VoyForums
[ Show ]
Support VoyForums
[ Shrink ]
VoyForums Announcement: Programming and providing support for this service has been a labor of love since 1997. We are one of the few services online who values our users' privacy, and have never sold your information. We have even fought hard to defend your privacy in legal cases; however, we've done it with almost no financial support -- paying out of pocket to continue providing the service. Due to the issues imposed on us by advertisers, we also stopped hosting most ads on the forums many years ago. We hope you appreciate our efforts.

Show your support by donating any amount. (Note: We are still technically a for-profit company, so your contribution is not tax-deductible.) PayPal Acct: Feedback:

Donate to VoyForums (PayPal):

Login ] [ Contact Forum Admin ] [ Main index ] [ Post a new message ] [ Search | Check update time | Archives: 1234567[8] ]


[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Date Posted: 08:04:04 02/14/08 Thu
Author: jennymc
Subject: My first post here ... someone kindly gave me the URL.

I'm just lost for words ... this makes me so f***ing mad, these prehistoric morons that are Dubya's good buddies ... grrr ...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/7244579.stm

And while I'm on a rant, I'm glad to see Steven Spielberg speak out against China. It's about time someone did. Paul McCartney did in England, after the info came out about how the Chinese were abusing dogs prior to killing them to make fur coats, and allegedly throwing live cats into boiling water to make them easier to skin ...
And then there's Tibet ...

OK, time to shut up!

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]


Replies:

[> Leedle suggestion -- muppetmel, 09:15:29 02/14/08 Thu [1]

It might be wise to test the water a bit before you throw around words like "moron" etc.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/14/AR2007121402124_pf.html

Clinton Library Got Funds From Abroad
Saudis Said to Have Given $10 Million

By John Solomon and Jeffrey H. Birnbaum
Washington Post Staff Writers
Saturday, December 15, 2007; A03

Bill Clinton's presidential library raised more than 10 percent of the cost of its $165 million facility from foreign sources, with the most generous overseas donation coming from Saudi Arabia, according to interviews yesterday.

The royal family of Saudi Arabia gave the Clinton facility in Little Rock about $10 million, roughly the same amount it gave toward the presidential library of George H.W. Bush, according to people directly familiar with the contributions.

The presidential campaign of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) has for months faced questions about the source of the money for her husband's presidential library. During a September debate, moderator Tim Russert asked the senator whether her husband would release a donor list. Clinton said she was sure her husband would "be happy to consider that," though the former president later declined to provide a list of donors.


[ Edit | View ]


[> [> I wouldn't know what else to call someone who believes in witchcraft in 2008, -- jennymc, 13:12:01 02/14/08 Thu [1]

and yes, I do realise it's not just the current administration that so loves the Saudis.


[ Edit | View ]


[> I saw that story too. And although practicing Wicca is not -- LAwoman, 13:30:09 02/14/08 Thu [1]

an uncommon thing at all (I know a couple chicks who belong to Wicca groups), there's certainly no good reason to execute a woman for it. And it sounded to me like she wasn't Wiccan anyway. There are a number of absurd reasons given by these people to execute women, witchcraft being only one of many. Makes me blood boil too.


[ Edit | View ]


[> [> My point was .... -- muppetmel, 13:52:11 02/14/08 Thu [1]

... the reference to these "morons" being "Dubya's buddies." Can't we avoid such inflammatory rhetoric, particularly since it seems these people have associations across the political spectrum?

No question the execution of the woman was barbaric.


[ Edit | View ]

[> [> [> It's not a "was" yet! There's still time to stop this. -- LAwoman, 14:39:27 02/14/08 Thu [1]


[ Edit | View ]

[> [> [> [> Well it wouldn't be the first ... -- muppetmel, 14:59:34 02/14/08 Thu [1]

.... there are lots of stonings and executions going on, and "honour" killings. An example are the two young boys who were hung for being homosexual, but I think that was Iran not Saudi Arabia.


[ Edit | View ]

[> [> [> [> [> Yes, unfortunately, there's far too much of that happening. Every -- LAwoman, 15:27:09 02/14/08 Thu [1]

once in awhile, someone is spared. The woman who was to be stoned to death in Nigeria by rule of Shariah law for having a baby out of wedlock was freed after much international attention. Several women's rights and human rights organizations made plenty of noise about it. I stay as active as I can in those organizations just for cases like hers. There is a chance that the "witch" will not be executed. Honor killings and acid burnings are harder to prevent as they are committed by individuals.


[ Edit | View ]

[> [> There's an easy way to find out, of course... -- doni, 08:59:04 05/06/08 Tue [1]

Does she weigh more than a duck?


[ Edit | View ]


[> This is not a blue/red issue - as Muppy pointed out - and not just in Saudi -- Jeannine, 16:50:16 02/14/08 Thu [1]

I lived in Saudi for a year. I also spent time in UAE, Kuwait and Bahrain. I was spat upon by men for walking down the street. A male friend was arrested when his blonde female friend laughed - arrested by the religious police for "not being in control of his woman." Those are very mild examples of hated for the west and the barbaric practices of some fundamentalists are too sickening to go into. If there was a TRACE of racism in me, leftover from my southern upbringing - it was gone. The feeling of being hated and being treated as an inferior - just because of what you look like or what type of genitalia you have is humiliating, horrible and debasing. Keep in mind they still stone people for adultery, still cut off hands for theives - still are allowed to kill their daughters for shaming them.

We read in the Saudi papers daily about beheadings, stonings, etc. Oh - by the way - the President at the time --- Bill Clinton.

Blaming Bush, Clinton ---- shit even Roosevelt etc is not the answer. We have to find some way of dealing with them. No one has been successful yet. Cutting off relations with Saudi - or any other 'friend" is obviously not the answer. War? I doubt from your post you think this is the answer.... Cut off money? Oops! They have more than us. This is the biggest challenge we face right now, and should be the focus of every voter.

I have a really good Saudi story I will tell later if I get the time. It is on the "lighter side".

Meanwhile - welcome to the poli board, jennymc. The more we discuss, the more we learn. Sorry you feel Bush is a moron - but that must mean that Clinton, Carter and every other president is moronic in this context as well.


[ Edit | View ]


[> [> after re-reading (wish i could edit) - Sorry, Jenny - you didn't say -- Jeannine, 17:11:32 02/14/08 Thu [1]

Bush was a moron, you said the Saudi's are. I mis-read it. Your posts are very welcome here - either way!


[ Edit | View ]

[> [> [> Well, I didn't, but if you'd like me to!? LOL! -- jennymc, 18:42:57 02/14/08 Thu [1]


[ Edit | View ]

[> [> My Saudi Arabia women story - for what it is worth -- Jeannine, 21:15:14 02/15/08 Fri [1]

In 19 hundred and 91 (old fogey enough?) or so, I was in Al Jubal, SA and staying in a very nice hotel. (I was the aide to a Commodore, sort of personal sec). I was in full camo uniform and went to the elevator to go up to my room. When the doors opened, it was full of Saudi women - 8 or 9 of them - in full black cover - not even their mouths were visible. I was a little taken aback, but got into the elevator. The MINUTE the doors closed, those women whipped back their veils and started shooting questions to me right and left. They asked "are you married?" "do you have children" "have you slept with more than one man?" "what do you do for fun?" "do you go out and party at night?" and a bunch of other questions... it was very overwhelming!

I barely had time to answer even one question - then, we got to some floor and the doors opened and they (seemingly)magically were covered again and filed out of the elevators.

That made such a HUGE impression on me! It was one of the most amazing and somewhat wacky and surreal experiences of my life. To this day, I always feel like they were asking me - what is it like to be free? and they had to leave before they found out. Not to sound too dramatic, but it was life-changing for me.


[ Edit | View ]

[> [> [> Thank you for sharing that! I work at a college where there are -- LAwoman, 13:22:24 02/16/08 Sat [1]

many Muslim women students. Some have told me stories of how their parents fled their home countries (ones that were becoming increasingly oppressive) with next to nothing just so their daughters could get an education. And believe me, those are some of our best and most dedicated students.


[ Edit | View ]

[> [> [> That's an awesome story Jeannine... -- muppetmel, 17:51:48 02/17/08 Sun [1]

... and what a visual! I can just picture them all excited and chatty one minute, and then walking out completely covered and silent.

It kind of breaks your heart that there is so much suppressed creativity, intelligence and natural interest.

So here's my Saudi Arabia story .. actually it's not *my* story; it was told to me by an RN, who spent two years in Saudi Arabia I think in the 80s. They used to recruit North American nurses like crazy (maybe they still do) because they didn't have enough of them and they paid extremely well. Quite a number of RNs took short-term contracts of two years or so.

This particular nurse said they were instructed on how to act in Saudi Arabia so as not to get in trouble with the religious police. They were told essentially to stay confined to their living abodes and strongly encouraged not to mix and mingle with the natives, and to pay attention to how they dressed in public.

On one occasion she and another nurse were in the market. She purchased an orange juice from a vendor and was immediately stopped and arrested for "drinking alcohol and unseemingly behaviour in public."

She and the other nurse both got lashes. I don't remember how many, and I don't remember why they lashed the other nurse. Pretty scary stuff though.


[ Edit | View ]

[> [> [> [> Yours is kind of like mine. -- HF, 19:31:27 02/17/08 Sun [1]

In college, my good friend's father worked for a company that transferred the family to Saudi Arabia. When she would spend the summers there, she was told to keep to herself as much as possible and to always stay covered from head to toe. She would drive around town with some of her Saudi friends and the way the girls would meet boys (because you couldn't talk to them) was to go "cruising" with the car windows partially down. The boys would throw cassette tapes into the opening and then drive off. The messages would have phone numbers that the girls could call if they wanted to go cruising again the next week. If they ever got caught actually meeting up, they would get in severe trouble. The boys were not at fault at all of course.


[ Edit | View ]

[> [> [> [> [> Thanks for sharing your stories! -- doni, 09:07:00 05/06/08 Tue [1]

They are all so amazing to this brazen woman! lol

I'd read about that cruising and throwing tapes out the window, in National Geographic. It kind of warms my heart the kids are using 'new' technology to try and break free.

Somewhere, I read that in an Internet society, it is impossible to uphold a dictatorship...I hope that turns out to be true, in the long run.

One thing I've always been just the slightest bit jealous of...With the veil, you can walk out of your house, any way you wish! LOL No make up...You could be wearing sweats underneath, with no bra...Nobody will ever know! Maybe I'm lazy, but I do like that aspect.

In the same story I read about the kids cruising around, I read many Arab women would not give up the veil, even if they were not required to wear it. I just bet they would not wear them 24/7, outdoors, as they do now...no matter what they say.


[ Edit | View ]





[ Contact Forum Admin ]


Forum timezone: GMT-8
VF Version: 3.00b, ConfDB:
Before posting please read our privacy policy.
VoyForums(tm) is a Free Service from Voyager Info-Systems.
Copyright © 1998-2019 Voyager Info-Systems. All Rights Reserved.