Dr. Leif Nelson, who worked on the development of the LUKE arm, said that the number of people who had lost arms relative to those who had lost legs was too small to spur private research and development. Thats when Darpa, along with the Department of Veterans Affairs, funded studies to develop the latest prosthesis. They in turn were able to enlist private companies, working with Dean Kamen, who invented the Segway.

Sensors, similar to the ones found in smartphones that automatically sense when the screen has been flipped, were strapped to a persons feet, enabling arm control by moving the foot side to side or back and forth. And for those who had lost an entire arm, motors at shoulder level enabled people to lift their arms above their head. The next step, Dr. Nelson said, was to develop on-skin sensors that would detect nerve signals and translate them into specific movements.

This is the first device that intuitively moves multiple joints at one time, he said. With other technology, you had to use the hand, then stop. Use the wrist, then stop. It wasnt fluid.

The arm, which will be commercially available through the manufacturer Mobius and sold to civilians too, will cost in the low six figures, though pricing is being worked out, officials said. An initial order of 10 has been placed for veterans.

Mr. Downs and Mr. McAuley were chosen as recipients based on medical necessity and because they participated in the research that led to the LUKE arms development.

Mr. McAuley, 70, who lives in Richmond Hill, Queens, where he cares for his mother, spent most of his post-military life without a prosthetic arm. I did one-armed stuff, he said. I tied my tie with one arm. I tied sneakers with one arm. I typed with one finger. I was strictly a one-sided person.

He participated in Darpas research project, he said, not so much for himself but to help others. Its given me hope for the future, he said. Its not that I want to be remembered, but I would like this to be an inspiration for people down the road.

Mr. Downs, a former Veterans Affairs official who lives in Maryland and is now a consultant to the Paralyzed Veterans of America, had long used a hook arm. But his new prosthesis will finally let him do tasks that require greater dexterity or the ability to hold his hand close to his face.

The symbolism of getting his new arm this weekend was not lost on him.

When you lose an upper extremity, you lose your independence, your ability to take care of yourself, he said. When you lose your independence, you lose somewhat of your dignity as a human being because you have to depend on others to comb your hair, go to the bathroom. With a prosthetic limb, your independence and dignity are returned to you. This is freedom, let me tell you. When I dont have my arm on, I think I am disabled. But when I have this arm on, I dont think Im disabled.

A version of this article appears in print on July 3, 2017, on Page A15 of the New York edition with the headline: For Two Veterans, a Freedom Restored for Independence Day.

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For Two Veterans, a Freedom Restored for Independence Day - New York Times

(Where have we seen that sort of thing before Russia maybe?)

Or when the White House plays so many games with its press briefings, taking them off camera and placing conditions on how and when they can run or, in the case of its rare, unrestricted live briefings, using them to falsely accuse the news media of dishonesty?

For those who cherish a robust free press, its hard to feel much like partying after witnessing how some cheered Representative Greg Gianforte, Republican of Montana, for body slamming a reporter for The Guardian, Ben Jacobs. His sin: asking unwelcome questions.

The he had it coming camps celebration of the violence against a reporter seemed out of step with Mr. Gianfortes own response. He ultimately apologized, pleaded guilty to assault and pledged a $50,000 donation to the Committee to Protect Journalists.

Then again, it wasnt out of step with President Trump, whose weekend tweet appeared to promote violence against CNN which, some argued, violated Twitters harassment policies certainly undercut Mr. Gianfortes message of contrition.

Yes, America, all of the attacks against something so central to your identity must have you in quite the birthday funk.

The likely reaction in anti-press precincts to a column like this one will be that mainstream journalists think theyre above reproach, which is nonsense.

When a real news organization makes a mistake, it takes action, as CNN recently did when it retracted an article about the Russia investigation, saying the article had not received the proper vetting. Three people lost their jobs.

The Trump administration torqued it into supposed proof that CNN and much of the rest of the news media including The New York Times and The Washington Post are fake news.

It was a powerful reminder to journalists everywhere to take the extra time to get it right, to make sure that the processes that ensure editorial quality and accuracy remain intact and strong.

The stakes are higher now, as the anti-press sentiment veers into calls for more action against journalists, if not against journalism itself.

Look no further than the new National Rifle Association advertisement. In it, the conservative radio and television star Dana Loesch angrily describes how they whoever they are use their media to assassinate real news, contributing to a violence of lies that needs to be combated with the clenched fist of truth.

Given that the ad was for a pro-gun group, this sort of thing tends toward incitement, Charles P. Pierce wrote in Esquire. (Added context: The N.R.A. chief Wayne LaPierre recently called academic elites, political elites and media elites Americas greatest domestic threats.)

The Fox News host Sean Hannity has urged the Trump administration to force reporters to submit written requests in advance of the daily White House press briefing, which, he said, should be narrowly tailored to specific topics the administration wants to talk about.

Mr. Hannitys good buddy Newt Gingrich went one better, suggesting that administration officials fully close the briefing room to the news media, which he has called a danger to the country right now.

Whats most extraordinary in all of this is how many people calling for curtailments on the free press are such professed constitutionalists and admirers of the founders.

The founders didnt view the press as particularly enlightened, and from the earliest days of the republic it certainly wasnt. (To wit, a passage in The Aurora, an early publication, described George Washington as the source of all the misfortunes of our country.)

But they drafted the founding documents to enshrine press freedom for good reason. As the Stanford University history professor Jack Rakove said in an interview last week, James Madison was most concerned about a misinformed publics acting on misplaced passions, and saw the press as an antidote. Were he alive now, Mr. Rakove said, Madison would be worried by the idea of government whipping up or exploiting what he called badly formed passions.

Sure, there were the occasional stumbles, like the short-lived Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798, which banned false, scandalous and malicious writing about the government, but they led to stronger free speech protections.

So this, our 241st birthday, seems just the time to invite some of our forebears to remind us including those at the top of the government why a free press is so important.

Whoever would overthrow the liberty of a nation must begin by subduing the freeness of speech. Benjamin Franklin, 1722

There is nothing so fretting and vexatious, nothing so justly terrible to tyrants, and their tools and abettors, as a free press. Samuel Adams, 1768

The freedom of speech may be taken away and, dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep, to the slaughter. George Washington, to officers of the Army, 1783

Nothing could be more irrational than to give the people power, and to withhold from them information without which power is abused. A popular government, without popular information, or the means of acquiring it, is but a prologue to a farce or a tragedy; or, perhaps both. James Madison, 1822

There is a terrific disadvantage not having the abrasive quality of the press applied to you daily, to an administration. even though we never like it, and even though we wish they didnt write it, and even though we disapprove, there still isnt any doubt that we couldnt do the job at all in a free society without a very, very active press. John F. Kennedy, 1962

Since the founding of this nation, freedom of the press has been a fundamental tenet of American life. There is no more essential ingredient than a free, strong and independent press to our continued success in what the founding fathers called our noble experiment in self-government. Ronald Reagan, 1983

Power can be very addictive, and it can be corrosive. And its important for the media to call to account people who abuse their power, whether it be here or elsewhere. George W. Bush, 2017

Jaclyn Peiser contributed reporting.

A version of this article appears in print on July 3, 2017, on Page B1 of the New York edition with the headline: Celebrating Independence As Free Press Is Besieged.

Excerpt from:

Independent Press Is Under Siege as Freedom Rings - New York Times

BBC News

Press freedom 'under threat' in new Myanmar BBC News When the party of Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel Laureate kept under house arrest for years because of her democratic activism, won historic elections in 2015, many expected more media freedom would follow. But journalists and press freedom advocates are ... and more »

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Press freedom 'under threat' in new Myanmar - BBC News

U.S. President Donald Trump waves at the Celebrate Freedom Rally in Washington, U.S. July 1, 2017. Photo by Yuri Gripas/Reuters

WASHINGTON President Donald Trump vowed to support and defend religious liberty, telling a gathering of evangelical Christians that the threat of terrorism is one of the most grave and dire threats to religious freedom in the world today.

We cannot allow this terrorism and extremism to spread in our country, or to find sanctuary on our shores or in our cities, Trump said Saturday night at a Celebrate Freedom concert honoring veterans. We want to make sure that anyone who seeks to join our country shares our values and has the capacity to love our people.

The evangelical megachurch First Baptist Dallas and Salem Media Group sponsored the event at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. First Baptist Pastor Robert Jeffress was a strong backer of Trump during the 2016 campaign.

The event at times felt like one of Trumps signature campaign rallies, with the president promising an adoring crowd that America would win again and prompting cheers with attacks on the news media.

The fake media tried to stop us from going to the White House, but Im president and theyre not, he said.

READ NEXT: Trump vows to repeal political limits on churches

Trump appeared on a stage decorated with a massive American flag. Choirs performed The Battle Hymn of the Republic and other hymns and debuted a song with the lyrics make America great again Trumps campaign slogan.

Besides speaking to the events religious theme, Trump renewed his campaign promise to always take care of Americas veterans.

Not only has God bestowed on us the gift of freedom, hes also given us the gift of heroes willing to give their lives to defend that freedom, he said.

Overwhelming support from evangelical voters helped propel Trump to victory in 2016. Since he took office, Christian conservatives have been overjoyed by Trumps appointment of Justice Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court and his executive order ordering the IRS to ease up on a rarely enforced limit on partisan political activity by churches.

Trump was spending the pre-Independence Day weekend at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, but traveled back to Washington for the event.

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Trump vows to support and defend religious freedom in US - PBS NewsHour

The grotesque betrayal of the generation that most detests Brexit is like some lost Restoration comedy. The Country Wife at Theatre Royal Haymarket. Photograph: Tristram Kenton for the Guardian

Nothing is more important to the creative industries than innovation. Without it, well quickly lose our international pre-eminence and a sector that in 2014 was worth 84bn, and is growing at twice the rate of the wider economy, will shrivel and die.

New ideas, contrary to romantic myth, dont emerge fully formed from the imagination of a lone genius. By and large, theyre the result of the kind of creative ferment that feeds off direct exposure to whatever and whoever is breaking new ground, wherever it is happening. In the 19th century, when Britain really was the country the Brexit nostalgists want back, you could work anywhere without a passport. Isambard Kingdom Brunel studied in Paris before he came home and revolutionised engineering. John Ruskin developed his thinking on architecture in Italy. George Eliot lived for eight formative months in Germany; three years later she published her first novel.

The young are still ground-breakers, and theyve been the chief beneficiaries of the freedom of movement that has come with EU membership. It cuts both ways: creatives from the rest of Europe come here because they want to be part of a thriving creative economy. They bring new energy to architecture, fashion, design, music, film.

Its no surprise, then, that before the EU referendum, a survey of members of the Creative Industries Federation showed 96% support for remaining in the EU. Arts world groupthink, sneered the Brexit operative who was sent into the TV studios by the leave campaign to urge us to subscribe to alternative groupthink about taking back control. And if groupthink is the consequence of the individual experience of everyone in the group, maybe it was.

Starting out in the theatre, I worked in France, Germany and the Netherlands. More recently, Ive employed artists from all over Europe, and I felt nothing but shame when the National Theatres head of wigs, hair and makeup reminded me recently that he has yet to be assured he can continue to live his life here. Hes Italian, but he has worked and paid taxes in the UK for 15 years.

Young British theatre-makers hit the road and bring back what they discover from living and working in Berlin and Paris

Meanwhile, young British theatre-makers, impatient with the theatre establishment, hit the road and bring back to our theatre what they discover from living and working in Berlin and Paris. Theyre inspired by what can be achieved with European levels of public subsidy, which accounts for as much as 95% of the income of some German theatres. Its not all upside. With lavish subsidy comes political control: government paymasters have recently turfed out admired directors of theatres in Germany, Poland and France. Our own system of arms-length funding via the Arts Council protects artists from political interference. This system is not the European norm, but at no point during the past decades has the EU tried to bring it into line. In the arts, we cant take back control because it was never given away in the first place.

In any event, the freedom to work and learn in the rest of the EU has been every bit as crucial to British creative success as the freedom to hire talented Europeans to work in Britain. During the election campaign, freedom of movement was presented as a one-way street: unrestricted immigration from the EU is the problem; border control is the solution. Continued membership of the single market is off the table, even for the Labour party, which continues to equivocate about a deal that would genuinely protect the interests not just of the economy but of the young people who voted for it in such numbers.

The students who delivered Canterbury for Labour deserve the right that their predecessors enjoyed to work and live without visas outside this country, if only to be able to come back and turn its failing economy around. In our brave new self-controlled world, the not-for-profit arts sector may miss the modest EU subsidies that it could once apply for. The commercial theatre, of which I am now part, may struggle with a doubled immigration skills charge. But far scarier is the prospect of a generation of creative talent crabbed by insularity and stunted by the delusion that our native genius, once unfettered, will be enough to see off the opposition.

The grotesque betrayal of the generation that most detests Brexit is like some lost Restoration comedy. The Restoration playwrights, their eyes wide open to the worlds lust and avarice, show young people with names such as Heartfree, Constant and Worthy doing battle for the future with their self-regarding seniors. Imagine a creaky burlesque called Lady Woodens Stratagem. Like so many old comedies, its not funny. Lady Wooden thinks herself extremely clever but turns out to be dense, and is held hostage by characters whose names announce their hypocrisy and malevolence: Backstab, Brute, Bullingdon, Gove. They scheme to cheat the young of their inheritance. The play ends badly, but theres no reason why it cant be rewritten.

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Freedom of movement helped British creativity thrive. Its loss will diminish us - The Guardian

FREEDOM, Wis. Police in Freedom, Wisconsin are issuing a warning on their Facebook page after a call this week.

According to police, a person living in the Town of Freedom heard someone knocking on their front door. The homeowner went to the door and saw an adult woman who was alone and crying, asking to come inside the house.

The person inside the home offered to call police for the woman on several occasions, but according to police, the woman kept refusing help and stated NO dont call police. Police say when the woman realized the resident of the home was not going to let her into the house, she left the area.

Police say it is still unknown why the woman was upset and knocking on the door.

Freedom Police say they would like to use this incident as a reminder; you should never let someone inside of your house that you do not know. They add, if you have this happen to you, please call police.

If you have any questions, please contact the Freedom Police Department at (920) 788-0902.

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Police in Freedom, Wisconsin issue warning after call - TMJ4.com - WTMJ-TV (press release) (registration) (blog)

STERLING HEIGHTS -- Steve Miller and Peter Frampton get a bum rap sometimes.

Both singer-guitarists are fiercely loved as vastly underrated purveyors of rock blues guitar while simultaneously, and unfairly, slammed for their unapologetic love for pure pop-oriented radio tunes. On Saturday night, July 1, in the Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre at Freedom Hill, the two classic rock fixtures played both sides of their respective coins, delivering the hits and showing off their serious instrumental chops in equal measure, making for a satisfying summertime jaunt.

Related: Peter Frampton at Freedom Hill, 5 Things To Know

Frampton offered a truncated but tight sunset show, ripping through his pop favorites while also exploring deeper musical spaces. Say what you will about his overuse of the Talk Box, but the simple fact is that Frampton can roll with the best of them, delivering superbly on super smash Do You Feel Like We Do as he blended his own clean soloing with the bluesy lines from keyboardist Rob Arthur, and on (Ill Give You) Money, certainly his heaviest song.

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Less successful was Framptons tribute to the late Soundgarden singer Chris Cornell, a good but awkward instrumental cover of Black Hole Sun that seemed to confuse the baby-boomer dominated crowd. But that was an exception as a talkative Frampton offered stories from his lengthy career, like when he partied too hard in the Bahamas with Alvin Lee and then, hung over, wrote Baby I Love Your Way in a single afternoon when he was short on time.

The Steve Miller Band played in the headline slot, after a booming public address announcer introduced the group as Stevie Guitar Miller and the Steve Miller Band! The 73-year-old frontman proved more than worthy of that cocksure moniker, at times even channeling his godfather and guitar teacher Les Paul, albeit doing so on a (gasp!) Fender guitar. From the opening few frames -- going haywire on Abracadabra, for example the group was in the zone.

The set felt, above anything else, democratic, with Miller bringing out Frampton for a guest appearance, simply stating that were gonna do some songs for ya! The two traded dexterous and pleasing barbs on Mercury Blues, launching the song into the cosmos.

The obscure, stretched-out shredding indulgence was tempered by the fact that Miller has a laundry list of megahits in its arsenal. A straightforward version of The Joker shone like a gleaming diamond amid stunning yet overly-extravagant fretwork. Fly Like an Eagle combined the earworm-like quality of Millers songcraft with his otherworldly guitar skills, playing spacey funk licks over pulsing organ by keyboardist Joseph Wooten and funk bass from sideman Kenny Lee Lewis.

An encore pairing of Jet Airliner and Jungle Love capped a show that packaged two of the 1970s biggest acts. But Frampton is far from his Humble Pie roots, while Miller has reinvented himself so masterfully over the years that its easy to forget he was in the thick of the Haight-Ashbury psychedelic explosion. Both classic rock fixtures have stood the test of time, and on Saturday night they truly stood and delivered a rollicking blast of shimmering rock and blues to the delight of a lively audience.

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Review: Steve Miller, Peter Frampton rock at Freedom Hill - The Oakland Press

Jul 2, 2017 at 4:09 pm | Print View

CEDAR RAPIDS Organizers of the annual Cedar Rapids Freedom Festival pride themselves on the fact the event attracts visitors from near and far.

Saturday was no exception as thousands flocked to downtown Cedar Rapids to take part in a variety of activities and kick off the Independence Day weekend.

Among them was Lisa Holt, a native of Earlville, who now lives in France.

She was back visiting family and came down to the Freedom Festival parade, which stepped off at 2 p.m. It was her first time at the parade and she noted the differences between how Americans and the French celebrate their independence.

They dont really have parades, she said of life in France. The town will get together and have games and things like that. They do have fireworks in the evening like we do, but they dont really have parades.

The Fourth of July equivalent to Bastille Day, celebrated on July 14.

They do have one parade in Paris on the 14th, but its all military, Holt said. Its all the different branches of the military marching down the Champs-lyses. The air force also does some aerobatics in the air. Thats about the only parade Ive seen or heard of (in France).

Holt said the closest event in France to the Freedom Festival parade is a celebration called Carnaval.

We have something equivalent to this at Carnaval, Holt said. Its a lot more musical and they dont throw things out into the crowd.

Holt said she enjoyed the Freedom Festival parade and appreciated seeing everyone being brought together by the event.

I think its great. Its a good way to bring everybody together even if youre not all technically socializing with everyone, she said. Were all out here for the same reason and it can only be a positive thing.

A panel of judges handed out awards for the top parade entries during a ceremony at 2 p.m. at NewBo City Market.

This years winners are:

l Best Animal Unit Gwens Pet Grooming

l Best Walking Unit Hy-Vee

l Judges Choice Collins Community Credit Union

l Leonard Pfeifer Award for Best Original Float: Corridor Hockey Association

l Best Use of American Pride Sheet Metal Air, Rail and Transportation Workers Local 263

The Cedar Rapids Freedom Festival continues this week with several activities planned, including a pancake breakfast, car show, road races, concert, family activities and a fireworks show on Tuesday.

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

Here are some of the events taking place today through Tuesday at the Cedar Rapids Freedom Festival. For a complete schedule, go to freedomfestival.com:

Today

10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Dock Dogs competition, NewBo Ale House

3 p.m. Star Spangled Organ concert, First Presbyterian Church

7:30 p.m. Cedar Rapids Municipal Band concert, McGrath Amphitheatre

Monday

6 p.m. Music at the Museum, National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library amphitheater

7 p.m. Five Seasons Ski Team show, Ellis Park

Tuesday

8 a.m. Pancake breakfast, Veterans Memorial Building

8 a.m. Fifth Season Races, featuring Health Solutions 8K, start at Cedar Rapids Museum of Art

8 a.m. Freedom Festival Car Show, Third Avenue Bridge

4 p.m. Celebration of Freedom, downtown Cedar Rapids

5 p.m. The Johnny Holm Band performs, McGrath Amphitheatre

7 p.m. Five Seasons Ski Team show, Ellis Park

Dusk Fireworks show, downtown Cedar Rapids

l Comments: (319) 368-8538; elianna.novitch@thegazette.com

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From France to Freedom Fest: Annual celebration draws crowd of ... - The Gazette: Eastern Iowa Breaking News and Headlines

President Donald Trump vowed to support and defend religious liberty, telling a gathering of evangelical Christians that the threat of terrorism is "one of the most grave and dire threats to religious freedom in the world today."

"We cannot allow this terrorism and extremism to spread in our country, or to find sanctuary on our shores or in our cities," Trump said Saturday night at a "Celebrate Freedom" concert honoring veterans. "We want to make sure that anyone who seeks to join our country shares our values and has the capacity to love our people."

The evangelical megachurch First Baptist Dallas and Salem Media Group sponsored the event at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. First Baptist Pastor Robert Jeffress was a strong backer of Trump during the 2016 campaign.

The event at times felt like one of Trump's signature campaign rallies, with the president promising an adoring crowd that America would "win again" and prompting cheers with attacks on the news media.

"The fake media tried to stop us from going to the White House, but I'm president and they're not," he said.

Trump appeared on a stage decorated with a massive American flag. Choirs performed "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" and other hymns and debuted a song with the lyrics "make America great again" Trump's campaign slogan.

Besides speaking to the event's religious theme, Trump renewed his campaign promise to always take care of America's veterans.

"Not only has God bestowed on us the gift of freedom, he's also given us the gift of heroes willing to give their lives to defend that freedom," he said.

Overwhelming support from evangelical voters helped propel Trump to victory in 2016. Since he took office, Christian conservatives have been overjoyed by Trump's appointment of Justice Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court and his executive order ordering the IRS to ease up on a rarely enforced limit on partisan political activity by churches.

Trump was spending the pre-Independence Day weekend at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, but traveled back to Washington for the event.

Read the rest here:

Trump vows to support and defend religious freedom in US - ABC News

On Tuesday, America will celebrate Independence Day.

In honor of July 4th, heres what some patriots, politicians and just plain people have to say about freedom.

The winds that blow through the wide sky in these mounts, the winds that sweep from Canada to Mexico, from the Pacific to the Atlantic - have always blown on free men. Franklin D. Roosevelt

We on this continent should never forget that men first crossed the Atlantic not to find soil for their ploughs but to secure liberty for their souls. Robert J. McCracken

"The American, by nature, is optimistic. He is experimental, an inventor, and a builder who builds best when called upon to build greatly." John F. Kennedy

"You can't separate peace from freedom because no one can be at peace unless he has his freedom." Malcolm X

Liberty means responsibility. That is why most men dread it. George Bernard Shaw

You have to love a nation that celebrates its independence every July 4, not with a parade of guns, tanks, and soldiers who file by the White House in a show of strength and muscle, but with family picnics where kids throw Frisbees, the potato salad gets iffy, and the flies die from happiness. You may think you have overeaten, but it is patriotism. Erma Bombeck

My God! How little do my countrymen know what precious blessings they are in possession of, and which no other people on earth enjoy! Thomas Jefferson

Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves. Abraham Lincoln

"The essence of Americathat which really unites usis not ethnicity, or nationality, or religion. It is an ideaand what an idea it is: that you can come from humble circumstances and do great things. That it doesn't matter where you came from, but where you are going." Condoleezza Rice

Freedom is never free. Author Unknown

There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured by what is right with America. William J. Clinton

"Patriotism is easy to understand in America; it means looking out for yourself by looking out for your country." Calvin Coolidge

My country, 'tis of thee, Sweet land of liberty, Of thee I sing, Land where my fathers died, Land of the pilgrims' pride, From every mountainside, Let freedom ring! Samuel Francis Smith

Republicans believe every day is the Fourth of July, but the democrats believe every day is April 15. Ronald Reagan

"So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania! Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado! Let freedom ring from the curvaceous peaks of California! But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia! Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee! Let freedom ring from every hill and every molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring." Martin Luther King Jr.

"Courage, then, my countrymen, our contest is not only whether we ourselves shall be free, but whether there shall be left to mankind an asylum on earth for civil and religious liberty." Samuel Adams

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July 4, 2017: Some quotes on what freedom means - Atlanta Journal Constitution

As our nation prepares to celebrate Independence Day or the extended July Fourth weekend, as the case may be Americans ponder many things about the direction of our country.

We take time to reflect on the incredible insight that our forefathers had in crafting the Constitution of the United States. We marvel at the sacrifices made by the colonists, who formed the first Continental Army of the United States to fight the greatest power in the world at that time the British Empire.

We honor men such as John Adams, George Washington, Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Paine. Yes, Thomas Paine the author of the pamphlet Common Sense, which served as an inspiration to the average American colonist, explaining why a revolution against the king of England was needed, as well as a vision of what an independent new nation the United States of America would mean for the people.

Paines words accomplished what mere armaments could not, uniting the colonists in ways that the Declaration of Independence attempted to accomplish yet in simpler, more common-sense words. Yes, the pen is mightier than the sword.

George Washington led a rag-tag group of militia to victory in the War of Independence. A patriot by the name of Betsy Ross made our nations first flag. A nation was founded, and democracy was born.

In the 241 years since the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, our nation has faced many trials and tribulations. Each step along the way, the revolution evolved, and our nation has proven that we are truly the land of the free and home of the brave.

The Civil War threatened to separate these United States, with brother fighting against brother. Once again, the fight for freedom prevailed.

From the Emancipation Proclamation, which marked the beginning of the end of the horrible practice of slavery, to womens suffrage, which gave women the right to vote, our democracy has evolved. And it continues to evolve today.

Hundreds of thousands of U.S. servicemen and women have fought to keep our nation free. Two world wars and conflicts in Korea and Vietnam were all fought in the name of freedom and democracy around the globe.

The battle continues today as our nation faces the threat of international terrorism. As a result, democracy and the freedoms that our country were founded upon are under attack.

I am thankful for the freedoms and the rights that we have as American citizens. I am thankful for our democracy, which gives each and every one of us the right to vote. I am thankful for our freedom of speech and our freedom of religion. I am thankful for the freedom of the press and the right to redress government. I am thankful for the right to bear arms. I respect these rights for others and not just to satisfy my own beliefs.

In my faith, I believe that God has blessed these United States of America. We are a nation that was formed on Christian beliefs by men and women who were faithful to the one true God. It is His providence and grace that have provided for us in the toughest of times. From the earliest pilgrims at Plymouth Rock to the hardships of todays difficult economic times God is in control.

Please, as you enjoy this extended holiday weekend celebrating our nations independence, take the time to reflect on the freedoms that we have, the brave souls who have fought and died to protect those freedoms and how each and every one of us can be a better citizen contributing to the nation that we love.

Have a happy and safe Independence Day, one and all!

Andy Kniceley is publisher of NCWV Media products, including The Exponent Telegram.

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Let freedom ring - The Exponent Telegram (press release) (registration)

Straw hats and bonnets, fake muskets and full skirts mixed with modern tennis shoes and baseball caps Saturday during a re-enactment at Constitution Hall in downtown Topeka.

The re-enactment of the dispersal of the Legislature by Col. Sumner in 1854 was the first of three during the daylong Freedom Festival.

The festival, in its second year, is meant to represent freedom in Kansas capital city from the fight to end slavery to the landmark Brown v. Board of Education case and how the concept of freedom continues to evolve.

Grant Glenn, president of the Topeka Downtown Rotary Club, which sponsored the festival, said events like these help people recognize Topekas history.

Often we dont know, we dont understand and we dont appreciate our history, he said. This is who we are, and we should be proud of it. And this is why the Rotary picked the Freedom Festival as a theme and to celebrate it on the Fourth of July weekend.

Booths were spread out along several blocks of S. Kansas Avenue, and some were even set up along surrounding blocks too. Festivities began at 9:00 a.m. and lasted all day Saturday, offering a variety of activities for community members and visitors.

The festival included art projects, evening concerts and food trucks just a few of the additions that show its growth.

Weve greatly expanded the number of activities, said Joan Wagnon, who served as chairwoman of this years festival. We wanted to support downtown and let people know theres lots to do downtown.

The celebration focused on expanding the definition of freedom, Wagnon said. Organizers invited high school students to participate in the discussion. Students read poetry and other readings with the theme of freedom, then chose different phrases and words for what freedom meant to them. Early Saturday afternoon, students used stencils to draw the phrases on the glass windows of downtown buildings.

The festival was free and funded by community businesses and organizations.

Shanta Shump, a Topeka resident who brought her four daughters to the festival, said she thought it was a good way to connect with the community.

I think its bringing out a crowd, people are curious, she said.

That was exactly what Wagnon hoped would happen.

Its always been my vision for Topeka to have a lot of people downtown, she said.

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Second Freedom Festival offers window to past in downtown Topeka - Topeka Capital Journal

As Fridays first light spilled into Utah Valley from behind the peaks of the Wasatch Mountains, hot air balloons rose into the skies above Provo.

As the balloons ascended, they tested the skies for the Freedom Festivals Balloon Fest. The Balloon Fest will take place Saturday, Monday and Tuesday from 6 to 8 a.m. at Bulldog Field, which is located at 1100 N. Freedom Blvd. in Provo. The event attracts balloonists from throughout the western United States and beyond, and Fridays preliminary rides brought out 11 different hot air balloons.

For the Balloon Fests three days, that number is expected rise to about 25.

Visitors will be able to watch as the balloons inflate and drift through Provos skies. Hot air balloons typically fly about 5 to 10 miles in a radius from their takeoff point, but balloonists may keep closer to Bulldog Field to allow visitors to get a better view.

The Balloon Fest annually attracts about 25,000 visitors to Provo and provides fun for the whole family. Though, for balloonists, flying hot air balloons is also a family affair.

When you start seeing balloonists, youll see families, said Keith Evans, pilot of Smileys Dream, a hot air balloon.

Evans and his family had their first experience with Balloon Fest 21 years ago through an eagerness to lend a hand. We were on the field to spectate, and they said they needed crew, said Evans.

Hot air balloons require much more than just a pilot to fly it takes a crew. The crew aids in helping unpack, inflate, land, deflate, pack away and guide hot air balloons through the air from the ground. Where hot air balloons land can be a bit up in the air, so the crews continually keep contact with the pilots and follow the balloons to wherever they might land.

Evans and his family acted as crew members for 18 years, and began flying a balloon of their own in the festival three years ago. He explained that the Balloon Fest is a wonderful way to interact with the family of ballooning.

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Freedom Festival takes to the skies with Balloon Fest - Daily Herald - Daily Herald

Demonstrators clash on Portland waterfront

Christine Pitawanich , KGW 11:22 PM. PDT June 30, 2017

Demonstrators clash at the Portland Waterfront during the 'Freedom Rally' on June 30, 2017 (Photo: Christine Pitawanich)

PORTLAND, Ore. -- It was a moment that could have gone either way. Punches were thrown, insults flew, and mace shot through the air along Portlands waterfront.

Protesters from two sides showed up. One side was pro-President Trump. People in that group waved flags and wore red, white and blue. The other side was filled with people who were anti-Trump.

Trump is ruining America, yelled one woman.

Some anti-Trump protester wore black. Their faces were covered with masks. At one point, some people also burned flags and stomped on them.

Joey Gibson, who heads up a conservative group called Patriot Prayer, organized the Freedom March on Facebook. He said the event is about freedom in general and freedom of speech. More than 175 people indicated they were going on Facebook, and more than 300 said they were interested in attending the event.

As for Gibsons expectations regarding violence, We're always on high alert. We have a pretty good understanding of the opposition, he said.

Gibson also organized a rally in early June at Terry Schrunk Plaza. It drew hundreds of people to downtown Portland. On almost all sides of the plaza, there were groups who opposed Gibson and the people supporting him.

More:14 arrested during rally, counter-protests in downtown Portland

The Freedom March at the waterfront officially started at 6 p.m. at Salmon Street Springs. Then people began marching north. At one point, the march wound through a part of downtown.

You have the right as an American citizen. You are free. If they want to oppose us, it's their right too. But they can't silence us, said a pro-Trump demonstrator.

There were a lot of heated arguments and at times things briefly got out of hand. Some people decided to step in to de-escalate when they saw people starting to get physical again.

Why can't anybody talk to each other without trying to throw hands. Have a conversation. I'm disappointed in both sides and I want this to stop and that's why I stepped in, said the man.

Watch: Demonstrators clash during rally, counter-protest

Others with the group Patriot Prayer also tried to de-escalate.

I'm here because I'm trying to keep the peace between the left and right, said a man named John Beavers. We all have to get along. We have to talk. Weve gotta work this out or we're gonna tear ourselves apart, the right and the left. We've got to get along."

We tried multiple times to speak to people who opposed the march. They did not want to speak on camera.

One man who was a part of the Freedom March said after all the verbal and physical violence, he's done. He has a family and he's considering not participating in these types of rallies anymore.

Portland Police said they would monitor the situation. When the event began, police were present. But as the event proceeded, police maintained their distance.

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Demonstrators clash during 'Freedom March' at Portland waterfront - kgw.com

Freedom is one of the most cherished American principles. But freedom means more than the ability to speak your mind, practice your religion, or choose your own democratically elected leaders. Our freedoms dont end with the First Amendment to the Constitution.

Freedom is also the ability to enjoy economic security and stability. And that means more than making a decent living and having enough to pay the bills. Its about both financially supporting our families and having time to be there for them. Freedom is the ability to take your mom or dad to a doctors appointment, to attend a parent-teacher conference, and to retire with dignity.

At our union, we champion policies that benefit all Americans. We fight for affordable healthcare for all, especially now, as Congress is considering legislation which would inexplicably throw millions of people off the insurance rolls. Pat Waller, a union member who is a labor and delivery nurse at a rural hospital in southern Ohio, is speaking out against Medicaid cuts that threaten the health coverage of new mothers and babies.

We fight to improve the quality of public services. Union member Tyrone Wooten is an environmental technician at a medical facility in Flint, Michigan. He knows firsthand the devastating impact of the water supply contamination in his community. And he traveled 14 hours by bus last year to Washington, to protest the testimony of the Michigan governor, whose austerity policies led to the water crisis in Flint.

Were also on the front lines when it comes to retirement security. AFSCMEs nearly 250,000 retiree members, led by Gary Tavormina who began his public service career as a corrections officer in New York State in 1957 are active in protecting public pensions and safeguarding Social Security.

Its hard to believe anyone could be against pregnant women and infants having quality health services, families having clean drinking water, or retirees having rock-solid Social Security benefits. But many people actually are. The privileged and powerful CEOs, massive corporations, and the wealthiest 1 percent do not just oppose these freedoms. They rig the rules to undermine them and they spend billions of dollars lobbying against them.

And because unions fight for these freedoms, the moneyed interests have made us a target. They want to use the courts to chip away at the rights and protections unions have won for everyone. They have now petitioned the Supreme Court to take a case called Janus v. AFSCME, in which the plaintiffs seek to impose right-to-work as the law of the land in the public sector.

Right-to-work threatens the ability of working people to stand together in a strong union, drives down wages and weakens workplace protections, while redistributing wealth upward. Moreover, right-to-work has its roots in the Jim Crow south, where segregationists pushed it to restrict the labor rights of African Americans and keep them from finding common cause with their white coworkers. Right-to-work, in other words, was created to inhibit freedom.

Americans value their freedom, and they define it broadly. It is the ability to earn a decent paycheck without sacrificing family life. It is the opportunity to live in a safe community and send your kids to a decent school. It is the peace of mind of knowing that an injury or illness wont ruin you financially and that you can live in some modest comfort in your golden years.

The labor movement believes in and are the guardians of all of these freedoms. So, as the corporate special interests gear up for another well-funded attack, we will do everything in our power to protect and defend our freedom to join together in a union.

Lee Saunders is president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, a labor union of 1.6 million American workers.

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

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Unions not corporations stand for freedom of American workers - The Hill (blog)

DeMarlo Antwin Berry no longer can recognize Las Vegas.

The 42-year-old Nevada man was freed from prison after 23 years behind bars for a crime he didnt commit. He felt a little overwhelmed by changes in the city where he was arrested when he was 19.

On Friday he sat flanked by his wife of seven years and lawyers who fought to get him exonerated and released from his sentence of life without parole. He looks forward to a steak-and-fries dinner and said he just wants to go to barber school and live a normal life.

It was a surreal moment, just taking it all in, Berry told reporters, noting the unfamiliar buildings, homes and freeways he saw.

He had with him only his release papers and a debit card for his prison commissary account. His lifelong girlfriend-turned-wife, Odilia, wasthere.

It means everything to me, said Odilia Berry, wearing a necklace bearing the word Amazin and offering her thanks to God that her husband was free.

The dismissal of Berrys conviction came after Steven Jackson, now 45 and serving life without parole in California for his conviction in a separate murder in 1996, confessed to Samantha Wilcox, a lawyer from Salt Lake City working on Berrys case for free with the Rocky Mountain Innocence Center.

Berrys legal team also found a former jailhouse informant, Richard Iden, who recanted his trial testimony that Berry told him hed killed Carls Jr. restaurant manager Charles Burkes.

They really did the job. They did the footwork. If theywerent as thorough as they were, we wouldnt be here, Berry said as he sat in a posh Las Vegas law office. Id just be another number in prison.

Nevada is one of 18 states in the nation that doesnt provide compensation funds for wrongfully convicted and newly released inmates, said Jensie Anderson, Rocky Mountain Innocence Center legal director. Sheestimated that 4 percent of the 13,500 inmates in Nevada prisons, or more than 500, may be wrongfully convicted.

DeMarlo Berry hugs his attorney Samantha Wilcox following a news conference after his exoneration held at the law office of Eglet Prince in downtown Las Vegas on Friday, June 30, 2017. The 42-year-old Nevada man freed from prison after 23 years behind bars for a crime he didnt commit said Friday he felt a little overwhelmed by changes in the city where he was arrested when he was 19. (Richard Brian/Las Vegas Review-Journal via AP) (Richard Brian Las Vegas Review-Journal @vegasphotograph)

DeMarlo Berry shed his shackles in what once was familiar territory. Before he was arrested in April 1994, he used to sell drugs and hangout at a bar several blocks away, according to testimony at his trial in 1995.That bar is gone now, closed as a nuisance by the City Council in 1996.

Las Vegas and surrounding Clark County doubled in population during Berrys time away. Downtown hotels like the Lady Luck closed; Fitzgeralds changed names; and a canopy was built over the Fremont Street corridor that most knew back then as Glitter Gulch.

Berry termed his feeling of freedom sensory overload. He said hed heard people describe his prison time as his entire adult life, but he said he still has a lot adult life in me.

Hell learn in coming days how to use a cellphone, a computer and the internet.

One thing hell keep from behind bars is work ethic, he said.

I figured that in order to be a better person than I was when I came in, you have to learn to do something different, Berry said, so I took it upon myself to learn a trade. Barbering.

Attorney Lynn Davies said it was too soon to say whether Berry would sue over his wrongful conviction and incarceration.

Berry said he wasnt angry.

Forgiving is, I guess, a large word, he said. I just want to continue with life. I have a second chance at life, and Ill take the opportunity.

Link:

Man released from jail after 23 years for crime he didn't commit finds freedom surreal - Fox News

I love the Fourth of July. I love the flags and fireworks, burgers and baseball, parades and pancake breakfasts.

But Independence Day means more than just the things we eat and see. It also means pausing from the daily grind to come together with family and friends and give thanks for the freedoms we enjoy. The right to vote and speak and petition the government for change are a few of my favorite freedoms.

How much freedom do you enjoy?

For Vinny, a computer programmer turned homeless person, the answer is not so much. When I sat down with Vinny in Concord a few years ago, he was preparing for a court date to challenge a peculiar fine concerning the right to lay down his head on public land.

As he relayed to me over lunch at the Friendly Kitchen, he and more than a hundred of his fellow homeless people had been given a days notice to leave their encampment on an overlooked stretch of land they had occupied without incident for years. When they refused, having nowhere else to go, they had their belongings confiscated and were handed fines.

The bureaucrats, politicians say its your choice to be homeless but you dont get to choose where you live, Vinny said, adding that he would never choose this life.

It was not the only fundamental freedom Vinny wished he had. When our conversation turned to politics, the fifty-something independent with close-cropped hair and a sturdy build relayed to me that he had lost the right to vote. I was taken aback.

In my months spent traveling through 30 states by Greyhound bus on a poverty research tour, I had met countless low-income people in homeless camps and shelters who had lost the right to vote but none in the first-in-the-nation primary state I called home.

Vinny explained that he had recently been released from state prison for possession of prescription opioids (illegally obtained by his girlfriend to feed her addiction) and was subject to voting and employment discrimination now that felon followed his name.

By our system of so-called democracy, if I want to go and vote for somebody I cant, Vinny said. Im an ex-felon. I have no voice whatsoever. So how can you bring change by the way the system is right now?

In point of fact, people in New Hampshire who finished serving time behind bars regain the right to vote. Not so in Florida, where Vinny used to live, and 33 other states, where people with felony convictions are disenfranchised long after they have completed their prison sentence. More than 6 million American citizens, most of them impoverished, are currently disenfranchised because of a conviction.

But that does not mean that New Hampshire makes it easy for people like Vinny to vote. In fact, if the recently approved Senate Bill 3 is signed by Gov. Chris Sununu, low-income people who lack a stable address, as well as New Hampshire students living in college dorms, will find it significantly more difficult to vote and will be subject to de facto literacy tests when registering at the polls.

If they are unable to prove their New Hampshire domicile with official documentation, they may even be visited by government agents following Election Day and subject to fines up to $5,000 on the presumption of voter fraud.

It is the first such law in the country to be adopted following President Donald Trumps unproven claims of widespread voter fraud in the 2016 elections claims made all the more outlandish by the mounting evidence that Russian hackers went to great lengths to intervene in our election on Trumps behalf.

Voting rights or no, Vinny did not lack for political opinions. He fervently believed that politics comes down to money and people like him lose out time and again. Like anything else, its big business, he said, adding I think the money thats in it is all big businesses (that) control the vote (and) get their bills passed.

To prove his point, he mentioned drug companies that spend millions in campaign donations and lobbying to grease the wheels and get powerful painkillers approved by the FDA, resulting in people like his girlfriend addicted and people like him behind bars.

His words are a sobering reminder that even in the Live free or die state of New Hampshire, freedom is not enjoyed equally by all. Our system of so-called democracy is falling short.

As lawmakers in Concord conclude this legislative session with a state budget that spends more on business tax cuts for the top 3 percent than homelessness or opioid addiction not to mention rolling back voting rights and rejecting campaign finance reform we would do well to consider that definition of American freedom put forward by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on the eve of World War II: freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want, freedom from fear.

How free can a person be when voting laws or spending by special interests suppress his right to speak at the polls, when punitive drug policies exacerbate his want and fear?

This July 4th, lets celebrate the freedoms we enjoy and fight like Americans for those freedoms that have yet to be realized for all. Happy Independence Day!

(Dan Weeks is chairman of Open Democracy and author of Democracy in Poverty: A View From Below (PoorInDemocracy.org) published by the Safra Center for Ethics at Harvard.)

Read more:

My Turn: Fight for freedom continues - Concord Monitor

I attended a public elementary school in San Diego during WWII. Among the excellent teachers who still have a fond place in my memory was Lila Dickson, who was my teacher in both fifth and sixth grades.

She kept us up to date on what was going on in the world, and at that time not much of it was very good. She also taught us about how our government worked and about our responsibilities as citizens.

Perhaps the most important thing I learned in those years was this: My freedom ends where the other persons freedom begins.

During those school days she taught us how that concept was violated when some students, while standing in line, chose to take more space than others and accomplished this with a push. They did not show respect for the freedom of their fellow students to also have space.

This concept of freedom also worked well when California residents decided to limit where people could smoke. Ergo, my right to smoke ended when my smoke reached your nostrils.

And when we, as a people, decided that the noise created by automobiles with fancy but noisy engines, as well as those with thunderous sound systems, would not be allowed on the streets. Their freedom to make noise ended when my freedom to have reasonable quietness began. This seems like a very simple concept, and it can be applied in ever so many ways from the close and personal to the local, state, national, and even at planetary levels.

For example, should businesses, large or small, be allowed to pollute the water, air or ground in such a way that it becomes unusable or otherwise dangerous for you and me? Should developers be allowed to build more homes than a community can support in terms of water availability, clean air supply, and a satisfactory quality of life for current residents? The Fourth of July is a splendid time to think on these things as this holiday always initiates a great deal of discussion about our freedoms what they are and their importance.

As we engage in conversations about freedom during this holiday, let us give thought to the idea of where freedoms are located as we remember our freedom ends where the other persons freedom begins.

Freedom is, indeed, a two way street!

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Sally White: Where freedom ends - Santa Clarita Valley Signal

We are just about ready to celebrate our nations independence and rejoice in the freedoms we have as Americans. I love the Fourth of July the food, the fireworks, the family fun. Even with our countrys weaknesses and imperfections, we live in a great land. Happy Fourth of July! Have fun and be safe!

As Christians, we know that our freedom was bought and paid for by Jesus on the cross. We can live in freedom, no longer enslaved by sin. Our day of liberty came when we asked Jesus to come into our lives. Galatians 5:1 basically says Christ has set us free to live in complete liberty; we never have to be harnessed again in the bondage and the slavery of sin. (Dorettes paraphrase)

Within the last month, two of my very dear friends have both published books that talk about freedom in different ways. Karen Jensen Salisbury released a book called I Forgive You, But and Tracy Wilde released her book called Finding the Lost Art of Empathy. I recommend both books highly, and to me their messages dovetail in a beautiful way. We all have suffered hurts. We live on an earth with a curse and people often hurt people, whether intentionally or unintentionally. Situations and circumstances can wound and pierce our heart. What both books emphasize in different ways is that forgiveness leads to freedom and freedom leads to loving others and ourselves with empathy.

Everyone I know wants peace, freedom and love in their lives, but most dont have the understanding that so often it starts with forgiveness. Unforgiveness can affect us in so many negative ways. In Karens book I Forgive You, But, she uses the example that unforgiveness is like drinking poison and praying for the other person to die. What actually happens is just the opposite. A slow death happens in us. Unforgiveness perpetuates pain, and only hurts us and those around us. Bitter people dont draw people to them, they push them away. I Peter 5:9 reminds us that we do not suffer alone; suffering goes on all around the world. (Dorettes paraphrase) We are not one isolated hurting heart, people have experienced hurts everywhere. We have to make a choice in our hurt, to forgive.

In Finding the Lost Art of Empathy, Tracy talks about the power of forgiveness when she was recovering from a tragedy in her own life. Her world was upside down and her physical body was suffering as well as her heart. Through the kind-hearted empathy of her trusted doctor, he suggested that her physical ailments were connected to her brokenness, and asked her if she had forgiven the other person involved. Her honest answer was that she didnt know. He then asked if she would repeat a phrase after him. She repeatedly said this, I forgive myself and others for all the wrong that has been done to me. Her doctors wisdom to walk Tracy toward forgiveness, not only healed her heart, but healed her body.

So my question to you is this, are you suffering in your heart or your body? Maybe freedom for you can start with forgiveness. This might be a great weekend to get free, and find true freedom!

The Rev. Dorette Schaal, of Amazing Grace Fellowship in Twin Falls, may be reached at 208-736-0727, 208-736-0727, on Twitter @doretteschaal and at Facebook.com/Encouraging Word.

Originally posted here:

Pastor's Corner: Freedom in forgiveness - Twin Falls Times-News

HONG KONG Tens of thousands of Hong Kong residents marched through the streets in defense of their cherished freedoms Saturday, in the face of what many see as a growing threat from mainland China, exactly two decades after the handover from British rule.

Earlier in the day, Chinas president, Xi Jinping, marked the 20th anniversary of the handover with his sternest warning yet to the territorys people: You can have autonomy, but dont do anything that challenges the authority of the central government or undermines national sovereignty.

Under the terms of the 1997 handover, China promised to grant Hong Kong a high degree of autonomy for at least 50 years, but Xi said it was important to have a correct understanding of the relationship between one country and two systems.

One country is like the roots of a tree, he told Hong Kongs elite after swearing in a new chief executive to govern the territory, Carrie Lam. For a tree to grow and flourish, its roots must run deep and strong. The concept of one country, two systems was advanced first and foremost to realize and uphold national sovereignty.

Many people in Hong Kong accused China of violating the territorys autonomy in 2015 by seizing five publishers who were putting out gossipy books about the Chinese leadership and allegedly distributing them on the mainland.

Some are also angry that Beijing intervened to disqualify newly elected pro-independence lawmakers who failed to correctly administer the oath of office last year. Many people are worried about a steady erosion of press freedom, and that in a range of areas China is increasingly determined to call the shots.

But Xi made it clear that challenges to Beijings authority would not be allowed.

Any attempt to endanger Chinas sovereignty and security, challenge the power of the central government and the authority of the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, or use Hong Kong for infiltration or sabotage activities against the mainland, is an act that crosses the red line and is absolutely impermissible, he said.

But that message didnt appear to go down well on the streets of Hong Kong. Organizers said more than 60,000 people joined Saturdays annual march, which they said was meant to deliver a message to the Chinese president.

Hes threatening Hong Kongs people, saying he has the power to make us do what he wants, said Anson Woo, a 19-year-old student.But I still have hope. Seeing all the people around me today, the people of Hong Kong are still fighting for what we value.

A poll by the Chinese University of Hong Kong showed people here attach even greater importance to judicial independence and freedom of the press than to economic development. Any notion that Hong Kong as a city is only about making money is clearly not accurate.

We have to take the chance to express our views while we still can, said Chan Sui Yan, a 15-year-old schoolgirl.They say it is one country, two systems, but right now we are losing a lot of the rights we value.

Some chanted slogans demanding democracy, criticizing the territorys ruling elite or the Communist Party. many called for the release of Nobel laureate and democracy icon Liu Xiabo, imprisoned in China since 2008 and this week taken to a hospital under close guard for treatment for advanced liver cancer.

We want to show the mainland there are other voices, outside the official voice, said teacher Tong Siu, 53.We want to safeguard the core values of Hong Kong.

In his speech, Chinas leader said that the concept of one country, two systems was a great success, and should be implemented unswervingly and not be bent or distorted.

While his words made it clear that sovereignty took precedence over autonomy, he said neither aspect should be neglected. Only in this way will the ship of one country, two systems break the waves, sail steadily and last the distance, he said.

Yet many people here say Hong Kongs autonomy was again badly distorted in March, with Lams election as chief executive. Although the former bureaucrat trailed well behind rival candidate John Tsang in opinion polls, she was chosen by a panel of 1,200 members of the territorys elite that was packed with pro-Beijing loyalists.

Although Tsang was also an establishment figure, political experts say Beijing seemed to want someonein the chief executives chairwho would not challenge its authority.

Xi did not shy away from raising two controversial demands that have previously brought Hong Kong residents out on the streets inthe hundreds of thousands.

Chinas leader said the territory needed to improve its systems to defend national security, sovereignty and development interests, as well as enhance education and raise public awareness of the history and culture of the Chinese nation.

Chinas demand that the territory pass a national security law caused massive street protests14 years ago, while plans to implement a program of patriotic education brought more people onto the streets in 2012 and helped politicize the territorys youths.

Both plans were subsequently shelved, but Lam hasindicated she aims to put themback on the table. But she also argues the time isnt right to satisfy a popular demand for greater democracy by allowing a future chief executive to be chosen by universal suffrage.

Marchers said moves to interfere with the education system smacked of brainwashing.

Martin Lee, Hong Kongs veteran pro-democracy political leader, said China was deliberately confusing patriotism with obedience.

When they say you must love the country, what they mean is you must obey the Communist Party, he said. We have no problem with the Communist Party as long as it adheres to the promises made to us.

But Lee said China had not fulfilled its promise to grant Hong Kong greater democracy.

They kept on postponing democracy, he said. Thats why young people are losing their patience.

On Saturday morning, a small group of pro-democracy protesters said they were attacked by hired thugs when they tried to stage a demonstration, and subsequently were briefly detained and beaten by police.

Joshua Wong, who led protests against patriotic education in 2012 and in favor ofdemocracy in 2014, was among the group andcalled the incidentanother violation of the promise to maintain Hong Kongs values, including the right to free speech. One country, two systems has given way to one country, one-and-a-half systems, he told The Washington Post.

Why would Hong Kong people want to accept patriotic education from a country that isruled by a single party dictatorship? he said. This is the core question. If the government is not elected by the people, how can we have a sense of belonging?

Luna Lin contributed to this report.

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Hong Kong residents march to defend freedom as China's president draws a 'red line' - Washington Post