Notations On Our World: On the Plight of the Saudi Blogger Raif Badawi & Freedom of Speech

 

We here @ #Outsiders have been showcasing the plight of Raif Badawi who as noted in the Amnesty International Call to Action Earlier today, ".... that Saudi Arabia's Supreme Court upheld blogger Raif Badawi's sentence to 10 years in prison and 1,000 lashes for "insulting Islam through electronic channels."  We joined the call to action by Amnesty International to prevail upon Saudi Authorities to reconsider this verdict in support of Freedom of Speech everywhere and in support of Ensaf Haidar, Raif's Wife and his children.   

We will continue to monitor this case over the ensuing days and weeks.
 

Notations On Our World: Late Breaking Developments (#Iraq; #Mosul & #US Deploying Troops)

As we write this, we are getting reports from the US networks that the Obama Adminstration is dispatching a 500-strong contingent to Iraq osteinsbly to train additoinal Iraqis as they gear up to take back the City of Ramadi.      Currently there are 3,000 Advisors fighting on the frontlines and whether this is a major escalation remains to be seen.   

This escalation is as Daesh continues to expand its' footprint.   What was quite striking was how the Iraqi Prime Mniniste promised that the invasion of Mosul was evident.   Yet, it is far from it.   The BBC uncovered a blockbuster to underscore the extent of the brutality and sheer terror the people of Mosul have been subjected to--we have noted some excerpts released to the BBC site below--please click here as we wanted to have the entire spectre of reporting done by Ghadi Sary of the BBC who secured this compelling clips:

1. Inside Mosul: Persecution of minorities

   …Exclusive footage obtained by the BBC's Ghadi Sary from inside Mosul reveals how IS persecutes minorities. The fall of Iraq's second-biggest city was part of the brutal, extremist group's rapid…

   Published Date

2. Inside Mosul: Indoctrination and surveillance

   …Exclusive footage obtained by the BBC's Ghadi Sary from inside Mosul reveals how IS controls its population through indoctrination and surveillance. The fall of Iraq's second-biggest city was…

   Published Date

   
   

   

3. Inside Mosul: Control of women

   …Exclusive footage obtained by the BBC's Ghadi Sary from inside Mosul reveals how IS controls the lives of women. The fall of Iraq's second-biggest city was part of the brutal, extremist group…

It is chilling....and a developing story.....

View from the Grid: On the Price For Peace

For this edition of "View  From the Grid", our team chose this that was reported by +Haaretz הארץ  which underscored how Peace can have such a massive dividend for Israel that our team released to Twitter earlier today:

A very compelling rationale for Peace as it notes #Israel  could add $120b to her  coffers 4 #peacehttp://www.haaretz.com/business/1.660211

— The Daily Outsider (@DailyOutsider) June 9, 2015

Will courage prevail?  That's the compelling question.