"24"

Where's Jack Bauer when you need him? He could crack this case and find the culprits rapists. In 24 hours. "We don't have much time." The Chief of the Jeddah police said "that the six individuals responsible for the abduction and rape of a Filipina women in Jeddah on Tuesday will be caught 'within 24 hours.'" That is a brave statement to make, if you ask me, unless you know who they are already. Apparently he does, because he said that information the police have "leads us to expect arrests soon." Good. I hope they are arrested and punished to the full extent of the law. The article about the woman's ordeal was in yesterday's paper. Another round of guess the nationality... If you are not Saudi, your nationality is identified.

Like in this case where police broke "up a vice den frequented by African men and women." No guessing the nationality. "The African owner of the premises reportedly supplied women and charged clients 200 Riyals for an evening's hospitality." [$53.61.] "Clients of the gentleman were all reportedly of various African nationalities." The "vice den" was infiltrated by an undercover agent. It all sounds so clandestine. The article is 4 sentences long - 91 words, total. The nationality is included three times.

Blue pills. The newest fad. "The kingdom has been gripped with a craze for erectile-dysfunction medications by young men... A large number of married Saudi youths are flocking to pharmacies to take hold of Viagra... The catchy words and obscene images that appear on online advertisements of theses medications are... luring youth into buying packets of these stimulants." Well okay, then. Who knew? Perhaps some of them really need them. One man interviewed said that "his sudden stoppage resulted in some mental disturbance," and another said that "he became addicted to the stimulant" and is "now considering seeking psychiatric help." It is always something. Oh. And by the way, these men are not youths. They may be young men, but they are not youths. They are married men. The only youths that get married in The Sandbox are little girls. The boys wait until they are fifteen or sixteen. "According to Saudi doctors, this phenomenon reflects the spread of a negative sexual culture among the young generation in the Kingdom." A culture which has been carefully cultivated by the Kingdom's elders? You force these men to believe that they must be virtual xes-machines by allowing them four wives. With that kind of pressure, what do you expect? I know. I know. In the end all of this will be President Bush's fault. Why not? Everything else is.

More in the news on the eight-year-old child that was forced to marry a man FIFTY YEARS OLDER than her! Yesterday one report - that I posted - said the pedophile was 50. Today it is reported that he is 58. What's a difference of eight years? This whole matter is pathetic. And you wonder why others tend to view you so negatively. The pedophile paid 30,000 riyals [$8,042.89] to the child's father [and I use that in the loosest possible sense of the word - what kind of father sells his child for $8,042.89?!?]. The child's father "took control of the funds, which he used to settle some financial problems." I'd say that the man has more than financial problems. Hopefully, at some point, the little girl will write a book or somehow get a Lifetime movie deal out of this whole debacle and identify the man who calls himself her father. Inquiring minds want to know. Perhaps if enough shame is cast upon him he will take it upon himself to do the honorable thing and throw himself off a tall building or step in front of a speeding car. Now that would be what an honor killing should be all about!