Monthly Archives: June 2017

President Trump is expected this Friday to reverse the Obama administration's policy of opening up political and economic relations with Cuba. Thanks in part to the advocacy of Florida's Senator Marco Rubio and Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart, America will likely return to a policy that allows us to exert our political, moral, and economic strength to push for freedom and human rights in an authoritarian regime just a hundred miles from America's shores.

It has already been over half a year since Fidel Castro passed away at age 90 as a seemingly out-of-place historical icon, with a peace that few of his victims knew. Just like when Venezuela's Hugo Chavez passed away in 2013 or North Korea's Kim Jong-Il in 2011, there was briefly a flash of hope that this would be an opportunity for the repressive police state and command economy to finally unravel itself.

Yet Cuba continues to remain an authoritarian regime that has little room for freedom of any kind, whether political, economic, religious, or otherwise. For America to reward a regime that has steadfastly refused to move in the direction of freedom with sudden political and economic legitimacy would be a surrender of the moral struggle we've waged with Cuba for the past half-century.

Proponents of President Obama's Cuba-opening policy cite precedent in how America has regularly established relations with authoritarian regimes, including Communist ones such as China and Vietnam and otherwise. Proponents further cite the theory that increased interrelation pushes authoritarian nations to slowly edge towards human rights and international cooperation.

Yet it would be difficult to back up such claims with historical examples. Nations such as Vietnam and China are deeply immersed in the world economic system, yet their human rights abuses continue just as frequently as before. In fact, often our ability to condemn such abuses becomes limited because of how deep our economic interrelation now is with them.

With no change in human rights in Cuba, American dollars will be spent funding authoritarian repression and a regime that has historically supported insurrectionism across Latin America and the world against America's interests. That tarnishes America's moral authority in exchange for a small economic gain.

We see in a nation like Venezuela how the socialist regime has been able to survive in large part because of foreign financing and aid. While Cuba continues to slog on economically, nonetheless by establishing economic relations with the regime it is almost certain it will never collapse economically of its own accord. In a terrible irony, America would be indirectly subsidizing socialist repression.

Lastly, while America has in the past opened up to nations such as China and Yugoslavia, those decisions were based significantly due to incredible geopolitical concerns at the time due to the Cold War and the Soviet Union's threat. There is no current excruciating geopolitical situation that demands that we must make the difficult decision of compromising our commitment to freedom and opening up to Cuba.

Furthermore, the same argument for establishing relations with Cuba could very well be applied to a nation like North Korea. North Korea differs from Cuba by degree, not by type. North Korea's repression reaches a level beyond even the tastes of the Cuban regime, but nonetheless once a rationale is embraced that so easily puts aside our commitment to human dignity, that is the natural end.

America has stood firmly on the side of freedom for the Cuban people for over half a century. Our strong stand against Cuba's regime has been undoubtedly a bulwark in preventing socialist repression from spreading across South America, as was a real concern during the Cold War.

President Trump and Senator Rubio are wise and right in continuing to push the cause of liberty in Cuba. While it may be a long time before the Cuban people see freedom, we cannot abandon their cause so easily.

Erich Reimer is a Republican activist and freelance writer.

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Trump's expected reversal on Cuba is a victory for freedom - Washington Examiner

The new One World Trade Centerwas designed by an architecture student who was never credited because one of his advisors stole the idea and submitted it as his own ... according to a new lawsuit.

In the docs, Jeehoon Parksays he whipped up a 3D model for a 122-story building for his grad school thesis at the College of Architecture at the Illinois Institute of Technology. His design, completed in 1999, was intended for Chicago's Cityfront Center.

But Park says one of his advisors was an Associate Partner at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) ... and he believes that firm had access to his design, and used it to build the Freedom Tower.

Park says side-by-side photos of his Cityfront model and Freedom Tower show a "striking similarity." He also points out a 2010 book discusses how SOM's design is closely related to Park's thesis.

Park, now an architect in Georgia, wants a fat paycheck from SOM for using his design ... and wants SOM to give him the credit he deserves.

We reached out to the firm ... no word back so far.

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I Designed It Way Back in '99 ... - TMZ.com

Washington

Two court cases seeking to shape the place of religion in U.S. society are under review by the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals based in Cincinnati, one with the possibility of reaching the Supreme Court of the United States.

Anti-religion activists are fighting the practice of county commissioners in Jackson, Michigan, to open their public meetings with prayer. The circuit court heard oral arguments in Bormuth v. Jackson County June 14. A similar case dealing with prayer in public meetings, Lund v. Rowan County, was heard in March by the 4th Circuit, based in Richmond, Virginia.

Once those courts issue their rulings, if they conflict with one another, the Supreme Court may hear the cases to resolve the issue of prayer in the public square.

Oral arguments in New Doe Child #1 v. The Congress of the United States are set to be heard by the 6th Circuit June 16. In the case, atheist Dr. Michael Newdow argues that the national motto, "In God We Trust," inscribed on American currency, violates his freedom to practice atheism under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

Back in 2014, the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty urged the Supreme Court to allow for prayer in public meetings in the Town of Greece v. Galloway case. The law firm based its argument on the Founders' understanding of establishing religion as well as the historical tradition of prayer in public meetings. In that case, the high court ruled the town should be permitted to open municipal meetings with a prayer.

Sunday marks the two-year anniversary of the publication of Laudato Si'. Explore Pope Francis' environmental encyclical with our complimentary readers' guide.

Attorney Daniel Blomberg, counsel for the Becket Fund, said in a phone interview with Catholic News Service June 13, it is not so much the issue of whether legislators can open their sessions with legislative prayer. "What is compelling these issues is why it would be an Establishment Clause violation," Blomberg said.

The Establishment Clause of the First Amendment states that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof."

Blomberg said anti-religion activists have tried to use the Lemon test in efforts to fight any acknowledgement of religion in the public square. It is a three-part test for interpreting the Establishment Clause before determining a law or practice is constitutional or unconstitutional. The Lemon test looks at the purpose of a governmental practice; whether it has the potential to advance or promote religion; and if it encourages state entanglement with religion.

But, the Supreme Court hasn't used the Lemon test in over a decade, including in Establishment Clause cases in the past five years. According to Blomberg, the justices have used the historical understanding of the Establishment Clause instead.

"The Sixth Circuit seems to be leaning toward following what the Supreme Court did in the Town of Greece case," Blomberg said. "This would say that we're not going to do the Lemon test, we're not going to even pay attention to it. We are going to ignore it and we're going to focus on how we do constitutional interpretation in every other Bill of Rights case. All those cases start with understanding what the Constitution meant in the context in which it was passed."

This is not the first time courts have considered similar cases seeking to remove the word "God" from various forms of government materials, including coins, or to take "God" out of the Pledge of Allegiance.

"They need to do what the Supreme Court said to do in the Town of Greece case and that isstart with history and do what the Supreme Court said to do: Ignore Lemon," Blomberg said. "These cases are all going to go away if the court stops giving litigants the opportunity to raise them. This is another reason why the Supreme Court may feel the need to get involved on this issue."

The protection of religious liberty remains an important battle for securing of natural rights, according to Blomberg.

"Religious liberty is a fundamental right and if we don't fight for religious liberty for our friends in Jackson County, people we don't know and we will never meet, if we don't fight and protect their religious liberty then what we're really doing is eroding our own religious liberty," he said. "Because if one set of people doesn't have religious liberty, no one has religious liberty."

Without the freedom of religious liberty, all freedoms are at stake, Blomberg said.

"If we have a society that doesn't respect people's individual and community relationships with their God," he told CNS, "then we're not going to have a society that is going to respect their free speech rights, or their freedom of assembly rights, or the rights to equal protection."

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Federal appeals court hears arguments in two religious freedom cases - National Catholic Reporter

For every baseball fan who has ever wanted to seeJose Bautista in a "Joey Bats" jersey, Major League Baseball's"Players Weekend" might be your chance.

Baseball will be a little bit more funduringthe weekend of Aug. 25-27. Players will be able to mixpersonality and style with nicknames on the backs of their jerseys, brightly colored cleats and personalized patches paying tribute to people who have played instrumental roles in their development.

MORE: MLB tried to auction Strickland jersey from brawl with Harper

If a "Joey Bats" jersey isn't at the top of your list, don't worry. There aresure tobe plenty of other entertaining uniforms in a sport full of athletes with unique characterand personality.

The weekend won't bea free-for-all, though.Inappropriate or offensive nicknames will still be banned. Players are also restricted from using white gloves, wristbands and sleeves or anything that could potentially interfere with the game or an umpire's ability to make a call.

Easing up on the rules for a weekend gives players a chance to get creative, and it gives MLB something else to sell. It will sell all the specialized jerseys worn during the weekend, with the proceeds going to the Youth Development Foundation, which MLB and the players association jointly support.

Having fun with uniforms also teststraditional baseball boundaries, which is something the Cubs are known for doing. The world champs, who are known to wear lighthearted, themed attire on road trips,made good use of their nicknames withpersonalized track suitsfor a trip last June.Let the name game begin.

It is unclear if every player onevery team will participate. The Yankees don't wear names on their jerseys of course so the "Players Weekend" will be an unfamiliarconcept to them.

MORE: Aaron Judge's hot start leads to spike in jersey sales

The NBA tested a similar ideaduring the 2013-14 season. It briefly allowed players to have nicknames on the backs of their jerseys; LeBron James was "King James" on the court.

Whether or not we'll see Madison Bumgarner as "Mad Bum," NoahSyndergaard in a "Thor" jersey or Kyle Hendricks sporting"The Professor," things are sure to get interesting on the diamond in late August.

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MLB will give players freedom of expression during 'Players Weekend' - Sporting News

With summer break in full swing, recruiting students to return to school for a project seems almost impossible.

But through team work, communication and a passion for the project at hand, Highland Park High School art teacher Amy Cline has recruited a handful of students to assist in the next stage of a semester-long art project.

In preparation for the Freedom Festival on Saturday, July 1, the Topeka Rotary partnered with Highland Park to discuss what freedom means to its students. Cline worked with high-schoolers and the schools English department during the spring to gather students poems and turn their words into chalk-paint murals decorating the windows of the former Ray Beers clothing store at 8th and S. Kansas Avenue.

With a healthy sheen of sweat covering their faces in the mid-day heat, Highland Park students Kathy, 16, and Quaysha, 15, worked diligently to perfect the G in their mural. Their piece, one of five, uses the Webster definition of freedom for their first installation. Poems describing the students definitions of freedom will appear beneath it.

The one-day, pop-up art experience invites people of all ages to explore what freedom and democracy mean on a personal level.

I put the topic out there with some general questions like what is freedom? And then we went on to the next step of the kids talking about what freedom looks like to them, Cline said. So we tried to peel away the layers and get them into some of these deeper topics.

Cline said discussions surrounded race, gender, age and where the kids live. Highland Park has a reputation for being perceived as dangerous, Cline said. She said her students have a different perspective on freedom than other students, with differences also appearing between freshmens and seniors views.

They suffer from a low self-perception also, and the rest of the city sees them that way as well, so how do you start correcting that? Carol Bradbury, CEO of Bloomerang Studios LLC and an organizer of the Freedom Festival mural project, said of the students. Value the experience of what theyre bringing to the table thats one way.

The students work impressed Cline.

We had some kids that were just really kind of blowing me away with some of the insightful thoughts that they were willing to share with their peers, she said.

Quaysha, a sophomore, was straightforward in her poetry, drawing parallels between the freedoms of a person in prison and one who is free.

Bradbury said she often works with the community for input on various art installations, and interacting with students tends to be a hopeful experience. Through this project, she hopes they will generate excitement and interest in a growing downtown through public engagement, increase community pride and a sense of ownership in Topeka, promote democratic values of diversity and freedom, and provide a creative, intergenerational experience.

Its kind of like a tapestry with all these different pieces that the kids have contributed that are going to show up, Cline said. What looks like a handful of kids and myself and FHLBank members applying paint to the windows, but really theres so much thats led up to this point, and thats really the coolest part.

Members of the community are invited to help paint the windows July 1 while enjoying the art and entertainment in downtown Topeka.

For more information, visit the Rotary Freedom Festival Facebook event page.

Contact reporter Savanna Maue at (785) 295-5621 or @SavannaMaue on Twitter.

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Topeka Rotary, Highland Park High School partner for Freedom Festival mural project - Topeka Capital Journal