Locally...

It is raining! We need rain. Probably one of the only countries in the world where a rain day should be a holiday. [It isn't. Tomorrow there will be reports of PCRC all over, though, because like southerner's in the snow, no one knows how to drive in "rain," here.]

Somehow I missed this during the last week. Did not know that Saudi nurses were being attacked. It says, "Recently the media have addressed the increasing number of assaults against Saudi nurses." I don't recall seeing a single article in either of our newspapers on this. Media as in television news, then? But, then, if it was reported in one of the papers, I could have overlooked it... Saudi nurses are being attacked by other women, as "the chivalry of Saudi men prevents them from using their own hands to slap the weak nurses so they ask their wives or relatives to do it on their behalf. They want to give Saudi nurses a lesson on how to treat the 'noble Saudi family.'" What? And, doesn't the Saudi "noble" family have their own hospital? No. Wait. They go to the States for medical treatment. I don't think "royal" and "noble" are the same thing. The author of the article, Salem Sahab, says, "As usual, there will be opponents and attackers to anyone who dares to criticize our 'specialty' claiming that these are individual cases and not a phenomenon." Well okay, then. Now we know. Here's the thing... "These cases, which some of us like to undermine by saying that they are rare and isolated include, among others: Maltreatment of foreign housemaids, humiliating them and depriving them of their monthly payments. Financial scams... Abusing children and physically torturing them and their mothers. Addiction to drugs... The fatal traffic accidents that result from speeding and other violations." Bingo! See, I am not the only one who thinks this - that PCRC is the result of speeding and other violations. Validation, indeed. Thank you Salam Sahab. Read the article. It isn't very long. Twelve paragraphs. The tenth is a humdinger, though. [H/T and thanks to Joseph who pointed this out to me!]

A 50-year-old Indonesian housemaid was abandonded by her Saudi sponsor in front of a recruitment office in Dammam. Nice. She was given about half of her owed wages and photocopies of her passport and working papers. The police have given her aide; she is now at a deportion center. Will her sponsor's be tracked down and made to pay the wages she is owed? Pay her plane fare back to Indonesia? Anything? Hmmph. Doubtful. Just another maid. Nothing to see here, folks. Move along. On the bright side, there is no indication that she was abused in the report. She is one of the fortunate and lucky ones...

The "sheep thieves," remember them? The two young men who were sentenced to 2,000 - 4,000 lashes and years in prison. Them. I've gone back and tried to ascertain their ages and can't find any reference to how old they are - I could have missed it - but they are "young," according to the reports. The fathers of the two boys, "said the verdict of six years in prison and 4,000 lashes... is unfair and is not commensurate with the crime the boys committed and does not take into consideration their young age." They have a point. And, don't forget that the men who tried to steal 16 sheep were given much more lenient sentences. ["The more you steal, the better."] Yes, what these two young boys [men?] did was wrong, but IMHO the sentence really is a bit harsh. One of the father's said that his son, "the fourth of six brothers does not exhibit aggressive behavior nor did he have any particular motives for committing the crime. Instead... [the son] and his friend were led astray by their own ignorance and became involved in the theft of two sheep worth SR700 [$187.66], which has landed them in prison." Perhaps we don't really know what the "particular motives" of the two boys actually was. Anyone care to expand on that? No. Just. Don't. All of the articles so far make it pretty clear that they were stealing the sheep because they were hungry and wanted to feed their families. Yes. What they did was wrong. But even the owner of the sheep has forgiven them. Don't they deserve some leniency? I think so. Just an opinion.

Earlier this week a little 7-year-old girl died after being abused by her own father and wicked step-mother. Both are "cooling their heels behind bars" and both are "charged with torturing the girl to death." According to the girl's mother, "identified only as Fatima," she said she "had been separated from her husband - the girl's father - for over two years which also separated her from her daughter." According to a spokesperson of the Makkah Police, "it was clear that Kulthoum [the little girl] had been severely beaten resulting in bruises and internal bleeding." Another authority has stated that "such practices are forbidden... and there is no acceptable justification fo rthe torture of Kulthoum whatever her crime was." Excuse me? What crime could a little 7-year-old girl possibly commit? Not wanting to go to bed at the required time? Not eating all of her peas at dinner? Not picking up her toys? Those are NOT crimes. That is normal behavior for a child. Little 7-year-old girls do not commit crimes. I am glad that the PTB are looking into the matter and that the father and wicked step-mother will, hopefully and eventually, be charged with murder.

I don't recall what was in yesterday's papers. I would have done a post if there was anything earth-shattering, though. Don't think I missed too much. If I did, someone let me know. I'll add it to today's round-up.