Daily Archives: July 9, 2012

Cuddling the Opposition: A Campaign for Free Speech in Belarus Relies on Teddy Bears and Parachutes

Posted: July 9, 2012 at 10:16 pm

The small former-Soviet republic Belarus is considered to be Europe's last surviving dictatorship. Protestors and the political opposition are jailed. Journalists are harassed. But that doesn't mean stories from that small, landlocked nationor the dissidents trying to bring democracy and free speech thereget much airtime in the West. Last week the Swedish advertising agency Studio Total attempted to do something about the relative silence surrounding Belarus by staging a high profile, and highly dangerous stunt designed to draw attention to the issue from the outside.

The group flew a plane into Belarusian airpsace and unloaded more than a thousand parachute-strapped teddy bears over the village of Ivyanets and Minsk, the capitol. The toys glided to the ground with signs that read "We support the Belarusian struggle for free speech." Afterward, the plane crossed the border for safety in Lithuania.

While the Belarusian government writes off the stunt a hoaxas dictatorships are want to doaccomplished with video editing and Photoshop, eyewitnesses on the ground vouch for the authenticity of the event, and the Lithuanian government confirms the presence of an unidentified aircraft in its neighbors airspace.

According to Studio Total's website, the idea came about over drinks, when happy hour chatter turned to the lack of discussion about or public support for Belarus's opposition. The creatives at Studio Total felt compelled to make a statement. As they wrote on their website: "We prosper in [...] a world that, last month only, wrote 109,000 articles about Kim Kardashian and 79 on the [B]elarusian opposition."

Studio Total paid for the project entirely, and claims to have taken on the legal and physical risks of piloting the plane themselves. The work was "pro bono" on behalf of charter 97, a media site for the opposition.

"A dictator can be hated, despised, or feared," Studio Total writes on its website. "The only thing he cannot survive is being laughed at." Check out the video of the airdrop below to laugh along with them.

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Cuddling the Opposition: A Campaign for Free Speech in Belarus Relies on Teddy Bears and Parachutes

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Citizens' Council for Health Freedom Continues Push to Have States Forego Health Exchange Implementation

Posted: at 12:11 pm

ST. PAUL, MN--(Marketwire -07/09/12)-

Key Facts:

Now that the Supreme Court of the United States has ruled the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) mainly constitutional, implementation of state health exchanges is occurring. But implementation creates new and lasting challenges, adding $340 billion to the nation's deficit and creating $17 trillion in long-term, unfunded liabilities that will burden the already floundering economy and intrudes on patient privacy.

"Many Americans do not recognize the governmental overreach of power that implementation of the state and national healthcare exchanges creates," said Twila Brase, President of the Citizens' Council for Health Freedom (CCFH). "But once these portals are implemented, they will be very hard to dismantle, and the access they allow to individual data is disturbing. These portals provide five major government agencies access to personal information. They are not the one-stop-shopping 'marketplaces' that they have been described to be."

Many Americans don't understand the flow of information allowed through the state healthcare exchanges. According to the CCHF, the exchange is a web portal that enables data transfers, financial transactions, and bureaucratic functions for the purpose of implementing the federal controls of the PPACA.

Brase continues to urge state legislators to refuse to implement these exchanges in their states and prevent the exchange system from moving forward.

"I've spoken to a number of legislators in the months leading up to the Supreme Court decision," Brase concluded. "Many agree that the states are the only barrier to implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. They must refuse to implement state exchanges to protect their fiscal health and the privacy and choices of all citizens."

Twila Brase is president and co-founder of the Citizens' Council for Health Freedom. She has been called one of the "100 Most Powerful People in Health Care" and one of "Minnesota's 100 Most Influential Health Care Leaders." The CCHF's efforts have stopped government-issued treatment directives, added informed consent requirements for access to patient data and defeated a proposed Health Insurance Exchange.

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Citizens' Council for Health Freedom Continues Push to Have States Forego Health Exchange Implementation

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Liberty Shareholders Approve Debt Restructuring

Posted: at 12:11 pm

TSX: LBE

TORONTO , July 9, 2012 /CNW/ - Liberty Mines Inc. today announced that it received approval at its annual meeting of shareholders to consolidate its credit facilities with Jien International Investment Limited (JIIL), and extend the terms to a new maturity date of June 30, 2017 .

Following shareholder approval and subject to the execution of a new loan agreement with JIIL in due course, the consolidated credit facility will have an outstanding principal amount of: (i) $48,914,849 and (ii) US$19,348,828 plus accrued interest to date. The credit facility bears interest at 10% per annum, which is secured against the assets of the Company, and no interest will be payable until June 30 , 2014. Related to the new maturity date and consolidated terms, JIIL has also agreed to expand the available credit facility by an additional $10,000,000 as well as continues to provide an available facility to address the preferred shares if redeemed prior to June 30, 2013 .

"Consolidating the credit facilities and extending the terms out five years was based on Liberty's five year business plan," said Chris Stewart , President & CEO of Liberty Mines. "This change allows us the opportunity to ramp up our production in Timmins so that we can generate some solid financial results to start repaying our debt. With the continued support of our major shareholder Jilin Jien, we have been able to execute our turnaround strategy for Liberty Mines and we are now focused on moving ahead with our plans for the Timmins operations."

At the annual meeting, Liberty shareholders also approved the election of Mr. Shu Wu , Mr. John Pinsent , Dr. Tao Li , Dr. Shu Zhang , Mr. Kim Oishi , Mr. Chris Stewart and Mr. James Xiang as directors of the Company. The directors bring a combination of mining, capital markets and public company experience.

Liberty shareholders also approved the nomination of BDO Dunwoody as the auditors for the Company.

Liberty has filed the full voting results of its annual meeting on SEDAR.

About Liberty Mines Inc. Liberty Mines Inc. is a mid-tier producer of nickel and is focused on the exploration, development and production of nickel, copper, cobalt and platinum group metals from its properties in Ontario, Canada . It owns and operates the only nickel concentrator in the Shaw Dome, a prospective nickel belt region near Timmins, Ontario. With a new management team in place, Liberty is focused on growth initiatives not only through a more aggressive exploration program on its current properties but also through potential acquisition or partnership opportunities beyond its core Timmins area projects.

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Liberty Shareholders Approve Debt Restructuring

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