Saudi Jeans

I found this video, and a link to two other commercials from the same campaign, at Saudi Jeans, a blog by a 25-year-old Saudi man. Saudi Jeans focuses primarily on politics, human rights, women's rights and freedoms. I also forwarded this video to my History professor.

Also, this is Mid-Term week for me, and then the following week is Spring Break, so posting will be intermittent on my end.

40 Lashes for the 75-Year-Old!

"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.

Don't Mess With Poland

Yesterday, my parents and I stopped at Ft. Indiantown Gap's PX. I was surprised by the amount of alcohol stocked in such a small store.

According to the London Times, Poland has "promised to track down and 'punish' Taleban terrorists who beheaded an engineer in Pakistan's lawless North West Frontier Province" (Times Online). The Polish Foreign Minister has "promised that Poland would try to bring the perpetrators of the killing to justice" (Times Online). However, this is going to be quite difficult, as "Pakistan's tribal regions remain largely lawless and overrun by the Taleban" (Times Online),though this hasn't stopped Poland from issuing arrest warrants against the suspects. Still, if and when these murderers are captured, will they truly be brought to justice? Or will international law and human rights intervene? We can always ship them to Rep. Murtha's district.

On a happier note, SSG Daniel Barker and soldier Adam Krause were reunited with two dogs they saved from starvation while serving in Afghanistan. "Dogpile.com . . . [paid] for the dogs' journey to the U.S. and stay in Customs" (FNC). Follow their story at Dogpile.com, complete with their arrival video!
I wonder if this sort of thing happens more often. I can recall reading a story about a dog named Lava who was rescued by some soldiers. They dewormed her with tobacco and got rid of her fleas with a kerosene bath. As far as I know, Lava is living somewhere in the States with one of the soldiers.

Princess Amira al-Taweel of Saudi Arabia has declared that she is ready to drive (women are currently forbidden to drive in Saudi Arabia), as she already drives in other countries when she travels. Her husband has already stated that "he would be the first to let his wife and daughter drive if the ban was lifted" (FNC). The ban requires families to either "hire live-in drivers . . . [or] rely on male relatives to drive them to work, school, shopping or the doctor" (FNC).
In my opinion, that's more of an inconvenience than allowing women to drive themselves. The argument against women drivers is that they "will unduly expose their eyes while driving and will interact with male strangers" (FNC).
As a driver, my eyes are on the road. I'm not checking out the guy passing me on the interstate. If women (or men) are going to be ogling one another while on the road, they clearly shouldn't be there in the first place. And if men are worried about women interacting with police officers and mechanics, can't they simply veil before the police officer strides up to the window, or have their husbands take the car to the mechanic? Clearly, I'm oversimplifying the matter, but the point is that in my opinion, these arguments are unfounded.

"Be nice to terrorists. Read them their rights!" -Judge from An American Carol, on the ACLU