Word bans and climate change denial

Dear hans. 


In Florida, government employees were forbidden from using the words “sustainability” “climate change” and “global warming.”
An investigative report found that the unwritten policy dates to 2011, when Republican Governor Rick Scott took office and appointed a new director to the state's Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).
It’s one thing to be amongst the right-wing fringe of climate change deniers, which Scott is. 
It’s another thing entirely to impose that ideology on professionals by restricting their freedom of speech.
DEP workers are the people we rely on to develop policies to mitigate the disastrous effects of climate change. How can they do that if Orwellian administrators ban the necessary vocabulary?
Tell Rick Scott to stop banning words!

PETITION TO RICK SCOTT: Totalitarian governments ban words. Make a public promise to never ban words again in any capacity, official or informal.

Click here to sign -- it just takes a second.
Thanks,
-- The folks at Watchdog.net
P.S. If the other links aren't working for you, please go here to sign: http://act.watchdog.net/petitions/5068?n=95262711.INcTF0

---

This email was sent by Watchdog.net

Forget 1,000 lashes for Facebook posts, Saudis now want to behead blogger Raif Badawi

Family's fears for outspoken atheist dad

Saudi blogger Raif Badawi – sentenced to ten years in prison and 1,000 lashes for announcing he is an atheist on Facebook – may now be beheaded by his government.

"We have received information from reliable sources that there are attempts within the Penal Court to retry ‪‎Raif Badawi‬ on apostasy charges again," his wife said in a Facebook posting.

"Apostasy charge is punishable under Saudi law with the death penalty by beheading. We also received confirmed information that the Supreme Court has referred Raif case to the same judge, who sentenced Raif with flogging and 10 years imprisonment."

The family accuses the judge presiding over the case of bias, saying in an earlier legal judgment that “he has proof and is confident that Raif is an apostate,” and that he had wanted to bring apostasy charges earlier but wasn't able to under existing Saudi law.

Badawi was arrested in 2012 for running the Liberal Saudi Network message board and making statements on Facebook that broke religious and state laws; specifically expressing support for women’s rights, democratic reform, and stating that he is an atheist.

In 2013 he was sentenced to seven years in prison and 600 lashes by the courts, and last year on appeal that was raised to ten years inside, 1,000 lashes, a one million Saudi Arabian riyal (US$266,663) fine, plus a ten year travel ban when he gets out.

The lashes are administered at a rate of 50 a week and Badawi got his first allotment in January at a public ceremony after evening prayers. Four days later Saudi embassy officials joined world leaders in Paris for the Je Suis Charlie march photopp.

Je Suis Hypocrite

The sentence brought condemnation, but little else, from governments around the world. Since the first flogging Badawi has been judged medically unfit for further sessions under the cane, and the Saudi government has come under increasing pressure to relent on the matter.

Prince Charles is reported to have raised the matter, one royal to another, at a recent state visit. It has been hoped that the new Saudi king would see fit to mark his accession with a move on the matter, but the new trial, and the potential outcome, wasn't expected.

Apostasy, under extreme versions of Islamic religious law, is the rejection of faith and is a crime in many Muslim countries, although the penalties vary hugely. The Quran recommends "grievous chastisement," for the crime and in Saudi Arabia that often means execution, usually by public beheading.

However, before the sentence is carried out the convicted apostate is given three days to recant. Poet Hamza Kashgari fled the country in 2012 after being accused of the crime due to some Twitter posts as part of an ongoing crackdown on social media. He was extradited, sentenced, before recanting with a public apology, and released after a couple of years in prison.

It could be that the Saudi authorities are hoping Badawi will do the same and bring the internationally embarrassing saga to an end, but that’s by no means certain.

"We call on the world citizens and governments not to leave Raif dragged by such bigots to death," his wife said. "And we renew our calls to his Majesty King Salman to pardon Raif Badawi and allow him to leave [for] Canada to be united with his family there." ®

One minute to help Tibetans

Having trouble viewing this email? View it online as a webpage. Dear Hans, Maybe we were too ambitious. With only a few days left, we’re still $76,000 short of our year-end challenge goal for the International Campaign for Tibet. That’s why I’m asking you to step up again to help Tibetans live in peace and freedom. We have a great sense of urgency and a strong passion to save Tibetans’ lives and culture. This, we know, is not too ambitious; it is the right thing to do. We have until Wednesday at midnight to reach our $200,000 funding goal. That will allow ICT to start 2015 strong – speaking even more forcefully for Tibetans who have been silenced by China’s oppressive policies, and advancing the cause of Tibetan self-determination worldwide. I should also point out that Wednesday at midnight is your last chance to donate to ICT and have it count as a tax-deductible gift for 2014. It will take just one minute of your time, maybe less. But your contribution will help shape a peaceful, more just future for Tibetans throughout the year ahead. However generous you can be at this time, thank you for standing in solidarity with the people of Tibet. Sincerely, Matteo Mecacci President P.S. If you help reach ICT’s year-end challenge goal, we will be able to do even more to speed a peaceful resolution to the crisis in Tibet. Please donate now. INTERNATIONAL CAMPAIGN FOR TIBET 1825 Jefferson Place NW  |  Washington, DC 20036 info@savetibet.org  |  (202) 785-1515 www.savetibet.org Unsubscrib Update Addres

Slovakia puts gay marriage ban in constitution

The leading leftist pary just drafted and passed an amendment defining marriage as solely between a man and a woman. Sign the Petition! Share on Facebook!

Dear hans,
Slovakia has decided to buck the EU trend and deny equal rights to same-sex couples, amending its constitution to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman.
It's scandalous enough that Slovakia has joined fellow EU state Croatia in denying LGBT couples the right to marry. What's more shocking is that the law was drafted and (partly) passed by the leftist Smer-Social Democraty party!

We're not asking Slovakia to infringe on the rights of any churchgoer. We're just calling for every citizen to have the same right to happiness as any other.

Join us as we say: SHAME ON YOU, SLOVAKIA!

Click here to sign -- it just takes a second.
Thanks,
-- The folks at Watchdog.net
P.S. If the other links aren't working for you, please go here to sign: http://act.watchdog.net/petitions/4731?n=75675602.9LRu9i

Stoned to death while pregnant

Farzana Parveen was only 25 when the pregnant woman was stoned to death by her father and brother for marrying Mohammad Iqbal. Sign the Petition! Share on Facebook!

Dear hans ,
A pregnant Pakistani woman was just stoned to death in broad daylight — by her own family — for marrying the man she loved.

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan believes some 869 women were murdered in honor killings in 2013.

Thanks to poor police work and faulty prosecutions, most of the killers are acquitted or handed light sentences.But after the public slaying of 25-year-old Farzana Parveen, Pakistani women are demanding real protection.

Farzana was three months pregnant when she was torn from her husband and pelted with bricks by her own father and brother. This kind of horror should never be the kind of fate women fear — and we can make sure it's a fate no more of them have to suffer.

Please, join us in calling on the Pakistani government to launch an investigation into honor killings and train police and prosecutors in pursuing these cases, holding them accountable for negligence and looking the other way.

PETITION TO PAKISTANI GOVERNMENT: We call on you to investigate police and prosecutorial actions in honor killing cases, training officers and lawyers to recognize and pursue these criminals and holding them accountable if they ignore such flagrant violence.

Click here to sign -- it just takes a second.
Thanks,
-- The folks at Watchdog.net
P.S. If the other links aren't working for you, please go here to sign: http://act.watchdog.net/petitions/4693?n=73351493._Jjjzd

we're not gonna take it

So, there is still a long way to go before the world will accept that everyone is equal.

The bad thing in this is that many people shall bow for the wishes of the lobby groups that want this stuff banned.
The good thing is that there are many ways to still be able to post this.

We are not going to take this kind of bans. And if  Facebook is banning me for posting it.. I whall gladly return and repost it!

  NO KISSING ALLOWED

Facebook Just Banned Users For Posting This “Offensive” Photo Of Two Men Kissing

• Share on Twitter
• Share on Facebook
• Email
• Comments (36)

Like fellow media giants Google and YouTube, Facebook is once again enforcing an anti-gay double-standard. According to admins operating the Have A Gay Day page, over 100 contributors have been blocked from logging in and banned from posting photos for up to 30 days because an “offensive” image depicting two men kissing was posted last night. It “violates community standards.”

In a statement released following the incident, Have A Gay Day says “the only thing visible was lips touching,” and the photo has been posted numerous times in the past without issue. The caption ironically reads “Did this picture offend you? Did you ever think, maybe your opinion is offensive?”

This isn’t the first time that the morality robot policing gay content on Facebook has blocked LGBTs for the most unoffensive things. Earlier this year, the site attempted to shut down advocacy group Gay Marriage USA’s page for posting another “offensive” photo of an interracial couple, and struck again in October when this photo of gay men kissing was just too much to handle.

In all these cases, Facebook is quick to remind everyone that the company itself does not ban/block users for posting photos that violate Facebook’s “policies and community standards,” but operates a dangerous algorithm that allows hateful users to “report” the photo as “offensive,” effectively shutting down the accounts of LGBTs with blatant homophobia.

Facebook will most likely reinstate the posting privileges of Have A Gay Day users once they catch wind of the situation, but how many more times do we have to go through this song and dance before this “progressive” company takes banning rights out of the hands of users?

Full story here: http://www.queerty.com/facebook-just-banned-106-users-for-posting-this-offensive-photo-of-two-men-kissing-20131228/#ixzz2pYrNN0N8

The world’s worst punishment for rape?

Dear friends,

16-year-old Liz was gang raped so brutally that she is now in a wheelchair. But instead of arresting the attackers the police got them to cut the grass, and then set them free! Women's groups are calling on us to raise the alarm across the world to help get justice. Sign up to help make sure no other child suffers like Liz:

16 year old Liz was walking home from her grandfather’s funeral when she was ambushed by six men who took turns raping her and then threw her unconscious body down a 6-meter toilet pit. Their punishment? Police had them mow their station lawn, then let them go free!

Liz’s horror story has sent shockwaves through Kenya and now politicians and the police are under pressure to respond. But women's groups in Kenya say nothing will truly change unless the government is put under the global spotlight. They are calling on us urgently to help ensure justice is done and that Liz’s nightmare marks a turning-point in Kenya’s rape epidemic.

Nobody has been brought to justice -- not the rapists, and not the police. Today, we change that. Let's stand with Liz right now, before her attackers and the police escape. Click below to get justice for Liz and help make sure no girl anywhere suffers this violence:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/justice_for_liz_loc/?bIiqNab&v=30663

According to the girl’s mother, after they were set free, the rapists returned to Liz’s home to taunt the family. They acted like they were above the law, and they had good reason to think so. Because of ridiculous bureaucratic requirements, the police logged Liz’s attack as mere "assault" and asked her mother to “clean her up”, destroying key forensic evidence. Now her rapists are free and Liz is in a wheelchair.

Liz’s story is an extreme example of a much bigger problem. In Kenya, two thirds of school girls and half of school boys have been sexually abused. And earlier this year, a landmark court ruling found police guilty of failing to do their jobs and ordered them to uphold Kenya’s strict anti-rape laws. Rape is illegal everywhere, but too often these laws are just not enforced by the men charged with protecting our daughters. Beginning with Liz, we can change that.

The police claim that they don’t have the money or training to uphold the law. But you don’t need much training to know that cutting the grass is no punishment for rape. If we can help ensure these rapists and police are held to account, we can set a precedent that will compel police to treat rape as a crime, not a misdemeanour. Sign up now for justice for Liz and to help end the war on girls:


http://www.avaaz.org/en/justice_for_liz_loc/?bIiqNab&v=30663

Avaaz members have a track record for standing up against rape all over the world -- we recently got the Indian government to commit to a multi-billion rupee national education campaign to combat the problem there. While we can never undo what happened to Liz, we can keep it from happening again. Let’s do it.

With hope and determination,

David, Anne, Sam, Bissan, Oli, Ricken, Emily and the whole Avaaz team

PS: Liz is a pseudonym given by the news outlet that broke her story and has since been widely used. She is not pictured here.

PPS - This campaign was started by a member of our community in Kenya. Start yours now and win on any issue - local, national or global: http://www.avaaz.org/en/petition/start_a_petition/?bgMYedb&v=23917


SOURCES

Brave Busia girl battles as her rapists go scot free (The Daily Nation)
http://www.nation.co.ke/lifestyle/DN2/When-rapists-go-scot-free/-/957860/2022572/-/skd9s8z/-/index.html

Miscarriage of justice in brutal gang rape case shines spotlight on Kenyan police (Sabahi Online)
http://sabahionline.com/en_GB/articles/hoa/articles/features/2013/10/18/feature-02

Police wrap up probe into girl’s gang rape (The Daily Nation)
http://www.nation.co.ke/news/Police-wrap-up-probe-into-girls-gang-rape/-/1056/2035702/-/format/xhtml/-/4rdyo/-/index.html 

After Kenya’s landmark rape decision, all eyes on the police (Globe and Mail)
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/commentary/after-kenyas-landmark-rape-decision-all-eyes-fall-on-the-police/article13545136/

Kenyan Rape Victims Seek Compensation (IWPR)
http://iwpr.net/report-news/kenyan-rape-victims-seek-compensation

Support the Avaaz Community!
We're entirely funded by donations and receive no money from governments or corporations. Our dedicated team ensures even the smallest contributions go a long way.

---

Avaaz.org is a 27-million-person global campaign network that works to ensure that the views and values of the world's people shape global decision-making. ("Avaaz" means "voice" or "song" in many languages.) Avaaz members live in every nation of the world; our team is spread across 18 countries on 6 continents and operates in 17 languages. Learn about some of Avaaz's biggest campaigns here, or follow us on Facebook or Twitter.