Confessed Under Duress

Shocker! The Sri Lankan maid accused of murdering a baby told the court yesterday that her "first confession was made under duress and as a result of a physical assault." A surprise? No. Not really. Pretty much expected. Rizana Nafeek had an interpreter yesterday - something she's not had the privilege of for all proceedings - including her confession. An Indian electrician translated for her yesterday. [Shaking my head in bewilderment...] Nothing was resolved yesterday. Rizana is still in jail and the case will be sent to another court which will "decide the next course of action." Someone is forcing this through the court system when even the judges know it was nothing more than a tragic accident, yet not a single one of them has the brass ones to say "stop the madness." And, something must have been said yesterday that muddied up the water. A police investigating officer who testified [what did he say?] has been ordered "to produce two witnesses to vouch at the next hearing for the honesty and integrity of the officer." Huh?

Who knew that Saudi men can't put their wives names in their phones? They save the telephone numbers "under a variety of pseudonyms and title to avoid them being detected by prying eyes." Good grief. Get a grip. It isn't enough you've got "her" covered in head-to-toe black so that no one can see her? Alrighty, then. One woman, going by the name "Umm Ahmed," which means mother of Ahmed, learned that her husband had used the name "Guantanamo" on his phone for her. She is now asking for a divorce, "or at least the payment of some form of financial compensation to 'serve as a lesson.'" You just can't make this stuff up! She says, "Our relationship of 17 years has been based on deception and deceit..." No. Really? Other endearing terms that are used are "Thorn in my side," and "Salary." Ha ha ha. One husband said that "the measures were required to avoid their wives' telephone numbers falling into the hands of the wrong people. My friends often get hold of my telephone, so if I use these names I can rest assured that others won't get hold of my wife's number even by accident." Umm hmmm. No one would ever guess that "Thorn in my side" is your wife.

PCRC. Eight dead. "The incident prompted locals to renew calls for permanent patrols of the region's highways which they say have seen an abundance of accidents, often caused by stray camels and cows." Sure. Blame some innocent animals - who were NOT even involved in this incident! How about, instead, letting traffic patrolmen to do their job. Never mind. That makes far to much sense.