Raif Badawi’s Punishment Continues

Posted on by Mark Aldrich

Raif Badawi remains in prison. Raif Badawi still awaits 950 lashes with a whip. Raif Badawi remains in danger …

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The source who informed Raif Badawi’s family in January 2015 that the writer’s sentence of 1000 lashes with a cane for the crime of writing was about to be carried out by Saudi Arabian authorities was correct in that information that one time. Badawi was caned on January 9, 2015. The source has not yet been named in all this time and even the source’s gender has not been revealed.

More than once since that terrible day, this source has been credited with inside information that Badawi’s punishment is about to resume, and each time the punishment has not resumed. This does not mean that this source has become unreliable or that the source from now until forever lacks credibility. What it means, if anything, may not be learned.

Because we do not know the source or the origin of the source’s information, it is almost impossible to ascertain how close to Raif Badawi the source is, was, or will be. However, this source is being credited with a story that appeared late yesterday in the international media that Raif Badawi is about to be flogged again, inside the prison where he is being held, away from public eyes.

This would not be a reversal of fortune for Raif Badawi. The fact is that Raif Badawi is always in imminent danger of his punishment being resumed. Saudi Arabia has never publicly stated any intention to free him, reduce his ten-year sentence, or show him any leniency. He is always in imminent danger.
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On His 90th Birthday, Chuck Berry Ends Silence

Posted on by Mark Aldrich

In 1979, Chuck Berry released Rock It, his only album with Atco Records. Aside from live albums, the occasional compilation, and the soundtrack to the film Hail! Hail! Rock ‘n’ Roll, Rock It has held its position as the last, the most recent, Chuck Berry album ever since.

Until today. Chuck Berry celebrated his 90th birthday today with a surprise announcement: he will release a new album of original songs next year. It is to be titled Chuck.
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Today in History: October 18

Posted on by Mark Aldrich

Rock’s so good to me. Rock is my child and my grandfather.—Chuck Berry

If you tried to give rock and roll another name, you might call it ‘Chuck Berry.’—John Lennon

He has not performed live at Blueberry Hill, his St. Louis, Missouri, nightclub, since the summer of 2014, according to his website, but if that means Chuck Berry has retired, he hasn’t let anyone know about it. That summer, he was honored with the Polar Music Prize.

Chuck Berry is 90 today. Perhaps it is to his liking that there are no celebrations scheduled in his honor today, no live performances, no career-spanning television network extravaganza. Because without the man himself cutting a duck walk across the stage while unleashing one of his immortal guitar riffs, what would we have? What we have is the music:
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