In the latest news from that wonderful country called Saudi Arabia, also known as the birthplace of Osama bin Laden as well as 15 of 19 September 11 terrorists, we now get this:
A court in the ultra-conservative kingdom of Saudi Arabia is punishing a female victim of gang rape with 200 lashes and six months in jail, a newspaper reported on Thursday.The 19-year-old woman -- whose six armed attackers have been sentenced to jail terms -- was initially ordered to undergo 90 lashes for "being in the car of an unrelated male at the time of the rape," the Arab News reported.
But in a new verdict issued after Saudi Arabia's Higher Judicial Council ordered a retrial, the court in the eastern town of Al-Qatif more than doubled the number of lashes to 200.
A court source told the English-language Arab News that the judges had decided to punish the woman further for "her attempt to aggravate and influence the judiciary through the media."
That's right, this is the country where we get our $100 per barrel oil, that we consider to be some sort of "ally." Think about that next time you fill up the ol' SUV.
Saudi Arabia's religious police stopped schoolgirls from leaving a blazing building because they were not wearing correct Islamic dress, according to Saudi newspapers.
Researchers [at Penn State] have invented a way to harvest protons and electrons from bacteria in a reactor and create small quantities of hydrogen gas.The process can use any biodegradable organic material, potentially freeing the production of clean-burning hydrogen fuel from its current dependence on nonrenewable energy sources such as natural gas.
Of course if this proves commercially feasible, we'll end up having to pay tithes and obeisance to Joe Paterno.
From Think Progress, which has some of the back and forth between the press and the State Dept. press shill:
Yesterday, McCormack was asked if the administration's silence was "driven by a desire not to offend Saudi Arabia as a close ally." "No, it's - no, that's not it at all," he claimed, but then acknowledged the administration has yet to convey its "astonishment" directly to the Saudis. "I am not aware of any direct contact with the Saudis on this issue," he said.
The Democratic presidential candidates think our government should have a different policy: http://rawstory.com/...
We can differ here about who's the best Dem candidate, but they're all heads and shoulders above the moral caries known as the Bush Administration.