Please speak out on behalf of these seven Baha’i
February 16, 2009
this announcement urging each of us to speak out on behalf of these seven leaders. Please read on, and, if you are willing, please say a prayer or speak out
of behalf of these fellow human beings.
Thank you, bless you,
Sara
Swift international reaction to pending trial for Iranian Baha'is
NEW YORK, 15 February (BWNS) - International reaction to news that Iran may soon put on trial seven Baha'i leaders for espionage and other charges came swiftly last week as governments, parliamentary leaders and human rights organizations expressed strong criticism of any such trial. Many called for the immediate release of the Baha'is.
The group of seven has been imprisoned in Tehran since last spring. Since then, no formal charges had been announced, but the Iranian news agency ISNA reported last Wednesday that the Baha'is would be accused of "espionage for Israel, insulting [Islamic] religious sanctities, and propaganda against the Islamic republic." The Baha'is have had no access to their attorney, Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi.
In the United States, the Department of State condemned "the Iranian government's decision to level baseless charges of espionage against seven leaders of the Iranian Baha'i community."
"Authorities have detained these Baha'i for more than nine months without access to legal counsel or making public any evidence against them. The accusations reported in Iranian and international media are part of the ongoing persecution of Baha'i in Iran," Department of State spokesman Robert Wood said Friday.
In London, Amnesty International issued an "urgent action" appeal on behalf of the seven, calling for their "immediate and unconditional release."
In Canada, Member of Parliament and former Minister of Justice Irwin Cotler spoke in the House of Commons and expressed concern that the trial could lead to the death penalty for the seven Baha'is. He called the charges "trumped up."
"The systematic and systemic abuse of the Bahai minority in Iran unfortunately manifested itself again this week as seven members of the Friends of Iran group, already being held for almost a year in the notorious Evin Prison, were charged on Wednesday with spying for Israel, insulting Islam and spreading propaganda against the state," Mr. Cotler said.
In Germany, Bundestag member Dr. Peter Ramsauer, leader of the Christian Social Union party, expressed "deep concern" over the fate of the seven. "Our minimum expectation for a fair trial is unconstrained access for the defense attorney, the Nobel Prize winner Shirin Ebadi, to her clients and to have a public trial," he said.
The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom issued a statement saying "it is disappointing that the Iranian government is demonstrating that it will use any pretext, however baseless, to harass and detain those whose religious beliefs differ from those enforced by the state."
"Due process, something to which Iran is committed as a signatory of the U.N. International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, is absent from this case," commission Chair Felice D. Gaer said in the statement.
Last week's report from the ISNA news agency did not specify the names of the accused, but it was assumed to refer to Mrs. Fariba Kamalabadi, Mr. Jamaloddin Khanjani, Mr. Afif Naeimi, Mr. Saeid Rezaie, Mrs. Mahvash Sabet, Mr. Behrouz Tavakkoli, and Mr. Vahid Tizfahm.
They constitute the membership of an informal coordinating body known as the Friends, which - with the knowledge of the government - was established some years ago to see to the minimum needs of Iran's 300,000-member Baha'i community after its elected governing bodies were banned by government decree in 1983.
A spokeswoman for the Baha'i International Community last week stated emphatically that the seven are innocent of all charges and are being held solely because of their religious belief.
"The accusations are false, and the government knows this," said Diane Ala'i, the representative of the Baha'i International Community to the United Nations in Geneva. "The seven Baha'is detained in Tehran should be immediately released."
In its "urgent action" appeal last Thursday, Amnesty International said it "considers the charges to be politically motivated and those held to be prisoners of conscience, detained solely because of their conscientiously held beliefs or their peaceful activities on behalf of the Baha'i community.
"If convicted, they would face lengthy prison terms, or even the death penalty," the organization said.
Other human rights groups and nongovernmental organizations made similar statements.
In Washington, Freedom House published a condemnation of Iran over the possibility of a trial for the seven, saying: "The five men and two women should be released immediately, along with dozens of other Baha'is who are in prison for exercising their human right to religious freedom."
The Institute for Religion and Public Policy, also based in Washington, called the charges "absurd."
"The arrest of Iran's top Baha'i leaders has simply been another move to intimidate and undermine the faith's followers. Iran has an especially poor record in respecting the right to worship of non-Shiite Muslims, and we call on them to drop the charges and release the prisoners," said the institute's president, Joseph K. Grieboski.
(Note: On 15 February, a correction was made to state that Freedom House is based in Washington.)
To see the BWNS home page and links to more news about the Baha'is in Iran, go to: http://news.bahai.org
posted by Sara Hickman at 08:08 am
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DELIRIOUS doesn’t capture my euphoria!
February 15, 2009
Last night...I was CINDERELLA!
Meets Kim Novak, Ivie Anderson,
Ella and Doris Day all rolled up in to
one gianormous kiss of sassy song!!
The big swing band!!! ROCKED.
The dancers filling the floor in exquisite
sparkling clothes, moving like immaculate
jaguars... Men looking like Frank Sinatra,
women sultry,sophisticated, refined...
gliding across the floor, skirts spinning...
ROCKED.
The venue? Dressed to the nines in reds
and pinks, balloons and hearts, flowing
table clothes, colored lights, candles flickering,
planes ( yes, PLANES!!!) hung overhead,
ambience of the past mixed with the present...
ROCKED.
My hair, curled and coiffed to a dizzying 40's
chanteuse doo-be-doo-be-doo! And my make-up
including eyelashes OUT TO THERE and big ok'
red lips galore with glittering, smokey, genuinely
HAPPY eyes smiling while singing , "Blue Skies"...
ROCKED.
I only wish EVERYONE I love could have been
there! It was BEYOND HEAVEN. It was
exquisite BLISS. I have never been this
elated overjoyed IN THE FLOW as I was
last night!!
And guess what? I get to KEEP these glass slippers
because I worked my ass off for them, paid cold hard
cash and they are MINE. I have my prince... He GETS
me and loves me, slippers don't even matter to him.
and I live in a HOME, not a castle, with two real
warm and wonderful amazing children I get to
regale as my DAUGHTERS ... Last night was the
capper to a life long journey. I feel blesses and GRATEFUL
for my friends, too.
I willcontinue to dedicate this fragile, precious time
to continue to spread to plant and grow my grateful
LOVE everwhere I go, so help me GOD!!! Hallelujah for
kindness! For happiness!
posted by Sara Hickman at 06:45 am
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My friend, Brewster McCracken
February 04, 2009
You all know I don't work on issues or with candidates I don't believe in.
Below are just a few highlights of his positions and career that illustrate why I believe he is the best candidate
for Austin's mayor. He is full of energy and ideas about an optimistic future for Austin that retains the spirit of this amazing city.
Please visit his site for more information - and if I've sold you on supporting him please list yourself as a 'supporter'
(this is important to show our momentum); and if you can please donate to the campaign (maximum donation per person
is $350.00).
http://www.brewstermccracken.com/
If you can, come out this Sunday and meet Brewster and hear what he has to say.
(Freddie's on So. First at 4 PM.)
If you do decide to support Brewster please consider sending an email similar to this one to your network
of Austin friends & family asking for their support as well.
For now, thanks for your time & consideration.
Love,
Sara
1. On women’s issues…..If you like the fact that Austin has the country’s first “pharmacy refusal prohibition” policy, thank Brewster. That means that your doctor…not Walgreens (or whoever) decides what prescriptions you can get. No one can be turned away at the pharmacy. He was awarded the NARAL Pro-Choice Texas’ Texas Traiblazer award for his effort. When right wing activists were attempting to pressure contractors to stop working on Planned Parenthood's Choice Clinic in South Austin, he convened strategy meetings with Planned Parenthood at City Hall, and he contacted Planned Parenthood's contractors directly to urge them to stay on the job. He has spoken on behalf of Planned Parenthood’s Austin chapter at national conferences about Austin’s success in protecting reproductive rights.
2. On GLBT issues……Brewster is an outspoken supporter of marriage equality for gays and lesbians. He sponsored the charter election amendment that repealed the ban on domestic partner benefits….the first successful election in Texas history on a matter of civil rights for GLBTs. The Human Rights Campaign recognized him for his leadership at its 2007 awards dinner. He publicly opposed the state marriage ban in 2005, and he spoke at marriage equality rallies at Austin City Hall and the Texas Capitol.
3. On the environment and clean energy……Brewster is leading the Pecan Street Project – the city’s clean energy partnership with Environmental Defense Fund. He’s pushing solar energy and calling for a green jobs program to create 25,000 green collar jobs. Unlike Strayhorn, he believes that global warming is real. Unlike Leffingwell, he actually has ideas about that we can do about it.
4. On human services……When Strayhorn was slashing human services investments in Texas, Brewster led the effort locally that blocked proposed across the board budget cuts to Austin's human services budget. He also led the successful effort to block budget cuts to AIDS Services of Austin.
5. On affordable housing……He worked directly with affordable housing advocates and developers for three years to create Austin's first citywide affordable housing program. The final proposal was unanimously recommended by advocates and developers alike.
6. On supporting our creative class....And Brewster has been a staunch supporter of our creative class in Austin from the music community to our film and digital industries. He has the support of Richard Linklater, Sara Hickman, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Don Pitts, Robert Rodriguez, and Richard Garriott to name but a few.
posted by Sara Hickman at 08:00 am
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Today Shore Was a Good ‘Un
February 03, 2009
animated pieces together for the chain. Can you say ROCK ON!?
Lessee....I worked on decorating a HUMONGOUS EMPTY WOODEN WINE BARRELL for a charity to auction off, I think.
I can't remember, but no matter, I was spray painting monkee faces and adding big ol' googly eyes. It looks like
a BARRELL unfulll of MONKEES! Hee hee hee. People were stoppin' in there cars, wondering, "WHAT is that lady
doing with the face mask on and why is she painting monkees on a barrell?" Oh the fun never stops in my front
yard, I tell ya what!
iolana started a ceramic pot decorating business with some of her friends---called DIZPOTS---and they were out
in the sunshine, selling away...sold THREE of them today! They are splittin' the money evenly. She's such a fair minded
entrepreneur! She also has her small dog walkin' business, so she's a busy little bee!
After some emails and reading snail mail, I made a buncha carrot cake and vanilla cupcakes with my special, secret Mom's recipe of
homemade creamcheese frosting...oh, a batch of brownies...to take to GSD&M for our screening of the Super Pal Universe screening..
the room is ULTRA COOL! I felt like a distant seventh removed cousin of Speilbergs...all the SPU families were there! OH, and wow...
they laughed, they giggled, they clapped! What a great, great feeling to know we accomplished this feat! It will be showing in
SXSW film festival...and ME TV is going to show it, too! Whoopee! I am so happy for the kids, their parents, all of us involved.
It was a lot of work to get to tonight. I mean A LOT but I wouldn't trade it for ANYTHING because we've all learned so much, and more
so, we are all friends...AND...a big shout out to Alan Luecke for his energy, his financing, his belief, his patience in this dream of mine...
Afterwards, the girls and Lance and I were took all the leftover cupcakes/drinks out to the car, and walked down to Frank & Angie's
for some dinner...and after we enjoyed spinning pennies and laughing over our day/movies/school stories, we were walking BACK
to the parked car when a nice man, sitting on the bridge, said to us, "Hey! You folks wanna see an opposum?" So, we sauntered over
and sure enough, about twenty feet down, there by a little creek, was a hairy possum, munching on something in the grass. Ah,
I love possums! We told the man about our possum we had when Lily was little----Blossom---and how we kept her 'til she
started stinking (they do that, you know...glands, glands, glands! Pee-yoo!) He smiled. I touched his arm and gave him a heartfelt
thank you. This was a good, good day!
Then, I just wrote to my pals on the Austin Music Commission in cowpoke language, causin' I'm a lady
of the range and I need to keep those boys from up north on their toes if they want to get the sheriff to do right
by the yodelers. No time for tumbleweeds to be a-tumblin' in this here town!
It's getting to the time when I will be singing with the Dallas Wind Symphony!!! I'm excited, a little nervous, but I'm just gonna jump off the
cliff into jazzland and give my heart, energy and big ol' smiles...oh, right! That adds up to FUN!
BE AMAZED! MAKE NEW FRIENDS! HAVE FUN!
TIme for bed. I'm a sleepyhead.
posted by Sara Hickman at 08:08 pm
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