Kind of like Chicago...

Okay, not really like Chicago. What are the crime statistics in Chicago? How many murders were there in the Windy City last year? Which city in the U.S. has the highest crime rate?

We are experiencing a cold spell, here, in the Sandbox. I won't get any sympathy from friends in Canada... But it is chilly enough to wear a sweatshirt in the mornings and then again after the sun goes down. It was only 79 degrees this morning when I got up! [Yep. Time to get the mittens and parka's out...] There is no humidity in the air and there is a breeze. It feels much cooler... Burrr! Never mind... The Kids will need to take their baths inside from now on. Thank goodness Inam [HB13] is back to clean the tub for me! I didn't get to finish grooming The Baby yesterday - I ran out of day light and I really, really need to clip her in the light. Poor little thing. She has one foot that wasn't done, her tail wasn't done and the top of her head. Everything else is finished. An hour this morning will take care of it. Then baths for The Baby and The Boy. Pictures tomorrow, not today. [Inam is going to regret coming back to work at our house when he sees the mess I am going to make in the tub!]

In today's news...

A woman has been arrested for the murder of her husband. The headline makes it very clear what the nationality of the woman is. "Pak expat held for kiling hubby." No, not a typographical error. That is what the headline says. "K i l i n g."

An article about a Filipino body laying in a hospital's morgue a month after he was killed by a Saudi security guard. Details about the man who died - the cause of his death - that he was able to identify his killer - but no mention of whether his murderer was arrested or is in jail...

A "killer" has been pardoned. "A Saudi on death row in Jizan jail for killing his fiancee 12 years ago, was spared the neck after the family of the deceased agreed to relinquish its right to demand implementation of the beheading sentence." Again, no typographical errors. That is what the article says.

Interesting little blurb about the police in Jeddah issuing 5,970 traffic tickets. Yeah. Sure. The article says that the "violations include using mobile phone while driving, throwing garbage from the car, embarking and disembarking while the vehicle was still moving and driving too slowly thus obstructing traffic." Nary a mention of speeding or running red lights and stop signs - which, in my opinion, are the cause of so much road carnage, here. Someone explain to me how one "embarks and disembarks" while a vehicle is still moving...

Twelve years in prison seems rather harsh for aiding and abetting "qat smugglers," but as I have repeatedly stated, authorities in the Sandbox take drug smuggling very, very seriously. Just. Don't. Do. It. When the "Welcome to Saudi Arabia" sign includes the sentiment, "Drug smugglers will be executed," do you really want to take the risk? No. I don't think so.

An "Illegal phone calls racket" has been "busted." Click here to see a photo, and then try to tell me with a straight face that it wasn't "staged." If it wasn't so serious - for those that were "busted," it would be comical. The article says, "A number of Asians, mostly taxi drivers, wait for their turn to make "cheap" illegal phone calls... The police raided the place and arrested an Asian expatriate running the illegal business. His assistant and 10 customers were also arrested... The suspects used to be extra cautious not to let strangers in without making an appointment in advance before a secret patrol penetrated the den." Apparently not "extra cautious" enough, though. "A secret patrol penetrated the den." It just sounds so clandestine...

Four more days - including today - and the election will be over and done with. Maybe. Actually, I anticipate recount after recount with allegations of "voter fraud" tarnishing what should be almost sacred. Hate is a very strong word. There are few things I "hate." I cannot quite bring myself to say that I "hate" Barack Hussein Obama, but I dislike him very, very, very, very much. Dislike enough to border on "hate." If this article was printed in the United States the mainstream media would be screaming! Hysteria would abound. Talk about racist! "We feel he is close to us. Because he is colored and of African extraction... I feel that Obama is close to the people and to the poor. He's not racist..." WHAT?!? Wake up, people! Smell the f^cking coffee!!! He is close to the people and to the poor? Ask his cousins and relatives living in squalor if he is "close" to "the poor." No. I do not hate him. But I so much want to see him go DOWN! The man does not deserve to be President of the United States. As a matter of fact, most of the men and women who have been elected to represent the people of the United States do NOT deserve to be sitting in Washington. But for only a small - very small - handful of our esteemed politicians - the whole lot of them ought to be thrown out on their asses into the street. And then run over by a big truck. Even if Sarah Palin is not our next Vice President, I have high hopes that she will in some way, shape or form, be able to shake things up a bit and make some changes. Sarah AND Joe the Plumber! It is our only hope for "change." [Heavy sigh...] Thankfully there is an iota of sanity over here in the Middle East. "Kuwaiti political analysit Ayed al-Manna said that while frontrunner Obama has captured hearts in the Gulf, a Republican administration was more likely to keep Iran and Islamist fundamentalist groups in check." No doubt about that! "Our feelings and hearts may be with Obama, but our minds and interests place us closer to the Republicans." [Thank goodness!] "The "hawkish" Republicas are more likely to curb Iran's attempts to exercise regional "hegemony." And "a weakening of US power in its hawkish form would embolden fundamentalist movements." Yeah, it would. Fortunately, the "lemmings" that live over here on this side of the world who think that "Hopechange Hussein Obamesseiah" should be the next President of the United States are NOT eligible to vote!

Quite enough for today, I think. [Visit again tomorrow for the promised pictures of "The Pretty Princess..."]

UPDATED: It's a small world out there in the blogosphere. I questioned how many people were murdered in Chicago last year and lo and behold, one of my daily must-reads has an answer for me! Well, kind of. The murder rate is listed for this year.