In #LibrePlanet talk about #GNU#Taler the speaker Iván Alejandro Ávalos Díaz is warning us about our future in 2050 where we no longer have #Freedoms to choose our payment systems, pay with cash, or pay at all if we were behaving 'naughty'.
"The idea that the United States must become a Christian nation has apparently led Barr to accept the idea that a man who has called for the execution of those he sees as enemies should be president, apparently because he is expected to usher in an authoritarian Christian state, in preference to a man who is using the power of the government to help ordinary Americans."
The threat to all of our #Freedoms from Christian Nationalists in high office cannot be overstated.
One of my very good friends is researching #internet#freedoms in #singapore and elaborated this survey for expat content creators in the country. She would really appreciate it if it reached the niche target it focuses on. @academicchatter @academicsunite
As President Biden took the stage to make sure everyone understands the stakes in the 2024 election, #Freedoms and #Democracy vs. narcissistic autocracy, the finance headlines look like this:
"The US labor market just had one of its best years of the decade. 5 charts tell the story." 1
and this:
"December jobs report: US economy adds 216,000 jobs, shocking Wall Street" 2
with the 2nd piece including this:
"What we're seeing with companies is insistent hiring, especially small businesses" ...
There should be no doubt that President Biden's economic sea change, ending trickle down Reagonomics in favor of bottom up/middle out Bidenomics is working to boost the fortunes of working families in America.
Always remember that we, those who recognize Trump, Trumpism, and White, racist Christian Nationalist infused MAGAism as a real and present threat to our nation and our #Freedoms, are the majority in America.
If we vote, we will win and we will protect our #Freedoms and our country.
The order of operation for wrestling back control is reversed. First get rid of gerrymandering then there is a fighting chance in purple states.
This is being done, or at least worked on in states with popular referendums.
It can/will also be positively influenced by pending federal voting rights legislation that should get passed if we can hold the White House & Senate and retake the House.
More evidence of the salience of #TheFreedomToDecide in every state. Democrats are already running hard as defenders of our #Freedoms with #TheFreedomToDecide front and center, at the same time highlighting just how radical MAGA Republicans are in their drive to take away our #Freedoms.
Worrisome press freedoms issues in Canada. #oil and #gas industry, the Alberta government. Below is from today's newsletter from @thenarwhal
May 3, 2023. United Conservative Party Leader Danielle Smith recently told #CTV News she believes everyone’s rights under the Canadian Constitution need to be protected.
“They are dearly important to me and all Albertans,” Smith told the news outlet in a statement. “I am impressed with any political leader that stood up for the core Charter rights of freedom of speech, expression, religion, assembly and association these last several years. That shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone.”
But my recent experience dealing with the #Alberta#government tells a different story — an experience that points to glaring shortfalls in free speech in Canada as we mark World Press Freedom Day on May 3.
In March, I started filing a series of requests for records from four different Alberta ministries. Thanks to reporting by my colleagues Carl Meyer and Drew Anderson in December, I knew officials had been meeting in secretive committees with oil and gas lobbyists to cook up new government policies and decisions.
These are decisions affecting public health, public safety, the environment and the economy. They have larger national and international implications, but are immediately important in Alberta, where voters are about to head to the polls for a general election, with only a few pieces of the full picture.
I used a provincial transparency law — the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act — to request the records. I’ve been using laws such as this one for nearly two decades as an important tool for my reporting.
But I wasn’t prepared for what happened next.
In recent weeks, the four ministries systematically refused to accept 26 separate requests for meeting records with lobbyists over the past two years.
As my requests came in, internal correspondence shows how officials from a central Alberta office sprung into action. But instead of figuring out how to release information, they actually organized a meeting to discuss how to refuse my requests for records.
This effort to stifle my reporting is just the latest example of how journalists in Canada are increasingly facing obstacles to doing their jobs.
As some of you know, The Narwhal has asked the courts to review whether the RCMP and the federal government infringed on press freedom in November 2021, when officers arrested photojournalist Amber Bracken and kept her in jail for several days.
The Narwhal’s award-winning staff are also among those struggling to cope with rising hostility and online harassment, particularly of women journalists. Our Ontario bureau chief, Denise Balkissoon, has also documented how a troubling lack of transparency in her province about changes to protected areas and the Greenbelt region is “a violation of democracy that will affect Ontarians for generations to come.”
The first part of Canada’s Constitution — the Charter of Rights and Freedoms — guarantees “#freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression, including freedom of the press and other media of communication.”
To me, this means we must all be empowered with the information that allows us to exercise those #rights and #freedoms.
In healthy #democracies, this would mean elected representatives introduce and support laws that ensure information about their government is also free. And so freedom of information laws become an extension of free speech — one that applies to all members of the public, regardless of their identity.
At The Narwhal, we take these rights seriously. We consider it part of our responsibility as journalists to ensure you are empowered and informed about matters that could affect your health and safety, as well as the environment and economy.
We aren’t intimidated by those who are opposed to free speech and a free #press — and we haven’t played our last card in this battle to shine a light on secrecy.
Thanks for reading and supporting The #Narwhal as we fight for press freedom.
@AskPippa@thenarwhal How about the freedom for a sole proprietor to be paid to do work that the government couldn't do, #DanielleSmith? The #UCP owes me money.