Even before the rise of Adolf Hitler, Winston Churchill warned of the danger of the Nazis, only to be fought at every turn by the British government. What Churchill had foreshadowed became reality as one by one Poland, Norway, Denmark, Belgium, the Netherlands and France had fallen under Nazi control.

In the spring of 1940, Britain was the last one standing, the last barricade to all of Europe being under Hitler’s full control. The man leading Britain onto the battlefield was Churchill, who had been prime minister all of six weeks.

As the threat of invasion encroached from a Nazi-occupied France, Churchill, on this day 73 years ago, gave what historians have called one of the greatest speeches -- the “finest hour” speech of June 18, 1940 -- ever delivered in the English language.

George Orwell’s “1984” has recently made it onto Amazon’s bestsellers list -- with sales booming -- and the credit belongs to our government.

“Thanks to the ongoing National Security Administration surveillance scandal, George Orwell’s ‘1984’ is enjoying a surge in popularity, landing at No. 4 on Amazon’s list of ‘Movers and Shakers,’” the Los Angeles Times reported. “Sales of Orwell’s classic have risen an astonishing 5,771% as of Tuesday morning, with a current sales rank of 213, up from 12,507 just a few days ago. A different editing has even made it onto Amazon’s top 100 bestsellers list. It’s a nice birthday present for the 1949 novel, which marked its 64th anniversary on June 8 amid revelations that made Orwell’s ‘Big Brother’ seem more relevant than ever.”

I suppose readers need the reminder that, as Orwell wrote, nothing is your own “except the few cubic centimeters inside your skull.”

Imran Firasat, a Pakistani Muslim-turned-Christian, has, to put it lightly, endured quite a bit for exercising his right of freedom of expression, namely his right to speak out against Islam.

Firasat, who converted to Christianity in 2004, said the reason he left Islam was because he “realized that what I was following for 26 years of my life is not a religion but in reality is a political dictatorship which persecutes and teaches to persecute through the orders and teaching of a self-proclaimed prophet (Muhammad).”

For those who believe Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is pushing a religious agenda, Friday’s passing of legislation banning the advertising of alcohol, and the time it can be purchased, has provided more fodder.

Passed through Turkish Parliament as a measure to reduce the harm of booze on young people, the ban, as Haaretz wrote, thereby restricts the sale to adults, too. Clause 58 of the Turkish Constitution, as Erdogan cited, says that “the state will take the steps necessary to protect its youth from addiction to alcohol, drugs, crime and gambling.”

As a few in the Twitter world have noted, when the New York Times editorial board writes a piece blasting President Barack Obama’s administration, and supports Fox News, you know you’ve done something wrong.

Citing the FBI’s specific targeting of Fox News reporter James Rosen in a 2009 leak investigation, NYT wrote:

“With the decision to label a Fox News television reporter a possible ‘co-conspirator’ in a criminal investigation of a news leak, the Obama administration has moved beyond protecting government secrets to threatening fundamental freedoms of the press to gather news.”