Locally...

Stupidity. Never a shortage of it. Anywhere in the world. A Saudi man cut off one of his appendages. It was not one of his arms or one of the legs he uses for walking on. Why? Because his father refused to give him permission to marry. The appendage was surgically reattached "amid scepticism [sic] about the chances of success." This is one man that probably shouldn't be contributing... to the gene pool.

Maids. There is a shortage. Devastation in Haiti, but a maid shortage, here. Equally horrendous situations. [Oh, and still no word on whether or not Saudi Arabia will contribute to Haiti. Personally, I say don't bother. As awful and as sad as it is there, with the billions that have been given to that country in the last couple of decades I just don't see the point. I digress.] My goodness, how will this country continue if there is a maid shortage! The saga of two maids that have been abused is finally over. I'm pretty sure I've posted on their plight and that it is somewhere in my archives. The first maid left a month ago "after her sponsor returned her passport and gave her immigration clearance." The other maid didn't get to leave when the first maid left because of some snafu with her sponsorship being transferred, "without her knowledge." Something I suspect happens all the time. She finally left last Wednesday. Both "maids had been ill-treated in Riyadh since their arrival from India several months ago. Sultana was starved for an entire month, and both were sent to the labor agency to work in different households without pay." [Without pay? What a surprise! Emphasis, mine.] One of the maids was almost forced into the xes trade! Like that would ever happen, here. Phffft.

That "fake" pilot? He is back in the Sandbox. Of course he was beaten by officials in the Manila before being returned. Umm hmmm. We expected nothing less. Pretty ballsy of him to go to another country to learn English and to learn to fly. My gosh. What did he expect? His dreams have now been shattered. Awww. Unbelievable, really. He "went to the Philippines to learn English and then join one of the flying schools... After selecting the schools in the Philippines, [he] called his father asking him to visit... to complete the enrollment procedure." Then he "put on a pilot's uniform before going to the airport to meet his father to show him or brag to his dad that he was interested in a career in the aviation industry." It was after he "mistakenly" entered "the departure area of the airport... by unknowingly crossing over to the arrival terminal through a restricted area" that he got caught which "led to his arrest" and a severe beating by "Filipino security officials." The young man, Hany Abdulelah Burkhari, has "apologized to his parents who expressed deep regret about his arrest." And he aplogized "to the public for the inconvenience." Dumbass deserved his beating. Actually, he deserves to be removed from the gene pool... [Two of 'em in one post?!]

$8,042.89 for placenta injections to lighten skin. [What was MJ using?] Interesting that those that are dark skinned want to be light skinned and those of us that are very light skinned have to work hard to get a darker look tan. What some women won't do for beauty. I'm not knocking it. I'm willing to pay for it, too. I'm just saying...

This is why so many little blue pills are needed in the Sandbox. An 80-year-old has taken a 12-year-old for a bride. They lived happily ever after. Not. Regardless that some act has just been signed that gives a minimum age of 18 for marriage - of which much has been published in our papers, of late, that I am not able to find, right now - marriages of young girls are, apparently, still taking place.

It is a beautiful "winter" day in the Sandbox. A perfect blue sky and 77°. What more could you possibly ask for!