Daily Archives: September 13, 2013

Idris Elba hits the carpet for TIFF Premier of Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom | BlackTree TV
Jasmin Simpkins catches up with Idris Elba on the World Premier of Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom at the Toronto International Film Festival. Mandela: Long Wa...

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Idris Elba hits the carpet for TIFF Premier of Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom | BlackTree TV - Video

AFL-CIO 2013 Convention: The Dreams of Jobs and Freedom Scholarship
To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech, the AFL-CIO and Unio...

By: AFLCIONow

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AFL-CIO 2013 Convention: The Dreams of Jobs and Freedom Scholarship - Video

Freedom Tower Stop Motion
There are probably better stop-motion photos of the Freedom Tower being built, but not to a classic hip-hop track. This took 2.5 years and over 400+ pics to ...

By: cpeek002

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Freedom Tower Stop Motion - Video

I READ with considerable interest Christine Flowers' article "The cross is in the crosshairs." I was particularly intrigued by the words "the current administration is not particularly sympathetic to claims of religious freedom." I have long been conscious that it is difficult, perhaps impossible, for intelligent people to agree on questions of policy when each takes as axiomatic fundamental criteria that are incompatible with those taken by the other. However, this was the first time that I became aware that two people might be unable to agree even if they both express their fundamental criteria in identical words.

I am not certain what you mean by "freedom of religion." My concept of the words is that no government should pass civil laws that either require or prohibit actions or conditions whose values cannot be judged without recourse to religious considerations.

I believe that a civil law against murder is not a violation of religious freedom because such a law can be passed in response to the desire of a majority of the citizens, regardless of their religious beliefs, to not be murdered. I believe that a civil law requiring a person to marry another person of the same sex would be a violation of freedom of religion because it requires some of the citizens to do something antithetical to the religious beliefs held by at least some of them. I believe that a civil law prohibiting the marriage of two people of the same sex would also be a violation of religious freedom because, aside from religious beliefs, there is no reason to object to such a marriage. Marriage performed by the state, rather than by a church, is simply the codifying of a contract between two people being married. I believe that such a law would be a violation of someone's religious freedom because it imposes the constraints of some religious beliefs on those who do not subscribe to one of the religions that does impose such a constraint.

In general, I believe that refusing to pass a law that imposes one's religious beliefs on everyone infringes on nobody's religious beliefs. Perhaps it is not generalizing too broadly to suggest that freedom of religion inherently requires freedom from other people's religion.

Horseheads, N.Y.

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Religious freedom & same-sex marriage

Freedom Flotilla completes sacred mission

September 13th

Evading the Indonesian navy, two tiny boats met near the Australia-Indonesia border to ceremonially reconnect the indigenous peoples of Australia and West Papua. The ceremony was the pinnacle of a 5000km journey beginning in Lake Eyre, in which sacred water and ashes were carried and presented to West Papuan leaders.

While the Freedom Flotillas flagship thePogsailed towards West Papua, the world watched its progress via a live satellite tracker onboard the vessel, providing a much needed distraction for the clandestine ceremony to take place in an undisclosed location off the south coast of Papua.

The cultural exchange of Indigenous elders was held in secret, due to threats made by Indonesian government ministers and military officials who had stated that the navy and air-force would take measures against the peaceful protest, and had not ruled out the use of lethal force. Soon to be Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop had also stated that Indonesia may do whatever it wishes to stop the peaceful protest.

During the momentous ceremony Arabunna Elder Uncle Kevin Buzzacott presented the sacred water from the mound springs of Lake Eyre, along with ashes from the Aboriginal Tent Embassies around the country, to senior West Papuan leaders. The exchange was intended to reunite the cultures of the two indigenous peoples, whose lands where once joined before being separated at the end of the last ice age, and as a symbol of support for the West Papuans 50 year long struggle for freedom and justice under Indonesian military occupation.

Earlier this year, Uncle Kevin Buzzacott called out to all people to join him on this journey to West Papua.We have a responsibility to care for our brothers and sisters from across the water. We must bring the water and the fire, the love and the music to heal the country and move in solidarity.

Returning from the historic event Uncle Kevin Buzzacott said we came in peace, not like those other politicians who are coming selling arms to the Indonesian military, like the Americans who just last month sold them Apache attack choppers, those are to be used against West Papuans, and they know it.

We made that dream that weve been building with Jacob Rumbiak since 2000, we made it happen, he added.

Jacob Rumbiak said, the spirit of the movement is still alive. Our people face many challenges for their freedom but they still show us today the determination and imagination to continue the struggle.

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Freedom Flotilla completes sacred mission

Over the past year, the United States has experienced a decline in the levels of monetary, business, labor and fiscal freedom.

Higher government spending, poor policy choices and a trend towards cronyism have eroded the economic freedoms and discouraged entrepreneurial growth, said the report.

Hong Kong is the region that allows its citizens the greatest economic freedoms, according to the report. Hong Kong had the highest score on the Economic Freedom Index -- 89.3, 0.6 points lower than in 2012.

Hong Kongs very efficient regulatory system, transparent legal framework and low levels of corruption have made for a sophisticated and resilient economy.

Singapore, Australia, New Zealand and Switzerland were all among the top 5 countries in this list.

The countries that afforded the least economic freedoms to their people were North Korea, Cuba, Zimbabwe, Venezuela and Eritrea.

The world average was a score of 58.2.

Heres an interactive map of all 185 countries featured on the Economic Freedom Index, color-coded by their scores. Click on any country to see how it scored overall on the Economic Freedom Index, and how it scored on specific categories like "fiscal freedom," "business freedom," "property rights," and so on:

Data parsed by FindTheBest.

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US Economic Freedom Is At Lowest Point Since 2000 [MAP]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Freedom High School football team's defense off to strong start