Daily Archives: February 27, 2020

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has admitted to a data breach which saw confidential information accidentally made publicly available.

The UK regulator said that as soon as it became aware of the mistake all relevant data was removed from the website.

The regulator confirmed information linked to a freedom of information (FoI) request published in November last year "may have been available" and the publication of this data was the fault of the FCA.

We have undertaken a full review to identify the extent of any information that may have been accessible"

The FOI response related to the number and nature of new complaints made against the regulator and handled by its Complaints Team between 2 January 2018 and 17 July 2019.

The statement said: "We have undertaken a full review to identify the extent of any information that may have been accessible." It added its "primary concern" was to ensure the protection and safeguarding of individuals who could be identifiable from the data.

"However, there are instances where additional confidential information was contained within the description of the complaint, for example, an address, telephone number, or other information.

"Where this is the case, we are making direct contact with the individuals concerned to apologise and to advise them of the extent of the data disclosed and what the next steps might be."

The FCA confirmed that "no financial, payment card, passport or other identity information" were included within the data. It said it has taken "immediate action" to ensure this will not happen again and has referred the issue to the Information Commissioner's Office.

This article was first published by Professional Adviser, a sister publication to International Investment.

Link:

FCA admits to freedom of information data breach - Investment Europe

A heartbreaking 46-43 loss to East Stroudsburg South, on a buzzer-beater from beyond the arc, ended the Freedom boys basketball teams season last year at Allens Sewards Gymnasium.

This year, in the same gym, a Patriots freshman dealing with another level of heartbreak pushed fourth-seeded Freedom past the fifth-seeded Cavaliers, 59-43, in the District 11 6A quarterfinals.

Freedom advances to a semifinal matchup against either top-seeded Allen or ninth-seeded Pocono Mountain West on Wednesday.

Nicholas Ellis, playing in his first game since the loss of his mother, Lara Shapiro-Ellis last week to ovarian cancer, scored 13 points in an inspired performance on Saturday afternoon.

Its been hard. Ive just been in the gym. My friends have been supporting me, my family all came down and with their support Ive gotten through it, Ellis said. It means a lot, because Ive never had a family like this team. With their support, it definitely helped me through this.

The freshman scored five points during Freedoms 15-4 run to start the third quarter.

Its my first district game, I wanted to do it for my mom and for my teammates, Ellis said. I know they wanted to make it to states for a long time. Me helping them, knowing my role and stepping up, its just been a dream weve been chasing all year.

Were such a tight-knit family in there. With what happened with Ellis, losing his mom, it really even brought us closer together, Freedom coach Joe Stellato said. We were playing with an angel above us.

Along with Ellis effort, the Patriots made several adjustments to shut down Cavaliers leading scorer Christian Sapp. The junior scored all of his 12 first-half points from the field, but Freedoms zone defense held Sapp to zero field goals and just four points in the second half.

Our coaches were helping by switching defenses. We played team defense that helped. It was just a team effort, Freedom senior Caleb Mims said. We havent won a game in about a month, and we havent won a game in February in like four years. Its definitely a different feeling than last year.

It was Sapps Hail Mary attempt from just inside halfcourt that ended the Pates 2019 postseason. To say that loss stuck with Stellato is a bit of an understatement.

It definitely bothered me for an entire year, and it bothered (Freedoms players) even more than me. We had a mission; we were on a mission all week, Stellato said. We came out here possessed. We did things right and thats what Im most excited about going forward.

The Pates now move forward from their first win in the District 11 tournament since 2013.

(Its) really exciting to be going to states. Weve been saying since the beginning of the season its gold or bust, Mims said. We wont be happy with losing next round.

Caleb and his twin brother Malek each led the Pates with 14 points. Freedom secured a trip to states as four teams advance to the PIAA 6A tournament from District 11.

Desmond Boyle may be reached at dboyle@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @DesJBoyle. Find Lehigh Valley high school sports on Facebook.

Originally posted here:

Ive never had a family like this team. Ellis pushes Freedom boys hoops to win after tragedy - lehighvalleylive.com

Freedom of hairstyles could be on the governor's desk before the midpoint of the legislative session after the Crown Act on race-based protections on texture and style passed a Senate committee Monday.

Next up is the Senate floor, where it needs to be voted on twice, if it remains unamended, before it's sent to Gov. Jared Polis to sign into law. Democrats have a 19-16 majority in the chamber, and the bill, so far, has collected every Democrats' vote.

House Bill 1048 prevents discrimination against hairstyles associated with a racial identity, such as an afro or braids.

The bill's sponsors contend people of African, native American, Jewish and Latino descent are denied educational and employment opportunities due to their hairstyles, both natural and groomed.

It's going to send a very clear message that in the state of Colorado we will not tolerate hair discrimination," Sen. Rhonda Fields, a Democrat from Aurora who is sponsoring the bill, told the Senate State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee.

Colorado could become the fourth state to pass the law, called the Create a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair, or CROWN, Act. California, New York and New Jersey have passed the act, and anational law is pending in the U.S. Senate.

"We just can't have our young children and young adults being told they can't participate in their high school graduation because of the texture of their hair, or that they can't compete in sports," she told the committee.

The committee passed the bill 3-1 on Monday, with Republican Sen. Jerry Sonnenberg of Sterling voting against it. He pressed the case about whether employers would be able to say something if they thought an employee's hairstyle was bad for the image of the business or presented a safety concern.

"Is there any room for that here?" he asked Fields, who told him not if the policy is racially discriminatory.

Fields is vice chair of theBlack Democratic Legislative Caucus of Colorado. The bill was introduced in the House by Rep. Leslie Herod, a Democrat from Denver who chairs the caucus, and Aurora Democratic Rep. Janet Buckner.

"Were almost there the end of race-based hair discrimination in Colorado is on the horizon," Herod said in a text Monday night. "For every girl who was ever taught they had to suppress a part of themselves if they wanted to succeed, for every person who was ever held back professionally for expressing her culture, and for every child in the future who wont have to grow up with this discrimination, Im anxious and excited to see this practice banned once and for all."

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CROWN Act on freedom of hairstyles hits the home stretch - coloradopolitics.com

I happened to listen the other day to then-Sen. John F. Kennedys opening remarks in his debate with then-Vice President Richard Nixon during the 1960 presidential election cycle.

Kennedy, the Democratic Party candidate, recalled that Abraham Lincoln, in the 1860 presidential election cycle, said the great question facing the nation was whether it could exist half-slave and half-free.

In the 1960 election, said Kennedy, the issue was whether the world will exist half-slave or half-free.

Whether it will move in the direction of freedom, in the direction of the road that we are taking will depend in great measure upon what we do here in the United States, he said.

How things change. The Democrats candidate in 1960 headlined freedom as the issue defining his campaign. Now, 60 years later, Democrats are moving down the road to nominating a socialist, pushing freedom as an American ideal out of the picture.

It is astounding that many Democrats are ready to cast aside the core value that has defined our nation, for which so many have fought and died.

One major part of the story is our youth.

In 2016, a majority of those under age 44 voted for Hillary Clinton. Fifty-five percent of those ages 18-29 voted for her, compared with 37% for Donald Trump. Trump received the majority of those 45 years and above.

In a recent Pew Research Center poll, 40% of Democrats ages 18-29 expressed preference for Sen. Bernie Sanders to be their partys candidate, compared with 25% of those 30-49, 13% of those 50-64 and 10% of those 65 and over.

In a Gallup poll, 51% of those ages 18-39 expressed a positive view of capitalism and 49% a positive view of socialism. Among those 40-54, 61% were positive about capitalism compared with 39% for socialism. And those 55 and over, 68% were positive about capitalism compared with 32% for socialism.

Whats driving these young Democrats to the far left?

Niall Ferguson of Stanford Universitys Hoover Institution and consultant Eyck Freymann suggest, in an article in The Atlantic, The Coming Generation War, that the capitalist America that worked for earlier generations is not working for these youth.

They face stagnant real wages and carry a large burden of student debt, they say. Its a generation to whom little has been given, and of whom much is expected, they continue.

I think it is just the opposite. It is a generation to whom much has been given and from whom little is expected.

When Kennedy ran for president in 1960, Americas youth still faced a military draft. In 1960, 72% of Americans over 18 were married, compared with 50% today.

According to Pew, 78% of those ages 18-29 say it is acceptable for an unmarried couple to live together, even if they dont intend to get married.

Over the decade 2009-2019, there was a drop of 16% among those ages 23-39 who identify as Christian and an increase of 13% of those self-identifying as religiously unaffiliated.

And that age group doesnt vote. Since 1980, the percentage of eligible voters in their 20s who voted in presidential elections has averaged between 40% and 50%, compared with 65% to 75% of those over 45, Ferguson and Freymann report.

We have a generation of American youth today who have grown up in a culture of legal abortion and same-sex marriage, with little sense of responsibility to God and country.

Such values among our youth do not bode well for our future.

Star Parker is president of the Center for Urban Renewal and Education.

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Americas youth losing interest in freedom - Boston Herald

And Im proud to be an American / Where at least I know Im free, sang Ron Hamilton, a member of the local Marine Corps League. And I wont forget the men who died / Who gave that right to me.

Hamiltons voice echoed through the top floor of the Bluebird Restaurant during a Tuesday evening event to recognize the 75th anniversary of the flag raising during the World War II Battle of Iwo Jima.

The 36-day battle took place on a small island southeast of Japan, which to this day sparks memories of long, fierce days for those who fought there. The flag raising is memorialized in an iconic photo of five Marines and a sailor raising the American flag on top of Mount Suribachi.

Among the nearly 70,000 U.S. Marines who landed on Iwo Jima on Feb. 19, 1945, to fight was Loyd Lewis, a Cache Valley native.

More than 25,000 were injured and nearly 7,000 men died during those five weeks, including Lewiss twin brother, Boyd.

At 93 years old, Lewis was in attendance and was asked to stand and be recognized during the event as other members of the Marine Corps League and other guests offered a standing ovation for his service.

I remember last year when I first met Loyd Lewis; I was so excited to thank him for all that he has done, said Megan Hoferitza, who came with her family and their neighbor, a member of the Marine Corps League.

Story continues below video

Hoferitza walked over to meet Lewis with her father, an Air Force veteran, and was caught off-guard when Lewis stood to greet her.

He stood up and shook my hand. After thanking him for his service, he looked at me and said, I did it for you, and that impacted me a lot, Hoferitza said with tears in her eyes.

Samuel Owen, a Vietnam veteran, said there is a special reverence throughout this event and he has felt it every year he has attended since moving to the valley 11 years ago. This year, a slideshow featured photos of Iwo Jima 75 years ago and photos of the island today, along with a special tribute to the Navajo code talkers who aided efforts through secret communications.

The fact that they still want to get together and do this is really special, Owen said. Once a Marine, always a Marine.

That sentiment was echoed by Al Lieske, a member of the Marine Corps League, as he highlighted the importance of remembering the sacrifices that are made by those who serve.

Only a few Americans choose the dangerous and necessary work of fighting our nations enemies. As a consequence of that choice, some have paid the ultimate price, said Al Lieske, addressing the crowd. Tonight, we gather in the shadows of greatness. Though our fallen can no longer take part in our traditions, they will always be a part of us and who we are.

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Veterans reflect on price of freedom 75 years after Iwo Jima - The Herald Journal

MURRAY On Sunday, longtime Murray martial arts instructor Tung Dinh seemed to be joking that Tuesdays start of his latest fitness challenge honoring he and his family coming to America many years ago would probably be devoid of him saying much.

He was not joking. While dignitaries that included several United States military veterans and several community leaders gave their thoughts, Dinh demonstrated the discipline that has allowed him to have such success in this activity; he just kept going, without saying a word, just he and the abdominal wheel that he is going to push and pull back about 10,000 times in a 24-hour period that ends at about 3:30 this afternoon.

But he was not disappointed in not having a lot to do with a ceremony that honored his family. He knew he had to do, so it was left to someone else to speak on his behalf, his sister Huong Kelly.

Freedom, as you know, is not truly free, so were standing here today as a family, thanking you and for the veterans and active military who have done what they have so we can truly be free, said Kelly, who is one of seven children that Giao and Hoa Dinh brought from Vietnam in 1975 as they took one of the last flights out of Saigon before Communist North Vietnamese forces assumed control of their home territory.

Hoa, now 90, was in the audience at Murrays Quest Fitness facility where her son is, still at this time, engaged in his mission to complete 24 hours of abdominal wheel reps. She watched Tuesdays ceremony, as Tung strayed focused on his work, with someone she and her family had no idea would play such a key role in their lives once in America, Murrayan Jennye Sue Smock, who sponsored the Dinh family with her husband, Hunt.

They were all so young then, Jennye Sue recalled of the seven Dinh children after they arrived in Murray. I dont think they spoke English, so that was hard, trying to talk to them.

But I remember when Id go over to see them, that everybody would be sitting around the table and (Hoa) had them reading books and they had to read out loud. She was a good teacher.

Much of the ceremony was recorded on a cellphone and that was how Huong and Jenny Sue planned to show Hunt what happened Tuesday. Hunt was unable to travel from a medical facility in Marshall County.

Like Tung, Hunt served in the American military, which had a strong presence in Tuesdays ceremony. About 10 members of Billy Lane Lauffer American Legion Post 73 attended the event, recognizing Tungs effort to spread the freedom theme in his own special way.

The days events also had a military person serving as emcee, longtime friend to the Dinh family, retired Army Col. Darrel McFerron. There are also was another visitor special to the Dinh family, one of Tungs taekwondo students, Spencer Balentine of Marshall County, who had s special reason for attending.

Lauffer, a Congressional Medal of Honor recipient for valor displayed shortly after arriving in Vietnam in 1966, was his cousin.

Its a good day. Im proud to come over today and represent my cousin, Billy Lane Higgins Lauffer, Balentine said, making sure to include the extra name. Then, he talked about his instructor.

Ive been with Master Dinh about 20 years now and he just amazes me. He amazed me when he did the 100-mile run in 24 hours, which I think was about 10 years ago. Then he amazed me again when he did the 30 hours of sit-ups (with son Christian) five years ago. But this is really amazing. To me, the wheel is the hardest device to exercise on. I can go maybe five minutes, then Im done.

I cant imagine 24 hours, or 45 hours (which Tung will attempt in April).

Link:

Dinh keeps focus on wheel as ceremony celebrates family's freedom - Murray Ledger and Times

Charlottesville has planned several events throughout the city next week for its first official celebration of Liberation and Freedom Day.

The City Council voted last year to nix the celebration of Thomas Jeffersons birthday by removing April 13 as a paid holiday. The panel then voted to establish March 3 as Liberation and Freedom Day and provide employees a floating holiday.

Tuesday will commemorate the arrival of Union forces who liberated local enslaved people.

On March 3, 1865, Union troops under Gen. Philip Sheridan arrived in the area and planned to burn Charlottesville as part of the total war strategy to destroy the Confederacys ability to wage war.

Sheridan was sent to the city to destroy the Virginia Central railroad line, cutting off Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lees supply line to the Shenandoah Valley.

Sheridan was met by Thomas Preston, rector of the University of Virginia, and three faculty members, who persuaded him not to destroy the school and city.

Sheridan occupied the city until March 6 and, during that time, many slaves used the occupation to free themselves.

UVa and other organizations hosted a series of events to commemorate the day starting in 2017.

A vigil will then take place from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. at the site of the former slave auction block on Court Square.

A marker recognizing the auction block, criticized in recent years for being illegible, was stolen earlier this month.

Richard H. Allan III, 74, of Albemarle County, faces felony charges of grand larceny and possession of burglarious tools for taking it. The marker was set into the sidewalk and said, Slave Auction Block and underneath said, On this site slaves were bought and sold.

The plaques are located at a building erected as a mercantile store in the 1820s. A stone block outside the building was the site of slave auctions.

The Court Square Markers subcommittee of the Historic Resources Committee is considering a design for a temporary replacement.

Monday will feature a lecture at UVas Albert and Shirley Small Collections Library on the liberation of African Americans in Civil War-era Charlottesville.

Professor Ervin L. Jordan Jr. and William Kurtz, managing director and digital historian at John L. Nau III Center for Civil War History will be the speakers.

City offices will be closed on Tuesday to celebrate Liberation and Freedom Day. The voter registrars office will remain open for voting in the Democratic Presidential Primary.

Several events are planned for Tuesday.

The procession will start at the UVa Chapel at 4 p.m., moving to a blessing ceremony at the UVa Memorial to Enslaved Laborers and then down Main Street to the Jefferson School.

From 5:30 to 7 p.m., the community dinner will feature a panel discussion by descendants of people who were enslaved locally.

First Baptist Church at 632 W. Main St. will host a performance by the Aeolians of Oakwood University at 6 p.m. March 4. The event is free and open to the public.

At 7 p.m. on March 5, a concert is planned at The Haven titled Hush Harbor: African American Sacred Song Concert. It will feature local artists and musicians performing traditional spirituals used during hush harbor religious gatherings during the period of enslavement. It is free and open to the public.

Jefferson School Executive Director Andrea Douglas will discuss prominent African American women at 11 a.m. March 7.

Later that day, Douglas and UVa Associate Professor Jalane Schmidt will host a walking tour of downtown Confederate monuments starting at 2 p.m. in Court Square.

At 3:30 p.m., the Jefferson-Madison Regional Librarys Central Library will host a community retrospective on the citys Blue Ribbon Commission on Race, Memorials and Public Spaces. The discussion will also feature an update on bills in the Virginia General Assembly that would give local governments the power to decide the fate of Confederate monuments.

At 5 p.m. in Tonsler Park, city officials will celebrate the renaming of 6 Street Southwest to Winneba Way.

At 7 p.m., the Jefferson School will host a spoken word open mic session focused on liberation.

On Sunday, March 8, a psychology and theology professor will host a discussion on African American intergenerational trauma. The talk is scheduled for 2 p.m. at CitySpace.

Link:

City planning several events to mark Liberation and Freedom Day - The Daily Progress

Celebrating Black History

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) Thousands of escaped slaves made their way through Indiana on their route to freedom. Now, so many years after slavery ended, those stories are being kept alive.

The Underground Railroad was a series of safehouses, places and people who helped slaves get to freedom. Considering Indianas checkered past, there were quite a few people willing to go against the law and help thousands to freedom.

Freedom was worth the life-or-death risk for thousands of escaped slaves. In the 1800s, Indiana as a whole wasnt always the most friendly place for black people. But pockets of communities literally opened their doors to bring in those looking for an escape route.

Fountain City, formerly Newport, Indiana, is one of those places and home to the Levi and Catherine Coffin House.

People really do get a personal connection knowing they are standing on the same floor as where the Coffins stood and some of the people they helped stood that means a lot to them, said Coffin house site manager Joanna Hahn.

The theory is that the Coffins built this house to accommodate the work that they knew they were going to be doing with the Underground Railroad. So youre going to see some interesting spots around this house. A popular spot is whats behind a tiny door. The story said the Coffins at one point hid 14 escaped slaves there.

How they did it without being caught its really because this community decided to rally around what the Coffins were trying to do, said Hahn.

About 70 miles east, the community in Westfield, Indiana, had the same idea.

When people say, Where was the Underground Railroad in town? I say, Youre looking at it because literally everybody in town helped out,' said Hamilton County historian David Heighway.

He recalled the Rhodes Family Incident: A family of escaped slaves owner was trying to reclaim them. Instead of handing them over, the community did something else.

There was a crowd about 150 people at where today is the intersection 31 and 38 to prevent this from happening, Heighway.

There are a lot of these stories and places. And the Underground Railroad Network to freedom program in Indianapolis is doing its part in archiving them, while also remembering the not-so-good moments.

In order to live in the state, you had to pay a bond to say youre not going to be a nuisance to your county, and then individuals could be stopped and say show me your free papers, said Jeannie Regan-Dinius with the Division of Historic Preservation and Archaeology.

Its a painful history but an important part of Hoosier history that must be kept alive.

Read the original here:

Indiana's Underground Railroad helped thousands to freedom - WISHTV.com

Following the Federal Courts recent rejection of the ABCs appeal into the legalities of last years AFP raids on its Sydney offices, the Greens remain the party on the front foot pushing for greater press freedoms and protections for whistleblowers.

And it is Sarah Hanson-Young who is seeking to address and meet those goals, as the media union has joined her in criticising the Federal Courts ruling.

In raiding the Sydney-based offices of the ABC, the AFP sought and obtained up over 100 computer-based files linked to the networks investigative work for its Afghan Files report critical of the Australian Defence Forces actions in the Middle East. By dismissing the case, the Court dictated that the AFP had performed their actions within its permitted legal boundaries, above allegations that the raids possessed political motives.

Its clear current laws have encroached on journalists freedom, not just their ability to write sensitive stories but also to receive information from sensitive sources, said Hanson-Young in announcing proposed legislation in that area which she and the Greens, under their new leadership of Victorian senator Adam Bandt, plan on introducing at the next Parliamentary sitting.

The Greens Media Freedom Act, being a reforms-based piece of proposed legislation, would be built around four key points:

The mainstream media is perceived to be participating complicitly with the whims of the Morrison Government, instead of having the no fear, nor favour mantra to call them out on any sort of wrongdoing or corruption for example, that which is normally associated with the type of investigative journalism undertaken in the public interest. Anyone witnessing the current state of journalism in Australia would be calling out for any level of reforms in how its standards and practices are applied and performed.

That current state of media and the approach to how its journalistic practices are applied pique the curiosities as to why mainstream parties arent as proactive about pursuing stronger press freedoms and whistleblower protections as the Greens are demonstrating via their legislative intentions.

Perhaps one needs to look no further than the corruptive actions undertaken by the governing Liberal Party in recent months or years which have not gone unnoticed by Hanson-Young on behalf of her Parliamentary peers and colleagues in the LNP and Labor, as sufficient motivation on its own to introduce these reforms.

Speaking out against the Federal Courts ruling against the ABCs appeal while referring to the present laws as broken, Hanson-Young said:

We need proper protection for whistleblowers and journalists so the public know whats really happening in our names and with our taxes. We have a right to know what the Government is up to.

Journalism is not a crime. And speaking up when the Government is engaged in covering up wrongdoing should not make whistleblowers criminals.

If the law wont protect journalists, then we must have legislated safeguards to guarantee the freedom of the press and whistleblower protections. These protections must be independent of the Government.

Meanwhile, the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA) the union under which the employment and working interests of journalists falls echoed the calls for Parliament to draft new laws to strengthen freedom of the press, especially when it comes to protection for whistleblowers.

MEAA President Marcus Strom said:

It is clear that the motivation behind these raids is to intimidate journalists and media organisations. The raids have a chilling effect on public interest journalism by demonstrating to whistleblowers that if they reveal wrongdoing, corruption or illegal activities in the public interest, they will be hunted down and prosecuted.

If an uneasy and nervous feeling persists between the journalism industry and the Morrison Government in light of these raids, then its likely with good reason.

While Labor, given their Parliamentary minority numbers, is effectively powerless to pass any legislative matters that it could even propose, the Liberals are seen as having a working cooperation with bodies such as the AFP even more so after Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton has seen his portfolio expanded widely during Malcolm Turnbulls reign as Prime Minister and maintained under Scott Morrison, an expansion which includes his overseeing of the AFP within it.

Therefore, the LNP, from a legislative viewpoint, possesses no motivation to seriously pursue laws strengthening press freedom and the protection of whistleblowers, while Hanson-Youngs bill would effectively remove the onus off of the AFP as well as Dutton and anyone under his command as judge, jury and executioner and place it back upon processes that would dictate the reporting of matters in the public interest and relate to community standards.

So does the LNP-AFP alliance aid in spreading fear within journalists minds and laptops alike, against saying or writing anything critical of the Morrison Governments actions and/or policies?

Hanson-Young thinks so, under the guise that the connections between a free press and a properly-functioning democracy are clearly linked.

In just two years, theres been about 22 pieces of legislation the Federal Government has rammed through the Parliament that increase secrecy in our democracy, under a guise of national security.

The truth is, those in power dont want the public to know what theyre up to and are shutting down transparency and accountability to serve their own interests.

The move to introduce the Media Freedom Act falls in line with the Greens recent history of proactive and progressive visions in affirming rights of all Australians, which includes a U.S.-style bill of rights among a list of proposed societal reforms.

Hanson-Young and her Greens colleagues, in hoping for a successful campaign to get the Media Freedom Act passed, will be fighting against a series of forces, not the least of which is the LNP-AFP relationship and hoping those on all sides of Parliament dont have a short memory over the recent Your Right To Know campaign:

The campaign by the Right To Know coalition and evidence given at the Senate Inquiry has provided many examples of wrongdoing and misconduct that would never have had a spotlight on them without whistleblowers and the protection of journalists sources and media freedoms.

William Olsonis a freelance journalist and hospitality professional. You can follow Williamon Twitter@DeadSexyWaiter.

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The Greens are eager to introduce press freedom laws and reforms - Independent Australia

CHICAGO - Today the American Library Association (ALA) released the following statement regarding Tennessee HB 2721, which would require a parental oversight board to replace policies and library experts in the development of library collections and services. Libraries that fail to comply with the proposed law may lose local funding, incur fines, and librarians and library workers may face jail time.

The ALA stated the following:

Tennessee HB 2721 threatens library users freedom to read and violates our professional values and ethics expressed in the ALAs Library Bill of Rights. If adopted, the bill would establish parental oversight boards whose decisions about what others can read, view, and access in the library would be final. The bill would add layers of bureaucracy that compete with elected or appointed library boards and existing library policies that govern library collection development, programming, and meeting room use. The law jeopardizes library funding and imposes fines and jail time for librarians who violate the edicts of these untrained boards.

The belief that a small group of parents know what is best for every family in their community denies the very real fact that each community is made up of families and individuals with diverse beliefs, identities and values. ALA supports the right of families and individuals to choose materials from a diverse spectrum of ideas and beliefs. Public libraries and their professional staff members already have in place the tools and procedures that will assist parents in selecting materials that fit their familys information needs, while not censoring materials or infringing upon the rights of other families or patrons to choose and access the resources and programs they want and need.

ALA vigorously opposes HB2721 and other bills like it that advance censorship under the guise of parental control.

Original post:

ALA opposes proposed Tennessee law that threatens state's freedom to read - ala.org