I've been remiss in not posting about Egyptian blogger Alaa Abd El-Fatah, of the Egyptian blog aggregator Manalaa who was detained at a peaceful protest on behalf of an independent Egyptian judiciary.

It's useful to remember what a real police state is like. And that we in the U.S. are writing the checks to keep the guards paid.

Bloggers have been encouraging their readers to sign an online petition, which will automatically generate emails to Egypt's US ambassador, the Egyptian PM, and the Egyptian Minister of the Interior as well as to email David Welch (nea-ela@state.gov), the Assistant Secretary and head of the State Department’s Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs.

The best site is at www.freealaa.blogspot.com. Another is the ever-useful Global Voices site.