Killing your child

I read this account about a mother who walked free after killing her 11 year old autistic child. I quote:

Yvonne Freaney, 50, admitted she killed her son Glen, 11, with a coat belt in an airport hotel room.

Freaney told police she killed Glen so "no one could point fingers at him" when he was in heaven.

Mother-of-four Freaney also tried to kill herself but botched her attempts to slash her wrists - and was found alive by ambulance crews.

She was cleared of murder but admitted manslaughter by diminished responsibility. Judge Mr Justice Wyn Williams allowed her to walk free with a supervision order.

He said it was "the most difficult sentencing" he had ever had in his career.

Mr Justice Wyn Williams told her: "You have already been punished enough.

"The only sensible and credible explanation is that your state of mind was truly abnormal.

"At the end you genuinely but irrationally believed that no-one but you could care for Glen and, since you were intent on killing himself, you had to kill him first.

"Not withstanding the fact that your crime was to kill a child, your culpability was very low.

"There could be no doubts you were completely devoted to Glen throughout his short life and showered him with love and affection.

"You cared for him with the best of your ability, day in and day out. He was very demanding but you never let that deflect from putting his best interests above those of your own."

I really dont think anybody can blame her. But for some reason, i keep on thinking about abortion. And yes, I know about the issue of when the foetus is viable and all that. But abortion is legal and I do think its fine. But the difference between a mother killing her say 8 month old foetus and a 11 year old child is a bit difficult to swallow. If this mother was not found to be mentally disturbed and suffering from a personality disorder, she would have been jailed. And the exact same mother will not be charged with anything if she terminates her baby. Don't know, but something doesn't gel in my mind.

Economic Incentives at play

Indonesia recently banned the recruitment of women from Indonesia to go to Saudi Arabia to work as maids. This was after an Indonesian maid killed her employer after he abused her thoroughly. Welcome to Saudi Justice. Anyway, so what happens after the ban? Read on MacDuff.

JEDDAH: Illegal housemaids in Jeddah have begun asking for huge salary increases following the decision to suspend recruitment of housemaids from Indonesia and the Philippines.

Many families are reporting that the maids have threatened to walk out if their demands are not met, especially that Ramadan is one month away when demand for extra domestic help spikes

Gosh, Saudi Society will collapse without maids, eh? So what do you do?

Following the decision to stop maids from Indonesia and the Philippines, recruitment from countries like Ethiopia or Kenya and other countries came as an alternative choice to fill the demand for domestic labor in Saudi Arabia. Spokesman of the Ministry of Labor Hattab Al-Anzi hinted that the Kingdom would start allowing recruitment for domestic workers, including maids, from different countries. Several recruitment offices have begun shifting their focus toward African countries. “However, I personally doubt whether one or two nations will be able to cover the gap in the domestic house labor market ruled by Indonesia for some time now,” he added.

Most domestic workers are recruited from Indonesia, the Philippines (which was recently barred due to a dispute over minimum wage) and Sri Lanka. Egypt doesn’t allow women to travel to the Kingdom to work as maids. Pakistani and Indian maids in Saudi Arabia are uncommon.

“In light of these new regulations, recruitment from other nations, such as Ethiopia and Kenya, could work,,” said Ahmad, an employee at a recruitment office.

Change the sources of maids. That’s interesting, eh? But here’s the interesting thing. The basic problem of Saudi’s mistreating their maids has not gone away. So very soon there will be another incident and then these other countries will also not allow their women to go to Saudi Arabia to do maid jobs. Egypt is out, Philippines is out, Pakistani and Indians don't do maid jobs (why???). So pick up people from Ethiopia and Kenya? Given that racism is so heavy in Saudi, I wont be surprised that these girls from Ethiopia and Kenya get it worse. For some reason I cannot generate any sympathy towards these muppets. In the meantime, be prepared to pay through the nose matey.

Their views on women are like Neanderthal as well. See this story about how they blame rape victims. It was shocking. Divorce rates in Saudi Arabia are one of the highest in the world. 62% of marriages in the western region in Saudi end in divorce. Overall, its about 60%. Ok, i wont go off into tangents, but basically economic incentives are showing their predictable response. Mistreat your women and the women react by either divorcing you or raising their prices.

Size 5 feet women are most attractive

Hmmm, I have done some feet and shoes photo posts before. Here is one on the tube and here is another one on the London Fashion Show. And a blog post. But this note was interesting. I quote:

The formula for a perfect woman's foot is a size five, wearing three inch heels and red toe nail varnish, according to the study.

A study discovered men find size five feet, such as those belonging to Loren, Victoria Beckham, Kim Kardashian and Sophia Loren, are the most alluring.

Research by foot plaster company Compeed revealed nearly half of men will look at a woman's feet on a first date and a third will make a character judgement based on the state of them.

Hmmm, i would agree. I would definitely look at a woman’s shoes or feet. The idea behind that is that if you look after your feet, then you look after other bits as well.

The poll of 2,000 adults found four out of ten women go to extreme lengths to cover their unkempt feet in the summer by hiding them in boots or shoes.

Six out of ten women admit to trying to hide their feet from other people because they are self-conscious.

So what’s the best looking foot? Sophia Loren’s feet.

woof woof.

Another enchanting view of the earth

From here.

Gay Marriage

NY State has just allowed Gay Marriages. Good stuff. Why ban it, you muppets? But this was an excellent graphic.

Interesting or what? Incest is allowed but gay marriage isnt. Hmmm, lol

Ismaili Studies: A Review

this was a fascinating article on one of the Islamic Sects. I like them, mind you, if nothing else, they show that they have a mind of their own and they use it as well. Unlike, well, many other people that I know and adore.

I quote the abstract:

In the course of their long and complex history dating to the formative period of Islam, the Ismailis have often been accused of various heretical teachings and practices and a multitude of myths and misconceptions circulated about them. This is mainly because the Ismailis were, until the middle of the 20th century, studied and evaluated almost exclusively on the basis of the evidence collected or often fabricated by their enemies. It was only from the mid-20th century onwards that studies based on Ismaili sources came to dominate the field, leading to a much less biased understanding of the Ismailiyya.

Go for it chaps

The Lintel Over the Pillars of Hercules

This is an idea to dam the pillars of Hercules and then combine Europe and Asia. Amazing. Well, Hercules was supposed to have created this gap after smashing the Atlas mountain thereby joining the Med and Atlantic. Or He narrowed the straits to stop monsters coming through.

But just imagine if this had been done and this fantastic structure created. Life in Europe and Africa would have been significantly different. Whether we are talking about the trade element or immigration or electricity generation or what have you. Mind you, there would have been some issues with the Suez canal and the Bosphorus/Black Sea.. Nice fun to imagine..