November 8, 2014

“Ms. Lynch is a strong, (click here) independent prosecutor who has twice led one of the most important U.S. Attorney’s Offices in the country,” White House press secretary Josh Earnest said in a statement Friday. “She will succeed Eric Holder, whose tenure has been marked by historic gains in the areas of criminal justice reform and civil rights enforcement.” Holder and Lynch joined Obama in the Roosevelt Room for Saturday’s announcement.

Lynch was the least controversial of the final choices before the president, according to several government officials. She has been confirmed twice by the Senate. And she was respected for the way she conducted several high-profile cases without seeking ­publicity.

The Constitution of the United States of America can't be turned on and off like a water faucet. The Constitution supersedes any bill and the only chang permitted are amendments.

I do believe the majority Republican House and Senate actually has work to do other than using the floors of both houses for their chronic campaign.

Corker can't write a bill that changes the US Constitution. Just that simple. 

No one can see the hatred in these people? 

They are neocons. Being a neocon qualifies them to be jackasses. I don't want a jackass in Congress, but, evidently many do.

The Corker Bill is unconstitutional.

April 5, 2015
By Michelle Ye Hee Lee

Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, (click here) said Congress must approve any agreement reached by the United States and other world powers to curb Iran's nuclear program.
Corker has proposed a Republican-backed bill to give Congress a critical role in accepting or rejecting a nuclear deal with Iran. It is important that Congress play its "rightful role," he said. The president needs to sell the deal to Congress and the American people, he said.

"There's a lot of water that needs to go under the bridge here. Many, many details are unknown at this point," Corker said....

Does no one understand what a political animal Corker is and he is wasting time on stupidity. 

The Senate has an advise and consent right in the US Constitution. That is all they have and the Corker is still yet another attempt by Republicans to coupe the government and the US Constitution. The bill by Corker is not LAWFUL.  

And the US House has no role in this.

President Obama has been elected twice and he has significant power in this capacity with Iran and it's nuclear capacity. Elections have consequences.  

I don't trust the US Senate Majority to actually produce lawful legislation. They don't have THE ABILITY. No one sees that? Just because they are occupying a seat doesn't mean they can turn the USA Constitution on it's head. 

The Obama Presidency has been nothing short of brilliant. None of the Republican morons that have occupied the House and Senate have a clue to what to do. They can hold meetings and have the Cabinet Secretaries EXPLAIN the FRAMEWORK, but, they have not other power in the negotiations.

The Republicans need to appreciate the President they have in the White House and learn form him!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

From his inauguration forward President Obama has been a great patriot and brilliant leader. Some people can't seem to appreciate that. 

Scientology has to address it's obvious abusive structure.

Scientology is a unique belief system. It does qualify as a church. There is nothing to say Hubbard's experience in life is not unique. If this were a thousand years out from Hubbard's life the view would be very different in regard to this particular church.

People can point to many other charismatic leaders that have a benevolent purpose to their spirituality. In the case of Scientology, is joy such a bad thing? The obvious and unfortunate reality of some members can't be denied. There is no reason to trash Scientology to identify problems within the church.

It appears to me the actual basis of Scientology's faith is felt through what is called "externalism." There are many in the world that have experienced 'out of body realities' that are not members of Scientology. The difference between them and Scientology is the fact these experiences have been contextualized into a religion that obsesses about their members. I am pleased members have detailed notes regarding their experience in this religion as it assures they are OKAY and not experiencing other phenomena. I think the note taking is about safety. Now, whether the note taking is used in a poor methodology against some members who want to leave the faith has to be known. People are allowed to move on in many established religions. 

Scientology is a very powerful religion with accumulations of wealth due to the status of their famous members. That is not a crime. What sincerely bothers me is the fact women are leaving the church because of the well being of their children. That is a reality in many cases and not just a few. What also concerns me is the willingness of strong family ties that become weapons to 'disconnection' after members have left the faith.

There is an obvious paranoia in Scientology to force this type of disconnection and it needs to be understood. No one's reputation can be adversely effected because of leaving the church. Spirituality is a personal dynamic. Scientology may be the next scandal of a church. Other churches have weathered the storm of investigation. Child neglect and abuse are not minor issues for any religion. 

I'll state this much. In the film it is stated Hubbard lied about his experiences in the military and having been blinded, when in fact he was suffering from conjunctivitis. The one report about child abuse included the fact the child had severe eye infections that "...welded it's eyes shut." That is only one reporting and not a higher number of instances that might indicate something else is being conducted. BUT, the reality is child neglect within the church has to be investigated. 

February 19, 2015
By Colin Gorenstein

Alex Gibney’s (click here) highly anticipated new documentary “Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief,” is now slated for a March 29 HBO debut.
The documentary was one of the buzziest films from Sundance (it premiered before a packed house) and even prompted the Church of Scientology to take out a full-page ad in the New York Times and Los Angeles Times a week before its premier, claiming that the documentary was packed with lies.
Today, HBO has released an official trailer for the documentary which you can feast your eyes on in the meantime....

Also of note is the fact children have been born to parents within the faith and have not seemed to have been effected into adulthood. None the less, there are some instances that have to be understood and corrected.

I also believe Hubbard lived in a time where there were no words to express externalism and fabricated a reality that would make sense to incoming members. Many members current and/or past do testify they improved their lives while within the church up to the point they are called "Cleared." In all honesty, what happens after that point needs to be viewed as writing of a man challenged to be accepted.

Saudi Arabia and Russia are engagning in some oppositional conversation.

April 6, 2015

Abdullah Al-Moalami, (click here) Saudi Arabia’s permanent representative to the UN, said that Russia’s call for a humanitarian pause in Yemen was aimed at hindering a draft resolution by Gulf states and Jordan that is being negotiated by the UN Security Council.
“We always provided the necessary facilities for humanitarian assistance to be delivered,” Al-Moalami was quoted as saying in an Al Arabiya report.
“We have cooperated fully with all requests for evacuation,” he added, echoing comments made earlier by Brig.-General Ahmad Al-Assiri, a consultant in the defense minister’s office.
The International Committee of Red Cross, meanwhile, said it has received approval from the Saudi-led coalition to bring in vital medical supplies and aid workers to Yemen.
“We have received permission from the coalition for two planes now, one carrying supplies and one with staff,” ICRC spokeswoman Sitara Jabeen said in Geneva.
The ICRC hoped that the aircraft could land on Monday in Sanaa, she said.

I believe last week or so there Russia took issue with Iran over Syria, primarily Assad. I think the Russians are concerned the Shia are not represented in the Arab Coalition.

Evidently, there were raids in eastern Saudi Arabia of a Shi'ite community. According to the reports in "RT" the people could not leave and there were Saudi police shooting through walls of residences.

April 6, 2015

...Locals report (click here) seeing 40 armored security vehicles enter Awamiya at 15:30 (12:30 GMT) on Sunday. One anonymous resident told the Middle East Eye “the gunfire didn’t stop” until 21:00. “Security forces shot randomly at people’s homes, and closed all but one of the roads leading in and out of the village.”
“It is like a war here – we are under siege,” he added.
Alleged eyewitness footage sent to the MEE depicts gunfire, supposedly coming from the police forces. Buildings and cars appear to be ablaze in the video....

It is noted this area of Saudi Arabia has been visited with what is characterized as "Arab Spring" problems. I believe Saudi Arabia is acting as though it expects uprising of some communities to disturb the peace while Yemen is experiencing a rise in Shi'ite rebels. 

The United Nations has it's hand on the Arab Coalition. I would think all these concerns could be brought to the UN Security Council. If that meeting is to be productive Iran has to be a part of an open discussion regarding building alliances rather than wars.

The concern by Saudi Arabia is legitimate, there is conflict in Yemen at it's southern border. The question the UN has to address is Iran's role in the region. There is no reason why Iran can't be considered a valued power to resolve any potential to regional conventional war. The region's countries have to stand together and not waring among themselves through covert agendas.

The concerns of Russia may very well be the one accumulation of intelligence to bring about a stronger understanding of defeating Daesh without causing harm to domestic harmony. That is a real issue where Sunnis and Shi'ites live together. The Holy Men leading these people have to identify as allied with the effort to end a genocidal regime. It is important stability and not chaos wins out. If Russia is good at anything internationally it is building stable states. I am quite certain Russia does not want a complete failure of the region, it has the potential to be a sincere concern for Russian borders.

There is no reason to believe the Arab Coalition is causing problems with each other. There is the internet and access to young people within borders of these countries. It could be stated the Arab countries are as susceptible to enemy influence as Europe has become.  

I find it ironic there is a rising tide of Shi'ites in the region. They would be seeking their own protection quite possibly through internet connections. The Shi'ite uprising may very well be due to the fact they would be visiting different internet sites than Sunnis. And, of course, the Shi'ites are among the ethnicities that Daesh wants to kill until every last Shi'ite is dead. I am not surprised there would be a call to arms to protect themselves throughout the region.  

These are new alliances and a very new and dangerous enemy. There are going to be surprises, but, the place to solve these concerns is the United Nations. Daesh cannot prevail due to sparks of civil war. There can be no misunderstandings between Iran and Shi'ite groups such as Hezbollah. While these Shi'ite groups are viewed in some quarters as terrorist groups, that no longer should be the ideology of any Shi'ite community throughout the region. This is a call to arms by all Arab ethnicities to defend the 'common ground' they all share against a very dangerous regime called Daesh. That has to be the focus. Quite possibly Yemen's government was couped because of the depth of Shia fears they would become the enemy of the state. 

The region has to come together with an understanding whom the enemy is and the best way to address that. These sparks of Shi'ite uprisings in the region is due to profoundly felt fears of genocide regardless whom it is. There is no doubt the Shi'ites are acting to protect their populations. The Arab Coalition has to communicate with Iran and seek it's help in quelling the Shi'ite fears. The USA has been successful in resolving any fears in Iraq by the Shia allied with Sunni and Kurdish members. In Iraq there is a clear understanding there is an Iraqi military, but, that Iraq military is also accepting of Shia Popular Groups helping to protect the sovereign nature of Iraq. The Kurds are no minor players in defending regions of the area. It can be done. 

Saudi Arabia has a new King, now embraced by the Saudi people, whom still hasn't traveled to understand other countries and the interests they share. How could he travel with such danger in this region. Recognizing any and all pitfalls to victory over Daesh is vital. The United Nations has to be valued for it's ability to draw international understanding to regions leading to a greater stability. 

"Morning Papers"

The Rooster

"Okeydoke"

"Good Night, Moon"

Full Moon

16.2 days old

97.5 percent lit

In the early morning hours on the USA west coast on Easter a solar eclipse was recorded.

 

April 5, 2015

 

BERKELEY, Calif. (KGO) --

Early risers in the Bay Area caught a quick total eclipse of the moon on Saturday.

Photos taken by ABC7 News viewer Michael Polk just before dawn from Grizzly Peak Boulevard in Berkeley show the amazing moment.

The West should add a department of religious autheticity to their governments.

It is interesting the violence in the Middle East was realized before it began after the removal of Former President Morsi. The question is why and the Vatican seems to understand it. 

It is known that Jesus Christ is considered a prophet in the Muslim faith. Perhaps with a rise in power by organizations such as the Muslim Brotherhood there developed a greater benevolent view of Christians. Christians as literally brothers to the Muslim faith.

When Morsi was removed from power, the Christians would be easy scapegoats. The CIA should approach the Vatican about their observation regarding the victimization of Christians in the Middle East after Morsi. 

I'd say it was a Russian influence, but, in the past decade fundamental Christianity has taken over Russia as nearly a state sponsored religion. There is also a Chinese influence in many parts of the world. The Chinese have rather stringent court findings regarding practicing bishops and prominent individuals.

This court proceeding is posted on a United Kingdom page:

6 June 2013

Risk to Christians in China (click here) 

(1) In general, the risk of persecution for Christians expressing and living their faith in China is very low, indeed statistically virtually negligible. The Chinese constitution specifically protects religious freedom and the Religious Affairs Regulations 2005 (RRA) set out the conditions under which Christian churches and leaders may operate within China....

...(3)(iii) Exceptionally, certain dissident bishops or prominent individuals who challenge, orvare perceived to challenge, public order and the operation of the RRA may be at risk of persecution, serious harm, or ill - treatment engaging international protection, on a fact - specific basis.

This is a table from these judicial findings indicating an increase of problems with Christians.

(18) Thus, as Dr Hancock finally concludes, China is an intensely complex place, as is the monitoring or predicting of official attitudes towards religion. Simplification is a natural temptation and exaggeration too easy. A Christian who openly and provocatively engages in public acts of worship, evangelism, publishing, protest or litigation will generally attract the attention of the officials and may suffer censure, threat, violence or detention. However, Dr Hancock concludes:

‘...the Chinese’s government permissive acceptance of ‘unregistered’ churches continues. Christians themselves have power to limit or increase risk in line with their perception of obedient faith and government power. Not all Chinese Christians agree to interpret official dictates as requiring conformity or repudiation. Some Chinese Christians continue to interpret faithfulness to God as acceptance of the limitations imposed by the divinely sanctioned state authority; others question the legitimacy of an atheistic state to control, interpret or restrict the actions of churches or individual Christians. Evaluating the relative truth of these claims and resolving anomalies in accounts of Christianity in China, is a subtle and perplexing task.

With new relationships between the USA and countries seeking treaties there needs to be a clear understanding of human rights abuses as part of any agreement. It has to be standard practice for the US State Department to submit a history of human rights in any country the USA has relations. It would be helpful if that 'standard of practice of human rights' comes from the country itself and not an assessment by Americans.

Religion is a cultural issue and included in human rights. I might add if there are USA groups that cause concern or tend to come into scrutiny by other countries it should be submitted to the US State Department as well. The US State Department has a website where concerns about tourism and foreign employment are updated regularly and these concerns by countries can be included in that information.

The change in the status of extremist fundamentalism in Indonesia is surprising. I would expect some people in Indonesia will be asking for asylum to other countries. Discussions of any extremism should be part of the diplomatic dialogue with Indonesia, but, any country for that matter. This charismatic association of a caliphate is an ongoing problem regardless of the resolve by military victories in the Middle East.

Companies seeking to produce goods and services in this region of the world should have sound information to make decisions to their involvement. That would be especially true of any companies strongly affiliated with a certain faith.

Good night.

Christians came under attack AFTER Mohamed Morsi was removed from power.

This is more than interesting. The Vatican published a warning about "Christians at Risk," stating with the removal of Morsi in Egypt the Christians were being killed and harassed.
 
June 16, 2014
By Giacomo Galeazzi Vatican City

...In Egypt as well, (click here) Christians have come under attack, particularly after the dismissal of former President Mohamed Morsi, who came to power in 2012 after the electoral victory of the Muslim Brotherhood. After the intervention of the armed forces who arrested Morsi, the attacks against Christians, as confirmed by the expert committee appointed by the National Council for Human Rights to take stock of the situation of the Copts in the country. The members of the religious minority suffer many forms of violence, especially in the governorates of Luxor, Sohag and Aswan. The document speaks of kidnappings, fires set to the houses of the Copts, vandalism against their shops, obstacles to the practice of their religious rites. But the situation for Christians is especially dramatic in Iran and Iraq, where today the Chaldeans represent only 1% of the population. Here Christians came under attack in Baghdad on Christmas Day (37 deaths).
 
The case of Meriam Yahia Ibrahim has shaken the conscience, but the dramatic story of a 27 year old Sudanese Christian sentenced to death for apostasy is just the tip of the iceberg and turns the spotlight on the conditions under which Christians live in dozens of African and Asian countries. According to a recent report by the American NGO “Open Doors”, in the last year persecutions against Christians have increased globally, particularly in Africa. In the north-east of Nigeria (the "most dangerous country for Christians") the massacres by extremist group Boko Haram multiply.

Paper presented at the Association of Asian Studies (AAS) Forum conducted at the Hilton Hotel, New York, March 27-30, 2003

Religious and Islamic Fundamentalism  (click here for downloadable pdf)

Islam is obviously an open-minded and inclusive faith, and is not an intolerant political ideology nor is a religion which forces people to embrace.  The Qur’an is very clear that “there is no force in religion” (QS al-Baqarah/2:256).   

However, the fundamentalists have exposed a face of the religion which is terrorizing global human security.  Islamic fundamentalism has displayed a terrifying face of Islam because of its characters, mainly in exerting an aggressive agenda for the politicization of the religion to achieve certain objectives.  Religious symbols have been used to pursue political agenda.  It is, therefore, important to distinguish Islam as a belief and cultural system and Islam as a tool to build political legitimacy by political authorities, oppositions and other fundamentalist movements....

The strain of Islamic faith considered to be valid by extremists is actually a lie. The majority of Muslims, with Indonesia being the largest population of Muslims in the world, do not practice this fundamentalist extremism. 

In the case of a book in Indonesia introduced to turn children into extremists is worrisome. It could literally undermine benevolent societies into war machines through elections. 

It appears there is a charismatic movement within the Muslim faith characterized by extremism practiced in violence. This type of charismatic movement could survive past the end of regimes such as Daesh. 

March 24, 2015
By Janelle P
 
Teachings of fundamental Islam (click here) similar to Islamic State ideology have crept into Indonesian public schools. A textbook on the subject of the Islamic religion being used in a senior high school in an East Java province carries a statement that “people who worship other than Allah (non-Muslims) should be killed.”

This finding raised a critical concern among local media, which reported that this might be a sign of deeper infiltration of the Islamic State into the Indonesian education system. Some suspect that identical books have been distributed to other provinces.
While fundamentalist teachings are common in Islamic boarding schools, it is the first time they have reached government-run schools, where a majority of Indonesians attend.

“These books can further propel the spread of extremism in the country,” said Sidney Jones, an international expert on terrorism.

East Java is one of the most hostile places for Indonesian Christians to live. It has witnessed assaults of believers, such as the multiple stabbings of an evangelist while he was asleep. The presence of literature hostile to Christians could further justify violence in the name of religion. Pray that the government would take firm action by banning the books....

It seems Easter has brought the reality of recent deaths of Christians center stage.

April 5, 2015
By Ruth Giedhill

The Archbishop of Canterbury (click here) and the Pope will today issue a powerful call today on behalf of all Christians persecuted by Islamic militants worldwide.

Pope Francis warns in his Easter homily of the difficulty of maintaining the Christians presence in lands where most Christians used to live.

Archbishop Justin Welby says issues such as sexuality which have torn churches apart internally, along with politics and gender, are "irrelevant".

He uses his Easter sermon today to remember the hundreds of thousands of Christians being martyred in Africa and the Middle East....

Hundreds of thousands? 

...Life for Christians in most of the 50 countries on the Open Doors world watch list is getting more difficult, the charity says...

"Open Doors" (click here)

...In Syria along, four in ten Christians have fled the country. Nigeria, Iraq and Sudan are among the countries where thousands are suffering still, while in North Korea, which heads the persecution list, tens of thousands have been banished, arrested, tortured and killed and where the kidnapping and arrest of South Korean missionary Kim Jeong-Wook saw dozens more, presumed to be Christians, also rounded up, tortured and murdered.

In Pakistan Christians are socially excluded, living in fear of trumped-up blasphemy charges. Open doors says persecution is increasing most rapidly in Africa, especially sub-Saharan Africa where even Christian-majority states are experiencing unprecedented levels of exclusion, discrimination and violence. Kenya, the scene of the terrible mass university shootings, was the highest riser on the latest watch list, up to 19th from 43. Open Doors says Islamic extremism is "the most significant engine of persecution".

April 5, 2015
By Ines San Martin

ROME — As Christians commemorate (click here) the suffering and death of Jesus on Good Friday, attacks on believers in various parts of the world are causing many pastors and other leaders to cast modern martyrdom as an extension of Christ’s agony which, they say, will also end in the resurrection.

During the Easter period, Christian churches in India have stepped up security fearing attacks from radical Hindus, a university in Kenya is recovering from a rampage by Muslim extremists that targeted Christians and left an estimated 147 people dead, and fear hangs over Church services in Iraq and Syria where Christian holy days tend to be favorite windows for ISIS assaults.

Facing those realities, Pope Francis said on Wednesday that the Christian martyrs of today, by shedding their blood, join Christ in serving the Church as witnesses to the faith.

“Even today, there are many men and women, true martyrs, who offer their lives with Jesus to confess the faith,” the pope said. “It is a service: Christian witness to the point of shedding blood.”...

...In India, after a series of attacks on churches in the capital, New Delhi, the local police enlisted more than 10,000 officers to guard the services during Holy Week....

Security gaurds were tied...(click here)
The men escaped with some cash, a mobile phone, a laptop computer and a camera, all belonging to the school, the officer said. They also ransacked the school's chapel and holy items, the Press Trust of India news agency cited the archbishop of Kolkata, Thomas D'Souza, as saying....

...The Indian Express reported on Wednesday that churches are being barricaded along a half-mile radius, fearing terrorist attacks from extremist Hindus.
Last month, a nun in her 70s was gang-raped by a group of men in India. The men who attacked the Convent of Jesus and Mary School also ransacked the chapel and destroyed holy items, police said.

Last Friday in Egypt, while locals were celebrating a Mass to mark 40 days since the death of the 21 Coptic Christians beheaded by ISIS in Libya, a church that was being built in their memory was attacked with petrol bombs by Muslims protesting its proposed location.

On the same day, a mob identified by witnesses as composed of members of the Muslim Brotherhood attacked the home of a family of one of the martyrs.
British Archbishop Paul Gallagher, the Vatican’s foreign minister, presided over a prayer vigil in Rome this Tuesday, organized by the Community of Sant’Egidio, a movement that specializes in inter-faith dialogue.

During his sermon, Gallagher strongly condemned terrorism, saying that a martyr is someone who gives his or her life for the love of God, not who sheds it. A martyr is the victim, he said, not the victimizer....

Back in the USA for a pause.

April 5, 2015
By Kim Trent

...Perhaps (click here) that is why I'm so inspired by the life of white civil rights martyr Viola Liuzzo. A Detroiter, Liuzzo spent part of her childhood in the Jim Crow South, but from a young age, she rejected the region's ideas about white supremacy. She became a dues-paying member of the NAACP in the 1940s, a time when such an act was considered to be wildly radical even for Southern blacks, and much more so for a white woman. She donated money to black college charities. Her best friend was a black woman, Sarah Evans, and Liuzzo's five children were raised with Evans' family and taught that people of all races are created equal....

April 5, 2015
By Cassandra  Spartling
 
But it got worse for her family. The FBI assassinated her character, spreading rumors she was unfaithful and an unfit mother. Crosses were burned at her family's home and her five children, ages 6 to 18, were taunted. Husband Anthony Liuzzo Sr. hired armed guards to protect their home.
During the radio report, a daughter talked about how sad the family was that Detroit's only tribute was a deteriorating city park a few miles from their old house.
Mezza, who lives in St. Clair Shores, wanted to do something. She called her longtime friend and running buddy Julie Hamilton of Royal Oak, and the two women set out to restore the park, and Viola Liuzzo's name....

Viola Liuzzo Park Association (click here)

Iran should consider sending three Americans home. It has nothing to do with a framework for Iran's nuclear program.

Naghmeh Abedini, Saeed Abedini (click here) and the children.

January 21, 2015

Update (Mar. 20): Despite asking the President of the United States in person (click here) to "please bring daddy home for my birthday," Jacob Abedini turned seven years old on Tuesday (Mar. 17) without his father, Saeed Abedini. But President Obama marked the Iranian New Year today by demanding that Iran's government "immediately release" the imprisoned pastor and two other Americans.

"Saeed Abedini of Boise, Idaho has spent two and a half years detained in Iran on charges related to his religious beliefs," said Obama. "He must be returned to his wife and two young children, who needlessly continue to grow up without their father."...

...More than 100,000 people had signed a petition, sponsored by the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), asking the President to let Naghmeh make a “personal appeal for her husband” during his visit today to Boise, Idaho. Obama met privately with her and her two children for about 10 minutes.

“I am extremely thankful the President took the time to meet with our family and told us that securing the release of my husband is a top priority,” said Naghmeh Abedini, according to an ACLJ statement. “The President was focused and gracious—showing concern to me and my children. I know that this meeting could not have occurred without prayer, and I am grateful to the many people around the country and world who continue to pray for Saeed’s release....

Two months later another asking for the return of Americans.

March 20, 2015

 

The spirit of family (click here) is deeply woven into all of the rich cultural traditions of the Nowruz holiday.  It is a time for reuniting and rejoicing with loved ones and sharing hopes for the new year.  Today, as families across the world gather to mark this holiday, we remember those American families who are enduring painful separations from their loved ones who are imprisoned or went missing in Iran.

Saeed Abedini of Boise, Idaho has spent two and a half years detained in Iran on charges related to his religious beliefs.  He must be returned to his wife and two young children, who needlessly continue to grow up without their father.

Amir Hekmati (click here) is a different class of prisoner. He actually was a USA military soldier. After leaving the military he went to work as a consult for private contractors regarding cultural standards in other countries. The program he was working for was Human Terrain System (HTS). It was simply an independent system for awhile, but, as of 2011 it has been considered part of USA intelligence. It puts Amir Hekmati in more peril than an ordinary visitor to Iran. I am sure he wasn't acting for the USA government in intelligence gathering, but, to another government he appears to be a threat by credentials only.

Amir Hekmati of Flint, Michigan has been imprisoned in Iran on false espionage charges for over three and a half years.  His family, including his father who is gravely ill, has borne the pain of Amir's absence for far too long.

Jason Rezaian of Marin County, California, an Iranian government credentialed reporter for the Washington Post, has been unjustly held in Iran for nearly eight months on vague charges.  It is especially painful that on a holiday centered on ridding one’s self of the difficulties of the past year, Jason’s mother and family will continue to carry the heavy burden of concern regarding Jason’s health and well-being into the new year....

Journalists are frequently considered an enemy of the state because they collect information for publication. The government in many instances likes to control the information available to their citizens. Unfortunately, when a Western journalist practices his craft it appears as though it is an anti-government activity. What makes Jason's disappearance worrisome is that he is a credentialed Washington Post journalist. Major media organizations don't put their journalists in a country for the sake of espionage.

FOR Jason Rezaian, the Iran correspondent of the Washington Post and his wife Yeganeh Salehi, herself a journalist, the knock on the door came on July 22nd. Security men took them away and, almost two weeks later, they and a photographer for the American newspaper are still in custody. Nobody knows what they are accused of and family members have received no information about their whereabouts. On August 4th the case became murkier when it was reported that the caretaker of Mr Rezaian's building died after being tasered by Revolutionary Guards when he asked to see an arrest warrant....