Ten-Year-Old Spinster - Now Married

Nope. You just can't make this kind of stuff up. A Saudi sheikh "performed a wedding ceremony between a 10-year-old girl and a 26-year-old man. The girl's father said that he married off his daughter because he feared that she would remain a spinster." No report on what the father was paid for giving up his little girl. What's the going price for ten-year-old's? We know an 8-year-old costs about $8,042.26. How does this payment system work? The younger the child the more money you can get for her? File this one under "you'vegottobefuckingkiddingme." Saw it at the internet bowel scourer's site, first.

The pedophiles in this country are going to have to move quickly. If you want to marry a child, you need to do so as authorities are considering a ban of "marriage for girls below 18." Why are they considering this, finally? Because they are humiliated from the recent case of a little eight-year-old girl being married off to a man some fifty years older than her which made the rounds, world-wide. That that case "drew international criticism and embarrassed the kingdom" is the ONLY reason authorities are considering the ban of marriage to children. There is, of course, the possibility that the ban will not happen as many others, here, "endorse the practice of marrying underage girls, arguing that in doing so they avoid spinsterhood or the temptation of engaging in relationships outside of wedlock." Apparently some of this has to do with "financial considerations" and "tribal traditions." The "tribal traditions," although foreign to most of us who have lived in civilized countries, I can understand. The "financial considerations" is something that needs to be completely taken out of the equation. That you have had little girls - with all four of your wives - and are now seeing piles of money as you can sell them to the highest bidders is just wrong, in my opinion.

In other "local" news...

A beauty contest of sorts. Not camels or goats. And not women in swimsuits, either. A "Miss Beautiful Morals" contest. All has to do with how devoted you are and how much respect you have for your parents, according to the article. "It's an alternative to the calls for decadence in the other beauty contests that only take into account a woman's body and looks." What contests would those be? The winner in the "Miss Morals Contest" won't necessarily be pretty. Well that takes Miss Pretty from the post office, here, out of the running then. When the contest opens "nearly 200 contestants will spend the next 10 weeks attending classes and being quizzed on themes including 'Discovering your inner strength,' 'The making of leaders' and 'Mom, paradise is at your feet.' ...It is the latest example of... co-opting Western-style formats to spread their message in the face of the onslaught of foreign influences flooding the region through the Internet and satellite television." But. But. But. I thought ALL western-style influences were bad? This is the second year of the "Miss Morals Contest" and the winner and two runners-up will be announced in July. [I can hardly wait!] First prize is $2,600 and some stuff and the runners-up will each get $1,300. Doesn't say what the "stuff" is.

I've lost count. How many are we up to, so far, this year? There were two more "were beheaded by the sword" yesterday. Yemenis. Very, very important to know that they were some other nationality... [Unlike the story of the six rapists who we still don't know anything about.] No guessing necessary.

Where as here it is necessary to guess... "Police in Afifi have arrested two young men for harassing girls outside their school. The pair was stopped... after they were observed loitering." More riff-raff, at least temporarily, off the streets. Good.

A couple of Ethiopian "women have been sentenced to jail and lashes for drinking and distributing the locally produced alcoholic drink 'Araq.'" Had no idea that you could find Araq, here. Had it in Jordan when we were there last year - on the recommendation of our Lebanonese hairdresser - and thought it tasted terrible. A licorice kind of taste. I guess if you like anisette and black licorice you might like Araq, but neither DH or I cared for it. Anyway - the women will do jail time and be given lashes and then deported. The court that sentenced them is the same court that sentenced a "Bengali man to two weeks' prison for rigging a fuel pump in order to claim more money than he was due from drivers."

More unpaid workers. And nothing will be done to help them. Just seems to be okay, here, for workers to do what they are supposed to do - for months and months on end - and for the employers to NOT pay them. Authorities could do something about it if they wanted to. Seems to me most are willing to turn a blind eye to the problem and just let it slide.

PCRC to the tune of 18 per day. Authorities could do something about this as well. And, yet, they don't.

That's all I've got for today. I'm off to the kitchen to get dinner ready for guests this evening. I want to spend the afternoon working next to the pool... It is another beautiful sunny day in The Sandbox and the pool temperature is 82 degrees!