Daily Archives: October 24, 2020

This election offers a clear choice. Democrats, including my opponent Dan Feehan, offer far-left transformational socialism and the end of the America we grew up with and love. By contrast, Republicans, led by President Donald Trump and congressional leaders like myself, will defend our republic and the Founding Fathers vision of freedom and opportunity.

Ive focused my time in Congress looking out for the interests of our First District farmers and agriculture; small businesses and their employees. Ive supported world-class medical care, transportation projects like completion of Hwy. 14 from Nicollet to New Ulm, and defending and supporting our fine men and women in law enforcement.

As a member of the House Agriculture Committee I have supported farmers by championing new trade deals like USMCA to expand exports, forced the EPA to administer the Renewable Fuel Standard as Congress intended and worked to sustain independent farmers by mitigating losses associated with the coronavirus.

As a member of the House Small Business Committee I worked in a bipartisan fashion to enact the Paycheck Protection Program and the Employee Retention Tax Credit to support our small businesses and help them pay and retain employees.

For the Mayo Clinic and our fine rural hospitals I organized a group of 35 Republican and Democratic members of Congress to secure proportionate CARES Act funding. Our hospitals not only provide timely, quality medical care, but offer some of the finest jobs that help drive the economy of our local communities.

To improve southern Minnesotas infrastructure, I helped secure a $22 million federal Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development (BUILD) grant to complete the Hwy. 14 corridor from Nicollet to New Ulm, a project expected to reduce crashes and save lives on this vital stretch of highway.

Lastly, I have defended and supported the fine men and women of law enforcement who protect and serve our communities. It is an honor to have received the endorsement of the Minnesota Fraternal Order of Police and the Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association.

Meanwhile, my opponent, Democrat Dan Feehan, is involved in a pay-to-play scheme in which his own House Financial Disclosure forms show he was paid hundreds of thousands of dollars by three Democrat front groups.

Yet, during our first televised debate, Feehan denied receiving this money lying directly to First District voters. Accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars to run for Congress and not performing bona fide work in return would potentially constitute felony violations of Federal Election Commission law. Our campaign has filed a formal FEC complaint against Feehan, who has yet to disclose work product, number of hours worked, consultant contracts, invoices or other substantiation that he was legally employed.

This is the most consequential election of our lifetime. Will we prevail and keep the America we grew up with, the America we love? Or will we fail and enable far-left Democrats like my opponent to transform the United States into a socialist state?

My fight to represent southern Minnesota and deliver for our farmers, small businesses and world-class hospitals is coupled with my commitment to secure Americas borders, preserve a strong military and defend our constitutional rights, especially the right to life, the right to keep and bear arms and the right to religious freedom.

Trump and Republicans built the strongest economy in U.S. history with record-low unemployment before we were hit by the coronavirus pandemic.

We built an incredible economy once and are rebuilding it very quickly. Trump is our quarterback and our playbook includes the time-tested pro-growth principle of less regulation, tax reform, U.S. energy independence and trade deals like the USMCA agreement I championed to help Americas farmers, small businesses and workers.

On all these concerns, I will continue to work across the aisle in bipartisan fashion and on behalf of southern Minnesotans and the United States of America. Please visit my website, http://www.JimHagedorn.org, to learn more about my background and positions on the issues.

The First Congressional District seat is southern Minnesotas voice in Congress. I humbly ask for your vote to continue working hard and standing up for our rural values.

Jim Hagedorn, a Republican, represents Minnesotas First Congressional District in the U.S. House.

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OPINION EXCHANGE | This election gives voters a clear choice socialism vs. freedom - Minneapolis Star Tribune

When I first saw the Wing Freedom X, I wondered if it was going to be a cheaper take on the Dutch VanMoof S3. I was walking to meet a friend and happened to pass by Wing's showroom, and I did a backward-walking double-take to peer in the window. Both electric bikes look very similar, and by that I mean they have tall, straight top tubes that overhang their tires for mounting a headlight and taillight. Both also have swept-back handlebars.

But appearances are really only skin deep. The Freedom X is a very different bike, at a price that's more palatable for most people.

Speeeeed

It's brisk. That's thanks to the Bafang rear hub motor that measures 350-watt continuous output and 550-watt peak output.

You get five levels of pedal assist, but I usually kept it on level two, the second weakest. With the seven-speed mechanical gearing, I rarely needed more power. A few rotations of the pedals on level two assist, even from a standstill, shot me to 17 mph. It didn't take much more effort to top out at 20 mph, the ebike's official top speed.

Through the displaythere's no companion smartphone appyou can unlock the bike to reach 24 mph. It's one of the Freedom's coolest features, but it does technically make it illegal for use on most multi-use paths and trails. I'd just stick to the default if you're in a city. If you buy the optional throttle for $80 extra, the Freedom X goes from a Class 1 ebike to a Class 2 because the throttle works even if you're not pedaling.

Honestly, I didn't like the throttle. It's scalable, meaning that rather than being an on/off button it's a lever that lets you select power along a continuum. Even when pinning it to its maximum, there was a lengthy delay before the bike would move. It was frustrating at stoplights, so I rarely used the throttle at all. It also didn't add much oomph to the bike when it was moving. Flinging it to 100 percent throttle didn't do anything the pedal assist wasn't already doing, so it's not like a boost button that'll pour on extra power. Not all throttle are boost buttons, but it's worth pointing out.

Hard Stop

Stopping is more of an issue. The cable-actuated disc brakes feel weak, even on a relatively light 39-pound bike (that's lightweight for an ebike). New York City puts the panic in panic-braking, and I often deal with my fair share of hard stops thanks to impatient drivers, oblivious pedestrians and, once, a man playing cards in the bike lane.

The Freedom X's brakes always stopped me before certain doom, but I often felt that I was using every last bit of braking power to come to a halt in those situations. Hydraulic brakes offer better stopping power, though they're not common at this price. Cable brakes aren't necessarily bad, but I'd have liked to see stronger ones here.

They also squeal like two pigs with a bellyache. I chalked it up to my particular bike until I read review after review of Freedom owners reporting the same, so it seems like Wing's choice of brake pad might be to blame. You may have to swap out the stock brake pads for your sanity. It doesn't cost much and it's not hard, and it's not a reason to avoid the Freedom X.

The X Factor

I tested the Freedom X ($1,449), but there's another very similar model Wing offers called the Freedom 2 ($1,299). The X's upgrades are a torque sensor for the pedals instead of a cadence sensor and a display nicely integrated into the top tube, which shows information such as speed and battery level.

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Wing Freedom X Review: Speedy and Pretty | WIRED - WIRED

Walking down the steps from MCI-Norfolk jail to freedom after 34 years ofbeing wrongly incarcerated for a 1980s murder in Boston, Chelseas TommyRosa Jr. looked ahead and saw his son for the first time without a barrier orbars between them and they embraced also for the first time.

When he first went to prison awaiting trial, his son Manny Rosa, had justbeen born. When they met outside MCI-Norfolk last week following a decision by Supreme Judicial Court Justice Gaziano, Manny Rosa was a grown man.

His son was born in 1986 when Tommy was incarcerated so their entirerelationship has been with Mr. Rosa in prison, said Rosas Attorney RadhaNatarajan of the New England Innocence Project.

His son was the first person he saw when he walked out of MCI-Norfolk.His son is 34 now. Rosa was convicted of the 1985 murder of Gwen Taylor in Dorchester, having been tried three times for the crime, but had alwaysmaintained his innocence and cooperated completely with police.

But despite that, he wasapparently misidentified by two eyewitnesses andin an era prior to scientific DNA evidence. So it was, the New England Innocence Project decided to bring in the Boston College Innocence Program to challenge the case. A decision on October 14, 2020, by Justice Gaziano, acting as the Single Justice for the Supreme Judicial Court, allowsRosa to be freed while the Superior Court considers his Motion for New Trial. His attorneys, Radha Natarajan of the New England Innocence Project and Charlotte Whitmore of the Boston College Innocence Program, filed theMotion for New Trial on June 29, 2020, presenting numerous arguments why his convictions should be overturned.

Justice Gaziano wrote that the DNA evidence, if correct, in conjunction with the Defendants other claims, could well establish that confluence of factors that would indicate that a new trial is required. On October 15, Rosa was freed after being incarcerated for 34 years on a crime he did not commit. Rosas release is based in part on the strength of the DNA evidence obtained after his conviction and scientific evidence undermining the eyewitness identifications in the case.

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Long Walk to Freedom: Chelseas Tommy Rosa Released After 34 Years of Wrongful Incarceration - Chelsea Record

Lisa Snodgrass and Dawn Hamilton

Freedom Federal Credit Union is pleased to announce two new appointments to Harford County charitable boards in support of children and education. Freedom annually supports more than 70 charitable causes that are important to its members and staff. The Credit Union encourages employees to volunteer their time and skills to better serve the Harford and Baltimore County communities, including serving on local non-profit boards.

Business Development Director, Lisa Snodgrass, was recently confirmed to the Board of Directors for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Harford and Cecil Counties. The Boys & Girls Clubs of Harford and Cecil Counties serve over 7,500 local children with dedicated after-school and summer programming. Snodgrass is a Harford County native and mother of four, including two adopted foster children. Snodgrass and her husband were foster parents for seven years, hosting over fifty-five children during their time with the program. Snodgrass continues to mentor and advise new and existing foster parent families.

Snodgrass also brings her experience as an event fundraiser to the Boys & Girls Clubs. Her familys annual fundraiser for the Michael J. Fox Foundation has raised over $70,000 in support of Parkinsons Disease. In her role with Freedom, Snodgrass acts as a liaison to Harford and Baltimore County school employees, providing personal assistance for educators to reach their financial goals. Snodgrass also serves as Treasurer on the Board of Directors of the Bel Air Drama Company Parents Association, as a member of the Harford County Chamber of Commerce Education Committee, and as a member of the Career and Technology Education Citizens Advisory Council of Harford County.

According to Snodgrass, she has continued to carry a strong passion to positively impact children and educators. I hope to help enrich lives as an advocate for the youth in a community that means so much to me, remarked Snodgrass.

Freedoms Vice President of Product Management, Dawn Hamilton, was appointed to the Board of the Harford County Education Foundation, which aims to equip Harford County students with the resources they need to achieve success. Hamilton first became involved with the organization in 2013, when was celebrated as the top fundraiser for the organization as their Mardi Gras Queen. Since then, she has supported their Tools for Schools campaigns with boxes of supplies and donations from local businesses. It is my passion to see students succeed, says Hamilton, and I believe in providing teachers and students the tools they need to unlock to their potential.

Hamiltons commitment to education extends beyond parenting her three children, all HCPS graduates. Like Snodgrass, she has also served on the Harford County Chamber of Commerce Education Committee and was the Sunday School Director for Wesleyan Chapel United Methodist Church for fifteen years. In 2007, Hamilton was a founding member of WINDS of Leadership, the philanthropic arm of Harford Leadership Academy. Her tenure with WINDS of Leadership has included being Treasurer, Vice President, President, and Past President. The Dawn Hamilton Event Grant was named in her honor.

Dawn Hamilton and Lisa Snodgrass are two shining examples of the many dedicated employees who make up the Freedom Federal Credit Union Team, stated Mike MacPherson, Freedoms President and CEO. We take pride in that we are a credit union made up of employees, board directors, committee volunteers, and members, who are all working to better the communities we serve in meaningful ways.

About Freedom Federal Credit Union

Freedom Federal Credit Union is a community-chartered federal credit union offering consumer financial services to those who live, work, volunteer, worship, attend school, or have family in Harford and Baltimore County. Additionally, Freedom offers a full-line of banking services for all businesses, associations, and other organizations that are based in Harford or Baltimore County. Freedom has been in business since 1953 and has five locations throughout Harford County. To learn more, visitfreedomfcu.org.

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Freedom Federal Credit Union Appoints Lisa Snodgrass and Dawn Hamilton to Board - Citybizlist

On Nov. 3, a deeply consequential election is being held in the United States of America. In many states, early voting is well underway. I urge everyone reading this column to exercise your right to vote and to do so with a fully-formed conscience and in a morally coherent manner.

Catholics too often succumb to what the Fathers of the Second Vatican Council warned of in the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World (Gaudium et Spes). They wrote: This split between the faith which many profess, and their daily lives deserves to be counted among the more serious errors of our age (43).

Faith and life must come together for Catholics. The full deposit of faith must be guarded, and it must inform every area of our life. That includes our voting. This overriding insight was elaborated upon in 2002 by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in its excellent teaching on the Participations of Catholics in Political Life:

We need to vote, as Catholic citizens, in a manner that is morally coherent. I will now share with you three essential areas that every Catholic, indeed every faithful Christian, should keep foremost in their mind as they vote.

The Preeminent Moral Mandate: The Right to Life

The most important foundational teaching and principle of Catholic social teaching is that every human life is sacred from conception to natural death, because every man and woman is created in the image of God. Further, there is a fundamental right to life, which is confirmed in the natural moral law, the Sacred Scripture, and the unbroken Tradition of the Catholic Church. Every civil law must respect that fundamental human right to life, or such a law is an unjust law.

Every human person is created in the image of God. Because of that, they have an inherent dignity at every age and stage of their lives. This truth is what informs our respect for every human life, whether that life is found in the first home of the womb, a wheelchair, a jail cell, a hospital room, a hospice, a senior center, a soup kitchen or on a refugee boat. And, in future installments, we will touch on many of these matters.

However, the right to life position is, in one sense, not about an issue at all. Nor are those who hold it single issue voters. It is the Preeminent Moral Mandate. The pro-life position is also a worldview, a lens through which we should view every political, cultural, social and economic issue. It should inform every aspect of our participation in society especially the exercise of our citizenship.

The right to life is the foundation for every human right. The language often used in the political discussion surrounding legal abortion reveals an Orwellian newspeak which is polluting our public discourse. We should never use phrases such as abortion rights. Abortions do not have rights; only human persons have rights. The first right is the right to life.

Every procured abortion is the taking of innocent human life and is always and everywhere intrinsically immoral. Without the right to life, there are no other rights, and the infrastructure of rights is thrown into jeopardy. Human rights are goods of human persons. When there is no human person to exercise them, all the rhetoric extolling them is nothing but empty air and sloganeering.

Every procured abortion is intrinsically immoral, always and everywhere wrong. Thus, our absolute opposition to legalized abortion must be the preeminent issue in casting our vote. Any candidate or political party that promotes abortion is precluded from any further consideration for a Catholic voter.

That individual or party may embrace other policies that seem supportive of other related issues arising out of our respect for the sanctity of life, but if their stance is that abortion is ever acceptable and should be promoted, any other positive life values become moot. If one promotes the idea that an unborn person has no right to life, then what other right is of any consequence? That persons life has been terminated.

I urge the faithful to realize that anyone who directly promotes abortion is not acceptable for leadership in our society. I realize that eliminates a vast number of potential leaders from our consideration as faithful Catholics, but we must hold firm and do all we can to only support political leaders who respect and protect the fundamental right to life of the unborn. And, they must listen to our voice.

The Right to Religious Freedom

In his World Peace Day message for 1988, Pope St. John Paul II said:

This emphasis on religious freedom ran throughout the late popes teaching magisterium. It was demonstrated early in his service to the Church, for example, then-Bishop Karol Wojtylas actions at the Second Vatican Council. He made five interventions during the discussions that helped to formulate the final Declaration on Religious Freedom (Dignitatis Humanae), which was promulgated by Pope St. Paul VI on Dec. 7, 1965.

This is all in keeping with his rich understanding of the essential connection between truth and freedom as discussed throughout The Splendor of Truth (Veritatis Splendor) where John Paul warns of the death of true freedom (40). It is also addressed repeatedly in The Gospel of Life (Evangelium Vitae) where he writes of freedoms essential link with truth and inherently relational dimension (19).

In his encyclical letter on Faith and Reason (Fides et ratio), he wrote:

As the Second Vatican Council affirmed:

The candidates stand on religious freedom must be paramount in our choices in the ballot box. The persecution of faithful Christians, across the confessional spectrum, is obvious to anyone who cares about religious freedom. It is getting worse. The growing hostility toward the symbols of our religious heritage, the mocking of the values informed by religious faith and the overt and open hostility toward people of faith and religious institutions is increasing. It must be exposed and opposed.

Vote for Candidates who Respect Marriage and the Family

Next, let us turn to the urgent challenge of defending the first and most vital cell of society, marriage, and the family and social order founded upon it.

In a 2016 interview, Cardinal Carlo Caffarra disclosed a letter he had received years earlier from Sister Lucia, then the last surviving visionary of the apparitions of Our Lady at Fatima. Cardinal Caffarra wrote:

Pope St. John Paul II, the Pope of the Family, wrote and spoke repeatedly about the attacks on marriage and the family. He also affirmed their essential and unchangeable nature. Those attacks on marriage and the family have now reached a fever pitch. This is evident particularly in the West, where marriage has been redefined to a point where it is no longer even discernible. And, those who stand in defense of marriage and the family are increasingly being disparaged and confronted with soft persecution.

The attack on marriage and the family rages all around us. It is a part of a broader cultural struggle a clash of worldviews personal and corporate and competing definitions of human freedom, human dignity and the path to true happiness and human flourishing. We are involved in a contest over the foundations of what constitutes a truly human and just social order.

As Catholic Christians, we must insist that marriage between one man and one woman, intended for life, open to life and the family and social order founded upon it has been inscribed by the Divine Architect into the order of the universe. That is because they have. Truth does not change. People and cultures do sometimes for good and sometimes for bad.

As for the position of the Catholic Church on marriage, it is crystal clear. Marriage between one man and one woman indissoluble, unitive and always open to procreation forms the foundation for the family, and the family forms the foundation of both the Church and the civil society. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith of the Catholic Church explained it well in 2003:

Marriage and Family as Gods Loving Plan

Faithful Catholics and other Christians should vote only for men and women who will respect and protect marriage and the family. For the Jewish and Christian believer, from the first chapter of the first book of the Bible, the Book of Genesis (which means beginning) we discover the loving plan of God for marriage revealed in the context of the creation account. God fashioned man in his own image saying, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness (Genesis 1:26).

The early Fathers of the Christian Church noted that the plural language in the creation account points to the Trinitarian nature of God. Though God is One, the Christian faith proclaims that God is a loving Trinity of persons in the perfect unity of perfect love. The Father, Son and Spirit are a gift to one another. The Oneness of God is not solitary, but rather the perfection of Divine Love, being given away to the other, in the reciprocity of the Trinitarian communion.

In the second chapter of Genesis we read, It is not good for man to be alone (Genesis 2:18). The two, male and female, coming together in marriage to become one, reflects this unity in communion. We are, by both nature and grace, social. The mutual expression of love, as gift to the other, lived within marriage, opens the married couple to participation in Gods loving plan. If marriage is embraced as a Christian vocation, it also leads them to holiness, includes them in the gift of creation through procreation, and draws them into a partnership of love which births a family.

Marriage is intended to be a lifelong, indissoluble union of the spouses, male and female, always open to life and formative of family. Family, based on marriage between one man and one woman, is not only the first and most vital cell of society it is the first school, first church, first hospital, first economy, first government and first mediating institution.

Marriage is the Future

Our convictions and claims concerning the nature and ends of marriage are not outdated notions of a past era but provide the path to building a strong future for society. Nor is our position defending marriage as solely possible between one man and one woman simply a religious position. There is a natural moral law which can be known by all men and women through the exercise of reason.

Marriage is not unique to Christianity; it is revealed by that natural moral law as a good for all of humanity. It has been so recognized across cultures for millennia. That natural moral law is the ground upon which every great civilization has been built. It is the source for every great and authentic human and civil rights movement. The natural moral law gives us the moral norms we need to build truly human and just societies and govern ourselves. It should inform our positive or civil law, or we will become lawless and devolve into anarchy.

Civil institutions do not create marriage. Neither can they create some new right to marry for those whose relationships are incapable of achieving the ends of marriage. Government has long regulated marriage for the common good. For example, the ban on polygamy. And age requirements were enforced to ensure that there was a mature decision as the basis of the marriage contract.

Marriage is the first society into which children are to be born, learn to be fully human, grow in virtue, flourish, and take their proper role in families and communities. We must not be afraid to make the claim that children have a right to a mother and a father. They do. Of course, we should also care about the single parent family and the many broken homes which characterize this age.

However, their existence does not change the norm necessary for building a stable and healthy society two-parent, marriage-bound families. Intact marriages and families are the glue of a healthy and happy social order. Faithful Catholics and other Christians must become a visible, palpable reflection of this truth about marriage and family in our own lives. To live a faithful marriage is now countercultural.

Male and Female

In the creation account found in the First Chapter of the Book of Genesis we also read these vitally important words: God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them (Genesis 1:27). Our sexual difference as male and female is a gift and a given. To reject the gift is to reject the Giver.

We do not choose to be male or female. We receive it as a gift, or we reject it. The notion that we can choose our sexual identification as male or female is but one more manifestation of the rebellion that started in the garden with Adam and Eve when they turned away from Gods loving plan.

When our first parents succumbed to the lie that they could determine for themselves what is good and what is evil, the separation from God began. In theological terms, we call that sin. It is both an offense against Gods loving plan and a wrong exercise of human freedom. Only a Savior could bridge that separation. Thank God that he sent one. His name is Jesus the Christ.

In his defense of marriage, Jesus referred to this Genesis account in insisting on the indissolubility of marriage:

To reject sexual difference is to reject Gods gift. Difference is not inequality of worth. Rather, it enables the gift of self to the other and a reciprocity, an exchange, which elevates us all. Vote as though life, religious freedom, marriage and the family depend upon it because they do.

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Vote as Though Life, Religious Freedom, Marriage and the Family Depend Upon It - National Catholic Register

More people will be coming together for worship, in hospitality venues and outside at gatherings in NSW this weekend following an easing of coronavirus restrictions.

However, with severe thunderstorms and rainfall forecast throughout much of the state, the larger outdoor gatherings may hold off for another week.

As NSW recorded no new locally-acquired cases of COVID-19 in the 24 hours to 8pm on Thursday, on Friday the state government eased some restrictions.

Thirty people are now allowed to gather outdoors, group bookings at hospitality venues have been extended from 10 to 30 people, and up to 300 are allowed at places of worship.

Political protesters can also gather en masse with up to 500 people allowed to link-up outdoors as long as it remains COVID-19 safe.

NSW Health in a statement on Friday again pleaded for the residents to keep coming forward for testing if they experience even mild respiratory symptoms.

COVID-19 is still likely circulating in the community and we must all be vigilant, NSW Health said.

It comes after Premier Gladys Berejiklian urged more people to wear masks on public transport.

Originally posted here:

More COVID freedom in NSW this weekend - 7NEWS.com.au

Provided by The Independent

Somewhere in Shenzhen, Andy Li is in a cell. Along with 11 others, Li has been there since 23 August. Intercepted by the Chinese coastguard, this group has been denied contact with their families, access to their chosen legal representatives, and medical treatments. The youngest is just 17 years old.

These young people are pro-democracy activists from Hong Kong. A movement that resurfaced in March last year and, despite its commitment to protesting peacefully, has been met with escalating violence and repression from the government and police. Most recently, this has included the introduction of sweeping National Security Laws, draconian regulations which prohibit any action or speech against the Hong Kong government by any individual, anywhere in the world. It is these laws that the 12 were fleeing, and under which Andy Li had already been arrested earlier in the year.

Today protesters will gather in London to show solidarity with these imprisoned young people. They will be joining the global outcry against the arrests, the authorities treatment of the detainees and their refusal to return them to Hong Kong where they would, hopefully, face a fairer trial rather than in China where the conviction rate in the criminal justice system is an ominous 99.9 per cent. These young people now face an unknown future and life-changing consequences, just for standing up for their rights.

This case exemplifies the sacrifices that the youth of Hong Kong are making to fight for their freedom. The protest movement has been driven by young people since its inception. A new generation of Hongkongers who are at least as determined as their predecessors to hold onto their fundamental freedoms, rather than sliding into totalitarianism.

Saturdays protest in London is just one part of the wider fight for freedom in Hong Kong. For 18 months now, Hong Kongs citizens have been taking to the streets. What started as a protest against extradition to mainland China, has turned into an ideological battle for the citys soul. On the one side is the Chinese Communist Party, Hong Kongs Beijing-backed official administration, and an increasingly aggressive police force. On the other side are tens of thousands of ordinary Hongkongers from different walks of life, united by the belief that their home is more than just an extension of China and that they deserve the basic human rights that we take for granted.

Hong Kong protester known as Grandma Wong who disappeared says she was held in mainland China

Click to expand

UP NEXT

So far, the cause of the detained activists has been primarily picked up by their families and other pro-democracy protesters like the inspirational Grandma Wong. The APPG on Hong Kong of which we are proud to be officers also supports the protestors but this isnt enough. The bravery of these Hongkongers must be supported by coordinated international action.

Any government which claims to support democracy must impose Magnitsky-style sanctions on senior Hong Kong officials. This will send a clear message that the world is watching, and that Hong Kong cannot abuse its citizens rights without consequences. But for the British government there is a particular responsibility as Andy Li and four of the other youths are British National (Overseas) passport holders. The UK is also duty bound by the Sino-British Joint Declaration, a UN recognised treaty in which China pledged to uphold certain freedoms in Hong Kong upon its return from Britain in 1984.

Britain cannot abandon its responsibility to these brave young people. They are already paying a high price for standing up for values that we take for granted. The very least we can do is show them that they are not alone.

As British MPs, we call upon foreign secretary Dominic Raab to act decisively and impose sanctions against the key authority figures responsible for the brutal oppression in Hong Kong. As the young people of Hong Kong have shown, we are stronger united. We must stand together for freedom and against authoritarian rule, before its too late.

Alistair Carmichael is a Liberal Democrat MP for Orkney and Shetland and Sarah Champion is a Labour MP for Rotherham

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Britain has a responsibility to the freedom fighters imprisoned by the Chinese government - MSN UK

Smoking is a difficult habit to break any time, but it can be even more difficult during times of additional stress. With the COVID-19 pandemic and the holiday season, many people are facing stressful situations and triggers at every turn.

To help local community members and people across Michigan break this habit, MidMichigan Health is hosting the American Lung Associations Freedom From Smoking program a free, eight-week program that is led by a certified American Association facilitator. The sessions will be conducted virtually from 5:30 to 7 p.m., on Thursdaysvia GoToMeeting, and will take place Oct. 29-Dec. 17.

While this program has not been offered by MidMichigan Health Mt. Pleasant before, it has been successfully offered in other regions of the health system. MidMichigan Health Mt. Pleasant has offered other tobacco cessation programs in the past, though.

We are seeing much more registration with this virtual format, so were excited to see that level of participation with this program, says Ashley Brenner, community health specialist for MidMichigan Medical Centers - Gratiot, Mt. Pleasant, and Clare.

Brenner says around 20% of adults in Isabella County are smokers, which is about the state average; however, Isabella County does have a higher rate of babies born to mothers who smoke during pregnancy.

In Isabella County, its about 22% and the state average is 15%, she says. So, this is an option for those women to take to quit smoking through their pregnancy and beyond.

Pregnant women who smoke and have a partner or spouse who also smokes can take this class together.

People who take the class will learn about replacements for nicotine, make a quit plan, identify their individual triggers, hear from a panel of former smokers, and much more. Erica Phillips, community health specialist for MidMichigan Medical Center Alpena, says what makes this program special is that it is designed to help people as individuals and to let each individual person tailor it in a way that will most benefit them.

The Freedom From Smoking model is unique in that no single quit smoking plan is effective for every person. This model brings in behavior change. It has a systematic approach that assists any type of person in their own way, Phillips says.

Registration for the Freedom From Smoking program can be completed at http://www.midmichigan.org/freedomfromsmoking until Friday, Oct. 23 and is open to anyone over the age of 18. Those who need assistance with registration may call MidMichigan Health Line toll-free at (800) 999-3199. All program materials and login information will be mailed to registrants prior to the first meeting. Participants will join the GoToMeeting from their smartphones, computer, tablet, or other device with an internet connection.

Monitoring your health is always important, and if you are or have been a smoker there are some additional health risks to be aware of. If you are a smoker or have been a smoker in the past, you are encouraged to complete a Lung Health Assessment in order to assess your risk for lung cancer.

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MidMichigan Health to host free virtual Freedom From Smoking program - Concentrate

(The Center Square) According to a report from a center-right organization The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), Gov. Gretchen Whitmer earned a fifth-to-last ranking among all 50 governors in the United States.

The 2020 Laffer-ALEC report on Economic Freedom ranks all 50 governors by results and policy.

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ALEC ranks Gov. Whitmer near bottom of economic freedom report - Grand Haven Tribune