Locally...

I haven't done a "Locally..." post in a while. 'Tis time. Consider it a gift.

Good thing authorities haven't ruled out "criminal activity," on this. I'd be willing to venture a guess that the maid's death was not a suicide. In fact, if I was the betting sort, I'd be more apt to put my money on the blame of the sponsor - or someone in the household. Let's just speculate for a moment why someone would wrap their maid in blankets and set her room on fire: The maid hadn't been paid in years and was threatening to tell authorities. The maid had been physically abused in some manner and was threatening to tell authorities. The maid had had enough crap and was threatening to leave. There are probably quite a few more "speculatives" that I could come up with if I thought long and hard. Would I venture to speculate that the maid committed suicide by wrapping herself in blankets and setting her room on fire to end her [miserable] life because she "had problems with her family back home?" No. I would not.

100 workers have not had their salaries paid. Not news [second story; scroll down]. Same old, same old.

A quick little "guess the nationality" game, here. Oh, wait. The nationality is reported. But of course it is. The men arrested were not "locals." Three Asians have been arrested for stealing "spare parts" of aircraft engines.

Catchy headline, here: "Woman 'drives' Sudanese mad." Aww... "A Sudanese man, whose car was hit by a speeding car coming from the wrong direction was in for a shock, not from any injury but by the fact that the driver of the erring vehicle was a pretty girl." Police were chasing her because Saudi law does not allow women to drive. Kudos to the "pretty" girl for trying. I hope she was not injured too badly.

I think this set-up, or entrapment, has some ramifications to it that haven't quite been thought through [here? shocka!]. I am not discounting that [foolish] young women should have the right to report that they are being "blackmailed," but I question how often dubious motives might be behind the reason that someone reports it. Seems to me, that both parties need to take some responsibility for their actions, but only the young man gets the blame [and punishment]. How is it that this young woman's phone - with photos of her on it - ended up in the hands of a young man to begin with? The report says that the man had taken her phone, but yet, it is reported that the young woman wanted to "end contact" with him after knowing him for a year. Lover's quarrel or something, if you ask me, and it is the young men that are going to be taking the brunt of the blame in similar situations. On the other hand, as "commission" members are not going to hesitate to help women in such predicaments, I guess they can look at it as job security...

Two deaths. Both unnecessary. One a murder; the other a heart attack. A man murdered his daughter because she wanted to go to medical school. [Sure. Seems like a reasonable explanation, doesn't it?!?] The girl's grandmother, who was at the home, died of a heart attack. The man - the father - is being called a drug addict. Still. No excuse for brutally murdering your daughter.

Here is a report on the 97th beheading this year.