"Bernie Madoff . . . the world's greatest scammer is 70 years old and facing up to 150 years for his $50 billion swindle, but it could have been worse — much, much worse — if he'd committed his crimes in some other countries" (FNC). How true! In what other country could a man defraud "thousands of investors of their life savings" (FNC) -- and let's focus on the words "thousands" and "life savings" -- and then be condemned to spend the rest of his life getting three square meals a day and shelter, all at the expense of not thousands of taxpayers, but rather millions? Granted, I'm sure that if I were to do the research (which I have no time for at the moment, as I have a mid-term exam and various essays due tomorrow -- and yet I strangely have time to blog), I'd probably realize that individual taxpayers really don't pay a whole lot of money to keep a prisoner incarcerated. However, it simply seems ironic to me that a man can swindle people of an amount greater than many countries' GDPs, and then live off of their taxes. But I don't believe he should simply walk free on that, and nor do I believe that he should receive the death penalty. But if he were to do so, we could follow shari'a law according to the Saudis and stone him -- I'm pretty sure stones are free.
Speaking of the Saudis, 75-year-old Khamisa Sawadi has been sentenced to forty lashes and four months in prison. First of all, I can't even imagine what sort of a person would condemn a 75-year-old woman to lashes and prison time . . . "for mingling with two young men . . . who were not her immediate relatives" (FNC). My professor shared this story (from a different source) with the class on Monday. The two men, her nephew and his business partner, took the woman five loaves of bread (which she had requested), and were then arrested by the religious police.
"'Because she said she doesn't have a husband and because she is not a Saudi, conviction of the defendants of illegal mingling has been confirmed'" (FNC). According to Islamic tradition, "breast-feeding establishes a degree of maternal relation, even if a woman nurses a child who is not biologically hers" (FNC). However, despite the fact that Sawadi told the courts she breast-fed Fahd al-Anzi (her nephew), "the court denied her claim, saying she didn't provide evidence" (FNC). Exactly what sort of evidence is a woman supposed to provide to prove that she breast-fed her now 24-year-old nephew?
Sawadi, who is not Saudi-born, will also be deported following her prison sentence.
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