Saudi Arabia Gives. Generously.

Fifty million dollars. To Haiti. I thought Saudi officials were going to be smarter than that. Pressure. They bowed to the pressure. And the humiliation and shame. Thus is the culture, here. Humiliation and shame go farther than anything else. Pressure? That, Saudi can take. But not humiliation and shame. Whatever. Fifty million dollars that will be used to rebuild some presidential palace over the next seven years. Of course, in reality, with the money given to be funded through the United Nations, Haiti can expect to less than a mere pittance.

Hmmph. Just six or so short months ago the Sandbox was welcoming maids from Vietnam and issued lots and lots of visas to recruit women [and men - for other positions] from there with flattering statements of how the "Vietnamese are peace loving [as opposed to?] and generally averse to committing crimes [like what other nationality?]." Guess that didn't work out as well as everyone thought it would. Imagine that. My take on that? I suggested that workers from other countries were catching on and that new markets were needed. Those workers from Vietnam? They are problems. They complain about being abused and not being paid. The nerve! Of course, the "official" spin is completely different. "The main reason for considering such a ban is that the labor recruiters in those countries are not qualified enough to supply housemaids that suit the local culture and tradition." Yeah. Probably not. How many recruiters in other countries are prepared to send their workers to countries that abuse and don't pay? The enticement that would provide: "You will have employment in a foreign country where you will be beaten and go without remuneration." If you want to think that it is because of "local culture and tradition," you are, in some ways, correct. "Local culture and tradition" favors abuse and non-payment.

In how many countries can you be married and divorced before you are twelve-years-old?! Well, it isn't official. The divorce. Yet. The child-bride seeking a divorce now has to testify before a court that she does not want to be married to an 80-year-old pedophile geezer. Wonder why? Gee. What little girl wouldn't be happy marrying a man some sixty-eight years her senior who has already been married three times? Sounds fairytaledreamcometrue and theylivedhappilyeverafter. Umm hmm.

A Saudi man was beheaded on Sunday for drug trafficking. No idea how many that makes, so far this year. The year is still young...