Tag Archives: Freedom

Benjamin Netanyahu delivers a 4th of July message to the American People

Netanyahu-with-flags

Important Takeaways:

  • Freedom is the most precious gift humanity will ever know. And freedom isn’t free. You have to be willing to fight for it.
  • On this Fourth of July, I want to thank the American people for being true to their birthright, the Spirit of 1776, and wish them a happy and blessed Independence Day.
  • Through thick and thin, for the past nine months, Israel has deeply appreciated vital American support.
  • In these times of national crisis, as the people of Israel fight a seven-front war for our national survival against Iran and its terror proxies, it is heartening to know that far from standing alone, we have the support of the greatest democracy the world has ever known.
  • Character is revealed in times of crisis. In the face of Hamas’s savagery on October 7, the people of Israel connected to the deepest foundations of our national being. As one, we rose to fight our enemies with the heroism, determination, and resilience that characterized our heroes from the days of Joshua and the Maccabees, passed down across time to the warriors of the modern State of Israel.
  • What makes the US-Israel relationship a stellar duo
  • America stands with Israel because Americans are similarly moved by the legacy of their forefathers. At their base, Israel and America are guided by the same twin insights. Freedom is the most precious gift humanity will ever know. And freedom isn’t free. You have to be willing to fight for it.
  • Israelis saw on October 7 what it would mean if we ever lost our freedom. We understood this is not a war of choice but a war for survival.
  • Americans saw the atrocities of October 7, and they understood the stakes as well, not just for Israel but for the free world as a whole. Israel, a peace-loving democracy and America’s closest ally in the Middle East, was invaded by an army of jihadists bent on annihilation and subjugation. The same forces attacked America on September 11. Standing with Israel came naturally and immediately for Americans. They understood that for this march of murder and tyranny to end, Israel must win this war.
  • Tyrannical ayatollahs that rule Iran stand at the apex of the axis of jihad, murder, and war. They and their henchmen view Israel and the United States as their mortal enemies.
  • The outcome of this war is not in question. Israel will remain true to our ancient and modern legacy. We will win this war. We are strengthened with the sure knowledge that as we move forward toward victory we will be supported by our great friend, the United States of America.

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What have we become? CBN article points out “We’re losing our Freedom and our Choice”

Statue of Liberty

Important Takeaways:

  • We’re Losing Our Freedom and Our Choices: Has the Constitution Been Effectively ‘Terminated’?
  • The Stats Don’t Lie: Freedom Has Been in Decline
  • Global studies show that for most of the world, freedom has been in decline for many years. Add to that an economy consolidating under larger companies with consumers seeing their purchasing choices restricted.
  • There was once a sense that freedom was winning and expanding across the globe. Now the future is looking less free, with fewer rights and fewer choices about how we live our lives.
  • Christian civil liberties attorney John Whitehead of the Rutherford Institute takes the radical view that the Constitution has been effectively terminated because so much of it is now regularly ignored.
  • He says the many heavily armed government agencies and local police forces constitute a standing army on US soil, ready to raid homes in violation of the fourth amendment.
  • “The IRS has 4,500 guns, 5 million rounds of ammunition,” Whitehead said. “The Veterans Administration has 11 million rounds of ammo. The Department of Health and Human Services, believe it or not, has 4 million rounds of ammo. The Social Security Administration has 800,000 rounds of ammo for their special agents and guns.”
  • Even NASA has a SWAT Team. Since 1980, SWAT raids have risen from 3,000 a year to 80,000.
  • No Free Speech if Someone’s Feelings Are Hurt
    • The First Amendment, which was intended to protect speech the majority doesn’t like, no longer prevents people from being censored, canceled, de-platformed, or even de-banked.
    • A Qualtrics study found that most Americans under the age of 30 favor censorship if free speech hurts someone’s feelings.
  • One-Third of Americans Would Like a Dictator
    • A Penn State poll found that most Americans believe they have lost more personal freedoms in the past 10 years than they have gained, while another survey found that one-third of Americans think having “a strong leader who doesn’t have to bother with Congress or elections would be a good system of government.”
  • Jaroslav Flidr, told CBN News he never expected the Free World to turn out like this, and said he’s especially upset that many Americans seem okay with a loss of rights when it’s used against their political enemies.
  • Flidr said, “People whose rights are being removed, they really do not perceive it that way. That’s why they sometimes actually almost see it as a benefit. It’s a beneficial process because sometimes these rights are taken from people they don’t like and they applaud it. And in situations like that I always tell them, ‘Yeah, it might be actually pleasing now. Just wait until you are the object of this process when your rights are violated. When it’s done to you, you won’t find it as much fun as you’re finding it now.'”

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In UK 76yr old lady arrested for silently praying, accused of protesting

1 Peter 4:12-14 “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.”

Important Takeaways:

  • This Grandma Was Arrested for Praying Silently While Walking Outside: ‘Chilling Effect on Freedom’
  • A grandmother who was arrested in the UK for walking and praying silently near an abortion clinic is still awaiting trial a year after her arrest.
  • On that particular day, she walked past an abortion clinic and prayed silently. Lalor wore a face mask and kept a distance from others.
  • A police officer stopped the 76-year-old and asked why she was outdoors. When she said that she was “walking and praying,” the officer reportedly told her that she did not have a “reasonable excuse” to be outside and accused her of protesting.
  • Lalor explained. “When I was walking outdoors, I was praying in the privacy of my own mind. What kind of society are we, when people can be arrested simply for peacefully manifesting their faith in public?”
  • She was arrested, placed in a police car, charged, and fined 200 pounds (around $260 US$) under temporary coronavirus measures, ADF UK reports.
  • Lalor pled “not guilty” to the charge, however, her case has not been heard yet due to court delays.

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During Covid Freedom is Suppressed

Rev 6:7, 8 NCV When the Lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come!”8 I looked, and there before me was a pale horse. Its rider was named death, and Hades was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill people by war, by starvation, by disease, and by the wild animals of the earth.

Important Takeaways:

  • How These Western Countries Suppressed Freedom During COVID-19 Pandemic
  • Dennis Prager “Looking at the government overreach and abuses of power in virtually every other Western nation, one can only conclude that America truly is the last free man standing.”
  • Canada – Canada is one of the only countries in the world that bans the unvaccinated from all public transportation—airplanes, trains, and buses. And no Canadian home can entertain more than three non-household visitors—a ban that prevented families and friends from getting together for Christmas.
  • Europe – most European countries introduced the so-called health pass or “European COVID-19 Pass.”
  • Netherlands – anti-lockdown protest was banned by the mayor of Amsterdam, Femke Halsema, because people would “not be adhering to social distancing rules.” Thousands of people nevertheless showed up. They were met with drones, water cannons, and huge numbers of police. Footage capturing a police dog biting down on a peaceful protester’s arm has gone viral.
  • France – Starting next week, working from home will become compulsory for those who can. So, too, wearing a mask is compulsory throughout the country for everyone aged 11 and over in enclosed spaces and on public transport, on pain of a fine.
  • Australia – Australia placed most of its citizens under house arrest for much of 2021. Melbourne, the country’s second-largest city, described by the Voice of America on Oct. 21 as “officially the world’s most locked down city,” was locked down 260 days.  Residents were prohibited from traveling more than 5 kilometers from their homes. Schools were, and remain, closed, and international travel was, and remains, prohibited. Needless to say, all shops, bars, and restaurants were closed.

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Trump spy chief labels China biggest threat to freedom since World War Two

By Mark Hosenball

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The top U.S. intelligence official stepped up President Donald Trump’s harsh attacks on Beijing on Thursday by labeling China the biggest threat to democracy and freedom worldwide since World War Two and saying it was bent on global domination.

“The intelligence is clear: Beijing intends to dominate the U.S. and the rest of the planet economically, militarily and technologically,” Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe said in an opinion article posted on the Wall Street Journal website.

Ratcliffe, a former Republican congressman appointed by Trump to the top U.S. spy job last spring, said China posed “the greatest threat to America today, and the greatest threat to democracy and freedom world-wide since World War Two.”

Ratcliffe said China’s economic espionage approach was threefold: “Rob, Replicate and Replace.”

He said the strategy was for Chinese entities to steal American companies’ intellectual property, copy it and then supplant U.S. companies in the global market place.

He also charged that China had stolen U.S. defense technology to “fuel” an aggressive military modernization plan launched by President Xi Jinping.

Ratcliffe said that Chinese authorities had even “conducted human testing” on members of the Chinese army “in hopes of developing soldiers with biologically enhanced capabilities.”

He did not elaborate on this charge.

Ratcliffe’s Wall Street Journal essay was the latest broadside against China from the Trump administration as it seeks to cement the president’s tough-on-China legacy.

(Reporting by Mark Hosenball and David Brunnstrom; editing by Jonathan Oatis and Alexandra Hudson)

Hong Kong protesters pause to mark Sept. 11

By Jessie Pang

HONG KONG (Reuters) – Hong Kong activists called off protests on Wednesday in remembrance of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the United States and denounced a Chinese state newspaper report that they were planning “massive terror” in the Chinese-ruled city.

Hong Kong has been rocked by months of sometimes violent unrest, prompted by anger over planned legislation to allow extraditions to China, but broadening into calls for democracy and for Communist rulers in Beijing to leave the city alone.

“Anti-government fanatics are planning massive terror attacks, including blowing up gas pipes, in Hong Kong on September 11,” the Hong Kong edition of the China Daily said on its Facebook page, alongside a picture of the hijacked airliner attacks on the twin towers in New York.

“The 9/11 terror plot also encourages indiscriminate attacks on non-native speakers of Cantonese and starting mountain fires.”

The post said “leaked information was part of the strategy being schemed by radical protesters in their online chat rooms”.

The former British colony of Hong Kong returned to China in 1997 under a “one country, two systems” formula that guarantees freedoms not enjoyed on the mainland, including an independent legal system, triggering the anger over the extradition bill.

Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam has said she will withdraw the bill but many Hong Kong residents fear Beijing is steadily eroding the autonomy of the Asian financial hub.

China denies meddling and has accused the United States, Britain and others of fomenting the unrest.

“We don’t even need to do a fact check to know that this is fake news,” said one protester, Michael, 24, referring to the China Daily post. “The state media doesn’t care about its credibility. Whenever something they claimed to have heard on WhatsApp or friends’ friends, they will spread it right away.”

The protesters called off action on Wednesday.

“In solidarity against terrorism, all forms of protest in Hong Kong will be suspended on Sept. 11, apart from potential singing and chanting,” they said in a statement.

The China Daily report was worrying, said another protester, Karen, 23. “When they try to frame the whole protest with those words, it alarms me,” she said. “They are predicting rather than reporting. I think people calling it off today is a nice move.”

FAMILY FRICTIONS

The chairwoman of the Hong Kong Federation of Women, Pansy Ho, a prominent businesswoman and daughter of Macau casino operator Stanley Ho, said she was worried about violent extremism.

“Children of all ages are indoctrinated with police hatred and anti-establishment beliefs at school and online mobilized to conduct massive school strikes,” she told the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva.

Lam said in a speech on Wednesday that Hong Kong was grappling with significant challenges.

“My fervent hope is that we can bridge our divide by upholding the one country, two systems principle, and the Basic Law, and through the concerted efforts of the government and the people of Hong Kong,” she told business leaders.

The Basic Law is Hong Kong’s mini-constitution.

Hong Kong airline Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd has become the biggest corporate casualty of the unrest after China demanded it suspend staff involved in, or who support, the protests.

Cathay Pacific said on Wednesday inbound traffic to Hong Kong in August fell 38% and outbound traffic 12% compared with a year earlier, and that it did not anticipate September to be any less difficult.

Joshua Wong, one of the prominent leaders of the 2014 “Umbrella” pro-democracy movement which brought key streets in Hong Kong to a standstill for 79 days, said in Berlin that the fight for democracy was an uphill battle.

“I hope one day not only Hong Kong people, but also people in mainland China, can enjoy freedom and democracy,” he said.

The protests spread to the sports field on Tuesday, as many football fans defied Chinese law to boo the national anthem ahead of a soccer World Cup qualifier against Iran.

Several peaceful protests are planned for the next few days, combining with celebrations marking the Mid-Autumn Festival.

(Reporting by Jessie Pang, Farah Master, Jamie Freed, Cecile Mantovani in Geneva and Michelle Martin in Berlin; Writing by Nick Macfie; Editing by Mark Heinrich & Simon Cameron-Moore)

Taiwan says should educate its youth on dangers of China

FILE PHTO: Military honour guards attend a flag-raising ceremony at Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, in Taipei, Taiwan March 16, 2018. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu

TAIPEI (Reuters) – Taiwan should educate its youth about the risks presented by China where there is neither freedom nor democracy, Taiwan’s main body in charge of policy making toward its giant neighbor said on Friday.

China has been increasing its efforts to win over young Taiwanese, a key demographic to reach out to amid souring political relations between Beijing and Taipei, including offering incentives to set up businesses in China.

China claims Taiwan as its sovereign territory and considers people from the self-ruled island to be Chinese citizens.

In a statement issued after a meeting to discuss China’s recently concluded parliamentary session, Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council said the government should up efforts to counter China trying to attract talent, such as students and teachers.

“Some council members said that young people in Taiwan set great store on democracy and freedom, which is exactly what the environment in mainland Chinese society cannot provide,” it said.

“The government can strengthen and show off Taiwan’s advantages, and help young people understand the possible risks.”

Taiwan’s current government swept into power with the help of the youth-driven Sunflower Movement, protesting against a trade pact with China, something Taiwan’s government has said caught China’s attention, which is why China is now focusing on young Taiwanese.

Taiwan is one of China’s most sensitive issues, and China’s hostility toward the island has risen since Tsai Ing-wen from the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party won the presidency in 2016.

China fears she wants to push for formal independence, though Tsai says she wants to maintain the status quo and peace.

Chinese President Xi Jinping warned Taiwan on Tuesday it would face the “punishment of history” for any attempt at separatism, offering his strongest warning yet to the island.

China has also been infuriated by a new U.S. law which encourages contacts and exchanges between U.S. and Taiwanese officials even though they do not have formal ties.

The United States’ commitment to Taiwan has never been stronger and the island is an inspiration to the rest of the Indo-Pacific region, a senior U.S. diplomat said in Taipei this week.

The Mainland Affairs Council said it had noted that Chinese officials have been using the term “severe” of late to refer to relations across the Taiwan Strait.

“The future development of relations across the Taiwan Strait is still full of challenges, and it is not easy to be optimistic,” it added.

(Reporting by Twinnie Siu; Writing by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Nick Macfie)

After tough year, Hong Kong democracy protesters sound warning to China on New Year’s day

Pro-democracy protesters gather inside civic square, reopened for the first time since Occupy Central movement in 2014, at the government headquarters in Hong Kong, China January 1, 2018.

By Donny Kwok and Wyman Ma

HONG KONG (Reuters) – After a year that saw democracy advocates in Hong Kong jailed and ousted from public office, thousands marched through the streets of Hong Kong on New Year’s Day to warn China not to meddle further in the city’s affairs and undermine its autonomy.

Over the past year, Hong Kong, a former British colony which returned to Chinese rule in 1997, has experienced what critics and pro-democracy activists describe as an intensifying assault on its autonomy by China’s Communist Party leaders.

This is despite Beijing’s promises to grant the city wide-ranging freedoms including an independent judiciary, under a so-called “one country, two systems” framework.

Besides the controversial jailing of several prominent young activists for unlawful assembly over the massive 2014 “Occupy” pro-democracy protests, authorities also ejected six pro-democracy lawmakers from the legislature for failing to take proper oaths of office.

The city’s reputation as one of Asia’s most robust legal jurisdictions has also come under a cloud amidst accusations of a politicization of certain legal cases.

The protesters, who included many middle-aged and elderly citizens, held up banners and chanted the march’s main theme to “Protect Hong Kong” during a walk of several kilometers to the city’s government headquarters.

Others decried an unprecedented move by China’s parliament last week that said part of a high-speed railway station being built in Hong Kong would be regarded as mainland territory governed by mainland laws.

“We are here to tell the government that we will not give up,” said Joshua Wong, one of the democracy activists jailed last year, but who is now out on bail pending an appeal.

“We have encountered many difficulties last year, including some of us being sued and jailed, but we will stand with Hong Kong people. We will fight for the rule of law, fight for Hong Kong, fight for the future, fight for the next generations.”

Two protesters who dressed up as People’s Liberation Army soldiers said they were concerned about the reach of China’s security apparatus. Others called for full democracy as the only lasting means to safeguard the city’s way of life.

The organizers of the march said some 10,000 people had showed up. Police, however, put the figure at 6,200.

The demonstration was largely peaceful, though some protesters who tried to later gather in a forecourt of the government’s headquarters skirmished briefly with security guards.

The so-called “Civic Square” was where the 2014 pro-democracy protests first kicked off when a group of protesters stormed over a fence and faced off with local police.

Despite the defiance on show, some said they feared Hong Kong would continue to be squeezed by Beijing.

“Everyone’s doing what they can,” said Andy Lau who was among the marchers. “If we have the right to demonstrate then we should. But I’m not feeling positive. I think things will get worse.”

The Hong Kong government, in a statement, said it “fully respects the right of Hong Kong people to take part in processions and their freedom of expression”.

China’s leader Xi Jinping has said that while Hong Kong enjoys a high degree of autonomy under “one country, two systems”, Beijing still holds supreme authority over the city and won’t tolerate any challenge to its authority.

(Additional reporting by Chermaine Lee; Writing by James Pomfret; Editing by Adrian Croft)

U.S. hopes for more from Russia after Crimean prisoners freed

Kurt Volker, United States Special Representative for Ukraine Negotiations, speaks during an interview with Reuters in Kiev, Ukraine October 28, 2017. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko

By Matthias Williams

KIEV (Reuters) – The release of two Crimean Tatars from Russian custody this week was a good sign and hopefully means Russia will take positive steps in eastern Ukraine as well, the U.S. special envoy to the Ukraine peace talks said on Saturday.

Ukraine and Russia are at loggerheads over Russia’s annexation of the Crimean peninsula in 2014 and support for separatists in the Donbass region in a conflict that has killed more than 10,000 people despite a notional ceasefire.

Russia unexpectedly released a pair of Tatar activists on Wednesday thanks partly to an intervention by Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan. They have vowed to return to Crimea to campaign for the release of other prisoners.

“The fact that they were released is a small positive sign,” Kurt Volker told Reuters on a visit to Kiev, where he met the freed men. “It’s the kind of thing you hope you could build on that, Russia would build on that with some other steps with the Donbass,” he added.

A former ambassador to NATO, Volker was appointed in July by the Donald Trump administration to help resolve the Donbass conflict, which Washington cites as a key obstacle to better relations between the United States and Russia.

A recent sticking point is whether and how the United Nations should send a peacekeeping force to the region. Volker met Kremlin aide Vladislav Surkov in October for talks on this, which he said produced no breakthroughs but were “constructive”.

“What we are doing, is we are seeing whether we can create some common ideas for how a peacekeeping force could be useful in resolving the conflict,” Volker said, saying the force could only be effective with a stronger mandate than Russia envisages.

Russia denies sending its own troops or sophisticated weaponry to helping the separatists.

Volker blamed Russian aggression for the Donbass conflict but said a realization on Russia’s part that the violence is against its interests could spur a change in Moscow’s behavior.

“The real issue is Russia’s decision-making. Until now, Russia has been holding this territory, keeping this conflict alive, hoping that it provides some leverage over Ukraine,” Volker said.

“The reality has sunk in I believe that this has actually produced the opposite. It has produced a Ukraine that is more unified, more nationalist, more anti-Russian, more westward-looking than ever existed before.”

Volker also said the United States was “actively considering” supplying lethal defensive weapons to Kiev, a prospect that has riled Russia.

“No-one has any worry about someone defending themselves unless they are an aggressor, so it should not be that controversial an issue,” Volker said.

(Editing by Stephen Powell)