Help Save Abdulkarim al-Khaiwani

Cross-posted from Jane Novak of Armies of Liberation (Scroll down to the bottom of this post to sign the petition if you’re short on time. It’s a good cause):

While the USS Cole bombers are all free in Yemen, my friend the Yemeni journalist Abdulkarim al-Khaiwani will be sentenced May 21 in a bogus trial and likely will get the death penalty or a long prison term. He is charged with insulting the president and demoralizing the military with an article about the Sa’ada war. He is an internationally renowned journalist and one of Yemen’s most prominent and outspoken democracy advocates

This is the guy I made the online petition for in March 2005 and the bloggers all helped and he got amnesty. Since then he and I have become good friends. He loves democracy as much as I do. And he’s paid the price for it. Since he was released in 2005, Al-Khaiwani has been beaten, kidnapped, censored and imprisoned. His paper was cloned, his website blocked and his children threatened.

Al-Khaiwani was badly beaten during his arrest in June 2007. His daughter, six year old Ebba, was slapped by police so hard that she fell unconscious. After Al-Khaiwani’s arrest and release on bail, he was kidnapped and badly beaten again. The US State Department issued a statement from DC noting his abduction pointed to, “disturbing trend of intimidation and harassment of Yemen’s journalist community.”

Al-Khaiwani was charged on July 4 with aiding the rebel movement by publishing war news. As you may know, the war in Sa’ada has been called a state sponsored genocide with strong parallels to the Sudan. I published photos of the damage in Sa’ada caused by indiscriminate (or deliberate) government bombing. I interviewed rebel spokesman Yahya al-Houthi, and posted it. (This website is now banned in Yemen.) By the standard of “demoralizing the military”, I’d also be subject to the death penalty if I was in Yemen. So would half of the bloggers here in the US.

As al-Khawiani’s sentencing approaches on May 21, fear is growing in Yemen and internationally that a guilty verdict in his case will open the door for a brutal crackdown on Yemen’s already endangered journalistic community.

Some Al-Khaiwani quotes:

October 27, 2005 Yemen Times article by al-Khawiani “Stop Attacking the American Journalist” :

“Being an independent political article, Jane is an effective voice having its strong reverberation in different parts of the world. After their failure to attract Novak to their side, the Yemeni authorities turned to terrorize journalists, harm the reputation of Novak and prevent the circulation of her articles in the country in order not to let the Yemeni journalists know the westerners who back them.”

From my article after his 2007 arrest:

Dec 2004, he wrote me from jail, “Democracy and freedom are not granted by a leader or a regime, it is a world wide human achievement of all the free people on earth.” and “I believe in democracy, freedom, equality and rights and am willing to suffer for their sake simply because I do not wish my children to suffer dictatorship and I will strive to provide them a better future.”

May 2004, “We will continue our fight against corrupt crooks at the power center who are annoyed by the reports that have touched their interests,” he told the Yemen Times.

December 2006, he wrote to the United Nations, “The State hunts us, abuses our rights, and restrict our freedom of expressions. We were subjected to abduction, forcible disappearance, and illegal and unconstitutional arrests. We are deprived of our livelihood sources because we criticize corruption and the military regime that has been grasping power for 28 years.” (The United Nations failed to respond.)

In February 2007, al-Khaiwani was forcibly brought to court related to a published article. “I wished the court showed a similar zest in Anisah Al-Shuabi’s case or doing justice to Raash villagers,” he noted, referring to women raped by police and an entire village displaced at the whim of a sheik.

February 2007, he said his website Al-Shoura was blocked, “because we are criticizing corruption, the prejudices of rights and freedoms, and our continuing need for political and cultural reforms and good governance.”

December 2007: Al-Khiwani told MENASSAT.COM, “I am paying the price for believing the government and its claims about pursuing rise of democracy. After they broke into my house and terrified my family and kidnapped me in public, in front of the Al-Nida newspaper, I have this feeling that the authorities have decided to spill my blood.”

Article 19’s report on Yemen, “Freedom of Expression in Peril”, contains this from Al-Khaiwani, “They mobilize religion, laws and even the tribe against us. We, on the other hand, only own our dreams. They even want to rob us of this.”

Some links
4/28/08: IFJ Calls on Yemeni President to End Intimidation of Independent Journalism and Media
2/6/08: CPJ Annual report Yemen
1/22/08:
CPJ’s Senate Foreign Relations Committee Testimony about al-Khaiwani’s case
11/2007: RSF: Journalist faces possible death penalty over photos “liable to undermine army morale”
9/07/07: US State Department Notes Disturbing Trend
8/27/07: CPJ: Yemeni editor abducted, severely beaten
8/26/07: RSF Despite Denials, Security Officials Were Involved in the Kidnapping
7/5/07:
CPJ troubled by terror charges against outspoken Yemeni editor

Of course, in reality, He Beat Himself Up to Embarrass the Security Forces: Commenting on the kidnapping, the state-run media quoted an unidentified security official as saying, “The allegations are pure lies and fabrications similar to a play arranged with the objective of offending the reputation of the security agencies and the political regime, pluralism and democracy.”

7/16/07 Apology Letter to Al-Khaiwani from His Lawyer Khaled Al-Anesi: What Can Be Done by Lawyer in Cases Where Accused Is Convicted Until Proved Otherwise

Your release does not need a defense memo or a lawyer request, but needs a moment of euphoria by the one who gave the directions to arrest you that he heard enough about the champions of detaining, beating and insulting you, preventing others to visit you and ignoring your requests and your case details to the extent that they detained you in your underwear….Father of Wala’a (name of his second daughter), note that the judge and prosecution voices were transferred through microphones whereas there is no microphone in the hands of defense or in your hands and then you will understand why I refused to stand when I was requested to stand to defend you as I prefer not to be a defendant without a voice…

The Power of the Pen my article from December 13, 2004, . Iran Daily (they stole it from a Pakistani newspaper) and didn’t even put my name.

Links on al-Khaiwani’s 2004 imprisonment:

Internatinal Federation of Journalists
Arab Free Press Watch
International Freedom of Expression Exchange
Reporters Sans Frontiers
The Washington Times

super short version:

Sign here. Its a letter campaign to the Yemeni government, US and EU for Yemeni journalist al-Khaiwani who may be sentenced to death in two weeks for insulting the president. We can’t have that. No.

So sign a letter here.

Update: Side bar widget available ( thanks Vicky) Write me for the code: jane.novak@gmail.com

Update 2: Nicki is doing the links. Yay!

Paultards trying to subvert the National Convention (posted by Beth)

I saw this at Digg (where else?) last week, but ignored it after burying it. It seems, though, that Paultards are quite serious about hijacking the Republican Convention. If you don’t want to see the “plan” at the Paultards’ blogs, read it here. Snip:

*The Strategy:*

The strategy therefore must be to get as many Ron Paul delegates selected to represent their states at the National Convention.

That means our delegates need to stay low-key.

Resolutions are a dead giveaway, especially when they are fought over things like opposition to the war, or abolishing the Federal Reserve and the IRS, all signature issues of Ron Paul.

So, the best plan is to shut up, move along, do what you have to do to get selected, sign the pledge to “support” McCain (it doesn’t say you promise not to abstain!) and just get in short of outright lying, of course.

If there are any ethical concerns about this supposed “stealth tactic,” think about what ethical concerns you may have if you allow McCain to become president by your inaction. [Continue reading...]

Ethics? We don’t need no stinkin’ ethics! It’s REVOLUTION! Forget about the sheeple’s votes, this is a coup!
/vomiting

At least one person is fighting back. Heather Johnson of Moms4Mitt.com:

I am a Mitt fan and have a blog for his support. But I have also pledged on my blog my support for McCain as a our GOP nominee. I am trying to do my part in stopping these Ron Paul fans from overtaking the convention with their agenda nonsense and just get McCain officially nominated.

Heather is trying to just GET to the convention, but she needs help (financially) getting there. If you can drop a few shekels her way, you’ll be doing your part to shut up these asshat Paultards. Make no mistake, they are extremely well-organized (online activity and caucus results should tell you that much) and you can be sure they’ll make their presence known at the National Convention. Unless you want to see the GOP have an even more f’d up convention than it looks like the Dems will have, the Paultard kiddies must be stopped.

Ron Paul has even given tacit support to this idea (or that’s how it’ll be read by his fanatic supporters), while leaving his options open for a third party run:

“I’ll be very cautious about what I do,” he said, noting his effort to encourage his supporters to get involved with their local Republican committee.

And you know Ron Paul–he’s a stickler for the last letter of the Constitution. If it can be interpreted to allow this “loophole” that can get him nominated–or at the very least, create chaos–it’s A-OK. He’ll say this is exactly what the Constitution was designed for. (Nevermind the votes for the candidates–the votes for delegates matter more? LOL.)

Please help Heather out - I absolutely vouch for her honesty and ethics 100%. She needs help getting to the Convention, and we need to put the final nail in the Paultard coffin of crazy once and for all.

[Cross-posted]

Recipe Bleg

This is cross-posted at Little Miss Attila’s blog, as she has generously volunteered to lead this effort:

Several bloggers associated with The Cotillion (or “Tiara Media”) have begun a cookbook project. This promises to be the biggest and most luxurious bloggers’ food guide ever, notwithstanding our emphasis on speed, convenience, and how to get epicurean results when you can barely pry yourself away from your keyboard.

But we need your help. We’ll need other bloggers, frequent commenters, website designers, SAH/working parents, writers, and others who are pressed for time to tell us:

• your favorite recipes; and/or
• your favorite season of the year to cook, and why; and/or
• your favorite ingredient, and why; and/or
• your favorite songs to pay on your laptop or iPod while you’re cooking; and/or
• your favorite libation/mixed drink; and/or
• your favorite piece of kitchen equipment–what is the one tool they can pry from your cold, dead hands? AND
• your URL.

Also, please give us your real name, and SPECIFY IF WE CAN USE THIS IN THE BOOK, or whether we need to stick with your screen name.

Please send all your submissions to me; I’ll distribute them to the editors and recipe testers who are working on this book. We’ll need your material (the recipes especially!) by the end of the first week in June, as the book proposal goes out that same month–and the nature of the project will be shaped by your contributions!

Naturally, your blog will get a plug in the book, and you will be linked in the website we’ll be developing in late summer/early fall.

Don’t miss out!

All best,

Joy McCann
Little Miss Attila
http://attila.mu.nu

Additional note from Deb:

I’d like to see a strong moron presence in this recipe book, so please get in on this, morons.  And try to contribute recipes with an emphasis on speed and convenience.

Thanks

Move America Forward Fights Berkeley City Council

To sign the petition and/or donate to the Move America Forward ad campaign please visit the MAF website.

Afghan Student/Writer Sentenced To Death For Insulting Islam

I’ll tell you what I’m insulted by –I’m insulted that this kind of Islamofascist bullcrap is still going on in a country we supposedly liberated.

Gateway Pundit has been bumping this post all week (but not today) and I’ve been meaning to do a post about it, too. There is an e-petition at the bottom of the post that you can sign to help spare this man’s life.

Afghan student-writer Sayed Perwiz Kambakhsh was sentenced to death for insulting Islam.

The 23 year-old student and writer downloaded an anti-Islamic report from the internet in 2007 relating to the role of women in Islamic societies and handed copies out to his friends.

For this, an Afghan court sentenced him to death for the crime of blasphemy:

The Independent is launching a campaign today to secure justice for Mr Kambaksh. The UN, human rights groups, journalists’ organisations and Western diplomats have urged Mr Karzai’s government to intervene and free him. But the Afghan Senate passed a motion yesterday confirming the death sentence.

The MP who proposed the ruling condemning Mr Kambaksh was Sibghatullah Mojaddedi, a key ally of Mr Karzai. The Senate also attacked the international community for putting pressure on the Afghan government and urged Mr Karzai not to be influenced by outside un-Islamic views.

You can help…
Add your weight to the campaign by urging the Foreign Office to demand that his life be spared. Sign our e-petition at www.independent.co.uk/petition.

Tom Burnett Sr Makes A Plea To The People Of Somerset, PA

Alec Rawls says in an email, that The Memorial Project gave only five days public notice for this Saturday’s public meeting in Somerset. He and Tom Burnett are going to try to crash the meeting, and are calling on the population of Somerset to come out and help protest the terrorist memorializing design.

Here is the ad copy for Tom’s call to action, which will be published in color in tomorrow’s Somerset Daily American:

 A plea from Tom Burnett Sr. to the wonderful people of Somerset

My son Tom confronted a terrible moment of truth. Faced with a plot against our nation, he and the other heroes of Flight 93 fought back, and at the cost of their lives, foiled that plot to destroy the White House or the Capitol. Now it is time for the rest of us to face our moment of truth. Flight 93 has been re-hijacked, and I am requesting that if you can, you go down to the public meeting of the Memorial Project at Somerset Courthouse Saturday, sign up to comment at the end, and demand that a proper investigation be conducted.

THIS was no accident:

The Memorial Project held an open design competition in time of war, in-

viting the entire world to enter. Guess who joined in? That group of trees that sits roughly in the position of the star on an Islamic flag is the crash site. Who do YOU think is being memorialized here?

A second Islamic feature that I also protested when I served on the Stage II jury is the minaret-like Tower of Voices, formed in the shape of a crescent, with its top cut at an angle so that its crescent arms reach up into the sky.

Upturned crescents are a standard mosque adornment in many Muslim countries.

Every iota of this original Crescent of Embrace design remains completely intact in the so-called “redesign.” That is why Congressman Tancredo asked the Park Service this autumn to scrap the existing design entirely. Instead of getting rid of the giant crescent as Tancredo demanded back in 2005, architect Paul Murdoch only disguised it with a few surrounding trees.

Also remaining are those damned 44 glass blocks on the flight path. (There were forty passengers and crew and four Islamic terrorists on Flight 93.) The Memorial Project acknowledges the 40 blocks inscribed with the names of my son and the other heroes, and they acknowledge the three inscribed with the 9/11 date, but they pretend not to know about this one: the huge glass block that dedicates the entire site.

When this 44th glass block is pointed out, Project Partners say that it can’t be counted with the other blocks because it is not the same size. What? Because the capstone to the terrorist memorializing block count is magnificent, that is supposed to make it okay?

For every Islamic or terrorist memorializing feature of the crescent design, the Park Service has another equally phony excuse. Please read the exposé below of the Park Service’s fraudulent investigation, and please come to the meeting on Saturday to demand state and Congressional investigations into the Flight 93 memorial.

Tom Burnett Sr.

February 2008

PDF of ad copy here.

Non-locals who want to help, please contact your senators and representatives!

Fred! Bleg

Fred’s campaign is in need of donations. He has his work cut out for him in South Carolina where (last I heard) Huck had a 17 point lead in the polls.

But I’m not ready to give up on Fred, yet. He has some powerful voices, behind him…that’s got to help.

Hot Air has the video of Fred’s bleg, and his appearance on the O’ Reilly Factor from earlier this evening..

Blogburst For Thompson

It’s the eleventh hour for Thompson, and what’s sad is, even though he’s been my first choice for the Republican nominee, I haven’t devoted a single post for him.

Well, Rick Moran at The Right Wing Nuthouse is proposing a Blogburst for Thompson.

I’m in, baby.

The Thompson Campaign needs $248,846 in the bank before 6:00 pm EST Friday, Dec 28 in order to put this ad on the air in Iowa. It’s ‘do or die’ time for Thompson. If you can help, please do.

Let’s do this thing!

Hat tip: Stop the ACLU.

UPDATE:

Here is the Dec. 27 Blogburst from Rightwing Nuthouse. Join the Marbleheaders.

Emergency Bleg For “Young Americans”

Pat Dollard’s film is about the Marines that serve or have served in Iraq. Naturally, his version of the war in Iraq is completely different than the MSM’s version.

What I do need to tell you is that Pat is putting together this film his way. And it is the right way. What I do need to tell you, is that he is literally using every last penny he has, to get this documentary done the right way.

To have anybody else do it any other way would be doing the United States Marine Corps, and all of our other men and women serving in uniform a disservice. I have seen a lot of footage. I have even seen footage nobody else has…well, except the big producers. I can tell you, it needs to be done Pat’s way.

He needs to raise $3,000 by Friday. Just below the search box on the main page are the words “Support This Site“. I am asking you to support Pat now. Right now.

Please visit Pat Dollard’s site if you can help. It’s a noble cause.