with Nethaji Subash Chandra Bose, is facing lots of problems in life. Such things can be redressed only if their grievances are heard frequently, the Association members said.

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Freedom fighters deserve better treatment

Google Record Spending on Lobbying…to KEEP Internet Freedom & Net Neutrality – Video

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Google Record Spending on Lobbying...to KEEP Internet Freedom Net Neutrality
Google is spending record amounts on lobbying to maintain internet freedom and net neutrality http://www.pcworld.com/article/2873752/google-facebook-apple-spent-record-amounts-on-lobbying-in-20 ...

By: David Pakman Show

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Google Record Spending on Lobbying...to KEEP Internet Freedom & Net Neutrality - Video

Freedom to camp – youth travellers in New Zealand

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'A myth that young tourists are stingy' SARAH-JANE O'CONNOR

Sarah-Jane O'Connor Sarah-Jane O'Connor Sarah-Jane O'Connor Dean Kozanic Dean Kozanic

Olivia Clark, 23, and Byron Fay, 28, from Canberra are on a whirlwind, nine-day tour of the South Island.

GLOBETROTTERS: Bill Jackman, 28, and Hebe Henderson, 21, from Cornwall are squeezing a five-week NZ trip in between visiting Australia and Thailand.

ON TOUR: Inbar Nir, left, and Liron Yadlin, both 25, from Israel have been staying in DOC campgrounds.

No Camping signs have been erected in the public carpark in New Brighton.

German visitors, Danilson Dala, left, and Andrew Triendade pack up their gear after using the New Brighton carpark.

Sarah-Jane O'Connor

Bill Jackman, 28, and Hebe Henderson, 21, from Cornwall are squeezing a five-week NZ trip in between visiting Australia and Thailand.

Freedom-camping tourists have been filling the media with their poor behaviour. SARAH-JANE O'CONNOR goes in search of the youth tourist market and finds there are many more than the proverbial bad apples.

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Freedom to camp - youth travellers in New Zealand

Hambycast: Searching for freedom in Iowa

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Standing before a conservative audience at the first annual Iowa Freedom Summit, in an auditorium usually reserved for the Des Moines ballet, the firebrand Senator from Texas distilled the state's prized leadoff role in the presidential nominating process down to its essence.

"In a Republican primary, every candidate's going to come in front of you and say I'm the most conservative candidate to ever live," he said. "'Gosh-darnit-who-diddly, I'm conservative!' Well, talk is cheap."

Cruz did his thing, stroking the id of Iowa's right-leaning Republican electorate with a burst of conservative bromides, trying to prove that he's more than just talk, a high bar for a lawyer-turned-senator best known for a 21-hour pseudo-filibuster just before the 2013 government shutdown. But judging by the waves of applause, it worked.

Depending on how elastic your definition of "candidate" is, there were anywhere between eight and 12 potential presidential contenders who came here to perform the same kind of conservative ego-stroking as Cruz. Familiar attacks against Obamacare and "amnesty for illegals" and Hillary Clinton erupted in speech after speech from a cast of characters that included celebrities like Donald Trump and Sarah Palin, and people actually running for president, like Chris Christie, Rick Perry and Rick Santorum.

Reality check: Jeb Bush's conservative record

Like many of these political gatherings, the event was organized around a cascade of speeches from White House hopefuls we heard 10 hours of them! And as is the case with many of these political gatherings, there was no actual news to be had, just storylines that needed to be fed.

Where was Jeb Bush? Is Mike Huckabee really running or just selling books? Is Scott Walker the second coming of Tim Pawlenty? Is Chris Christie, who has styled himself as Mr. Electability, really this tight with Steve King, the polarizing immigration hardliner who hosted the event? What is Sarah Palin talking about? Can we get dinner reservations at Centro?

Romney gives GOP advices on minority outreach

These were questions the hundred or so journalists in attendance, shoehorned into a balcony space above the stage, answered with an avalanche of links, tweets and live shots. The Freedom Summit offered a feeding frenzy of quotes, color and interviews for the press.

But it was, first and foremost, a Republican pageant show. Reporters dubbed it the starting gun of the 2016 Republican presidential race. They were right. But it's only the first of many similar events to come in 2015 in New Hampshire, in South Carolina, in Washington and elsewhere.

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Hambycast: Searching for freedom in Iowa

Freedom from religion

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The nation's largest group of freethinkers strives to improve the image of atheists

The folks who lead the Freedom From Religion Foundation are used to drawing heat.

In a move opposed by liberal and conservative religious leaders alike, the Madison-based group challenged a federal law that gives clergy tax-free housing allowances. Under current law, ministers can deduct housing costs from their pre-tax salary -- including mortgage payments, property taxes and homeowners insurance -- if the money is designated specifically as a housing allowance.

The group, which defends the constitutional separation of church and state, won its case in federal circuit court in 2013, but the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed the lawsuit in November, ruling the organization did not have standing.

Undeterred, co-presidents Annie Laurie Gaylor and her husband, Dan Barker, a former evangelical minister, plan to prove they've been damaged by the clergy-only tax exemption by applying for it themselves. Once denied, they will file their lawsuit again.

"As far as I can tell, every single church in the United States is against us on this, including the Unitarians, Universalists, American Baptists -- they're all gunning for us on this," says Gaylor, a short, slender blond who speaks in a high tone with an explosive vocabulary and unwavering conviction. "The ministers and churches sure don't want to give up their perks and privileges."

Gaylor is used to being the lone wolf on issues of church and state. Even some progressives wonder whether her group should concern itself with crches in public parks or Christmas trees in capitol buildings.

Or, for that matter, with restaurants that offer discounts to customers for praying in public or showing they are otherwise church-goers.

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, in mid-December, took the foundation to task for complaining about a diner in Winston-Salem, N.C., that offered a discount for public prayer. It was not a sympathetic spin. "You're a dick," the correspondent told Barker.

Barker says he doesn't mind. He used the large platform to make his point -- that so-called church bulletin discounts violate the federal Civil Rights Act because they discriminate against nonbelievers.

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Freedom from religion


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