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"This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning…I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal…"And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true."Martin Luther King Jr." I have a dream speech" (March on Washington, August 28, 1963)On Wednesday August 27th, at the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado, before a crowd of 20,000, Barack Obama became the first biracial man to be officially nominated as presidential candidate by a major party. When the turn came for the delegates from the state of New York to vote, Obama had received 1,549 and Hillary Rodham-Clinton 231. Hillary then made a motion to suspend the roll call vote and select him by acclamation:"With eyes firmly fixed on the future in the spirit of unity, with the goal of victory, with faith in our party and country, let's declare together in one voice, right here and right now, that Barack Obama is our candidate and he will be our president."The night before, Hillary had made a gracious and persuasive speech in support of Obama, calling on her supporters to vote for the man that would bring health care to all Americans and restore the country's standing in the world, thus tacitly acknowledging that their platforms are one and the same. She had also reminded the audience that the (presidential) "glass ceiling now had 18 million cracks", a reference at the number of votes she received and a reminder of how close women had come this time around to win the Presidency, a white male domain until now. That was her way to give comfort to her female supporters, some of which have avowed to vote for McCain in the Fall. Then on Wednesday night it came up to Bill Clinton to put the proverbial final nail in the coffin of the bitter conflict that had bitterly divided the party up to then. He did it with a masterful, authoritative speech, in which he reassured the audience that Obama was just as ready for the Presidency as he himself had been in 1992. The clarity of his ideas and the perfect delivery reminded us all of why he will go down as one of the greatest Presidents in this country's History.Already by Wednesday night there was a sense of fulfillment and relief, since the unification of the Democratic Party was perceived by most Democrats as the Convention's main objective. The party had been divided since the 1970s, when the moderate, blue collar workers and Southerners became disgruntled with McGovern's socially liberal platform and voted for Nixon. Ten years later they would become known as the Reagan democrats, and the label would stick. Bill Clinton was able to bring them all back to the fold by focused policies and his ability to connect both with white and black blue-collar workers. But in the last eight years the divisions have reappeared, as it became plain during the primary: Obama appeals strongly to the black community and to white college educated youth but has been unable to extend that appeal to older women and white workers. That is why Hillary got 18 million votes. That is also why Obama's choice of Vice President is a solid one. Senator Joseph Biden, with his Catholic, blue-collar background, his toughness and his 30 years of experience in the Senate, and his wisdom and knowledge of foreign affairs, has added weight and credibility to the ticket. The expectation is that this formula will reunite the fractured party once again.This has been a historic Convention in more ways than one: the first African-American to win the nomination, the first woman to come so close to winning it, the passing of the torch to a new generation of Americans by Ted Kennedy, the brilliant speech by Bill Clinton which by all measures restores his stature within the party. But more than anything else, this Convention is historic because, as Clinton said, Barack Obama is "the twenty first century incarnation of the American Dream", and a reaffirmation of Ted Kennedy's proclamation on the first day of the Convention, that "the Dream Lives on" in Obama.The climax came on Thursday night with Obama's long awaited acceptance speech at the closing of the Convention. It was a carefully choreographed affair, overlaid with symbolism. Delivered before a crowd of 75,000 at the INVESCO open-air stadium at Mile High, against a background evoking the pillars of the Lincoln Memorial, it was watched by a TV audience of around 40 million and ended with fireworks across the Colorado sky. Barack Obama is also the first candidate since John F Kennedy to choose an open-to-the public venue to deliver his acceptance speech. There were some risks to this venue, from security to climactic. But more than anything else, his greatest challenge on this historic night was to communicate to his huge audience and the American nation at large, that he is not just a great orator but that he understands their woes and has the fortitude to fight for them; that he is ready to battle ahead and bring about the change he so brilliantly articulates in his speeches, and that this young man standing before them, half preacher, half professor, is also a practical politician, able to back his ideas with concrete and feasible plans. As Richard Haas says in his latest article on the Foreign Affairs Journal, the next president must confront "the reality of the country's expectations" and he must do so by "identifying meaningful yet achievable goals and lay them out before the nation…and then achieve them through leadership skills that will be tested by pressures unimaginable to anyone who has not held he job." Obama passed this difficult test on the first two requirements. The third is awaiting him, if elected in November.By most accounts, the speech was an overwhelming success. Obama presented a complete blueprint on how he will govern if elected. He first listed all the issues Americans are dissatisfied with, starting with the economy and ending with Iraq. He then outlined his specific policies to solve these problems. He subsequently gave examples of how McCain is closely aligned with George W. Bush's failed policies, thus demolishing his opponent's claims of independence from the incumbent. Finally, he presented himself as open-minded and pragmatic, willing to find middle ground on the so-called culture wars issues (gays, guns, abortion) that are frequently framed as false choices to elicit emotions, not rationality, from the part of the voters. He re-introduced himself to the public as a common man, with personal accounts of his childhood as son of a single mother, who raised him with the help of her parents and at times had to use food stamps to take care of him; of his admiration for his grandfather, a WWII veteran who went to college on the GI bill and taught him hard work, pride and love of country. Looking straight into the cameras, he humanized his message and connected with people. He was able to turn the tables on John McCain, who he presented as elitist, out of touch and thus, less trustworthy. His move to the middle ground on cultural issues ("We can withhold the Second Amendment and still get AK 47s out of the hands of criminals") and his calls for greater civic and parental responsibility ("Government cannot replace parents in educating their children…") gave consistency to his claim of post-partisanship.By asserting that America is the best hope for the world, he rejected the notion that only Republicans are patriotic ("Democrats can own that, too."). He also defied the fallacy that Democrats are weak on foreign policy ("We are the party of FDR and JFK, so don't tell us Democrats that we cannot defend the country…and restore the moral standing for all who fight for freedom."). And he did all this not so much with the soaring rhetoric of his earlier speeches, but with a tone of strength and defiance. He took the fight to John Mc Cain, promising to debate him not on petty issues but on who has the "judgment and the temperament" to be Commander-in-Chief. He thereby injected the question of McCain's short temper into the Fall campaign. The speech ended with an evocation of Martin Luther King's I have a dream speech delivered on this same day forty-five years ago at the Lincoln Memorial, and a pledge to once more "March forward together."Memories of the Democratic National Conventions and the momentum created by this brilliant speech were not, however, destined to linger for long in the American psyche. They were shattered by two events, one man-made, one natural. On Friday, August 29th, John McCain made an announcement that caused quite a stir in the media and public alike. He chose as his Vice president Mrs. Sarah Palin, the little-known first-term female governor of Alaska, a no exceptions pro-lifer who believes that Creationism should be taught in the schools alongside Evolution, and whose thin political résumé is startling to most observers. After they recovered from the initial shock, some pundits were able to articulate the intriguing yet-to be-answered question: was this the brilliant decision of a crafty tactician or the insane choice of an impulsive, overly ambitious politician? Is this a masterful stroke or a risky gamble? Only time will tell.That same day, Mrs. Palin had to share the limelight with Gustav, an impervious hurricane that was making its way toward the Gulf Coast at vertiginous speed and strength. Plans for the Republican National Convention to start on Monday had to be scrapped, while McCain and Palin made their way to Mississippi, turning this into an opportunity to distance themselves early on from Bush's fiasco during hurricane Katrina two years ago. Most Convention events were suspended for Monday and Tuesday and replaced by a bare-bones schedule of committee meetings, while the crucial events (vice-presidential speech and nomination vote) start this Wednesday and culminate Thursday with McCain's acceptance speech. This could turn out to be a blessing in disguise for Republicans. Courtesy of Gustav, now downgraded to a grade one hurricane, speeches by Bush and Cheney were cancelled. The President, who hastily made his way to New Orleans, may still speak for a short time via satellite on Wednesday, which will give him an opportunity to amend the terrible legacy of Katrina by replacing those images in the minds of the public with a much improved disaster relief response to Gustav.Palin is expected to give a good speech at the Convention. As a young political reformer who has fought corruption in her home state, she has energized the campaign. As a social conservative with deep convictions against abortion she has galvanized the conservative Evangelical base of the party. She is attractive and warm, and connects easily with the public, one of the few advantages of her political experience in Alaska, a sparsely populated state that requires extensive face-to-face contact with voters. An active hunter and life-long member of the NRA, she may be able to connect with the kind of independent blue-collar and rural voters that Obama has not been able to appeal to. But Palin has never been under the extreme national scrutiny that the next few months will bring, nor has she had to answer any unscripted questions about a wide variety of topics from the often vicious national press. Mc Cain picked her over men with extensive experience in economic matters (Mitt Romney) and in homeland security (Tom Ridge), both of whom had been extensively vetted. His choice of Palin as running mate is even more surprising if we consider that his main campaign theme against Obama was the latter's lack of executive experience. In contrast with Palin, Obama has had his trial-by-fire in the primary debates and through 18 months of campaigning. He has run against formidable candidates in the Primary, has been repeatedly tested by the media, and has emerged as the choice of Democratic voters. Palin, on the other hand, has one year of executive experience and a gaping lack of foreign policy knowledge. She is the choice of one man, John McCain, who has only met her twice. What will be the public's perception of Palin's credibility and readiness to step in as President should something happen to McCain? Did McCain, always the maverick, abdicate in his duty to the people by not choosing someone manifestly ready for the presidency? We may have some answers to these questions in a week or two.For those that expect Hillary's women to flock to the Republican side just because of McCain's Vice-presidential pick, think again. If there is one principle those women activists care about is the protection of the Roe v Wade Supreme Court decision, so they would be loath to vote for a strongly anti-abortion candidate such as Palin. Nevertheless, Obama does need to worry about the white blue-collar workers' vote. He has been consistently ahead in the polls but the margin has narrowed somewhat. He is now 6 percentage points ahead in the polls (47% to 41%) but so far has been unable to break the 50% barrier. Given the byzantine workings of the Electoral College in a presidential election, even a sliver of independents and Reagan democrats here and there (especially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Michigan) can win this election for McCain. The long-awaited Autumn of Freedom would then become for many, the Winter of Discontent.Senior Lecturer, Department of Political Science and Geography Director, ODU Model United Nations Program Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia

El presente trabajo tiene como objetivo estudiar unas de las cuestiones más conflictivas a las que se enfrentan los países occidentales en relación con el derecho a la libertad religiosa: la utilización de símbolos religiosos en el ámbito laboral. El estudio realizado tiene dos objetivos: el primero, relacionar el empleo con la vestimenta de significación religiosa; el segundo, la presencia de símbolos religiosos personales en el ámbito público. Para lograr ambos objetivos, se analizan las distintas formas de gestionar las culturas, la no discriminación por motivos religiosos, los símbolos y vestimenta de naturaleza religiosa, hasta llegar a un aspecto más concreto que es el ámbito laboral, el cual analizaremos a través del estudio de tres sentencias del Tribunal Europeo de los Derechos Humanos y actual sentencia dictada sobre cuestión de prejudicial planteada al Tribunal de Justicia de la Unión Europea. ; The objective of this paper is to study some of the most conflictive issues facing Western countries in relation to the right to religious freedom: the use of religious symbols in the workplace. The study carried out has two objectives: the first, to relate employment with clothing of religious significance; the second, the presence of personal religious symbols in the public sphere. To achieve both objectives, we analyze the different ways of managing cultures, non-discrimination for religious reasons, symbols and clothing of a religious nature, until we reach a more concrete aspect that is the work environment, which we will analyze through the study of three judgments of the European Court of Human Rights and current ruling handed down on a question of preliminary ruling submitted to the Court of Justice of the European Union. ; Máster Universitario en Acceso a la Profesión de Abogado (M155)

En este artículo vamos a presentar una muestra de la manera como en Francia, la aclamada cuna y morada de la libertad de expresión, se censura, persigue, e incluso se encarcela a quienes se atreven a criticar el lobby israelí o sus posturas no están en sintonía con el pensamiento "tibio", de derecha, del mundo académico y cultural.

Western countries are indebted to the political and economic freedoms put in place in the eighteenth century by France, the United States and Britain, among which are freedom of thought, speech and press. In this paper a brief review of the origins and evolution of these concepts is presented, and then focuses on the elements of the current environment that are affecting their interpretation and enforcement. The development of digital technology, the socalled globalization and the economic crisis in developed countries pose new limits to these freedoms, compromising the role of the media and journalism in the social construction of reality. The analysis considers freedom of thought as a prerequisite for the existence of freedom of speech, with press freedom being a collective right corollary of the previous two. ; Los países occidentales son deudores de las libertades políticas y económicas instauradas en el siglo XVIII, por Francia, Estados Unidos y Gran Bretaña, entre las que se encuentran la libertad de pensamiento, de expresión y de prensa. En este texto se presenta una breve revisión de los orígenes y evolución de estos conceptos, para centrarse después en los elementos del entorno actual que están condicionando su interpretación y vigencia. El desarrollo de la tecnología digital, la mal llamada globalización y la crisis económica en los países desarrollados plantean nuevos límites a estas libertades, comprometiendo el papel de los medios de comunicación y el periodismo en la construcción social de la realidad. El análisis considera la libertad de pensamiento como requisito previo para la existencia de libertad de expresión, siendo la libertad de prensa un derecho colectivo corolario de los dos anteriores.

Plato uses the myth of Er in the Republic in order to carve out space for political freedom and responsibility for human freedom in the ordinary polis. While much of the Republic concentrates on the development of an ideal city in speech, that city is fundamentally a mythos presented in order for Socrates and his friends to learn something about political and individual virtue. The city in which Socrates and his friends exist is an imperfect city and myth of Er is intended for those audience members. Its emphasis on the necessity for personal responsibility in the midst of freedom can be understood as a political claim about the place of individual choice in a world that is constrained by both political and cosmic "necessity".

Plato uses the myth of Er in the Republic in order to carve out space for political freedom and responsibility for human freedom in the ordinary polis. While much of the Republic concentrates on the development of an ideal city in speech, that city is fundamentally a mythos presented in order for Socrates and his friends to learn something about political and individual virtue. The city in which Socrates and his friends exist is an imperfect city and myth of Er is intended for those audience members. Its emphasis on the necessity for personal responsibility in the midst of freedom can be understood as a political claim about the place of individual choice in a world that is constrained by both political and cosmic "necessity".

The tension between freedom and security, between the wishes of the group against those of the individual, has been in force sice the birth of human societies. Two antagonistic elements that complement each other, from the political sphere to our psyche, this struggle of opposites is constant and we can hardly detach ourselves from it. Security is born from the desire to safeguard freedom so in the end, it ends up being self-limited, paradoxically. The human being has required the emergence of the second mentioned to be able to fight his own species. The combination of both categories is the key of success. ; La tensión entre libertad y seguridad, entre los deseos del colectivo frente a los del propio individuo, ha estado vigente desde el nacimiento de las sociedades humanas. Dos elementos antagónicos que se complementan, desde el ámbito político hasta en la psique, dicha lucha de contrarios es constante y difícilmente podemos desligarnos de la misma. La seguridad nace del deseo de salvaguardar la libertad; por lo que al fin y al cabo, se acaba autolimitado a ella misma, paradójicamente. El ser humano ha requerido del surgimiento de la segunda mencionada para poder combatir a los de su propia especie. La combinación de ambas categorías es la clave del éxito.

In this paper, selected fromm II Olympiad of Philosophy that FICUM organized in high school, we discussed the issue of freedom is from the point of view of the various areas of philosophy. ; En este trabajo,, seleccionado en la II Olimpiada de Filosofía que organiza FICUM en secundaria, se trata el tema de la libertad desde el punto de vista de los diferentes ámbitos de la filosofía.

It is argued that university education has a moral and social function in society. Its purpose is to provide a liberal education (developing the intellect by challenging it to grapple freely with difficult ideas), the development of new knowledge and the provision of trustworthy, disinterested research. To serve society in this way safeguards are necessary: a separation from the state, giving institutional autonomy and academic freedom in teaching and research. With the rise of extreme free market capitalism and the "knowledge society", these safeguards are being eroded: national governments, partly through the ramifications of the Bologna convergence process, are in the process of moulding universities to the needs of the market, and now see the accommodation of students to the workplace as the principal, or indeed only, objective for a university education. Example of the consequences of these changes are discussed, including the corruption of research integrity and erosion of individual liberties.

Durante los viajes de la Comisión Corográfica, empresa entre el Gobierno del presidente José Hilario López y el geógrafo Agustín Codazzi en la que acordaron levantar la Carta General de la Nueva Granada y de sus provincias, un equipo viajó documentando el territorio y las costumbres de la población, afrontando dificultades que llevaron a la Comisión a un final anticipado. Rememorando el épico trabajo de los artistas, el dibujo "Viajeros tolimenses" del pintor Ramón Torres Méndez inspira un proyecto de instalación audiovisual, una historia de ficción en animación construida con material de archivo y sonido cuadrafónico que revive los viajes del pintor Manuel María Paz, el geógrafo Agustín Codazzi, el botánico José Jerónimo Triana y el ayudante Carrasquel. ; During the Chorographic Commission´s journeys, an enterprise held between president José Hilario López Government and geographer Agustin Codazzi where both parties agreed to draw the General Map of New Granada and its provinces, a team traveled documenting the territory and people´s costumes, facing difficulties which lead to the Commission's anticipated end. Recalling the artists' epic work, this audiovisual installation and fiction animated short draws upon Ramón Torres Méndez's "Viajeros tolimenses" painting. Built on a reinterpretation of found footage and quadraphonic sound, it rekindles the journeys of painter Manuel María Paz, geographer Agustín Codazzi, botanic José Jerónimo Triana and helper Carrasquel. ; Magíster en Creación Audiovisual ; Maestría

Starting from the idea that education is at the service of personal freedom, the author of this article explains and justifies the thesis that in order to form free persons, freedom of education is an indispensable condition. After identifying the concepts of education, freedom, and person, as well as the relationships that exist between the educactional process and the right to education, the author warns that the meaning of freedom and the acceptance of responsability are closely related to the concept which one holds of person and especially to the difference between considering the person as a beginning or as a result. If the human person is understood to be a starting principle, then implicitly we say that the person constitutes the free origin of all action, for which there is complete responsability. If, on the other hand, we consider man to be the result of, say, social, biological or technological factors, then neither freedom nor responsability can be attributed to him. The author then studies the Reductionist conceptions of education which are in vogue today. These are the Pragmatistic, Political and Criticistic approaches. He especially underlines the difficulties and obstacles that lie in the face of freedom of education, arising from the confusion between educative action and social or political action, a confusion that stems principally from Social Determinism. The author then underlines the points of friction that arise from different opinions and attitudes with respect to the distinct contents of the educational process and which are projected mainly in the field of the different interpretations given of culture as well as in the field of personal values, especially religious values. The action of the State can be effective in the field of technical affairs but it does not possess any legitimate capacity to impose a particular interpretation of culture or of the religious fact. For this reason, in the field of education the action of the State can only be a propelling and permitting force, or, ...

Issued on 1966, the Freedom of information act is certainly the most famous law regarding the right of access to public information. Often mentioned with the Privacy act, this text could be very important also for services to users for public, research or other kind of libraries. Importance connected with the necessity of giving to a user who is looking for a subject all the possible kind of information, traditional or not. So the opportunity to give the access to the documents produced by the United States public administration could be very useful for a library user.After a brief talk about the problem of the sources that can be useful for a panoramic view on the Freedom of Information Act, the law is examined more detailed.Using the FOIA. it's possible to ask government agencies to disclose certain types of records.FOIA defines an agency in that way: the agencies, offices and departments of the Executive branch of the federal government; independent federal regulatory agencies; federal government-controlled corporations. But FOIA does not apply to the federal entities, like the Congress, the Federal Courts or executive office staff such as the White House Chief of Staff, State and local government agencies or private organizations.There are also three exclusions and nine exemptions. If a record falls within any of these, an agency may refuse to disclose it, or denies the existence of the record itself if it falls within the three exclusions.It is important to remember that these exemptions are not mandatory, but discretionary. That means an agency can choose to release records to you even after it has determined the records fall within one or more of the above exemptions. The agency can also choose to give access to a record after the portions which are exempt have been deleted from it. There must be other two circumstances to access the record required. The agency record must already exists, because FOIA does not require an agency to create a record just to satisfy your request. The record must be within both the possession and the control of the federal agency at the time you make your FOIA request.The law establishes also times and costs for the answer of the agency and the eventual administrative appeal.It's a good practice to make a request under both Freedom of information act and privacy Act.The Privacy act, issued in 1974, give the right to U.S. citizens or permanent residents to ask government agencies about records regarding themselves. The Privacy act provides low costs and less exemptions.In 1996 the Freedom of information act was amended to be confirmed to the electronic documents.At last a brief comparison between FOIA. and the Italian situation gives the evidence that the Italian law n. 241 of 1990, Nuove norme in materia di procedimento amministrativo e di diritto di accesso ai documenti amministrativi, is better comparable with the Privacy act that with the Freedom of information act ; Issued on 1966, the Freedom of information act is certainly the most famous law regarding the right of access to public information. Often mentioned with the Privacy act, this text could be very important also for services to users for public, research or other kind of libraries. Importance connected with the necessity of giving to a user who is looking for a subject all the possible kind of information, traditional or not. So the opportunity to give the access to the documents produced by the United States public administration could be very useful for a library user.After a brief talk about the problem of the sources that can be useful for a panoramic view on the Freedom of Information Act, the law is examined more detailed.Using the FOIA. it's possible to ask government agencies to disclose certain types of records.FOIA defines an agency in that way: the agencies, offices and departments of the Executive branch of the federal government; independent federal regulatory agencies; federal government-controlled corporations. But FOIA does not apply to the federal entities, like the Congress, the Federal Courts or executive office staff such as the White House Chief of Staff, State and local government agencies or private organizations.There are also three exclusions and nine exemptions. If a record falls within any of these, an agency may refuse to disclose it, or denies the existence of the record itself if it falls within the three exclusions.It is important to remember that these exemptions are not mandatory, but discretionary. That means an agency can choose to release records to you even after it has determined the records fall within one or more of the above exemptions. The agency can also choose to give access to a record after the portions which are exempt have been deleted from it. There must be other two circumstances to access the record required. The agency record must already exists, because FOIA does not require an agency to create a record just to satisfy your request. The record must be within both the possession and the control of the federal agency at the time you make your FOIA request.The law establishes also times and costs for the answer of the agency and the eventual administrative appeal.It's a good practice to make a request under both Freedom of information act and privacy Act.The Privacy act, issued in 1974, give the right to U.S. citizens or permanent residents to ask government agencies about records regarding themselves. The Privacy act provides low costs and less exemptions.In 1996 the Freedom of information act was amended to be confirmed to the electronic documents.At last a brief comparison between FOIA. and the Italian situation gives the evidence that the Italian law n. 241 of 1990, Nuove norme in materia di procedimento amministrativo e di diritto di accesso ai documenti amministrativi, is better comparable with the Privacy act that with the Freedom of information act