Fire at the Mill

Posted on by Mark Aldrich

My dad, also known to the world as my father, is 80 today. Cape Cod, here we come! Here is a little birthday card I published a couple days ago. Happy birthday, Gad’s dad!

Mark Aldrich's avatarThe Gad About Town

Some memories are of photographs and not the incident itself, but some feel to the rememberer like they are of a photo, with the details so clear and so accessible. There is one memory … I could count the rocks in the creek bed if I would just take the time.

My father was born 80 years ago this Saturday. If August 15, 1935, is known for anything, it is not the birth of my dad but for it being the date Will Rogers and Wiley Post died when Post crashed their airplane north of the Arctic Circle near Point Barrow, Alaska. (They may be the first celebrities to have perished in a plane crash.)

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Raif Badawi & the Optimism of Dissent

Posted on by Mark Aldrich

Raif Badawi was not flogged today, August 14. Official reasons were not given. Hope exists this week that his case and his sentence is being reviewed once again by the Saudi Arabian judicial system.

Raif Badawi is a writer who started a blog entitled “Saudi Arabian Liberals,” was arrested in 2012 and charged with “insulting Islam” and with apostasy for his writings, was found guilty of insulting Islam, and was given the fearsome sentence of 10 years in prison and 1000 lashes. On January 9, he was whipped in public for the first time; 50 lashes were delivered. He has not been whipped in public since; he has also not been seen in public since. The international outcry has been enormous—Amnesty International has revealed that Raif Badawi’s story has received more signatures supporting his release than any other in its history. Bono has spoken about the case in U2 concerts. Saudi Arabia has been forced to break its typical silence and comment on his case. Those comments have been disheartening, but Raif Badwi’s wife, Ensaf Haidar, continues her remarkable and brave fight.
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Every Test a Testament

Posted on by Mark Aldrich

He thumbed yesterday’s newspaper, penlessly crossed out the employers he had called on. “Why did they place the ads if they aren’t hiring?” There were no more circles for him to cross out tomorrow.
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