Source: Tanjug

PRAGUE -- The latest Nations in Transit report by Freedom House notes that Serbia saw positive progress in democracy but its ranking remained unchanged from 2011.

"At the close of 2011, Serbias progress was also viewed positively by the EU, which linked the countrys candidacy status to cooperation in the pursuit of accused war criminals, particularly the last remaining fugitives sought by the international tribunal, Ratko Mladi and Goran Hadi, both of whom were arrested during the year," says the report.

However, neither Serbia nor Montenegro registered any score changes in Nations in Transit for 2011.

Most countries in the Balkans fall into the group of semi-consolidated democracies. Croatia leads the way with a 3.61 rating, followed by Serbia (3.64), Montenegro (3.82) and Macedonia (3.89). Bulgaria and Romania are also in this group.

Bosnia-Herzegovina is ranked among transitional governments or hybrid regimes with a 4.36 rating. Also in this group are Albania, Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova.

Kosovo is in the group of semi-consolidated authoritarian regimes, along with Armenia, Radio Free Europe reported.

The best rated countries, i.e. consolidated democracies, are Slovenia, Estonia, Latvia, Poland, the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Slovakia and Hungary.

The bottom of the list is populated by the consolidated authoritarian regimes of Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Russia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

Freedom House is an independent organization which supports democratic change, monitors freedom, and advocates for democracy and human rights around the world.

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Freedom House: Serbia made significant progress

A Tunisian journalist said Tuesday he launched a hunger strike on May 28 to defend press freedom after military police seized the cameras he used to film the trial of ousted leader Zine el Abidine Ben Ali.

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Tunisian blogger on hunger strike to 'defend press freedom'

PROVO -- The Freedom Festival is offering for the first time a limited-edition Freedom Festival Pin for $2. It also will provide buyers with hundreds of dollars of discounts and coupons from businesses throughout Utah Valley.

Beginning June 18, the pins will be available at participating sponsor locations. The Freedom Festival is starting with only 5,000 pins that will come in a package with other coupons and discounts. However, the Freedom Festival also is making 150 special gold pins. And like Willy Wonka and the Golden Ticket, anyone purchasing a $2 pin may find one of the gold pins in their packet. That gold pin will provide the lucky winners with two tickets to the Stadium of Fire redeemable at the Freedom Festival offices.

Local Realtor Bill Freeze introduced the idea from his experience several years ago when he worked with the Kentucky Derby Festival.

"The Kentucky Derby Festival is very similar to the type of festival ours is," Freeze said. He noted that they started doing the collectible pins in 1973 for 50 cents each and sold 5,000.

"Over the years it became popular. Last year they sold a half a million for $5 apiece," Freeze said. "It is a tremendous revenue boost to them for their non-revenue events."

Freeze, who is a board member of the Utah Valley Chamber of Commerce, said the chamber has partnered with the Freedom Festival on the project.

Freedom Festival executive director Paul Warner said, "We're extremely excited about it. We appreciate the fact the chamber has joined in this. It's one of the ways we can stretch out into the community."

Freeze hopes the people who come from throughout the country will pick up a pin and wear it in their hometowns.

Pins will be available at a number of sponsoring companies including several stores at the Shops at Riverwoods, the Utah Valley Chamber of Commerce, Freedom Festival office, Larry Miller Auto Group showrooms in Provo, the Daily Herald, Utah County Realtors Association and in the customer service lobby at the Provo city center.

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Freedom Fest introduces collectible pins

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, 26 February 2007 P. Bhaksaran, the veteran filmmaker, poet, lyricist and freedom fighter, died here yesterday afternoon at the age of 83. He leaves behind his wife and four children. He was suffering from acute Alzheimers disease and was taking rest at his city home. Yesterday morning he developed chest pain. He was taken to a hospital but passed away soon.

Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan said Bhaskarans demise was a great loss to the cultural sphere. Several leaders, including former Chief Minister K. Karunakaran and state ministers, were among the early visitors to his house as the news spread.

A freedom fighter who attracted youngsters to the freedom movement and later to the communist party through his popular poetry and songs, he was imprisoned for six months during the British rule.

Author of several books, he has directed some 50 films including Neelakkuyil, the first neorealistic film in Malayalam that won the Presidents medal in 1954. He was also chairman of the Asianet, the first private television channel in Malayalam.

Bhaskaran, who dominated Malayalam cinema along with Vayalar Ramavarma as top-notch lyricist for long, had penned hundreds of songs known for their romantic charm and soft lyrical touch most of which are hugely popular still.

He was instrumental in freeing Malayalam film music from the influence of the Hindi and Tamil playback styles in the 1950s, by writing simple and lucid lines set to original music by veteran directors. Still, many of his widely appreciated scores are hailed for their ghazal touch. Bhaskarans vintage numbers, most of them composed by K. Raghavan and M.S. Baburaj, form part of the Malayali nostalgia.

His songs in the 1960s launched careers of top singers including K.J. Jesudas and Jayachandran, and made S. Janaki one of the most favorite female voices in Malayalam.

Hailing from Kodungallur in Thrissur district in Kerala, Bhaskarans early writings were inspired by the freedom struggle and the leftist agitations to create an egalitarian society. One of his early popular poems was Vayalar Garjikkunnu, penned as a literary tribute to the revolutionaries of the Punnapra-Vayalar peasant uprising.

Later, he distanced himself from the communist party and its ideology and his subsequent poems are known for their humanism and romanticism.

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Freedom Fighter P. Bhaskaran Passes Away

The media market of the Republic of Moldova is quite rich, although there are some issues regarding it. The most difficult part can be found in Moldovas separatist region of Transnistria which does not administrate the zone.

The case of Ernest Vardanean is the most resonant incident which deals with freedom of press. Journalist Vardanean was sentenced to 15 years in prison on charge of spying for Moldova. He was pardoned one year later by the so-called president of Transnistria, at that time Igor Smirnov. Ernest Vardanean was in prison since April 2010.

The worst incidents the Moldovan media experienced took place during the violent riots of April 2009, when thousands of people took to the streets contesting the result of the elections. The protesters, mainly teenagers, organized the protest on the internet. When the number of demonstrators increased significantly, the leadership shut down the main social networks, such as FaceBook, Twitter, Odnoklassniki (a popular Russian social network).

During the protests, which turned violent, several bloggers were beaten up, local and foreign journalists detained and the transmission of some opposition TV channels has been cut off. Their websites were suspended and the access to internet was restricted in some places.

Moldovas well known Pro TV channel had their broadcasting cut off and the website unavailable, because it was an important criticizer of the leadership. They had to switch their updates on the website of Pro TV Bucharest (Romania) during the demonstrations.

Other media outlets, such as UNIMEDIA news portal launched an English version of the website providing live updates from the ground in two languages (Romanian and English). They were also supposed to change the domain because the previous version was temporarily blocked by the Security Service of Moldova.

International correspondents from AP, AFP, and Reuters were barred from entering the country, while others were expelled from Moldova.

According to Reporters without Borders, Moldova ranks the 53rd level out of 179 in the latest worldwide index on freedom of press. Moldova scored 3 points and a status of partly free press for 2011 from Freedom House.

The United Nations Mission to Moldova believes that the country still deals with serious issues, such as threats to journalists for reporting fairly, the freedom of the media to broadcast on difficult thematic issues is violated, and sometimes there is no respect for diversity of opinion, including as a regulatory issue.

We have been supporting a number of efforts in the area of freedom of the media, such as expert international law advice in the matter of a ban on Moldova 1 broadcasting a film on LGBT rights, as well as support for the reform of the public broadcaster TeleRadio Moldova, Claude Cahn, the UN Human Rights Advisor told Moldova.ORG.

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Freedom of Press in Moldova still a matter of concern

If the host leaves, the parasite that is government can't feed on anyone to grow.

Excerpt from:

Freedom To Leave May Stop Oppressive Government

U.S.-based rights group Freedom House urged Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to make human rights and democracy shortfalls in the Caucasus region the cornerstone topic in private meetings and in public statements during her visit to Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan on June 4-6.

Encouraging and supporting democratically accountable systems in the Caucasus region is essential, David J. Kramer, Freedom House president, said. While we realize there are a range of policy interests to be discussed during the trip, Freedom House calls for a particular emphasis on the ongoing concerns about human rights and democracy throughout the region, especially in Azerbaijan and Armenia.

In case of Azerbaijan, Freedom House urged the Secretary of State to address issues of intimidation of political activists and their imprisonment in deeply flawed trials, use of force to break up antigovernment rallies, as well as freedom of press. On Armenia, Freedom House stressed that its reforms were hampered by the deep relationship between politics and business, which effectively prevents the advancement of greater accountability and transparency.

On Georgia, Freedom House said: Georgia affords some but not all of the institutional safeguards and holds promise for more meaningful reform, if the right steps are taken. The upcoming parliamentary and presidential elections in Georgia present a test for civil society in Georgia to develop more effective and mature political platforms.

Georgias indicators in an annual report by Freedom House, Freedom in the World 2012, remained unchanged and the country is still deemed partly free. In recent Freedom Houses survey on global press freedom, Georgia's ranking has improved for third consecutive year, but the country still remains in the category of partly free.

A group of Georgian election watchdog, legal advocacy and media organizations have also appealed to Secretary Clinton ahead of her visit to Georgia on June 5, calling on her to raise the need for further legislative amendments to improve electoral environment in the country ahead of the October parliamentary elections.

Secretary Clinton will hold talks with Georgian leadership, civil society and opposition representatives in Black Sea resort town of Batumi. She will arrive in Georgia from Armenia and will then travel to Azerbaijan on June 6.

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Freedom House Urges Clinton to Raise Human Rights During Caucasus Visit

Kelly Armstrong beamed during her daughter's kindergarten graduation, celebrating the finale to her first year of elementary school.

But in the back of her mind, she was thinking about another young girl, a teenager rescued by law enforcement officials during a child pornography bust, who might be able to have a new beginning.

Armstrong, the executive director of Freedom Place, Texas' first and only safe house for domestic victims of sex trafficking, had been trading messages and phone calls with officials from the Texas Attorney General's Office all afternoon about the girl. Officials were offering her a safe place to stay, a place where she could get counseling.

"We knew we needed to act quickly," she said.

That evening, as she watched her daughter, Armstrong continued to check her cell phone, anxiously waiting to hear from authorities and hoping that teen would agree to come to Freedom Place.

Until last week, there was no place in Houston - or anywhere in Texas - dedicated to helping domestic trafficking victims. Often the options for the girls were incarceration in a juvenile facility, treatment programs that didn't meet their needs, or being placed back into the same unstable homes that may have led to them the streets in the first place, authorities said.

Even more difficult, many of the girls don't feel that they are victims, making them vulnerable to falling back into familiar patterns with abusers, said Associate Harris County Juvenile judge Angela Ellis.

"What we know is that they will return to the system if we don't offer them therapeutic services," Ellis said. She runs a "girls court," designed specifically for young girls who are sex-trafficking victims, offering them intensive supervision and therapeutic services as an alternative to placing them in detention facilities. The court has already referred three girls to Freedom Place, including one who became the program's first arrival.

"Telling someone they are a victim and then being able to do nothing but place them in a lock-down facility is not something we wanted," Ellis said. "So it's a big day."

6 horses and 2 dogs

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Girls victimized by sex trafficking find healing at Freedom Place

By Terry Mattingly Scripps Howard

Associated Press file

Baltimore Archbishop William Lori shown speaking on religious freedom at Novembers United States Conference of Catholic Bishops annual fall assembly in Baltimore continued spreading his message during a recent conference sponsored by the American Religious Freedom Program of the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C.

With the sounds of protests echoing across campus, President Barack Obama knew his 2009 commencement address at the University of Notre Dame would have to mention the religious issues that divided his listeners.

"The ultimate irony of faith is that it necessarily admits doubt," he said. "It is beyond our capacity as human beings to know with certainty what God has planned for us or what he asks of us."

With this sweeping statement, Obama essentially argued that religious faith contains no rational content and, thus, offers no concrete guidance for public actions, noted Thomas Farr, director of the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs at Georgetown University. This would shock America's Founding Fathers or anyone else who has used religious doctrines and arguments in favor of human equality or in opposition to tyranny.

The president's views were even more troubling when combined with remarks weeks earlier at Georgetown by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, said Farr, during a conference sponsored by the American Religious Freedom Program of the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C. The daylong event drew a variety of scholars and activists, including Catholics, evangelical Protestants, Jews, Eastern Orthodox Christians and Mormons.

Clinton's speech contained repeated references to freedom of "worship," but none to freedom of "religion." She also argued that "people must be ... free to worship, associate and to love in the way that they choose."

Thus, the secretary of state raised sexual liberation to the status of religion and other central human rights, said Farr. This evolving political doctrine is now shaping decisions in some U.S. courts.

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Freedom of ‘worship' vs. ‘religion' continues to stir debate

IRVINE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Nursing students at West Coast University currently in the Mental Health Theory course rotation had the opportunity to learn from guest lecturer Maribeth Russell, Director of Freedom Dogs, a California nonprofit organization that uses Specialty Service Dogs in a novel way as an adjunct to the rehabilitation process for wounded military personnel returning from armed conflict.

With more than 10,000 wounded service personnel returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, the ability to recognize signs of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), the signature injuries from these areas of conflict, has become a national crisis. Ms. Russell is a former ICU RN at UCSD Medical Center. In her previous line of work as a critical care nurse, she saw a rise in the demand to treat veterans affected with PTSD. Russell discussed with students the correlation between returning veterans who are transitioning from active duty to inactive duty and the growing rates of PTSD.

As we continually look for ways to introduce the latest nursing techniques into our classrooms, we are pleased to include this topic in our curriculum, said Dr. Barry Ryan, President of West Coast University. We are honored to partner with Freedom Dogs and support the important work they do in helping provide innovative solutions to the health issues faced by our returning troops.

Freedom Dogs currently works with Marines from the Wounded Warrior Battalion West at Camp Pendleton, California, and hopes to expand their program to additional branches of the military. Freedom Dogs pairs disabled Marines with a Specialty Service Dog / Trainer team for goal setting and treatment planning. The dog and trainer then conduct a series of therapeutic encounters that support and facilitate medically recommended activities. The dogs are trained to take directions from the Marines, who train the dogs to conduct daily routines. These therapeutic exercises reduce the impact of their disabling conditions on the Marines health, mobility, mood, and social interaction.

The West Coast University nursing students saw the benefits of a Specialty Service Dog firsthand through Charlie, a 10-year-old Labrador Retriever. He was not only able to give the students a visual of how the Specialty Service Dogs act, but to show how the dogs are extremely adaptable to any environment. Students were able to ask questions about a future in the critical care nursing field and how different approaches to diagnoses like PTSD can increase the probability of treatment for society in general.

In addition to sharing vital information on spotting signs of PTSD with the students, Freedom Dogs honored West Coast University by presenting Dr. Barry Ryan with the Friends of Freedom Dogs award for WCUs previous contribution to the organization.

About West Coast University

West Coast University is one of Southern Californias leading health care educators, offering programs in nursing, health care management and dental hygiene at campuses in Los Angeles, Orange County and Ontario, and nursing programs at its new campus in Dallas, Texas. The Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE) awarded programmatic accreditation to WCUs Bachelor of Science in Nursing programs in October 2009 and its Master of Science in Nursing program in May 2012. WCUs Dental Hygiene program at the Orange County Campus is accredited by the Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA) to offer the only Bachelor of Science Degree in Dental Hygiene (BSDH) in the County. It is one of only four BSDH programs in California. West Coast University is institutionally accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC - http://www.wascsenior.org) and Accrediting Council of Independent Colleges and Schools (ACICS http://www.acics.org). For more information, visit West Coast University. For regular updates on WCU news visit the Dr. Barry Ryan Blog.

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Dr. Barry Ryan Welcomes Freedom Dogs Director as Guest Lecturer to Nursing Students at West Coast University

Freedom Communications Inc. has completed the sale of four newspapers in the Midwest to an affiliate of Versa Capital Management LLC.

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Freedom sells 4 Midwest newspapers

IRVINE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Freedom Communications announced today that the sale of the print and online publishing assets of four Midwest newspapers to an affiliate of Versa Capital Management, LLC has closed. The four newspapers involved are The Telegraph in Alton, IL, The Journal-Courier in Jacksonville, IL, The Sedalia Democrat in Sedalia, MO and The Lima News in Lima, OH.

The terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Substantially all of the employees of the four newspapers transitioned to the new ownership.

This transaction presented an excellent opportunity to enhance the value of our shareholders investments while also ensuring that the communities involved will continue to receive great service, said Mark McEachen, Freedom Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer.

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP acted as legal advisors to Freedom.

About Freedom Communications

Freedom Communications, headquartered in Irvine, Calif., is a national privately owned information and entertainment company of print publications and interactive businesses. The Companys print portfolio includes approximately 100 publications, including 20 daily newspapers, weekly newspapers, plus ancillary magazines and other specialty publications. The Companys news, information and entertainment websites and mobile applications complement its print properties. For more information, visit http://www.freedom.com.

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Freedom Communications Announces Close of Sale of Four Midwest Newspapers

Freedom Home Care is expanding and announced today the opening of another location in Hinsdale, IL. Located at 907 N. Elm Street, this location will serve all communities in and around the western suburbs of Chicago.Highland Park, IL (PRWEB) June 01, 2012 Freedom Home Care is expanding and announced today the opening of another location in Hinsdale, IL. Located at 907 N. Elm Street, this ...

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Freedom Home Care Opens New Location in Hinsdale Illinois

29-05-2012 21:59 Monday, May 29: Alex reports from the road as the Infowars team moves toward Chantilly, Virginia, where the globalist power-brokers will meet for Bilderberg 2012. Alex covers the latest news, including the plan by central bankers to keep Greece mired in economic depression, Romney's promise to continue stacking up unpunished war crimes and engage in economic sabotage now presided over by Obama, and the US military threatening to unleash military force against Syria. [Check out Alex's New Social Network-'Planet Infowars'

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Making Freedom Popular Again - Video

30-05-2012 13:23 Medal of Freedom recipient John Glenn is a former United States Marine Corps pilot, astronaut, and United States Senator. In 1962, he was the third American in space and the first American to orbit the Earth. After retiring from the Marine Corps, Glenn was elected to the US Senate in Ohio in 1974. He was an architect and sponsor of the 1978 Nonproliferation Act and served as Chairman of the Senate Government Affairs committee from 1987 until 1995. In 1998, Glenn became the oldest person to visit space at the age of 77. He retired from the Senate in 1999. Glenn is a recipient of the Congressional Gold Medal and the Congressional Space Medal of Honor.

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2011 Medal of Freedom Recipient John Glenn - Video

TORONTO, May 30, 2012 /CNW/ - PEN Canada today voiced further concerns that Bill 78, passed two weeks ago by the Quebec National Assembly, constitutes a serious threat to freedom of expression. Its vague and dangerously overbroad provisions can easily be interpreted in ways that constrain and discourage legitimate collective action and civil protest.

"The whole Bill looks thrown together," said Charlie Foran, president of PEN Canada. "Its penalties are draconian and disproportionate, designed more to stifle free expression than protect public order. The reported mass arrests in Quebec suggest that the authorities have been given too much latitude to interpret and enforce this new law. Legislatively, it's the equivalent of using a sledgehammer to crack a nut."

PEN believes the Bill's prior notification requirements for demonstrations (section 16) are unreasonable and ill-suited to the realities of modern protest. Imposing penalties on organizers who fail to notify authorities "not less than eight hours before the beginning of the demonstration" would, if enforced, rule out all but the most premeditated forms of civic action. The uncertain phrasing of section 30, which may, on its face, make it illegal to attend demonstrations that violate the provisions of section 16, also exposes individuals who attend these gatherings to fines of up to $5000 per day, or more in certain circumstances. In general, the fines provided for breach of the Bill's provisions are grossly excessive. Taken together, these measures are easily abused by authorities and likely to result in a serious chill on freedom of expression.

Philip Slayton, Chair of PEN Canada's National Affairs Committee, described the bill as "poorly drafted and too easily open to interpretations that permitunreasonable limitations on freedom of expression. As it stands, the situations in which the Bill's penalties could be brought to bear on individual protesters are so vague and open-ended that they can be used to deter demonstrations that should be perfectly acceptable in a free and democratic society."

PEN Canada fights censorship and defends the right to freedom of expression.

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Quebec's Bill 78 threatens freedom of expression

Why did Bob Dylan look so strained during the Medal of Freedom ceremony at the White House Tuesday? Perhaps because his musical insurgency was being memorialized.

President Obama awarded Bob Dylan the coveted Presidential Medal of Freedom on Tuesday. Twelve other deserving Americans got the medals, too as we wrote yesterday, US presidents can give them to anyone they want. But were focusing on Dylan today because he seems to have attracted the most attention of the awardees and because theres something about his prize we believe has been overlooked.

No, its not the sunglasses he wore to the ceremony. Lots of folks have commented on those. Nor is it his overall demeanor. Well agree he seemed uncomfortable, like a boy forced to wear a suit and stand up in front of strangers, if that boy were over 70 years old and had written more immortal songs than anyone alive in the US today.

Its this: Bob Dylan is the first rock and roll star to win the Medal of Freedom. Ever. As far as we can tell.

We admit were creating some arbitrary definitions here so that we can make this statement. First, is Mr. Dylan a rocker, per se? He started as a folkie, went electric, and now has settled into a kind of bard-like phrase, where he reinterprets old blues tunes and Confederate poems and things like that. What he really is, is a musical magpie.

There is not a bigger giant in the history of American music, said Mr. Obama, when hanging the medal around Dylans neck.

Anyway, Rolling Stone magazine called Dylan a rock and roll pioneer in their story on the award. Thats good enough for us. Even if its a publication whose name came from a Dylan song.

Second, were labeling B.B. King a blues guitarist. Bill Clinton awarded Mr. King a Medal of Freedom in 2006.

Yes, King is in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. But his nickname is King of the Blues, so thats what were going with. Mr. Clinton also gave Aretha Franklin the award, in 2005, but we feel safe in saying shes not rocker either.

After them, the popular musicians who have won the Presidential Medal of Freedom are mostly from eras past. They are singers such as Frank Sinatra (1985) and bandleaders such as Count Basie (1985). Presidents have also bestowed the award on many classical musicians, such as Pablo Casals (1963) and Van Cliburn (2003).

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Bob Dylan awarded Medal of Freedom. What does that say about US? (+video)

EDINBURGH (Reuters) - Part-nationalized Royal Bank of Scotland said it needed freedom to execute a five-year recovery plan without excessive interference and vowed to restore dividend payments to help pave the way for a sale of the government's stake. A row flared up earlier this year with some politicians attacking the bonus proposed for Chief Executive Stephen Hester, prompting criticism from ...

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RBS calls for freedom and vows to restore dividend

29-05-2012 17:42 President Barack Obama bestows the Presidential Medal of Freedom upon Bob Dylan, the famous singer/songwriter.

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Bob Dylan - Presidential Medal of Freedom - Video

29-05-2012 19:46 President Obama awards the 2011 Medals of Freedom, the highest civilian honor the United States can bestow. May 29, 2012.

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President Obama Honors the 2011 Medal of Freedom Recipients - Video