Friend Joins Husband in Beating Wife

Not much to the story - but enough. A husband and a wife were arguing and the husband was hitting his wife - this took place in public, in front of witnesses. Witnesses which "were further horrified to see a friend of the man join in the violence against the woman." No details about whether or not the husband and his friend were arrested for assault and battery. Probably not. The man was just exercising his husbandly duties and doing what he is lawfully allowed to do.

An Asian woman [very important to know the nationality!] who supposedly had "magic powers" has been arrested, along with her son. The woman's home was raided and the Commission for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice "found books on magic teachings, talismans and lists of names." A young female client [no mention of her nationality - guess?!] was "found at the premises and released... after being given 'guidance.'"

Interesting, though, how an Asian woman is arrested for something that others are allowed to charge big bucks for. All depends on who you are... A family with their own personal pyromaniac has suffered from 28 fires in one year, all of which "mysteriously occur after eight o'clock in the evening." A member of the family said, "We are continually having to buy new furniture." [How about installing a surveillance system to see which family member is starting the fires? It would be less expensive than new furniture every other week!] Nah. They are calling in a sheikhs and preachers to exorcise the "harmful spirits." For SR15,000 [$4,021.44] one sheikh has said "he could rid the family of their problem." [How much was the Asian woman, above, charging?] According to the article, even the Commission for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice's [which is also known as the Hai'a] "attempts to break the spell have proven unsuccessful." Like I already said... Two words: surveillance system. Problem solved.

Another family is having problems with the same imaginary phenomenon [IP] and claims that the IP is "attempting to evict them from their home by stealing their telephones and throwing stones at the children." Umm hmm. Sounds completely believable and logical, doesn't it? The IP is what is known, here, as "jinn," and the story was first reported a week or so ago with its very own snark, "'We have to look into this case and verify its truthfulness despite teh difficulty of its consideration,' said Sheikh Amr Al-Salmi, the head of the local court. If he thinks it's going to be difficult to verify these charges, just wait until the judge orders the genie to pay compensation." [Emphasis on the snark, mine. And thanks to Joseph for the link!]

For a country that allows no pork products, I'd say it is being hit pretty hard with Wilbur flu! 216 cases have been confirmed. [By all means, don't let the fact that you cannot catch this flu from pork stop you from confiscating bacon that people try to bring through customs...]