Daily Archives: August 8, 2017

Cities mark Hiroshima Day with urgent calls to abolish nuclear weapons – People’s World

Posted: August 8, 2017 at 4:04 am

August 6, 2017 Hiroshima Day remembrance on New Haven Green. Photo by Art Perlo.

Cities across the country and the world are stepping up their calls for abolition of nuclear weapons in commemoration of the 72nd anniversary of the horrific bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan. The bombings, which obliterated both cities and have had tragic and lasting effects, took place on August 6 and 9, 1945.

In New Haven, a silent vigil was held on the New Haven Green where a proclamation by Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui was read. Matsui warned against the inhumanity of nuclear weapons, saying that the hell wrought by the bomb could happen again unless nuclear weapons are abolished (full text below).

On July 7, the United Nations adopted a global Treaty to Ban Nuclear Weapons. Over 122 countries took part in negotiations and voted for this legally binding instrument to prohibit nuclear weapons. The U.S., the only country that has dropped an atomic bomb on a populace, opposes the treaty and boycotted the negotiations along with other nuclear weapons countries.

Mayor Matsui, also president of Cities for Peace, which includes 7,124 municipalities in 162 countries, greeted the U.N. decision, saying that Reliance on nuclear weapons is not only useless for solving current challenges of international security, but will also endanger the survival of the entire human species. The entire world community, therefore, needs to cooperate and work together to ensure that the new treaty will become a fully effective legal instrument to achieve nuclear abolition.

One week earlier, the U.S. Conference of Mayors had unanimously adopted a resolution welcoming the U.N. negotiations and calling on our government to engage in intense diplomatic efforts with Russia, China, North Korea and other nuclear-armed states and their allies, and to work with Russia to dramatically reduce U.S. and Russian nuclear stockpiles. (www.usmayors.org)

In addition, the resolution welcomed declarations adopted by five municipalities, including New Haven, urging Congress to cut military spending and redirect funding to meet human and environmental needs.

The final resolve by the U.S. Conference of Mayors was to call on the president and Congress to reverse federal spending priorities and to redirect funds currently allocated to nuclear weapons and unwarranted military spending to restore full funding for Community Block Development Grants and the Environmental Protection Agency, to create jobs by rebuilding our nations crumbling infrastructure, and to ensure basic human services for all, including education, environmental protection, food assistance, housing and health care.

Participants at the vigil in New Haven, initiated by the City of New Haven Peace Commission and the Greater New Haven Peace Council, signed letters to U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy, calling on them to support a shift in funding from military to human needs in the current budget fight.

The full text of Mayor Matsuis Hiroshima Day Declaration follows:

Friends, 72 years ago today, on August 6, at 8:15 a.m., absolute evil was unleashed in the sky over Hiroshima. Lets imagine for a moment what happened under that roiling mushroom cloud. Pikathe penetrating flash, extreme radiation and heat. Donthe earth-shattering roar and blast. As the blackness lifts, the scenes emerging into view reveal countless scattered corpses charred beyond recognition even as man or woman. Stepping between the corpses, badly burned, nearly naked figures with blackened faces, singed hair, and tattered, dangling skin wander through spreading flames, looking for water. The rivers in front of you are filled with bodies; the riverbanks so crowded with burnt, half-naked victims you have no place to step. This is truly hell. Under that mushroom cloud, the absolutely evil atomic bomb brought gruesome death to vast numbers of innocent civilians and left those it didnt kill with deep physical and emotional scars, including the aftereffects of radiation and endless health fears. Giving rise to social discrimination and prejudice, it devastated even the lives of those who managed to survive.

This hell is not a thing of the past. As long as nuclear weapons exist and policymakers threaten their use, their horror could leap into our present at any moment. You could find yourself suffering their cruelty.

This is why I ask everyone to listen to the voices of the hibakusha. A man who was 15 at the time says, When I recall the friends and acquaintances I saw dying in those scenes of hell, I can barely endure the pain. Then, appealing to us all, he asks, To know the blessing of being alive, to treat everyone with compassion, love and respectare these not steps to world peace?

Another hibakusha who was 17 says, I ask the leaders of the nuclear-armed states to prevent the destruction of this planet by abandoning nuclear deterrence and abolishing immediately all atomic and hydrogen bombs. Then they must work wholeheartedly to preserve our irreplaceable Earth for future generations.

Friends, this appeal to conscience and this demand that policymakers respond conscientiously are deeply rooted in the hibakusha experience. Lets all make their appeal and demand our own, spread them throughout the world, and pass them on to the next generation.

Policymakers, I ask you especially to respect your differences and make good-faith efforts to overcome them. To this end, it is vital that you deepen your awareness of the inhumanity of nuclear weapons, consider the perspectives of other countries, and recognize your duty to build a world where we all thrive together.

Civil society fully understands that nuclear weapons are useless for national security. The dangers involved in controlling nuclear materials are widely understood. Today, a single bomb can wield thousands of times the destructive power of the bombs dropped 72 years ago. Any use of such weapons would plunge the entire world into hell, the user as well as the enemy. Humankind must never commit such an act. Thus, we can accurately say that possessing nuclear weapons means nothing more than spending enormous sums of money to endanger all humanity.

Peace Memorial Park is now drawing over 1.7 million visitors a year from around the world, but I want even more visitors to see the realities of the bombing and listen to survivor testimony. I want them to understand what happened under the mushroom cloud, take to heart the survivors desire to eliminate nuclear weapons and broaden the circle of empathy to the entire world. In particular, I want more youthful visitors expanding the circle of friendship as ambassadors for nuclear abolition. I assure you that Hiroshima will continue to bring people together for these purposes and inspire them to take action.

Mayors for Peace, led by Hiroshima, now comprises over 7,400 city members around the world. We work within civil society to create an environment that helps policymakers move beyond national borders to act in good faith and conscience for the abolition of nuclear weapons.

In July, when 122 United Nations members, not including the nuclear-weapon and nuclear-umbrella states, adopted the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, they demonstrated their unequivocal determination to achieve abolition. Given this development, the governments of all countries must now strive to advance further toward a nuclear-weapon-free world.

The Japanese Constitution states, We, the Japanese people, pledge our national honor to accomplish these high ideals and purposes with all our resources. Therefore, I call especially on the Japanese government to manifest the pacifism in our constitution by doing everything in its power to bridge the gap between the nuclear-weapon and non-nuclear-weapon states, thereby facilitating the ratification of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. I further demand more compassionate government assistance to the hibakusha, whose average age is now over 81, and to the many others also suffering mentally and physically from the effects of radiation, along with expansion of the black rain areas.

We offer heartfelt prayers for the repose of the atomic bomb victims and pledge to work with the people of the world to do all in our power to bring lasting peace and free ourselves from the absolute evil that is nuclear weapons.

Go here to read the rest:

Cities mark Hiroshima Day with urgent calls to abolish nuclear weapons - People's World

Posted in Abolition Of Work | Comments Off on Cities mark Hiroshima Day with urgent calls to abolish nuclear weapons – People’s World

Time for Trudeau to get back to work – TheRecord.com

Posted: at 4:04 am


TheRecord.com
Time for Trudeau to get back to work
TheRecord.com
... introduction of medicare, Canada Assistance Plan and Canada Pension Plan; unification of the armed forces; patriation of the Constitution; adoption of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms; rewriting of the archaic Divorce Act; abolition of capital ...

and more »

Go here to read the rest:

Time for Trudeau to get back to work - TheRecord.com

Posted in Abolition Of Work | Comments Off on Time for Trudeau to get back to work – TheRecord.com

NCAC boss solicits support for African Expo – Vanguard

Posted: at 4:03 am

By Gabriel Olawale

The Director-General of the National Council for Arts and Culture (NCAC), Otunba Segun Runsewe has re-iterated his pledge to unbundle the huge potentials in the culture sector to strategically drive the process of economic diversification in line with the policy thrust of the present administration.

Speaking ahead of the forthcoming African Arts and Craft Expo, AFAC slated for August 27th to September 17th in Abuja, Runsewe said the theme of this years edition of African Arts and Crafts Expo; Our Culture: The Untapped Treasure, was carefully selected.

The theme was carefully selected to draw attention to the vast opportunities in the sector, and mobilize Nigerians to take advantage of the opportunities therein for personal empowerment and the economic development of Nigeria, he said.

While seeking the support of the mass media in a bid to ensure maximum media coverage of the event, Runsewe said; On my assumption of office about three months ago, I made a firm commitment to all Nigerians to reposition the Arts and Culture sector as a key player in the nations economy with the capacity to generate wealth and employment as well as contribute significantly to the nations Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Accordingly, the new vision of the Council under my leadership is encapsulated in the statement culture: the new revenue base for Nigeria.

See the rest here:

NCAC boss solicits support for African Expo - Vanguard

Posted in Personal Empowerment | Comments Off on NCAC boss solicits support for African Expo – Vanguard

Willie Barney, one of Omaha’s ‘most significant leaders,’ is constantly bridging the city’s dividing lines of … – Omaha World-Herald

Posted: at 4:03 am

+6

Willie Barney, right, of the Empowerment Network hugs Carole Woods Harris as they attend Gospel Fest on Aug. 2, 2017 at Salem Baptist Church in Omaha.

Wearing his standard uniform of suit coat and slacks, Willie Barney held open a college lecture hall door, greeting the teenagers streaming out.

Looking good, man. Good morning. Good morning. Looking good, looking good, Willie said to the 14- and 15-year-olds who had, as instructed, come dressed for the occasion: a career fair.

Willie had incorporated this career fair into a summer jobs program he helped launch almost a decade ago. And the days event at the University of Nebraska at Omaha offered an important firsthand look at the possibilities that awaited these youths, mostly low-income African-American teenagers. Plus it was the youths first real test at trying out the firm handshake, the confident Hi-my-name-is introduction and a dressier look.

Ezekiel Griggsby, 15, and other students work on removing the door and panel during a class at the Career Center at TAC in Omaha on June 20, 2017.

Quietly, Willie pointed out the kid with gang ties, who everyone thought would be out by day two but is still coming on day nine. Then that tall kid he hardly recognized after teaching him in a grade-school program hed taught called Boys to Men.

Then a third youth, whod shown up late. Willie told me how he was about to lay into him

about punctuality when the youth explained that hed walked from his home near 42nd Street and Ames Avenue to 67th and Pine Streets. Thats over 5 miles.

It almost dropped me to think he woke up and walked himself here so he wouldnt miss this, Willie said.

Willies community-betterment organization the Empowerment Network, publicly launched in 2007 has been in the trenches tackling poverty, crime, educational gaps and other social ills since the fall of 2006, just before this newspaper reported on dismally high rates of black poverty, black child poverty and the income gap between black and white Omahans. The special report prompted a response from white philanthropists and civic leaders and, largely through the Empowerment Network, the black community.

The most recent figures show that Omahas black poverty rate has inched down. The black-white gap has narrowed slightly. And measures in graduation rates, unemployment and shootings are, respectively, up, down and way down, all hopeful signs that the quality of life for black Omahans is getting better.

Willie Barney of the Empowerment Network attends Gospel Fest on Aug. 2, 2017 at Salem Baptist Church in Omaha.

Many Omahans say Willie and his group should get some credit. Drawing from Tavis Smileys 2006 book, The Covenant With Black America, Willie tried to create solutions from the ground up, with black Omahans leading the way. Hes also brought national networking expert George C. Fraser, author of Success Runs in Our Race, to Omaha multiple times.

He stuck with it despite some pushback within the black community from those who see the network as too friendly with existing power structures and too slow in creating visible, lasting change.

We havent always agreed on everything that was happening within the community, said Jannette Taylor, who previously ran a gang intervention program, Impact One, and worked with Willie. Throughout all of that, I never had to guess what his purpose was, where he saw the community growing or what his vision was for the city. ... He always invited everyone to the table even when some people wanted to flip the table over.

Count Precious McKesson among early skeptics. She had watched programs start and stop in north Omaha. She was especially guarded because she lives in north Omaha and has a family member who was nearly killed in a shooting. She wondered about motives.

Who are these people? shed ask about the network.

But she kept going to network meetings, and now I understand and I see the vision of what theyre trying to do.

The Empowerment Network has grown from an ad hoc volunteer group to a nearly $1.5 million entity with a storefront office, four staff members, and a youth summer jobs program called Step-Up Omaha. Willie, who had done this work for free from 2006 to 2010, now earns about $90,000 a year to head the group.

But Willie stresses hes merely a facilitator. He listed a dozen other people who have worked hard to make the network grow, and singled out his staff and Omaha City Councilman Ben Gray and Michael Maroney, director of the Omaha Economic Development Corp., who were architects and supporters of Step-Up. He says the Empowerment Network is first a network of thousands of people and hundreds of organizations and nothing would be possible without collaboration.

Omaha Police Chief Todd Schmaderer speculated that Willies discomfort with taking credit or talking about himself made him that much more attractive to others.

Maybe thats why everyone follows him, said Schmaderer, who often attends the weekly anti-crime meetings Willie holds.

Sheila Jackson, left, Dr. DJ Moore, second from left, Avalee Edwards and Willie Barney, right, attend Gospel Fest on Aug. 2, 2017 at Salem Baptist Church in Omaha.

Willie is constantly on the move, driving his nearly 20-year-old Honda Civic around Omaha for meetings, classes, prayer walks and more meetings.

His personal network runs from Omaha Mayor Jean Stothert to teenagers trying to exit street life.

Schmaderer credits Barney and the Empowerment Network for improving police-community relations, which the chief says has contributed to reductions in shootings and a boost in the homicide clearance rate.

Volunteers, including Willie Barney, left, in tie, pray before distributing Omaha 360 resource bags in the Miller Park neighborhood on June 27, 2017, in Omaha.

Theres nothing better than addressing the root causes of crime: poverty, educational gaps, the breakdown of the family, Schmaderer said. I do believe other cities can look at the Empowerment Network.

Schmaderer described Willie as a very strong bridge. Willie is constantly bridging Omahas dividing lines of geography, race and social class. He owns a house in west Omaha but works, shops, eats, worships and otherwise lives in north Omaha. That suit hes wearing?

Styles of Evolution, he said, promoting a North 24th Street clothier, which he says represents one of his personal commitments to buy locally.

Douglas County Treasurer John Ewing, who serves on the networks board, sees the group as vital and Barney as the change-maker who made it happen.

Willie is one of the most significant leaders in Omaha, period, Ewing said. He had a vision (for north Omaha) that was different than anything I had seen before.

Omaha Public Schools Superintendent Mark Evans said he talks with Willie at least once a month. Evans attends the monthly Saturday Network meetings at Omaha North High. He seeks Willies input on OPS decisions.

We see Willie as a critical partner in helping us move the needle, said Evans of OPS, where nearly three out of four students come from families with incomes low enough to qualify for free or reduced-price lunches.

Rev. Bruce Williams, left, with the Hope of Glory Church, and Willie Barney, right, talk with north Omahans.

OPS board member Yolanda Williams said Willie works tirelessly to connect the community to organizations and resources.

Willie does have an agenda: one great Omaha, a mantra of the Empowerment Network. This involves a mission of improving life for everyone, though with a specific focus on the north Omaha ZIP codes 68111, 68110 and 68104. Within that mission are numerous specific steps and plans that involve personal responsibility, neighborhood revitalization, job training and jobs, youth development, justice system reform and health and education improvements.

Barney uses words like rise up and rebuild the village.

By that he means that people look out for each other, and he quickly adds: Its not something I read about. Its personal experience. Personal.

Willie is one of the most significant leaders in Omaha, period. Douglas County Treasurer John Ewing.

Willie was born to teen parents in rural Mississippi, and spent his early years in his grandmothers care while his mother went to college in Iowa. After she earned a social work degree, Willies mother brought him to Mount Pleasant, a small town in the southeastern corner of the state.

I went from a 99.9 percent African-American community to a 99 percent-something white community, he said.

That transition was, at times, tough, he said. But coaches and teachers reached out and became my village. He said his mother and stepfather were examples of how to help others. He graduated from St. Ambrose, a Catholic liberal arts university in Davenport, Iowa. An internship at the Davenport-based Lee Enterprises gave him exposure to how business executives work and led to jobs at Lee and later at The World-Herald, where Willie worked from 1999 to 2004 as circulation marketing manager.

Being a transplant shaped Willies view of the city. At first he and his wife, Yolanda Barney, saw Omaha as a gold mine, with low unemployment, strong public schools and a vibrant downtown. But where were all the black people? Not leading corporations. Not very prevalent in civic leadership. Not even present in his neighborhood, near 120th and Cuming Streets.

As he looked more closely at the city, he began to see what had been hidden. Omaha might have a low jobless rate overall, but black unemployment was in the double digits. The public housing projects didnt look as bad as in other cities, but the poverty was deep. Plus the geographic separation was stark and Willie was now a father. (His children are ages 15 and 10.)

Left:Willie Barney of the Empowerment Network attends Gospel Fest on Aug. 2, 2017 at Salem Baptist Church in Omaha. Right:Aung Mya, 14, keeps stirring the Bchamel sauce on the burner, but watches for the rest of the ingredients during a class at the Career Center at TAC in Omaha on June 20, 2017. Credit: Sarah Hoffman and Matt Miller/The World-Herald

Willie wanted to do something about this. He went to work at his church, Salem Baptist at 31st and Lake Streets, then quit that to do consulting work and began meeting with as many African-Americans as he could to discuss what to do.

In 2007 I watched him tell an audience that the Empowerment Networks goal was to transform the city of Omaha.

Not yet, said Willie, who is 49. There is still work to do. Like get the youths from job fairs to jobs to careers. He seems to be getting buy-in from many, including Jasyn Howard, a 14-year-old who took two buses to Step-Up and called it an experience that transported him out of his everyday life. He sees Willie as a caring adult who has done a lot.

At the job fair, as Willie held the classroom door open, he nodded approvingly.

All right, gentlemen, he said. Represent us.

One young man turned around and grinned.

We got you, Mr. Barney.

See the original post:

Willie Barney, one of Omaha's 'most significant leaders,' is constantly bridging the city's dividing lines of ... - Omaha World-Herald

Posted in Personal Empowerment | Comments Off on Willie Barney, one of Omaha’s ‘most significant leaders,’ is constantly bridging the city’s dividing lines of … – Omaha World-Herald

Empowerment and travel event for women – The Star Online

Posted: at 4:03 am

Zafigo.com is a platform which gathers a community of women travellers, said Marina the founder of the women travel website. EBBY SAIFUL/The Star.

What is apparently the first empowerment and travel event dedicated to women in Asia will take place from Aug 29 to 31 in Penang.

ZafigoX is exclusively for women who share a passion for travelling, said Datin Paduka Marina Mahathir (pic) at the media launch in Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur.

ZafigoX is the brainchild of Marina, who is also the founder of Zafigo.com.

I believe that travel is an indirect but very powerful way of empowering women to be more self-confident and independent.

As we venture out of our geographic boundaries, especially alone, we also open our minds to going beyond societal and mental boundaries too.

It is this awakening that empowers us to choose the lives we truly want to live. From this belief, both Zafigo.com and ZafigoX have sprung, said Marina.

Founded in 2014, Zafigo.com is a platform for women to share safety tips, guides and stories of their travels so other women could learn and be inspired by them.

Marina said it would be a safe haven for women travellers to discuss personal challenges and exchange invaluable knowledge and experiences.

She added that it was aimed at enlightening women about the practical things they should take note of when they travel alone.

Under the umbrella of ZafigoX, there will be various activities in store, namely talks and workshops conducted by international and local women speakers.

The panels will be mediated by Marina, Travel & BE founder Anita Ahmad, Vbuzz executive producer Sumitra Selvaraj and Kudsia+Co co-founder and chief executive officer Kudsia Kahar.

Among the speakers will be Manal al-Sharif, who led a right to drive campaign in Saudi Arabia, South Korean Jin Jeong who cycled solo over 63,000km around the world for six years, and Malaysias Petrina Thong who hitchhiked from Sweden to Malaysia.

The workshops include one on self-defence by Malaysian MMA fighter Ann Osman and a travel photography masterclass from multi-award winning photographer Brendan O Se.

A public bazaar at the event will give local women artisans an opportunity to showcase their products and facilitate business networking.

We are happy and proud to be the first to bring an event like ZafigoX to Asia and use this opportunity to inspire and empower women.

We feel that this event will benefit women who want to try something new by providing them with insights on travelling to different countries, said Marina.

Zafigo.com strategy and development officer James Chong said: Although there are limited slots for participants, most of the panels and workshop sessions will be recorded and released on Zafigo.com.

That way, the spirit and beliefs of Zafigo.com could be nurtured and reach more aspiring women travellers.

ZafigoX, which is set to host 300 women participants, will be held at the Royale Chulan Penang Hotel in conjunction with George Town Festival 2017. For details, visit http://www.zafigo.com/zafigox.

The rest is here:

Empowerment and travel event for women - The Star Online

Posted in Personal Empowerment | Comments Off on Empowerment and travel event for women – The Star Online

Locarno Film Review: ‘Freedom’ – Variety

Posted: at 4:02 am

At some time or another, idly or with intent, most of us have surely wondered about disappearing. What if I rode this bus until the end of the line and then just kept walking? What if I grabbed my passport and drove to the airport? What if I went out for cigarettes and never came home? The seductive romance that clings to the idea is in part down to the multiplicity of these what-ifs, but German director Jan Speckenbachs intriguing, sincere, if somewhat overreaching sophomore feature Freedom starts with the dice already rolled. Nora (Johanna Wokalek) wanders past Breugels Tower of Babel painting in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, while in Berlin, unaware of her whereabouts, her lawyer husband Philip (a sympathetic Hans-Jochen Wagner), teenage daughter Lena (Rubina Labusch) and younger son Jonas (Georg Arms) go about their lives carefully skirting the Nora-shaped hole in the family.

Speckenbachs most inspired decision here is to split his film more or less equally between Nora and Philip, as she becomes an increasingly vague abstraction of her former self, through changing haircuts, different cities and various assumed identities, while he seems to become more sharply defined in response to the challenges of this new, unsought status quo. The films unusual chronology, which starts off with the deed already done, only to spin back for a final act that takes place in Berlin the night of Noras sudden departure, is also a clever choice one made braver still by the the refusal to offer up any concrete, last-straw-style argument or conflict.

Not quite so well thought-out, however, is the rather underdeveloped undercurrent of racial unease, most notable in the person of the comatose victim of a hate crime whose attacker Philip is reluctantly defending, and a black tennis pro with whom the family has a strained conversation during an impromptu dinner. The film is about the chameleonic nature of identity, and how much of it is socially proscribed, but the issues around racial identity and white liberal guilt are far too complex to be used as mere background texture.

But Freedom is better at complicating accepted gender norms and for the most part, its portrait of the great taboo that is maternal abandonment is refreshingly non-judgmental, helped by Wokaleks invested yet aloof turn as Nora. Its a performance, well-captured in Tilo Haukes crisp daytime and velvety nighttime photography, that allows Noras motivations to remain mysterious possibly even to herself yet also oddly believable. We can understand her, even if we cant explain her.

Nora picks up a casual lover, then hitchhikes onward to Bratislava, befriends sex worker Etela (Andrea Szabov) and her husband Tamas (Ondrej Koval) and gets a job as a maid in a luxury hotel. And while its a hoary clich that no matter where you run away to, youll always end up running into yourself, at its best moments, Freedom suggests that self-reinvention is entirely possible. You just have to know there will be consequences.

But then, freedom is a grandiose word and attaching it to this small, strange story as its title, even in irony, suggests that Speckenbach has ambitions for his film that are never quite fulfilled. Its an impression compounded by unnecessary flourishes, from the overliteral projections of Noras face that occasionally flood the walls of the familys Berlin apartment, to the Ibsen reference of her name (the heroine of A Dolls House is also Nora, and also leaves her family), to the rather pretentious opening text, which references Lethe, the mythic river of forgetfulness.

Most questionably, theres the frankly baffling end coda in which Nora, shocked into the last of her transformations by a domestic event at Etelas that reminds her forcefully of her family, appears in a kind of fantasy landscape, in which Breugels tower again rears up in the distance. The biblical allusion here is confounding, as the story of Babel is one of humanitys pride being punished by God: Does Speckenbach mean to imply, after all this careful characterization, that Nora deserves to be so harshly judged? Its an unfortunate conclusion when one of the films strengths to that point has been that it dares not just to show a woman more or less successfully leaving her family (who will be traumatized, but ultimately fine without her), but that quietly respects, if not condones, her decision to do so.

Reviewed at Locarno Film Festival (competing), Aug. 3, 2017. Running time: 102 MIN. (Original Title: "Freiheit")

(Germany-Slovakia) A Pluto Film Distribution Network, Film Kino Text presentation of a One Two Films production, in co-production with BFilm, Zak Film Productions, ZDF. (International sales: Pluto Film Distribution Network, Berlin.) Producers: Sol Bondy, Jamila Wenske.

Director: Jan Speckenbach. Screenplay: Speckenbach, Andreas Deinert. Camera (color, DCP): Tilo Hauke. Editor: Jan Speckenbach.

Johanna Wokalek, Hans-Jochen Wagner, Inga Birkenfeld, Andrea Szabov, Ondrej Koval. (German, English, Slovak dialogue)

Go here to see the original:

Locarno Film Review: 'Freedom' - Variety

Posted in Freedom | Comments Off on Locarno Film Review: ‘Freedom’ – Variety

New citizen committee to plan 2018 Freedom Fest – MyWebTimes.com

Posted: at 4:02 am

The first informal gathering of Marseilles residents who are forming a citizens committee to help plan the 2018 Freedom Fest celebration attracted about 10 people to City Hall on Monday.

The advisory committee was formed from a suggestion by Mayor Jim Trager as an autonomous organization, unaffiliated with the city. The group will help determine the community's acceptance of the Illinois Motorcycle Freedom Run and accompanying Freedom Fest. The annual event is designed to commemorate the city's Middle East Conflicts Wall Memorial and those who lost their lives in foreign wars.

Unlike in previous years, Trager canceled the festival months before the June 2017 Freedom Run ceremony, citing cost factors.

The citizen gathering was conducted immediately following the regular Middle East Tribute Committee meeting, in which tribute committee President Bobby Kaminski and Vice President Bob Dubree both volunteered to join the new organization. The tribute committee handles the physical maintenance of the memorial.

During the Freedom Fest meeting, a concerned citizen, who requested anonymity, said in the past, the city made all determinations regarding Freedom Fest with little input from the public. The resident said the Freedom Fest committee's first order of business should be to determine what is and what is not acceptable to the majority of residents and plan the celebration accordingly. The group plans to prepare a survey to ask Marseilles residents several questions, including if the festival should be discontinued, where it should be located and if it should be supported by public funds or private financial resources. By majority votes, Scott Buennemeyer was voted president; Joe Putnam vice president; and Michelle Rieuf Klock secretary. A treasurer will be named at a later date. Buennemeyer, a U.S. Air Force veteran and retired deputy sheriff, explained to the members that the grassroots organization should work with a logical framework. "We need to identify exactly what we need to do and organize logistical details in the next few months," Buennemeyer said. Trager, who was not at Monday's meeting, previously said any citizen committee should bring its ideas and issues before the Marseilles City Council for approval and possible support. The next meeting for the citizen organization is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, Aug 16, at the Marseilles American Legion Hall. Buennemeyer said the public is welcome to attend.

Original post:

New citizen committee to plan 2018 Freedom Fest - MyWebTimes.com

Posted in Freedom | Comments Off on New citizen committee to plan 2018 Freedom Fest – MyWebTimes.com

Defenders of Freedom could close soon – Galesburg Register-Mail

Posted: at 4:02 am

Rebecca Susmarski The Register-Mail

GALESBURG Faced with the looming threat of closure, the Defenders of Freedom resale shop is seeking a variance from the city of Galesburg so the shop could continue to operate as a veterans education and resource center.

Bob Spears, executive director of Defenders of Freedom, said the shop is in danger of closing within a month if it cant find a permanent store. The shop was originally supposed to open in a building formerly used by Costa Catholic Academy at the corner of North Broad Street and Carl Sandburg Drive, after the shops location at Sandburg Mall shuttered.

Though the Defenders of Freedom storage has been moved to the Costa building, the store still does not have a permanent location there. Spears said the city required installation of a sprinkler system before the store could operate under mercantile usage, but that would cost between $70,000 to $80,000. The city also required a code study that would have cost between $3,000 and $5,000, Spears said.

Since the store does not have the money, Spears asked the Galesburg City Council during a meeting Monday night to create and approve a variance that would allow the store to host classes in the building, since the building was originally used for educational purposes. The store would still operate in the building, but it would be called the Defenders of Freedom Veterans Education and Resource Center.

"Were finding out theres a lot of people in this community who have been missing us, and its killing me every day when I dont have a place open where I can help veterans," Spears said.

Defenders of Freedom would not be an accredited school, but Spears said the store could partner with local entities to offer classes for veterans on finance, nutrition how to compose living wills and more. The shop would also use the location for hosting events, such as an annual veterans Christmas party.

Galesburg Fire Chief Tom Simkins said the Costa building currently has no sprinkler system, and the code on the furniture storage has changed over the years. He recommended that Defenders of Freedom find an alternate location that would include fewer hazards to public safety.

The city always wants to make sure all our people are safe and all the buildings are safe, especially veterans, Simkins said. You could have a perfectly fine brick building, but once you put furniture in the building, thats the problem.

During the council meeting, City Manager Todd Thompson said he would look into the matter and get some information out to the council on exactly what the process is for the proposed variance change.

Part of the thing is we need to know exactly how he intends to use the building and what the uses are, and as you heard tonight, its kind of changed a little bit, said Wayne Carl,director of planning and public works for the city. Last I understood is (Spears) was going to submit something in writing saying this is how he planned to use the building, and then they were going to take it from there to see if it is in fact a change of use. Typically they do a code study to see whats required in that regard, and so depending on the results of the code study, thats what you have to look at and what would have to be done to allow them to use the facility.

Spears said if the store doesnt find a permanent home, well probably have just one big sale and whatever we dont sell, well throw away.

Until a few weeks ago (for a yard sale), we had no income since Dec. 24, 2016, because of the lack of having a place to call home, Spears said during the meeting. Were trying to establish a place in Galesburg.

Also at the meeting, the six aldermen present Alderman Angela Bastian, Ward 1, was absent approveda 10-year loan worth $20,000 from the citys revolving loan fund for Koreana restaurant, and a transfer of $119,000 from the citys TIF II fund to its TIF IV fund to help cover upcoming renovations to Park Plaza and the adjacent Parking Lot E.

Rebecca Susmarski: (309) 343-7181, ext. 261; rsusmarski@register-mail.com; @RSusmarski

View original post here:

Defenders of Freedom could close soon - Galesburg Register-Mail

Posted in Freedom | Comments Off on Defenders of Freedom could close soon – Galesburg Register-Mail

Santana at Freedom Hill, 5 Things To Know – The Oakland Press

Posted: at 4:02 am

Santana

7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 9.

Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre at Freedom Hill,14900 Metropolitan Parkway, Sterling Heights.

Tickets are $79.50 and $45 pavilion, $30 lawn.

Call 586-268-9700 or visit palacenet.com.

Carlos Santana has never been at a loss for interesting musical things to do.

The veteran guitarist, whose namesake band was made famous at the original Woodstock festival in 1969, definitely plays nice with others, whether its the trio of albums that began with 1999s Grammy Award-winning Supernatural or last years reunion with members of the original Santana band line for the Santana IV album. This year its the recently released Power Of Peace, collaboration with the Isley Brothers that features thematic covers songs as well one original, I Remember, written by Santanas wife, percussionist Cindy Blackman Santana.

The guitarist has the Santana band back on the road this summer, and while the Isley Brothers arent alongside, hes still preaching the power of Peace, as well as enduring hits such as Smooth, Evil Ways, Maria Maria and more...

As its title indicated Power Of Peace has a thematic thread running through the album. The theme is spiritual divine medicine to counter the fever pitch fear thats permeating this planet right now, Santana, 70, explains by phone from Las Vegas. This CD has the frequency of inspiration. If they were playing this music on CNN there would be less suicide bombers and people with twisted and crooked minds, invested in believing that you have to kill someone in order to get to heaven. This CD is the opposite of that. This CD wakes you up beyond religion, beyond politics, beyond nations. Its our duty to do this.

Advertisement

The inspiration to work with the Isley Brothers came after Ronald Isleys recording of Burt Bacharachs The Look Of Love was the first song Santana and his wife danced to at their wedding in 2010. He recruited Isley to sing a pair of songs on the Santana IV album with the full-length collaboration in mind. Something just grew in me to reach out to the universe, Santana says and before I know it we met in St. Louis because (Isleys) sister-in-law was singing with Rod Stewarts band and we went on tour with Rod Stewart. somebody found out that Cindy and I are totally Ronald Isley fans, so he came to visit us in St. Louis and whats where it started. I said, Look, I want to do a record with you, a CD with you, and thats how it started.

For Cindy Blackman Santana, the idea of writing an original song for the project -- and subsequently singing it -- was a heady experience. Ronnie loved the song but didnt think he could sing it right -- and then said I should sing it, Blackman Santana remembers. And of course I started sweating, because Ronald Isley, one of the greatest singers ever, is there. Carlos is there. The whole band is there. As it got more serious I said, Yeah, Id love to sing it, but Ronnie, you cant look at me. I dont want you looking at me when I do it, because singing in front of that guy is very intimidating. And it just kind of blossomed from there. Ronnie sang ad-libs around the melody and Carlos played some beautiful ad-libs around those ad-libs and it just came off.

While a full tour with the Isley Brothers is not in the offing they did join Santana in Las Vegas for some performances earlier this year, and Santana is hoping for more dates in the not-too-far future. Would like to play these (songs) at the United Nations, he says. I would like to play this around the world, hopefully, sometime, and in special places like the Opera House in Sydney (Australia). I constantly dream about being part of the emissaries for peace. I want to be part of a movement that brings Cindy and I and people from Wayne Shorter to Herbie (Hancock) to Pharaoh Sanders to Ronnie Isley, maybe Aretha (Franklin) and Patti Labelle -- even, hopefully with Metallica, because we honor and respect all of them.

Santana is also gearing up for a 50th anniversary Woodstock event, which he says will take place during 2019. We talked to (Woodstock co-producer Michael Lang last time we were in Madison Square Garden and he came over to visit. Its a positive thing. Im looking forward to getting together with Michael and sculpturing what kind of an event are we going to have? Im preparing myself, lord willing. to be at Woodstock with three or four bands -- this (Santana) band right now, and also part with the original (Santana) band, plus a band with Larry Graham and Greg Errico from the Sly Stone band.

If You Go:

Santana

7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 9.

Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre at Freedom Hill,14900 Metropolitan Parkway, Sterling Heights.

Tickets are $79.50 and $45 pavilion, $30 lawn.

Call 586-268-9700 or visit palacenet.com.

See the rest here:

Santana at Freedom Hill, 5 Things To Know - The Oakland Press

Posted in Freedom | Comments Off on Santana at Freedom Hill, 5 Things To Know – The Oakland Press

Google fires employee who wrote memo about women in technology jobs – The Boston Globe

Posted: at 4:02 am

Googles headquarters in Mountain View, Calif.

SAN FRANCISCO Alphabet Inc.s Google has fired an employee who wrote an internal memo blasting the Web companys diversity policies, creating a firestorm across Silicon Valley.

James Damore, the Google engineer who wrote the note, confirmed his dismissal in an e-mail, saying that he had been fired for perpetuating gender stereotypes. A Google representative didnt immediately return a request for comment.

Advertisement

Googles chief executive Sundar Pichai sent a note to employees on Monday that said portions of the employees memo violate our Code of Conduct and cross the line by advancing harmful gender stereotypes in our workplace. But he didnt say if the company was taking action against the employee.

Damores 10-page memorandum accused Google of silencing conservative political opinions and argued that biological differences play a role in the shortage of women in tech and leadership positions. It circulated widely inside the company and became public over the weekend, causing a furor that amplified the pressure on Google executives to take a more definitive stand.

Get Talking Points in your inbox:

An afternoon recap of the days most important business news, delivered weekdays.

After the controversy swelled, Danielle Brown, Googles new vice president for diversity, integrity and governance, sent a statement to staff condemning Damores views and reaffirmed the companys stance on diversity. In internal discussion boards, multiple employees said they supported firing the author, and some said they would not choose to work with him, according to postings viewed by Bloomberg News.

The memo and surrounding debate comes as Google fends off a lawsuit from the US Department of Labor alleging the company systemically discriminates against women. Google has denied the charges, arguing that it doesnt have a gender gap in pay, but has declined to share full salary information with the government. According to the companys most recent demographic report, 69 percent of its workforce and 80 percent of its technical staff are male.

Read the rest here:

Google fires employee who wrote memo about women in technology jobs - The Boston Globe

Posted in Technology | Comments Off on Google fires employee who wrote memo about women in technology jobs – The Boston Globe