Van Morrison gets freedom of Belfast

16 September 2013 Last updated at 14:08 ET

World-famous singer Van Morrison has been awarded the freedom of Belfast.

The move was unanimously agreed after a special meeting of Belfast City Council on Monday.

A motion by the DUP's Gavin Robinson recognised the extraordinary contribution the 68-year-old singer, known affectionately to fans as "Van the Man", has made to the city.

He is the first recipient of the honour since Dame Mary Peters.

Other recipients since 1898 include Sir Edward Carson.

It is not yet known how the honour will be marked, but the council may stage a concert rather than a formal ceremony.

Mr Morrison was brought up in east Belfast.

He has taken inspiration from streets in his home city for a number of songs, including Cyprus Avenue and Hyndford Street.

His career began in the 1950s and he has enjoyed critical acclaim, winning six Grammy Awards, a Brit Award for outstanding contribution to music, and places in both the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters' Hall of Fame.

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Van Morrison gets freedom of Belfast

Humanity United, Federal Government and Global Foundations Launch Partnership for Freedom

WASHINGTON, Sept. 17, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --Humanity United, a foundation dedicated to building peace and advancing human freedom, joined the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women initiative and Steven Spielberg's Righteous Persons Foundation today in announcing the official start of the Partnership for Freedom's first innovation challengeReimagine: Opportunity.

The Partnership for Freedom is a public-private partnership that aims to confront some of the deepest difficulties facing survivors of modern-day slavery in the United States.

Tens of thousands of people in the United States currently live in modern-day slavery. While efforts to combat this crime continue, care and support for trafficking survivors remain serious problems. Survivors face a plethora of obstacles as they enter a system that is not fully equipped to help them recover.

"The magnitude and scope of the problem is too large for the government alone to arrest all the perpetrators, rescue all the victims and restore all the survivors," said George Sheldon, HHS acting assistant secretary for the Administration for Children and Families. "Together, in partnerships like this one, we can begin to turn the tables on those who subject their victims to the greatest degradations known to mankind."

Through a series of three innovation challenges, the Partnership for Freedom encourages organizations and communities from across the country to submit new ideas to improve and increase services for human trafficking survivors. This public-private partnership was first announced by President Obama during his landmark speech on human trafficking in September 2012.

"I am so excited to be part of the Partnership for Freedom," said Joye E. Frost, director of the Office for Victims of Crime at the Department of Justice. "With Humanity United and our federal partners, we have joined the Partnership for Freedom to cultivate these new ideas and innovative practices."

The first challenge in the series, Reimagine: Opportunity, looks for innovative and sustainable ways to address three critical issues faced by human trafficking survivors:

"The goal of the Partnership for Freedom is to inspire communities to work together to address some of the key challenges facing survivors of modern-day slavery," said Randy Newcomb, president and CEO of Humanity United. "We want to see new actors, new skills, new data, new ideas and new energy enter the anti-trafficking conversation. "

Initial applications for Reimagine: Opportunity will be accepted until Nov. 17. Up to 25 finalists will be invited to attend an Innovation Workshop in Washington, D.C. to further develop their ideas. Final winners will begin piloting their solutions in Spring 2014.

The remaining two challenges will be announced in 2014 and 2015.

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Humanity United, Federal Government and Global Foundations Launch Partnership for Freedom

Freedom enjoying a hot start; Forest Park shows improvement

Freedoms Marcus Hill first noticed the trend on his Samsung Galaxy smartphone. All week, the senior defensive tackle had heard Eagles defensive coordinator Endor Cooper harping about the Battlefield offensive lines tendency to lean on running plays to jump out at defenders.

But now thanks to his phones free Hudl app he was seeing it on film for himself.

Armed with the key piece of knowledge, Hill and fellow defender Kyree Campbell entered Saturdays game against the Bobcats with a measured plan of attack and a finesse move called a snatch.

You let them [linemen] blow past you, and you can essentially attack the quarterback or the ballcarrier, Hill said.

Hill had all the right moves. He sacked Bobcats quarterback Matt Gallagher three times, and the Eagles held the Bobcats (1-2) to just 98 yards of offense in Freedoms 21-10 win.

According to Freedom Coach Gary Wortham, Hill the only returning starter on the Eagles offensive line used the past few seasons to glean anything and everything about his position from graduated standouts Gary Wortham Jr. and Mykell Anderson.

He [Hill] was a young guy playing behind those guys, and he kinda looked up to those guys in terms of the position and trying to learn it, Wortham said. Now, hes taken over at the helm of our D-line corps.

At 3-0, Freedom sits at the top of the Cardinal District standings. Its a far cry from recent seasons, when Eagles players tended to approach Fridays with a defeatist, yet resilient attitude.

There were some times in the past where we kinda looked at it as yeah, were going to lose, Hill said. But even though we thought we were going to lose, we always played for pride.

No. 18 Bruins pulled together at summer camp

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Freedom enjoying a hot start; Forest Park shows improvement

Freedom of Expression Institute surprised at Zuma’s response to Secrecy Bill – Video


Freedom of Expression Institute surprised at Zuma #39;s response to Secrecy Bill
For more on this and other stories please visit http://www.enca.com/ September 12 - The Freedom of Expression Institute is surprised President Jacob Zuma has...

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Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom Official UK Trailer (2013) – Idris Elba Movie HD – Video


Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom Official UK Trailer (2013) - Idris Elba Movie HD
Subscribe to TRAILERS: http://bit.ly/sxaw6h Subscribe to COMING SOON: http://bit.ly/H2vZUn Like us on FACEBOOK: http://goo.gl/dHs73 Mandela: Long Walk To Fre...

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Double Your Camera Carrying Fun with Camera Slingers Freedom Double Camera Strap – Rapid Gear Review – Video


Double Your Camera Carrying Fun with Camera Slingers Freedom Double Camera Strap - Rapid Gear Review
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Freedom High School football team's defense off to strong start

Coming off last year's disappointing 4-6 finish, Freedom coach Jason Roeder decided to adjust his duties.

Roeder had always handled the Patriots' defense in the past. But after seeing how well his ideas meshed with defensive backs coach Greg Moore last year, Roeder elected to take over Freedom's special teams this season.

Moore, the defensive coordinator on Central Catholic's PIAA 3A championship team in 2010, was elevated to the same post with the Patriots. The move has worked fine so far, with Freedom playing two solid defensive games to open the season.

"We're both 3-3 stack guys and we work really well together, so it was a no-brainer to pass that off to him so I could focus on some other aspects of the team, big picture stuff," Roeder said.

One piece of Roeder's big-picture focus is pushing the Patriots (1-1 overall, 1-0 Lehigh Valley Conference) to return to the postseason. They will resume that drive tonight when they host Whitehall (2-0, 1-0) in one of two Week 3 matchups between teams that won their league openers.

With a young offense still finding its way, Freedom has needed its defense to carry it early this season. The Patriots lost their season opener to East Stroudsburg South, but their defense limited the Cavaliers to 203 yards. All but 67 of those yards came on two long touchdowns.

Freedom cut down on the big plays it allowed in last week's matchup with Central Catholic. The Patriots limited the Vikings to 130 yards of total offense, including just 29 on the ground, in a 14-7 comeback win.

An emphasis on tackling the football and pursuing every play has paid off. Freedom has generated six turnovers in the first two weeks.

Senior defensive back Jared O'Donnell intercepted two passes last week, returning one for the game-winning touchdown in the fourth quarter. Freedom's defensive line of Brad Romig, Taran Reinert and Cordell Cotto also played well against the Vikings.

This week's matchup against Whitehall will give the Patriots their toughest test yet. The Zephyrs boast the league's leading rusher in junior Saquon Barkley. He burst through Liberty's defense for four long touchdown runs last week.

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Wenceslao: Press freedom: my take

EVERYTIME Cebu media celebrates Press Freedom Week, I always feel something is missing in the ritual. No, that something is often mentioned indirectly or in passing, but it has not been given the importance it deserves. I am referring to the word responsibility. Or why not make it Cebu Press Freedom and Responsibility Week?

I was a staff member of our student publication in college during the waning years of the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos. By waning years I mean the early 80s. I also got friendly with some media people then, particularly in Visayan Herald (which has long ceased operation), and worked part-time in dyLA. I, therefore, know what media is like during a period of repression.

Press freedom was genuinely the problem at that time, although the struggles that we participated in paved the way for the expansion of the democratic space that was constricted when Marcos declared Martial Law on Sept. 21, 1972. The toppling of the dictatorship by the 1986 Edsa uprising and Corazon Aquinos assumption of the presidency widened that space further.

Since then, press freedom has not been much of a problem. While a president or two post-Marcos did attempt to dictate their terms on the media by either filing nuisance libel cases against some media people and even encouraging a boycott by advertisers of recalcitrant media outlets, these never made a dent on the kind of freedom already in place.

Instead, we are seeing many instances of irresponsibility in the practice of the media profession. And the problem is, most media organizations and media leaders only grudgingly acknowledge this for two reasons: one, because of the mistaken notion that advancing the cause of press freedom is more important than pushing for a more responsible media and two, because of the worry of destroying the camaraderie among peers.

Dont get me wrong. I am not for the intervention of outside forces, like the government, in running of the affairs of media. That would be damaging to the cause of press freedom paid for in blood, sweat and tears by sectors who struggled for the acquisition of the democratic space we are now enjoying. What I am asking is a more vigorous push for media responsibility.

When I was younger, I idolized many media practitioners, most of them on radio. While many of these practitioners were most probably not saints as persons, but they brought public discourse of issues to a higher level. Because they were well-informed and well-prepared, their resort to the use of insults and personal attacks were minimal. And even the hurling of insults and personal attacks werent vulgar and crass.

I am not trying to be holier-than-thou. I admit to being shallow in my columns at times and of being too passionate in defending my views. But being vulgar and crass is not in my resume.

Again, I consider the push for media responsibility more important in the current period than advancing press freedom. Or to put it in another way, the threats to press freedom do not come from extraneous forces but within ourselves.

By the way, I agree with the criticism hurled at Sen. Jinggoy Estrada for pushing a magna carta for journalists. It is an attempt by government to interfere in the affairs of media and is a threat to press freedom. But the push to professionalize the media profession should also make us ponder. Is it a recognition that we have been remiss in this regard?

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Wenceslao: Press freedom: my take