Just days after the United States celebrated its independence on July 4, Forestville, Md.-based Bishop McNamara High Schools Sankofa production of Harriet and the Underground took audiences back in time, in order to understand the true meaning of freedom for Black Americans.

Through primarily dance, as well as music and acting, 92 students, in three hours on July 8, not only outlined the life and legacy of Harriet Tubman, but also the Black American journey, starting from Africa as kings and queens, to slaves, and ultimately to their search for freedom.

I believe very much in telling history through movement, Victor Bah, artistic director of Sankofa and the African Music and Dance program at Macnamara told the AFRO.

As a native of Ghana, Bah named the McNamara performance group Sankofa, which translates to, go back and fetch it. The word and symbol associated with it, a bird flying forward with its head turned backwards, teaches people to reclaim the past in order to understand their current state to move forward.

Forward movement has happened in regards to Tubman, as last year it was announced her face would replace the slave-holding, Andrew Jackson on the $20 bill in several years, and because of that, Bah felt it was important for audiences to truly look back and connect with this American heroine.

After all of this we thought that for the larger communityand African American communitywouldnt it be nice to learn a lot through movement and music about this womanwhich will make them more entertained and make them more connected to this woman? Bah said.

The show begins with slaves escaping to freedom, and when they are fearful of getting caught, Harriet, who is played simultaneously by both a dancer and a narrator, stops with her gun drawn, rallying her followers to continue the journey.

All your life youve been a slaveand you dont even know youre slaves, said Harriet, who was played by Jordyn Young.

Before audiences get to see if the slaves make it to freedom with Harriet, they must go back to Africa, prior to the middle passage. With live Djembe drummers, many fast-paced African dances, and moving projections, audiences were transported to places like Egypt, current day Ethiopia, Eritrea, South Africa, Senegal and Ghana.

Through movement, audiences received a glimpse of the horrors of the middle passage, staging the performers to lie tightly in small nooks side-by-side, with no space to move.

We are swallowed by a strange ship, and with it, our sense of dignity, said one of the narrators.

The production included slaves working, getting lashed and beaten, and even raped.

You grow up coming through the American school system and of course you hear about Harriet Tubman and its all sort of generalized in terms of her escapes through the Underground Railroad and all of the work that she did to make this possible. But Ill be honest with you, I had no idea frankly, how much of a badass Harriet Tubman was, John Baltimore, the producer of Harriet and the Underground, and a father to one of the performers, told the AFRO.

In 2017, we take freedom for granted so I never thought about how much of a struggle it was to get people to embrace their freedom and get people to want to take that leap of faith to follow her lead to freedom, Baltimore said.

With the fear of slave patrols, often called patterrollers, an organized group of White men responsible for disciplining slaves and, particularly, escapees, the stakes were very high for these people who had no idea what freedom looked like, felt or even meant.

In many instances, she had to overcome the psyche of a people who had been slaves their entire lives and knew of no other way of life. As a result, their fear, torment, concern for family members left behind, and sheer exhaustion from the journey, often led to them wanting to run and go back to their plantations; to which Ms. Tubmans response was always exact and unambiguous, as she pulled out her pistol and said, Youll be free or die, Baltimore said.

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Play Re-enacts Past to Understand Freedom - Afro American

Prime Minister Theresa May's insistence that no Brexit deal is better than a bad one does not have public support, new research claims.

Rsearch by King's College London, Rand Europe and Cambridge University found that people place more value on trade deals with the EU and foreign countries than on curbing free movement of labour.

Organisers said the research method they used during interviews with 917 people is more rigorous than traditional polling.

The study found that people are more concerned with managing demand for public services than restricting freedom of movement, particularly those who voted Leave.

And voters value being able to retain access to the Single Market and cut foreign trade deals above the UK making its own laws, the research found.

A Brexit agreement that resembles Norway's relationship with the EU, allowing for free trade with other countries while remaining within the Single Market and accepting freedom of movement and some loss of sovereignty, is favoured, according to the research.

Professor Jonathan Grant, of King's College London, said: "It clearly shows that the British people do not wish to head over a cliff edge and leave the EU on World Trade Organisation rules - they want a proper deal.

"The British public are sophisticated enough to understand that they can't 'have their cake and eat it', and will need to make and accept compromises to reach a deal."

Tory ministers 'think Theresa May's red lines need loosening'

Charlene Rohr, of Rand Europe, said: "The referendum result was seen by many as providing a mandate to significantly reduce immigration.

"But while our findings do show a desire to control movement of people to some extent, we found that this seems to stem from a concern about managing demand for public services, particularly for those who voted to Leave the EU, rather than from wanting to limit freedom of movement per se."

Professor David Howarth, of Cambridge University, said: "The public's ranking of a Norway-style deal above remaining in the EU is not surprising in the light of the referendum result, but the public's ranking of remaining in the EU above crashing out with no deal into World Trade Organisation terms should worry those who claim that the referendum and the general election give a mandate for Brexit at any price."

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Brexit: Public support continued EU freedom of movement in exchange for access to Single Market, research finds - The Independent

Sessions' attendance at the closed-press "Summit on Religious Liberty" hosted by the Alliance Defending Freedom, was first disclosed Tuesday morning -- but the department has declined requests to release his full remarks.

In response to a CNN request, the group said that it would not provide a transcript of Sessions' remarks.

LGBTQ rights organizations blasted Sessions for attending the event.

"ADF is the most extreme anti-gay legal organization -- so extreme that it does not concede even that gay or transgender people should be permitted to exist as such," said Shannon Minter of the National Center for Lesbian Rights. "They are a truly destructive force in our country, and it is appalling that the attorney general of the United States would lend them the imprimatur of his office."

Several other LGBTQ advocates said they were particularly troubled by the decision to keep Sessions' remarks private.

"The attorney general has every right to speak to a group like Alliance Defending Freedom," said David Stacy, Government Affairs Director of Human Rights Campaign, a civil rights group promoting LGBTQ equality. "What troubles us is that his remarks are being kept hidden from the public at the same time he has been tasked by the President with issuing religious discrimination policies that ADF has long promoted."

In May, President Donald Trump signed an executive order entitled, "Promoting Free Speech and Religious Liberty," which directed Sessions to "issue guidance interpreting religious liberty protections in federal law," but nothing has happened to date.

"Many times during the Obama administration, HRC hosted appearances by the president, vice president and Cabinet officials -- I cannot remember a single instance in which those remarks were not fully open to the media and the remarks and/or video made widely available to the public," Stacy added.

Sessions pledged his support late last month to "continue to enforce hate crime laws aggressively," and revealed for the first time his focus on crimes against those in the transgender community, despite previous opposition as a senator to the federal Hate Crimes Prevention Act.

The Justice Department's LGBTQ affinity group also celebrated Pride month in June, though it remains unclear what administration officials said at the event, because it too was closed to the press.

CNN's Ariane de Vogue contributed to this report.

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AG Sessions under fire for closed-door speech to Alliance Defending Freedom - CNN

If we dont have results, we shouldnt have a recess, Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows said during a news conference. | Getty

By Rachael Bade

07/12/2017 02:03 PM EDT

Updated 07/12/2017 02:22 PM EDT

The House Freedom Caucus is not backing off its demand that GOP leaders cancel the August recess, urging House leadership once again to forgo the break to work on Obamacare repeal, a budget deal and tax reform.

The group of hard-line conservatives, which often tangles with leaders, pushed back against Majority Leader Kevin McCarthys Wednesday announcement that the House would not stick around unless the Senate passes a health care bill.

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While Senate leaders on Tuesday canceled the first two weeks of the annual summer break to finalize health care and move delayed nominations, McCarthy (R-Calif.) said it would be pointless for the House to hang back with little to do. He warned members, however, that if the Senate were to pass the repeal bill, he would likely call everyone back to Washington within 72 hours so the House could send the bill to President Donald Trumps desk for enactment.

Not good enough, Freedom Caucus leaders said Wednesday. The group wants to stay in town until three goals are met: an Obamacare repeal bill is signed by Trump, the Hill strikes some sort of budget agreement and lifts the debt ceiling, and GOP leaders release a much anticipated tax bill.

If we dont have results, we shouldnt have a recess, said Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) during a Freedom Caucus news conference at which conservatives vented their frustration.

This idea that were going to leave here and go home for five weeks makes absolutely no sense, fumed Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio). "We should be here and we should get the work done."

The news conference couldn't have stood in starker contrast to those held by GOP leaders, where Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and McCarthy have continuously touted the current Congress as one of the most productive in decades. They did so just hours earlier.

But while the House has passed a raft of minor bills, including those aimed at helping veterans and creating jobs, most of Republicans' major campaign promises, from repealing Obamacare to cutting taxes, remain unaccomplished. And there's serious concern in Republican circles that the partys entire agenda could totally unravel if the repeal effort never passes, perhaps even costing it the congressional majorities.

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However, leadership allies and even a few conservatives who agree with the Freedom Caucus' frustration have grumbled that the groups public display about canceling recess is an attempt to garner headlines.

Others have argued that the groups calls are not fair because the onus is currently on the Senate to finalize its own repeal bill before the House can do anything. House insiders also want the Senate to take the lead on debt ceiling and budget deals because chamber's rules require eight Senate Democrats for passage so the House is waiting to do anything on the matter.

But the Freedom Caucus wants to be part of the debt-ceiling negotiations and does not want to get jammed with a bipartisan Senate debt ceiling-budget bill.

The debt ceiling is coming; we know its coming. Theres absolutely no reason to push ourselves into a corner like a bunch of rats, said an angry Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.), arguing his constituents are tired of inaction.

They must be reading the writing on the wall. Many GOP insiders think thats exactly what will happen because few in leadership believe conservatives will ever support a debt ceiling increase. Whats more, the Senate needs eight Senate Democrats to do anything, so the debt ceiling bill wont likely have the steep cuts or reforms conservatives would need to back a deal.

That means GOP leaders probably wont turn to the Freedom Caucus at all to pass a budget agreement or a debt ceiling increase. And in that regard, conservatives probably will get squeezed on their priorities.

On tax reform, Ryan has said for months that the tax plan wont be ready until later this year, but he is working behind the scenes with select White House and the Senate leaders to write the bill expected this fall.

The Freedom Caucus, however, also wants to be part of these plans and is threatening to hold up a House budget until they get more details from leaders on what that tax bill will look like. In particular, they want Ryan to commit to dropping a controversial new revenue stream, which would essentially increase taxes on imports but reduce them on exports, called border adjustment.

Their frustration likely stems from a feeling of getting left out in the original drafting of the House's Obamacare replacement bill, which they initially opposed.

Asked whether conservatives would go so far as to block a budget from the floor if they don't get tax details, Meadows suggested they would: There would not be enough votes to pass it because of conservative concerns.

A GOP source following the budget said thats unreasonable because those details cannot be provided in a budget resolution." House Budget Chairwoman Diane Black (R-Tenn.) has been trying for weeks to finalize her budget and move it forward, something she hopes to do before the recess in the next three weeks.

She made a huge push taking on other GOP chairmen and even GOP leaders for a time to add billions in mandatory cuts to programs like food stamps in the budget, hoping to win over conservatives.

If she can't get conservative support, however, her work may have been in vain.

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Freedom Caucus increases pressure on GOP leaders to cancel recess - Politico

Freedom Partners, a pro-free market advocacy group affiliated with the industrialist Koch brothers, is launching a series of digital ads on Thursday intended to pressure members of the House Ways and Means Committee to drop a controversial tax on imports from the GOPs broader tax reform efforts.

The digital ads target close to two dozen Republican panel members, including Rep. Kevin Brady of Texas, the committee chairman, and Rep. Peter Roskam of Illinois, who chairs a tax policy subcommittee, and will run in the members home districts.

The [tax] is bad policy, its dead-on-arrival in the Senate, and its undermining efforts to unify Americans behind a positive vision for bold tax reform, said Freedom Partners spokesman Bill Riggs.

The tax on imports, known as a border adjustment, is a central feature of House Republicans tax reform blueprint, and Mr. Brady has been one of its leading advocates.

Proponents say taxing imports, while exempting exports, would encourage manufacturing to stay in the U.S. The measure is also projected to raise about $1 trillion, which Republicans could use to pay for lowering other rates for individuals and businesses.

Opponents, though, say the tax would ultimately get passed onto consumers through higher prices on retail goods.

The new Freedom Partners campaign, part of a broader multimillion effort, will also target a handful of Democratic senators up for re-election in 2018 in states carried by President Trump. Those ads, which target senators like Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Claire McCaskill of Missouri, urge viewers to tell them to un-rig the economy and support tax reform.

The group also released a new letter addressed to Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch warning Mr. Hatch against pursuing the border tax as part of broader tax reform efforts.

Though the Senate has been focused on health care this week, work on tax reform efforts is also proceeding in both Houses of Congress.

Mr. Roskams subcommittee is scheduled to hear from business executives on Thursday in a hearing on how tax reform will affect small businesses.

Mr. Hatch has also scheduled a hearing before his committee on tax reform next week and has invited top tax policy officials from the Obama, George W. Bush, and Clinton administrations to testify.

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Freedom Partners ramps up campaign against border tax - Washington Times

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ObamaCare Freedom and Failure Options Wall Street Journal (subscription) ObamaCare Freedom and Failure Options. REVIEW & OUTLOOK. ObamaCare Freedom and Failure Options · Richard Cordray's Financial Damage. REVIEW & OUTLOOK. Richard Cordray's Financial Damage · U.S. Marines and Risk. REVIEW & OUTLOOK. Hey Senate Republicans, give patients the Consumer Freedom OptionWashington Examiner all 35 news articles »

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ObamaCare Freedom and Failure Options - Wall Street Journal (subscription)

As Republicans flail about trying to find a magic solution to healthcare, they refer constantly to the importance of freedom as the key criterion by which their proposal must be judged. Freedom to choose healthcare plans, or none at all, is more important to them than coverage. They then invest this freedom with all kinds of wonderful benefits until the CBO informs them, nyet (a language they seem to speak well), it rips coverage away from millions of people and premiums will go up.

Republicans seem to ignore that illness itself is enslaving. Think of how a serious illness compromises ones choices in life. Even more enslaving than illness, is illness that could have been prevented or treated if proper coverage, at reasonable cost, were available. How much freedom do people thrown into personal bankruptcy due to illness have?

It is why the Affordable Care Act was the greatest advancement in freedom in generations.

Ok, now, so what about the freedom for each and every American to choose Medicare? While 55-65 year-olds are the most expensive patients for private insurers, they would be the least expensive for Medicare. Hence, it would likely extend the solvency of Medicare even further than the Affordable Care Act did (an oft-forgotten fact, before the ACA, Medicare was slated to go insolvent in 2016).

A freedom agenda that was more than empty jargon would provide everyone the freedom to choose Medicare for coverage. It would be good for people, good for patients, good for the economy, and good for freedom.

Indeed, even among the current Medicare population, just 5% of people covered by Medicare account for 50% of its annual costs; 10% account for about 61%. Generally, these are people with multiple chronic diseases, with each illness adding substantially to their overall costs of care. . Such accumulation of chronic diseases increases with age.

Hence, providing everyone the freedom to choose Medicare would extend its longevity beyond the additional ~14 years Obamacare achieved. Details would have to be calculated regarding premiums since part A (Hospital care coverage) costs nothing for those who have paid Medicare taxes for 10 years, that a 30 year-old would not have had time to do. Part B is $134 monthly plus additional amounts based upon income. Should Part D (drug coverage) be mandatory for under 65s?

Some system of covering reproductive health would have to be built in so that women were not negatively impacted. But, since women at reproductive age are likely to be otherwise healthy compared to the elderly, the costs should be more than outweighed by their premiums.

All that said, it is a favorable actuarial picture for the program and the people.

Fulfill the freedom agenda. Freedom to choose Medicare.

Embrace it. Repeat it. Pass it.

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Freedom to Choose Medicare - HuffPost

Sean Halton was 1 for 5 in Wednesday nights Atlantic League All-Star Game, but that one hit was fairly significant. After all, it kickstarted the Freedom Divisions offense for the night.

In the top of the second at at TD Bank Ballpark in Bridgewater, New Jersey, Halton one of five All-Star selections from the Lancaster Barnstormers sent an offering from Bridgeport righty Rainy Lara over the wall for a home run. Haltons solo shot was immediately followed by another from Sugar Lands Kevin Ahrens, himself a former Stormer. The homers forged an early tie and led to an eventual 10-3 victory for the Freedom Division team.

New Britains Jovan Rosa had belted a two-run homer to put the Liberty squad up 2-0 after one inning, but the home team managed just one more run, in the fourth inning, the rest of the way.

The Freedom Division really asserted itself in the top of the third, as Southern Maryland's Zach Wilson touched losing pitcher John Brownell of the Long Island Ducks for a three-run homer. Wilson eventually earned the games MVP honors just hours after he collected the leagues Home Run Derby title as well.

Four other Lancaster players played for the Freedom Division team Wednesday: pitcher Scott Shuman, catcher Anderson De La Rosa, and infielders Vladimir Frias and Garrett Weber. De La Rosa connected for a pair of singles in his two at-bats. Weber went 1 for 5 in the game, and Frias was 0 for 2.

Weber and Frias turned a 4-6-3 double play in the bottom of the ninth, and De La Rosa cut down Somerset's Justin Pacchioli on a steal attempt in the seventh inning.

Shuman, meanwhile, was one of four pitchers out of the 18 used in the game to throw a perfect inning. He got the side in order in the bottom of the sixth, striking out one.

Former Lancaster starter Brian Grening, now of Southern Maryland, picked up the pitching win for the Freedom side, working a flawless second inning.

In other Atlantic League news Wednesday, Bethpage Ballpark and the Long Island Ducks were selected as the host of 2018 All-Star Game.

Its a great honor to host the All-Star Game and festivities, Ducks president/GM Michael Pfaff said via a league release. We are looking forward to creating a special event that will be memorable for all that attend in 2018.

The Ducks have hosted the event twice before, in 2002 and 2010.

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Stormers' Halton homers as Freedom All-Stars earn 10-3 win - LancasterOnline

At their Tuesday evening meeting, the Carroll County Planning and Zoning Commission discussed comments on, but did not vote on whether to approve the Freedom Plan.

The Freedom Plan creates a guide for future long-term growth in the South Carroll area, in terms of roads, resources and future land use designations, which can then guide future zoning changes. State guidelines require the plan be updated every 10 years, but the Freedom Plan was last updated in 2001 the planning commission spent the past year drafting a new plan, which it accepted in April.

Public comment was accepted by the commission throughout the planning process and during the 60-day review period after the commission voted to accept the draft plan in April. Those comments, from the public and state agencies, are now available online.

The commission and county planning staff noted that there were more positive comments about the plan than they had expected, but also noted a familiar thread in many of the negative comments a concern that development envisioned as possible in the plan with a 25-plus-year scope will happen all at once.

"The concern is that all of this will happen all in one year," said County Director of Planning Phil Hager. "You don't just hold out a sign that says open season and every available lot gets developed at the same time."

At the same time, members of the commission expressed concern about the impact on traffic and congestion some of the land use designation changed proposed in the Freedom Plan could lead to. The group decided to wait until at least Tuesday, July 18, their next meeting, before voting on the plan, to give themselves time to consider all of the issues.

Hager, who will leave office at the end of July to become head of the Anne Arundel County Office of Planning and Zoning, advised the commission members to think carefully about what criteria they would use to approve or deny any requested changes to the plan, noting that opinion alone is not enough.

"You need to base it on something that will stand the test of a court case," he said. Otherwise, someone challenging the plan in court would only have to prove that the change they disliked was not fairly arrived at and then "you could end up with something very, very different than anything you discussed."

Once the commission does vote, and presuming the plan is approved, the next step will be for the Carroll Board of County Commissioners to take up the plan, a process that will include more opportunities for public comment. The commissioners can either alter the plan, reject it or adopt it, the latter of which would lead to its implementation.

jon.kelvey@carrollcountytimes.com

410-857-3317

twitter.com/CCT_Health

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Planning Commission discusses Freedom Plan comments - Carroll County Times

The website of the municipal committee in Uttar Pradeshs Rampur district was hacked by a person, who called himself a Kashmiri and posted messages demanding freedom on it on Wednesday, an official said on Thursday.

The message started with Hacked by NABEEL that flashed in place of the usual homepage of the Rampur municipal committee.

A single BEE is ignored but when millions come together the bravest RUN IN FEAR. The one thing the government fear is the day we stand together, it said.

The alleged hacker wrote GO INDIA GO BACK WE WANT FREEDOM, below it and followed it an extended note regarding Kashmiris and Muslims. The message ended with, i am a Kashmiri, it is my crime? But I am proud committing the crime.

The hacking was first noticed by municipal officials while uploading new tenders.

The message was being flashed each time we visited the website and unlike floating advertisements, it was blocking the entire homepage, said Ashwini Tripathi, an IT specialist who handles the website.

According to Tripathi, the website was developed two years ago by a Noida-based company which was informed about the messages.

The experts from the company cleared it hours after we informed them about it, said Tripathi adding, No harm was done to the website or any other data attached to it by the hack.

The website lacked security features and was easily hacked into. But the hacker apparently was only an amateur and was able to alter only the homepage, said Faizan Alam, principal programmer of the company.

We have cleared the glitch and advised the municipal committee to buy additional security features for the website, he added.

The officials of the municipal committee decided not to register a police complaint regarding the matter.

Police officials said they were not aware of the hacking.

An investigation will be ordered regarding the matter once a formal police complaint is filed by the municipal committee, they said.

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'Kashmiri' hacks municipal committee's website in UP, demands freedom - Hindustan Times

The House Freedom Caucus plans to lay out three ways members would support raising the debt ceiling this month, including overhauling the debt limit and payment system or making deep cuts to mandatory spending.

The roughly 40-member group of hard-line conservatives will ask GOP leaders to raise the debt ceiling in July alongside other legislative provisions to win their support, as first reported by Axios and confirmed by CQ Roll Call.

One option is a bill from Freedom Caucus member David Schweikert, R-Ariz., that would call on the Treasury Department to rescind unobligated federal funds from agencies; sell off certain government assets; and issue bonds linked to gross domestic product, to pay down the public debt when Treasury estimates the debt limit will soon be reached.

The legislation was introduced by Schweikert last week and lists Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows, R-N.C., as a co-sponsor.

Congress needs to suspend or raise the debt limit by early-to-mid October, according to recent estimates from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.

Top lawmakers like Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, the Republican whip, have said they want to address the debt ceiling before the August recess but a concrete plan for doing so has yet to emerge.

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California declined to set a similar deadline for his chamber. He said that the House will wait to take up a debt limit vote until after Congress repeals and replaces the 2010 health care law.

I want to get it done in advance, but there is no set [decision] that we have to do it in July, McCarthy said before the Independence Day recess.

I think health is going to have to get done first, he continued.

The debt limit suspension expired on March 15 and since then, the Treasury Department has been using extraordinary measures to continue paying the nations bills.

Other options the Freedom Caucus will propose are tagging the debt limit increase to $250 billion in mandatory spending cuts over an unspecified time period or a full repeal of the 2010 health care law, a Freedom Caucus aide confirmed.

The three options are highly ambitious and would face certain resistance in the Senate if passed by the House.

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House Freedom Caucus to Air Debt Ceiling Demands - Roll Call

The first-place Florence Freedom, presented by Titan Mechanical Solutions, return from the Frontier League All-Star Break with a weekend home series at UC Health Stadium, Friday through Sunday.

The weekend is filled with promotions for the series against the Normal Cornbelters, beginning Friday with Superhero Night and fireworks.

FRIDAY, JULY 14 SUPERHERO NIGHT AND FIREWORKS (GAME TIME 7:05 PM)

Superheroes from the DC Comics collection, including Superman, Batman and The Flash, will be at the ballpark available for photos and interactions with fans throughout the evening. There will also be a Girl Scouts campout on the field after the game.

Additionally, Elite Pyrotechnics will once again put on a spectacular post-game fireworks show, presented by Arlinghaus Heating and Air Conditioning.

SATURDAY, JULY 15 MARTIAL ARTS NIGHT AND POSTGAME CONCERT (6:05 PM)

The team will wear special Freedom Ranger jerseys that will be auctioned off after the game. Mike Dominach will also lead a Taekwondo lesson on the field post-game.

Also after the game, the Freedoms Kerry Toyota Rockin Saturday series continues with a post-game concert by What She Said, presented by Hudy Delight. During the concert, kids 12 and under can participate in a game of kickball on the field, supervised by Freedom interns.

SUNDAY, JULY 16 YOUTH SPORTS DAY AND FAMILY SUNDAY (6:05 PM)

The Freedom will celebrate all local youth sports teams and organizations by giving back 30% of all ticket sales for the evening to family, friends and neighbors.

Kids will be able to run the bases after the game, and as the kids come off the field, they will be greeted by the entire Freedom team for a post-game autograph session presented by Cornerstone Lillie Insurance.

The Florence Freedom are members of the independent Frontier League and play all home games at UC Health Stadium located at 7950 Freedom Way in Florence, KY.The Freedom can be found online at FlorenceFreedom.com, or by phone at 859-594-4487.

Florence Freedom

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Superhero Night, fireworks kick off weekend of promos as Freedom return from All-Star break Friday - User-generated content (press release)...

BILLINGS -

History took to the skies over Billings on Tuesdayas the "Wings of Freedom Tour" entertained from the sky and tarmac.

Theevent honors veterans of World War II and featuresvintageaircraft that requires upkeep 365 days a year..

The tour provided an experience to ride inand even take lessons in operating aircraft over 70 years old.

The experience was unbelievable," said Steve Olson, who is the nephew of a WWII tech sergeant. "My Uncle Fred worked on the B-17s over in England, he flew across the pond in it. I cannot imagine, but he did it and he loved it. Ive been living the memory ever since.

Fred Groff, who was alongside Olson for the tour,recalled the experience of repairing combat damaged aircraft.

Wed get them back in about a day and ready to start bombing again," Groff said.So it had to be an atomic bomb, that was small enough to put in those, and they thought that it would start exploding, they thought that it possibly go around the earth, and destroy all of our Earth.

The experience of standing next to the aircraft in which they defended our countrys freedom proved to be emotional for some.

It was such a treat to be able to fly for him today. Even at my old age, its pretty cool to be able to do something like that with him," Olson said.

Sights and sounds that most of us can only imagine, from history books, and movies.

Twice, I almost had to jump, because I came off the bomb run, and Im the nose, and I was looking straight at the ground. When I went in it, I remembered it all, said Kenneth Hall, a WWII gunner.

Families got to witness the camaraderie rekindled by the tour -- machineryand memories from a long time ago.

Its kinda nice that theyre still up and moving around arent they?

Yeah, its kinda nice that we are too.

For many, they are experiencing these planes as flying museums. But for a handful of men, it has been a trip down memory lane.

That was some ride, Hall said.

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WWII veterans recall memories during Wings of Freedom Tour in Billings - KTVQ Billings News

Q: Many years ago, there was a controversy over whether North Carolina could be called First in Freedom on license tags. The N.C. Division of Motor Vehicles also issued auto license plates with First in Flight which were challenged by Ohio. After all these years of that, I now see that new license plates are back to First in Freedom. What other firsts can North Carolina claim?

Answer: According to the state Department of Transportation, the First in Freedom plate recognizes two events: The signing of the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence on May 20, 1775, and the Halifax Resolves on April 12, 1776.

These two events are also commemorated on the North Carolina state flag, according to the DOT, and are regarded as the first steps toward independence from Great Britain during the early stages of the American Revolution.

You can read more about the Mecklenburg Declaration at the Mecklenburg Historical Associations website, http://www.meckdec.org/declaration. Bear in mind that some historians dispute the authenticity of that declaration. Also, there has been some controversy about how appropriate the slogan First in Freedom is for a state that allowed slavery for so long.

First in Freedom plates were reinstated as an option in 2015. At the time, Gov. Pat McCrory said North Carolina is a state of firsts and we continue to be a leader in innovation. What a great way to celebrate North Carolinas rich history and the birth of our nation by offering drivers a chance to proudly display a plate that honors our contribution to freedom, here in one of the most military friendly states.

As to First in Flight, the dispute there is over which state should get credit for the flight of Wilbur and Orville Wright, who were from Ohio but made their historic flight in North Carolina. According to NCPedia.org, Wilbur was gathering information about flight and wrote to the United States Weather Bureau to learn about wind speeds in different places around the country to find the most favorable conditions.

The Weather Bureau told Wilbur about Kitty Hawk on the Outer Banks. Wilbur then wrote the Kitty Hawk weather station to ask about the area. He received a warm reply from the local postmaster, Bill Tate. Kitty Hawk had more to offer than just strong winds, Tate told Wilbur. It also had soft sand for landing a glider and friendly people who would be willing to help. And it was an isolated place where Wilbur could get the privacy he wanted.

The brothers traveled back and forth between their bicycle shop in Dayton, Ohio, and Kitty Hawk while working on the project.

Connecticut also claims to be first in flight, citing a powered flight by Gustave Whitehead there in 1901, two years before the Wright Brothers flight in 1903.

As to other firsts, according to the Secretary of States office, we can claim the first public university in the United States (UNC Chapel Hill), the first English child born in America (Virginia Dare), the first state art museum, the first outdoor drama in America (The Lost Colony), Americas first gold rush, and the first known miniature golf course, which is neat but probably not good fodder for a license plate slogan.

Link:

Ask SAM: Is NC First in Freedom? Flight? Anything else? | Ask SAM ... - Winston-Salem Journal

President Carter kisses Coretta Scott King, widow of civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., at the White House, July 12, 1977, after he presented the Medal of Freedom to her on behalf of her late husband. John DurickaAP

When the civil-rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in 1968, he was already a national icon. But it would take nearly a decade more before he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor. He was given the posthumous medal by President Jimmy Carter on July 11, 1977 precisely 40 years ago Tuesday for being, in Carter's words, the "conscience of a generation" who "made our nation stronger because he made it better."

Carter's decision to give King the medal came nearly a decade after the activist's death, but the timing made sense in the context of American politics at the time. The award was part of Carter's first round of Presidential Medal of Freedom selections, and many saw it as one way for Carter who had won more than 80% of the African-American vote in 1976 to acknowledge the voters who put him in office in the first place.

Not that his outreach to African Americans started with the election. He had become famous for declaring that "quite frankly that the time for racial discrimination is over" during his inaugural address as the governor of Georgia in 1971, and unveiled a portrait of Martin Luther King Jr. in the Georgia state capitol building in 1974. He was also the first Georgia Governor to appoint African Americans to many prominent state posts. "Nowhere can the promise and the serious problems of the emerging South be seen as readily as in Jimmy Carter 's state of Georgia," TIME declared in a cover story on how Carter represented change in the region.

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When Carter ran for president, he was predicted to easily win the black vote, thanks in part to ties to King's life and legacy. Andrew Young, the Georgia Congressman and former aide to Martin Luther King Jr., became a key liaison to black leaders, regaling church-goers with stories about how Carter lived next door to a black bishop whom he prayed with. The Rev. Martin Luther King Sr. delivered invocations at the Democratic National Convention. And, as now-Rep. John Lewis, who then ran the Atlanta-based Voter Education Project, pointed out to TIME, black support for Carter was a vote against one of his primary challengers, the segregationist former Alabama Governor George Wallace.

So it was no surprise that when Carter won the election, black leaders and the press were quick to look to the work of Martin Luther King Jr. "I wish Lord, how I wish Martin were alive today," Lewis said afterward. "He would be very, very happy. Through it all, the lunch-counter sit-ins, the bus strike, the marches and everything, the bottom line was voting."

And Carter acknowledged on myriad occasions, including upon receiving the Nobel Peace Prize, that his political career was made possible by the work of civil-rights leaders like King.

But the Presidential Medal of Freedom wasn't just about acknowledging work that had been done in the past. Accepting the award, the activist's widow Coretta Scott King pointed out that the decision to give her late husband the medal was symbolic of a national shift that, she hoped, would continue into the future. "It is highly significant," she said , "that you, Mr. President, a white Southerner, would become the first American President to recognize the importance of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s contributions to the human rights movement in this country."

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Martin Luther King Jr. Got the Presidential Medal of Freedom 40 Years Ago. That Timing Was No Coincidence - TIME

Here are the political realities:

Conservatives will push for a repeal-only bill next. Unlike Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, conservative groups were thrilled when President Trump tweeted that the Senate should try the repeal-first strategy. Vice President Mike Pence backed up that view on Rush Limbaugh's show yesterday: "We ought to just repeal only" if the Senate bill fails.

In the conservative groups' view, nearly all congressional Republicans already voted for a 2015 budget bill that repeals most of the Affordable Care Act so they should just pass that again. (In reality, the only way McConnell is likely to put that vote on the floor is to end the issue, even if it fails.)

If that vote doesn't happen, they'll hammer GOP leaders for not living up to their repeal promises and if moderate Republicans don't vote for it, they'll get an earful, too. "They'd have to explain why they're damned liars" after campaigning on repeal for seven years, said Jason Pye, vice president of legislative affairs for FreedomWorks.

The individual insurance market will still need help. It's not as if it's healthy right now. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services reported yesterday that there was a 38 percent drop in the number of health insurers who filed to offer Affordable Care Act health insurance next year.

The fate of insurer subsidies still has to be resolved. The Trump administration won't want to keep paying for the cost-sharing subsidies for low-income customers without funding from Congress. So Congress would have to decide whether to fund the subsidies on its own.

The ACA will be run by an administration that hates it. By now, HHS Secretary Tom Price and CMS administrator Seema Verma have spent so much time promoting the law's failures that they'd have trouble switching gears and trying to make the law work.

Any bipartisan talks will be small ball. Even if moderate Democrats agree to start negotiating a "repair bill" with Republicans, the only ideas they've mentioned so far are relatively narrow, like Sen. Tim Kaine's proposal to create a permanent reinsurance program for the individual market.

Link:

Freedom Caucus chair threatens shutdown over border wall - Axios - Axios

July 3 marked the 169th anniversary of the United States Virgin Islands Emancipation Day. In 1848, 15 years before President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, enslaved Virgin Islanders under Danish rule organized and executed their own armed rebellion and won their freedom from chattel slavery. Those people of the Virgin Islands and Haiti executed the only successful violent overthrows by those enslaved in the Western Hemisphere.

Virgin Islanders then spent a decade as citizens without a country, and now, alongside fellow territorial residents, hold no electoral votes and have no voting representation in Congress. Disenfranchisement in territories was originally a temporary step on the path toward statehood, but it has become a means to maintain the doctrine established by the Plessy v. Ferguson-era Supreme Court of separate and unequal status for the overseas territories. A federal appeals court decision, the Obama administration brief in Tuaua v. United States in 2015 and Congresss unwillingness to grant equal treatment requests made by territorial representatives all uphold that unequal status.

As a consequence of this disparate treatment, the Virgin Islands does not receive the same proportion of support in federal dollars as do states for school funding, roads and healthcare. The federal government matches 14 cents to every dollar of territorial funds but 30 cents to every dollar of other state funds.

In 1917, Virgin Islanders came to Washington to petition for not only citizenship, but also the responsibilities thereof, demanding to be included in the draft, committing our sons to defend this country. This tradition of patriotism continues today, with Virgin Islanders giving the ultimate sacrifice in military conflicts at three times the national average. These brave service members fight for a commander in chief they do not elect and protect the ideals of a nation that are not fully extended to them and their families.

Our territorial status is eerily similar to the status of the original 13 colonies. The colonists we commemorate every year revolted and wrote the Declaration of Independence because they were controlled by a government in which they held no representation. Today, territorial residents face the same treatment. How can we herald the actions of our Founding Fathers while simultaneously depriving fellow Americans of the same rights those Founding Fathers fought so hard to achieve? Just as the colonists, we are subjected to the laws of an un-representational government. But just as the colonists, we will not stop fighting for the same representation that every other great American enjoys. A people who have made great contributions to this country including Alexander Hamilton, Denmark Vessey, and Tim Duncan still do not have equal citizenship. Democracy is not complete.

Plaskett represents the United States Virgin Islands at-large district in the United States House of Representatives. Plaskett currently serves on the House Committee on Agriculture and the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. Plaskett is the ranking member on the Oversight Subcommittee on the Interior, Energy, and Environment.

The views expressed by this author are their own and are not the views of The Hill.

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The ironic state of freedom without democracy - The Hill (blog)

President Trumps speech in Warsaw was a remarkable paean to freedom. In words proud and strong he celebrated the human spirit. He quoted Polish martyr, Bishop Michael Kozal: More horrifying than a defeat of arms is a collapse of the human spirit.

In that same city 38 years before him Pope John Paul II, the most potent moral force of the 20th Century, celebrated a mass for the Polish people. One million people gathered to pray. One million strong they shouted, We want God.

Just as freedom cannot survive without faith, communism cannot survive when faith exists. One year later, in their pews and on their knees, the Poles prayed silently to their communist oppressors. In a single voice they said, You may take our state. You may take our freedom. You may not take our God.

From those humble pews they rose and took to the streets in the shipyard of Gdansk and Solidarity was born.

My wife, Lynne, and I were in Paris on that August day in 1980. We were scheduled to fly to London, but all flights had been cancelled due to the disruption in Gdansk. The trains were packed and the best we could do was catch a train to Oostende, Belgium and then a ferry to Folkestone, England.

It was well after midnight. People on the boat were leaning against walls and sitting on the floors. The excitement was tempered by anxiety. Something big was happening in Europe. No one knew quite what it portended, but there was electricity in the air.

In Folkestone we rented a car to begin a weeklong drive through England. A few nights later, in a very small and very old hotel in Hereford, we dressed for dinner. (Yes. We did that then.)There was only one customer in the dining room. A short rotund little man sat at the end of the bar chatting with the bartender. I had just been watching cricket on television while dressing and had no clue as to the rules of the game. He was a huge cricket fan and patiently explained the rules to Lynne and me.

He may have been stretching the story out a bit because I was buying his drinks. After he had consumed three drinks I was more confused than when he started and changed the subject to what was happening in Poland. He got very pensive. It is, he said ponderously, the beginning of the end of the Soviet Union. I thought that a bit much, but nine years and three months later the Soviet Union was no more.

The Poles are leading again today. They hold their values dear and believe theyre worth protecting at their borders. President Trump addressed those borders: For two centuries, Poland suffered constant and brutal attacks.But while Poland could be invaded and occupied, and its borders even erased from the map, it could never be erased from history or from your hearts.In those dark days, you have lost your land but you never lost your pride.

The borders are back and Poland refuses to yield to the pressure of the Eurozone to obfuscate them. They refuse to allow the invasion of foreigners. In the past 3 years there have been 28 events of terror from Belgium to France, England, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Canada and the United States. There have been none in Poland.

It is the natural course of events for humans to choose to bring fairness and equality to the forests by cutting down the taller trees so that they will have no advantage to the sun over the rest. Similarly, the nations of the Eurozone would have Poland lower itself by opening its borders to share equally in the carnage from terrorism. Will Poland succumb? Will they have the will to maintain their borders and their values?

The president made it clear in Warsaw that our challenge is not of weaponry or strategy or might. It is a challenge of the will.

The fundamental question of our time is whether the West has the will to survive. Do we have the confidence in our values to defend them at any cost? Do we have enough respect for our citizens to protect our borders? Do we have the desire and the courage to preserve our civilization in the face of those who would subvert and destroy it?

In Warsaw President Trump urged Poland to lead the way for free nations across the globe once again. Let us welcome strangers to our shores, but let us welcome only those who want to share our values as well as our largesse.

If you would like to be added to John Linders distribution list please send your email address to: [emailprotected] or follow on Twitter: @linderje

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A Paean To Freedom In Poland - The Daily Caller

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The crew of nuclear submarine HMS Torbay will parade through Torquay on Wednesday July 19 as they hand back the Honorary Freedom of Torbay which was presented to them by Mayor Gordon Oliver in 2015. The sub is being decommissioned at Devonport on Friday July 14.

Mayor Oliver said: "The Honorary Freedom of Torbay gave the submarine's crew the right and honour to march through the Borough bearing arms. Granted under the Honorary Freedom of Boroughs Act 1885, the title is being returned as the submarine is decommissioned.

"This is a wonderful opportunity for the people of Torbay to say a big thank you to all the commanding officers and crews for defending us and keeping us free. We are very grateful to them for the service that they have provided not only for Torbay but this country and we will welcome them."

READ MORE: Thousands take a peek behind the scenes at world-famous Navy base

A ceremonial service will take place at 2pm outside Torquay Town Hall followed by a parade through the town centre led by the Royal Marines Band. The parade will start at the Town Hall, through Union Street and Fleet Street then around the Clocktower back towards Torbay Road finishing at the Princess Theatre.

Total Distance Travelled in 32 years: 705,600 miles Dived Distance Travelled: 544760 miles 3,162.5 days spent at sea 2,415 days under water Approximately 70 port visits (not including base port visits) Number of crew who have served on board ~ 2,500 Basic submarine qualifications completed ~ 1,850 Meals eaten at sea ~ 379,440 7 Perisher (submarine command course) courses hosted Length overall 85.4 m Breadth 9.83m Draught 9.5m Displacement 4,730t surfaced, 5,208t dived Armament: five 21 inch torpedo tubes Complement 96

After 32 years of service the Plymouth-based nuclear-powered submarine will come alongside a jetty in Devonport for the last time on Friday as she decommissions. Her 614,000 mile journey around the world, through war zones, diplomatic missions and covert operations will be marked with a parade and traditional ceremony attended by current and past crews and commanding officers.

Commander Dan Knight, HMS Torbay's captain, said: "I have had the privilege of serving in Torbay on a number of occasions; at the start of her second commission as first casing officer then navigating officer and now at the end of that commission as her commanding officer.

READ MORE: Anti-racism group demands Anne Marie Morris' resignation

"It has been a huge honour to be her final commanding officer and to have had the opportunity to lead the exemplary men who have made her the 'Good Boat' that she has always been recognised as. It is with immense sadness, but significant pride, that all of us say goodbye to her."

Dignitaries from Torbay are expected to be in Plymouth for the occasion.

HMS Torbay has been on the forefront of submarine development during her life, proving the Trafalgar Class submarine is capable of adapting to the changing threats around the world.

For the parade in Torquay on July 19 there will be a number of road closures between 1.30pm and 3.30pm and signed diversions will be in place. Parking suspension will be in place in Union Street and Torbay Road from Abbey Sands to Princess Gardens between 11am and 3.30pm.

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HMS Torbay captain and crew to hand back Freedom of Torbay - Devon Live

Seyran Ates has gotten used to the hundreds of threats she receives daily.

She is the devil, they say. She should burn in hell.

Since founding a liberal and controversial mosque in Berlin last month, Ates has been constantly targeted by those who have a strict interpretation of Islamic law. She vows to fight for religious freedom and challenge radical Islam even if it puts her life in danger.

German authorities are taking the threats seriously. Six policemen guard her around the clock.

The mosque is open to Sunni, Shia, and other interpretations of Islam. It also welcomes gays. The burka and niqab are forbidden. Women may lead prayer services, and men and women sit together, which violates traditional Sharia law that requires men and women to pray separately and prohibits women from becoming imams.

GERMANY OPENS ITS FIRST LIBERAL MOSQUE IN BERLIN

The Rushd-Goethe Mosque, named after a Muslim philosopher and a German writer fascinated by Middle Eastern poetry, is housed in a building on the property of a Protestant church in Berlins Moabit District.

Ates, 54, a Turkish-born German attorney, defies the condemnations issued by Turkish and Egyptian religious authorities. Dyanet, the Turkish authority, condemns the new mosque as depraving and ruining religion. Egypts state-run religious authority issued a fatwa condemning the mixing of the sexes during prayer as a violation of Islam.

Ates a daughter of Turkish immigrants founded the first liberal mosque in Germany where men and women can pray together, homosexuals are welcome and Muslims of all sects can leave their inner-religious conflicts behind. (AP)

Yet Ates is willing to risk her life to chart a new path for Muslims.

GERMANY REJECTS TURKISH OFFICE'S CRITICISM OF LIBERAL MOSQUE

We have the responsibility to show that we do not agree with Muslims who commit violence, she said during a phone interview. We have to stand up and fight for the peace side of our religion.

She said she has repeatedly called for dialogue within Germanys predominantly conservative Muslim community of 4.5 million. Her voice grew sad as she recalled the response.

They shouted that they have to kill me to rape me, she said. These are their messages.

While many condemn Ates, the German government strongly backs her.

AP (Seyran Ates said she's standing up for the peace side of her religion.)

Harald Neymanns, a spokesman for the Ministry of the Interior, made it clear that freedom of religion is enshrined in the German constitution and will be defended. The volatile situation at the mosque is being monitored to ensure safety at the Friday night services, he said.

The Ministry of the Interior has a responsibility to uphold the constitutional right to freedom of religion.

Deidre Berger, director of the American Jewish Committee office in Berlin, also condemned the death threats.

The defamatory attacks are attempts by Turkish and Egyptian national religious authorities to crush newer forms of religious expression that bridge tradition with democratic values of equality, she said in an email.

Berger also said the resistance to the new mosque in Berlin shows that reformers like Ates face a daunting task in their attempt to create greater compatibility between Islam and European values. If the new mosque fails, she said, this would tear at the fabric of religious freedom which is a core western values.

But a new report by the German government shows that those who advocate for a broader interpretation of Islam have increasingly come under attack. The governments domestic intelligence agency, or the BIV, reports a rise in the number of Muslim fundamentalists, from 8,350 in 2015 to 10,100 in 2016. These militant Muslims oppose any liberalization of Islam and increase the chance for terrorist attacks in Germany, according to the report, which also disclosed a rise in attacks by Islamic extremists over the same time period.

Norwegian author, Birgitte H. Huitfeldt, interviewed feminists in the region for her new book, Uncensored, which was recently published in Germany. She found that there has been little change in the perception of women in Middle Eastern societies, with similar perceptions prevalent among Muslims in Germany.

It was difficult to distinguish between Islamic fundamentalism and everyday oppressing family codes, or patriarchal suppression of women, Huitfeldt writes.

Despite the uphill fight, Ates, nevertheless, remains resilient.

She recalled her early struggles during our 2007 interview in a Berlin safe house. Her brother and father beat her and prevented her from leaving their tiny apartment unaccompanied. She escaped this oppressive environment when she was 17 and ran away to live in a womens shelter with battered Turkish and German women.

In 1984, she was badly wounded when Turkish nationalists invaded the shelter, guns blazing, killing the woman next to her. It took her five years to recover from the wounds and psychological trauma. She continued her education and became a lawyer, often representing Muslim women in divorce cases. One of the husbands attacked her outside a courthouse.

Ates said she is not intimidated by the death threats and plans to continue pushing the limits.

The pushback I am getting makes me feel that I am doing the right thing, she said. God is loving and merciful, otherwise he would not have turned me into the person I am.

Donald Snyder was a news producer at NBC for 27 years and has been a freelance writer since his retirement. He specializes in Germany and Eastern Europe.

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Despite threats, woman who opened liberal mosque in Berlin keeps fighting for religious freedom - Fox News