I Still Have IT, but Don't Know if I want IT...

I'm at Starbucks.

I just met with a recruiter - I think he was more interested in how I could help him get a job in the Middle East than getting me a job here.

But that's o.k. he was really nice.

Anyway there is a guy sitting in a separate group of chairs across from me who has been winking and gesturing to a chair directly across from him.

I think he's trying to flirt with me.

I'm a little out of practice - after all I've not been single for about 10 years.

But I'm pretty sure he's flirting.

From what I can gather from his phone conversation he may be a life insurance salesman.

Which is about as attractive as a used car salesman.

I mean he's kinda cute, but not.

Like slimy cute.

Like probably married and has many numerous lovers on the side - slimy cute.

Shit he's coming over!

=======================

O.K. I was ignoring him - typing on my blog but the ignoring didn't work - he walked over and proceeded to have a 45 minute conversation with me.

He was trying to pick me up - even though I was wearing my wedding ring.

SLIME!

Oh and he is a insurance salesman - ick ick ick!

I screwed with him a little bit - until SP came in and rescued me.

I told him I didn't play for or with his team.

Told him that I preferred women and toys and he couldn't compete.

I've never laughed so hard in my life.

His face was priceless!

I am the Mayor of CrAzY ToWn

I got a phone call last night, about midnight.

From someone close to me, who lives in crazy town.

SP you are no longer the Mayor / President / Ruler of Crazy Town.

That distinction belongs to me now.

This person, who I love, have always loved, will always love, is Fuckin' CRAZY.

They:

Use to be a crack dealer - but stopped.

Use to be a crack head - but stopped.

Now I find out that this person:

Used Meth

Dealt Meth

Manufactured Meth

OMFG!

Apparently that is no longer the case which is why they felt like they could let me know.

But REALLY!?

Fucking METH?!

How in the HELL can a person have that kind of life and not be completely stressed the Fuck out?!

Oh, because they are HIGH.

ARGH!  I will never understand this.

Sweet little baby Jesus.

I will always love this person, but I will NEVER understand this person.

Justin Bieber Dating...Really?!

I'm just going to say this...

This kid Justin Bieber, who says he's 16, looks like he's 12.

Maybe.

And he says he's "looking for a girlfriend he can take home to Mom".

http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20425600,00.html

You have GOT to be kidding me!

He looks barely old enough to wipe his own butt much less go on a date.

As you can see I'm not really a fan.  I think he sounds like a girl (good luck with the career when your voice changes, if it changes) and he pretty much looks like one too.

I also think the labor department should get involved - because he looks way too young to be working as much as he is.

I wonder if I'll get any comments on this post as apparently the tweens are fanatics about him.  Tell you what, those little girls parents should be monitoring what they are listening to if it gets them so worked up they "tweet" death threats to Kim Kardashian.

http://www.starpulse.com/news/Casey_Johnson/2010/06/15/justin_bieber_fans_send_death_threats_

Seriously - do these little kids think for one moment that she would be interested in Justin Bieber in a "dating I wanna have sex with you" way?!

Come on - she's a beautiful WOMAN.  And usually WOMEN want to date MEN.  You know like Reggie Bush.

Really would you choose this:

Over this?

Or this?

When you can get a man who looks like this and is successful - why would one even think that you would be interested in a child.  Because that's what Bieber is...a child.

And when did 16 year olds start looking like small little girls?  When I was 16 they looked a whole lot older than that - I know because I went back and looked at my year book and my photos just to make sure.

What are they feeding kids these days?  Anti aging pills?

Katherine Heigl and Peanut Butter

I had a dream last night.

It was me, Katherine Heigl, my sister, and a really good friend (this friend was nameless, and faceless but in my dream a very close friend).

Weird.

Why in the world would Katherine Heigl be in one of my dreams?  I don't even particularly care for her movies, and I didn't see one last night.

Hmmmm

Anyway, in the dream we were on a train going somewhere.  My sister and Katherine knew where we were going.

We were going to cross off #4 on "the list". 

So after we got to where we were going we took a van to go back.

By the way, I have no idea where we went or what we saw.

We all pile into the van with the driver and started to drive down the train tracks.

I'm like "what if a train comes?!" and the driver says don't worry trains can't travel on these tracks because of the boulders.

And sure enough there were boulders in the tunnel, because of course we were suddenly in a tunnel.

But the tunnel was as bright as day.  And it had boulders everywhere, and the tracks were like straight up.

To the point that I was leaning back and completely perpendicular to the ground.   And when I looked over one of the boulders had crushed some boots and had bugs under it.

Weird.

So we get out of the tunnel and we're magically sitting around, I think in a boat, and Katherine Heigl says, "there I've marked four things off my list, see?". 

She hands me her camera and it has peanut butter on it.  She's using peanut butter to mark things off her list.

I'm like, "I can't see the list for the peanut butter.  What did we just look at?  What was #4 on the list?".  And "Can I wipe this peanut butter off?".

In my dream I start wiping the peanut butter off and then I wake up.

WTF - where did that come from?!

Libya is the New Dubai

Have you heard about this?


Apparently Libya is the new Dubai...


I'm all for Muammar Gadhafi renouncing terrorism.  I hope this is true because with the "President" of Iran acting like a crazy man there needs to be more stability over here in the Middle East.


Maybe if people in the Middle East were more educated and exposed to different cultures and the concept of civil rights house maids wouldn't have to be subjected to hot nails being hammered into them.


Yes that really happened to a Sri Lankan house maid in KSA.  Here is the article, she had 13 nails and 5 needles removed.  They couldn't get the other 6 needles in her hands because it could have damaged her nerves.


House maids should be warned before they go to KSA and given help numbers.  Or they should have to check in weekly with their country's embassy with a code word that means, "GET ME OUT OF HERE!".


I'm so glad I was born an American.

Sexual Servitude versus Jail

Really?!

Really.

How desperate would you have to be to prefer this:

Over jail (see article here)?

Not me I can tell you.  Of course I've never been to jail - but I can't imagine agreeing to become this man's sex and house cleaning slave to get myself out of jail.

I mean - what exactly happened during her 12 day jail stay that made him seem like the better choice?!

And are the police looking into that?  You'd think they would want to make sure something horrendous didn't happen in jail.

I'm not even a police officer and I want to know what could make that "man" a better choice.

Blackberry usage

Can I whip my husband?

In Saudi a man whipped his wife because she was spending too much time on her blackberry and wasn't paying enough attention to him.

http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/saudi-arabia/saudi-man-whips-wife-for-overusing-blackberry-1.670146

I don't agree with this, at all.  But I can understand it, the blackberry is an addiction.

It's Satan's tool. 

Get thee away from me!

In other news...Mickey Mouse must DIE!

http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/saudi-arabia/saudi-king-issues-decree-against-scholars-ordering-absurd-edicts-1.669203

Ha, ha, ha!

The news today...

There were some interesting articles in the paper this morning.

If you are caught eating or drinking in public you will be arrested.

http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/uae/crime/eating-drinking-and-smoking-in-daylight-are-punishable-offences-1.666651

But if you are working out in the 110F heat, and you feel like you absolutely must, you can break your fast without being arrested.

http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/uae/employment/workers-can-break-their-fast-if-necessary-say-islamic-authorities-1.665531

Isn't that nice.  If you think you're going to pass out from dehydration while working on an oil rig you will be allowed to have a drink.  But you have to make it up later.

This makes no sense to me.  Working on an oil rig is dangerous.  Why would you even attempt to make someone fast on one of these?  Or why would you allow a person who insists on fasting to work on one?

Here is a comment from the article which cautions those who break their fast - apparently Satan is waiting for you to break your fast so he can "get" you. 

"It is a fine declaration for whoever is not able to fasting under sun, but on the other hand if Islamic affair is not giving strict conditions, people will go away from their responsibilities. How it will happen? Satan will take advantage of people's inability, he will insist the person who break the fast before dusk such as say, "dont worry Allah know your inability, or keep fasting next year". Like those ideas will be given and pushed him to go away from Islam until his death. So, every one think before you break fasting during Ramadan. Ramadan comes once in a year, it is a gift from Almighty Allah."

Hmmmm....I'm all for practicing your religion - but not if it's going to endanger the lives of the people around you.  I do not like being on the road with a bunch of people who have not eaten or drank anything since 4:30 in the morning.  Dehydration causes dizziness, fainting, and lack of concentration. Just what one needs when one is driving a car, or a truck, or a semi with a full load.

Endanger your own life if you want, don't endanger mine.

Here's another good one...

Apparently if you are 14 and you had sex with a 25 year old you will be jailed for having "consensual sex".  That's a six month sentence followed by deportation.

Of a 14 year old.  GIRL.

Who was targeted by a MAN more than 10 years older than she is.  He only got a year in jail.

http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/uae/crime/14-year-old-girl-jailed-for-consensual-sex-1.666640

The comments section on this article were closed off.  I guess they don't want anyone to point out how ridiculous it is to jail a 14 year old for having sex with an adult. 

Here's another article that just made me shake my head.

At a wedding in Saudi the mother of the groom slapped him because the helped his bride on with her shoe.  Well I don't blame her!  What WAS he thinking?!

I'm not sure if it was at same wedding or a different one, but the guests at a reception walked out after seeing a slide show of the bride and groom growing up then kissing at the end of the show.

The guests said there were "shocked, charging that the clip was not acceptable and that it was inspired by movies screened on private television channels".

http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/saudi-arabia/saudi-groom-slapped-by-mother-on-wedding-night-1.664328

The world is an interesting place.

Socialized Medicine: Here's another WTF for you.

A man won the lottery in the UK.

Guess what he wants to spend his winnings on?

Knee replacement surgery.

Why?  Because he tore his cruciate ligament 15 years ago and had to go on disability.

Why was he on disability?

Because NHS will not put you on the wait list for knee replacement until you are 55.

So instead of paying maybe 20k for knee replacement they wanted to pay him disability until he had his surgery.

He tore the ligament when he was 35.

Does that make sense to you?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-10893111

BTW Google lottery winner and knee replacement and see what you get.

http://www.google.com/webhp?tab=yw#hl=en&source=hp&q=lottery+winner%2C+knee+replacement&aq=f&aqi=g10&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=&fp=9cebbf5a0cce78cd

There are a lot of people in the UK who use their lottery winnings to get knee replacement.

WTF?!

Naked Gay Sex in the Streets

When I blogged about The Demons I forgot to tell you about the fact that crazy chest beating, spear throwing, freak said all Americans have, and I quote, "Naked gay sex in the streets".  And he said he knew it was true because he saw it on TV.

Hmmm I think he was watching porn...

So upon my return to the promise land I was looking forward to seeing this Naked Gay Sex in the Street.

I'm so disappointed.

I've been home for one whole day.  I went to Starbucks, Kroger, Fiesta, Einstein bagels, Christy's Doughnuts, and to Spectacles to have my eye exam.  And guess what?!

NO NAKED GAY SEX IN THE STREETS.

Was it me?  Did no one want to have Naked Gay Sex with me or around me?!

I was walking in the street.  I walked past people.  They were there, I was there.

No Sex.

None.

Nada.

Maybe I have the stink of the foreigners on me and the Americans can't tell I'm one of them?

Maybe the Naked Gay Sex in the Streets will happen in a week or so, after the foreign smell is wiped off?

I'm just saying, I'm finding this a little disheartening.

After all I'm sure the knuckle dragger knew what he was talking about, since he's never been to America.  After all he "saw it on TV".

"The Demons", "The Gays", and God

There is a guy that I met during the course of work.

He's from Africa.

And he's a chest thumping, spear throwing, woman oppressing asshole.

Here are some of his ideas that he felt like he had to share with me, while trying to have a business discussion.  Even after I told him to stop discussing these particular topics; Of course this is not the entire conversation - just the high points.  The salient points, the why the Fuck is this guy walking around on two feet instead of his knuckles points.

Topic:  Regulations and Business

Him:  America is failing because Capitalism is wrong.

Me:  Then why is America the richest, most influential country in the world?

Him:  Americans are all going to Hell.

Me:  I'll see you there.

New topic:  Corporate Governance

Him:  You have to be moral and ethical to be in business.  America is failing because the brokerage firms were robbing people and the regulators did nothing.

Me:  If there isn't a law requiring that a company do something or not do something how can a Regulator be faulted for not stopping it?

Him:  They shouldn't have been allowed to do those kind of deals they should have been stopped.

Me:  Who decides that a deal is "not right"?  You?  What gives you the right to tell me what to do with my money?  I'm an adult and if I choose to buy something that someone is selling, who are you to tell me I can't buy it if there is no law against it?

Him:  The government should tell you what you can buy so that you don't lose your money because you don't understand what you are investing in.

Me:  If I'm too stupid to research where I'm putting my money then I deserve to lose it and neither you or the government have the right tell me what to do with the money I earn.

Him:  It's the moral obligation of the government to protect you.

Me:  WTF?!  Morals have nothing to do with it!

Him:  You must be a moral and ethical person to be in business, what if the person you are doing business with is cheating on their wife?

Me:  I don't care what you do in your personal life.  You can be an effective leader and business person and cheat, you just need to follow the rules and regulations in place for that jurisdiction. It doesn't matter who you sleep with, or what you do as long as you aren't thieving, murdering, SOB who sleeps with small children or animals, and what you're doing doesn't put me in jail.  No one cares what you do in your personal life.

Him:  It does matter who you are as a person, how can you do business with someone who doesn't have morals.

Me:  Nope it really doesn't matter.

Him:  What about Gays?

Me:  What?

Him:  Gays.

Me:  You mean homosexual people?!  Watch it my Sisters are "Gays".  And there is absolutely nothing wrong with them.

Him:  Yes there is, I shouldn't have to watch such things.

Me:  So, "The Gays" have sex in the streets in Africa?

Him:  No, but it's wrong and against God.

Me:  God created everything and everyone so how can it be "against God"?  And if "The Gays" aren't having sex in the streets in Africa how in the world are you watching them?  Are you peeking in their windows?  Don't you think you are a little too interested in what two consensual adults are doing in the privacy of their own homes?  Don't you think you should be a little more interested in world hunger, the oppression of women and children?  You know things more important than who is sleeping with whom?

Him: It's an abomination of GOD! 

Me:  I don't believe in God - it's man's way of trying to understand the world so they don't freak out and spend their lives rocking in a corner.

Him:  YOU DON'T BELIEVE IN GOD?!

Me:  Nope and people who are gay are born that way and there is nothing wrong with it.

Him:  They are possessed by Demons that need to be exorcised.

Me:  What the FUCK?!  You sound like you are straight from the Middle Ages.  Uneducated with no idea what you are talking about.  Do you have any other questions about Corporate Governance?  Because this conversation we are having is over, I can't talk to people like you.

Then he asked a few questions regarding business and we went our separate ways.  But not before he tried to engage me in conversation again regarding "The Demons", "The Gays", and my morals.

I can't believe I live in a place with such backward people.

Btw - I do believe in God - just not his God.

My poor little dog...

My furbaby.

The little love of my life...well not exactly that little, she weighs about 45lbs.

She is a bit of a chunk, I thought I had a photo of her on this computer to show you, but I don't.

Anyway, Friday morning at about 4am I wake up to a terrible noise.

Gabi is throwing up.

So I hop out of bed and flick the light on and what do I see?!

Blood.

Two big puddles of blood.

So of course I freak out throw on some street clothes, wake up my husband, and then run downstairs to get the emergency number for the vet.

I call, then look at my phone in confusion to check the number, then call again.

Guess what?!  The SOB who's suppose to be on call has switched off his / her phone.

I couldn't believe it!

So I proceed to look up every emergency vet in Dubai and then start calling.

Someone must have an emergency back up that's actually answering their phones right?!

Wrong.

I called every number I could find in Dubai, Sharjah and even some in Abu Dhabi.  Not one FRICKEN person had their phone turned on or if they did they didn't answer it.

So we had to wait until the vet opened.

At 9am.

So we're waiting and Gabi throws up again.  More blood.

And she's looking so pathetic.

And I'm getting really pissed off.

So 8:30 rolls around and we take off for the vet.  About 8:45 a woman calls me and says she had a missed call did we have an emergency?

I'm like YES!  Why didn't you answer your phone? 

She tells me that it's her personal number and that she has a personal life.

I'm like really!?  If you put your number out there you should answer it! 

She starts whining that she can't be on call all the time so I hang up on her.

Correct me if I'm wrong but if you don't want to take a call on your "personal" time - don't post your damn number on the internet next to the phrase, "For emergencies call...".

I guess if you're too stupid to realize that, I don't really want you looking at my dog anyway.

Then about 9:00 another guy calls my phone and says - I have a missed call, do you have an emergency? 

Yes, as a matter of fact I do, my dog has been puking blood since 4 am - but since no one answered the emergency lines and it's now 9am we're at the vet.

No thanks to you. 

Then I hung up on that guy too.

So I leave my poor little dog at the vet and the vet calls me later and says - she seems to be fine, it's most likely just an ulcer - you can come pick her up.  If she has any more problems we'll do additional checks.

I'm like HELL NO! - you need to have a look inside her stomach or do an ultra sound or something to make sure she's not riddled with tumors (she just had one removed). SHE WAS PUKING COPIOUS AMOUTS OF BLOOD!

Why am I the only one who sees this as a problem?

Anyway, it did end up being an ulcer - but there are so many other things it could have been and I am so not one of those people who believe it leaving something until it really becomes a problem.

Like on what planet is puking up puddles of blood not a problem?!

Anyway, when there is a problem (as defined by me) I want a definitive answer as to what is wrong, and then I want to know how to treat it and then get on with treatment.

I'm not into the UK way of solving problems.  Wait until the person, animal, plant, dies because it'll be cheaper in the long run, 'cause then all you have to do is bury the problem.

Literally.

So needless to say, the vets here are nothing like the ones back home.

I mean after all one of the vets here wanted to amputate Gabi's leg because she has arthritis.

Sounds like a good treatment to me...

Oh she's limping - let's amputate.

Good call!

If you know me you can hear the sarcasm dripping off my tongue.  If you don't, just imagine the most sarcastic person you've ever heard speaking.

Anyway my little noodle is back home, snoozing with her tongue hanging out.

Life is good again.

My legs, my poor, poor, legs!

Guess what I did...

I took a body pump class this morning.

And guess what the instructor had us do...

Lunges.

It's almost five hours later and my legs still feel like jello.

I have jello for legs people.

What the hell was I thinking when I took this class?!

Every time I step up or down off a curb I feel like my legs are going to collapse.

Seriously.

My arms are sore too, but nothing like my legs.  If my arms felt like my legs I wouldn't be able to type.

I'd be rocking back and forth lamenting the fact that I ever tried to work out.

Oh wait a minute - I am rocking back and forth - whining about the fact my legs are jello.

Can you believe that I'm thinking of going again on Tuesday?!

I must be crazy.

I live in crazy town...

My husband and I went to the grocery store and before we started shopping we stopped by the Starbucks so I could have an iced green tea.  I've taught the Starbucks staff how to make ice tea because for some reason they don't drink iced tea here.

Don't understand why, don't pretend to understand why, really don't care as long as I can get the little guy to understand how to make it and serve it to me.

Anyway I digress.  While drinking my iced tea and eating my doughnut (yeah, I know, the weight will never come off if I don't stop eating.  All I have to say is; Step. Off. I had a bad day and I'm an emotional eater) we were reading the paper.

Y'all are going to love this.

An Iranian cleric issued a Fatwa against owning dogs.  Said it was too "western", dogs are unclean, and you'll be fined if you're caught with one.

http://gulfnews.com/news/region/iran/don-t-keep-dogs-as-pets-cleric-warns-1.643389

Here's another article.

http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/saudi-arabia/saudi-women-use-fatwa-in-driving-bid-1.643431

In this one a Saudi Cleric issued a Fatwa that says if a women breast feeds her foreign driver he becomes her son and therefore can mix with the women in the family without breaking Islamic law.  This is hilarious because the women are using this to say basically, so you'd rather we breast feed strange men rather than drive a car?

OMG is this CRAZY or what?!

And here's another crazy town article.

http://gulfnews.com/news/world/other-world/humans-will-be-extinct-in-100-years-1.643403

A scientist in London believes that humans will be extinct in 100 years and it's already too late to do anything about it.

It's a sandy, hot day in crazy town people and I'm going to have a drink - single malt.

It's medicinal.  I love my medicine!

Peace out!

Working in the Middle East

It's a trip here in the Middle East when new job opportunities come your way.

I had a guy send me an inquiry on LinkedIn yesterday wanting to know if I would be interested in a Risk Manager position.

Of course I said yes - I never turn down any opportunity without exploring it first.

I sent him my CV as a .pdf file - locked down (tell me I'm not paranoid).

And he sends me a note back saying thank you and could he have my "complete" CV with my personal details included.

Humphf.

I ignored the "personal details" part as I have my contact details as well as a statement identifying myself as an American on my CV. But I added my first 5 years of employment history (seriously, who cares what I did in 1993?!) and sent it back to him.

I get another e-mail back from this guy, thanking me again for my CV and could I please send a sheet with my personal details. He included a phone number so I called him. 

And he answered the phone in one of the most professional ways possible, "Yeah?". 

Really?!

I asked if this was XXX, he said "Yeah", and I identified myself and asked what he meant exactly by personal details.

Guess what he wants?

My passport number, my birthday, my address, my age, marital status, where I'm from in the US etc...

Basically everything you need to steal my identity or come rob me.

So of course me being me, I asked why he needed that kind of information to determine if I was qualified for the Risk Manager position. This is the condensed version of how the conversation went:

Him:  Um...um... I just need it.

Me:  Well I need a better reason than that - what are you going to use it for?

Him:  Let me tell you about us, we're a property management company and we need a risk manager.  Give me your personal details, we need them to determine if you will go to the next round.

Me: Well I don't give out that information to people I don't know.  You contacted me from Linkedin and I have no idea who you are or if you really represent this company.  And next round of what?

Him:  Just give me your birthday, how old are you, what is your address?  I need to know if you fit the band.

Me:  Band of what?  I don't understand how my birthday and address are necessary to determining if I have the background for the position.

Him:  Just tell me your age.

WTF?!

Me:  How about this, take the average age of a university graduate, then add on my years of experience.  That will give you an idea.  I'm not comfortable giving you my personal information, my CV should have everything you need.

Him:  Well I'll let you know if you move to the next level.

Me:  Mmmm, Yeah. That's O.K.  Bye.

WTF?!  Give me an Effing break! 

So I look up the company online (I should have done this in the first place like I usually do) - and guess what?  The company doesn't have any listings for Risk Managers in Dubai, and the phone number he gave is not the same exchange as the company.  Numbers here tend to start with the same exchange depending on what area they are in.  Especially large companies like the one this guy was suppose to be from.

Then I went back to check his e-mail address - it was a Google account instead of a company one.  I guess I wasn't thinking this morning.  Maybe coffee deprived?

Best case, he actually did work for the company and was a sexist, racist, ageist, bigot.  At worst he was a thief.  Although really is a bigot better than a thief? 

Most likely not as thieves are usually equal opportunity.

America, America, my home sweet home....

I can't wait to be back in a real job market.

The Brazilian Butt Dance

This is hilarious!

I cannot believe this is real...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqKG1cEe4e8

It looks like these women are beating these guys!

It looks painful - I can't believe these guys VOLUNTEER to be beaten like this!

Ha ha ha!

Child Marriage and other things on my mind this morning.

I was reading this blog http://stilettosinthesand.blogspot.com/ yesterday.

It's written by an American woman who's had the misfortune of living in KSA for the past 7 years.  She's just "escaped" and made it back to America.  In her blog she mentioned this 2005 article regarding child marriage.

http://archive.arabnews.com/?page=1§ion=0&article=66983&d=15&m=7&y=2005

Now, when I say child I mean CHILD.

After doing the complicated math it turns out this baby was married off by her sperm donor (there is no way I'm calling this freak her father) for the first time at the age of FIVE.

Yep that's right FIVE.

Some perverted 50 year old man married this little FIVE year old girl.

I cannot tell you how angry this makes me.  But wait...it gets better...

Her Grandmother sued and was granted a divorce for the child, but when she went to go collect her she was no where to be found.

Why you ask?

Because her sperm donor sold married her off again at the ripe old age of TEN.

Now it doesn't say what the Grandmother was going to do now that the child was married again.  Hopefully they didn't have to go through another divorce, but could just pick her up and take her home.

Yeah right, like that happened!

She's in a country where a FIVE year old can be married off legally.  I bet the poor thing is still "married" to the pedophile - and at 15 she's probably considered "used" up and he (the "husband') is most likely looking for another TEN year old "wife".

Here's another article regarding a TEN year old Yemeni girl who was raped and beaten by her 30 something year old "husband".

http://articles.latimes.com/2008/jun/11/world/fg-childbride11

She actually took matters into her own hands and went to the courts by herself to get a divorce.

This kills me - no one helped her but her Aunt and she only provided bus fare.

ARGH!!!

Here's an article about an EIGHT year old who was granted an annulment.  Her 20 something year old "husband" told the court that he had "consummated" the marriage but didn't beat her.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7351336.stm

Well that was mighty nice of him wasn't it?!

Yes, your Honor, I raped the small child BUT I DID NOT beat her.

WTF people?!

In other news...

Apparently our communist president hired this idiot - Dr. Donald Berwick - to oversee Medicare and Medicaid.

http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/66920

This guy thinks the UK NHS system is the bomb.

Obviously he's never had to rely on it.

Clearly he's never looked deeply enough into it to realize that the government has made healthcare in the UK a nightmare.

He says "“The NHS is a bridge – a towering bridge – between the rhetoric of justice and the fact of justice.”

It's a bridge alright, a bridge to an early grave.

You have to wait a minimum of NINE MONTHS before you can get any surgery.  ANY surgery that isn't an emergency.  That was the wait time when I left the country in 2007.  It could be longer now - I'm not sure.

And I'm not sure what the NHS considers an emergency since I worked with a gentleman who needed heart valve repair surgery, his heart stopped about 6 times while he was waiting for his surgery.

SIX TIMES PEOPLE.

And it didn't bump him up in the line any quicker.

And it takes about 6 weeks to get an appointment unless you pay extra and become a "private" patient.  But you still get the same crappy doctors.

My own personal experience with the UK healthcare system was pretty impressive.  As some of you know I had a stroke back in 2001. 

Guess what?

It happened in America so I was seen immediately and hospitalized for tests the same day (turns out my neurologist thinks the stroke was courtesy of Vioxx). 

Anyway, fast forward to 2006, we're living in London - Wimbledon no less.  Suppose to be a posh area (looks like the slums in America) and you would think there would be decent doctors there.

Because your doctor is determined by your address.  Yep - you don't get a choice of doctors in the NHS you are assigned one based on your home address.  So if you want to see one near work you are S.O.L. unless you want to pay out of pocket as a "private" patient. 

Something else we get to look forward to I'm sure if dipshit Dr. Donald Berwick has his way.

So anyway it's 2006, I'm having chest pains - which really concerns me because hey I've already had a stroke - and I go to the doctor.

I tell him my history.

And he says to me, without taking my blood pressure, temperature, or even listening to my heart - you may have gall bladder problems.  If it's still bothering you in a week come back in and we'll have a look at it.

I look at him and say seriously?!  What if it's a heart attack?  He just says you're too young, if you're still feeling bad in a week come back in.

The whole thing took about 10 minutes.

And since I'm still alive it wasn't a heart attack - but if it had been I'd be dead because the doctor was an incompetent shit. 

This is the same one that saw my hubby and diagnosed his ear infection as cotton stuck in his ear - come back in a week if it still bothers you.  His eardrum burst and he now sports a scar on his eardrum.

Here is an earlier post about the UK healthcare system and here is another one and below are more articles.

"Around 10,000 people die in England each year after their cancer is diagnosed late, and the UK has one of the poorest records in Europe for spotting the disease at an early stage."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/mar/08/nhs-early-cancer-diagnosis

"It comes as an alarming report reveals that British women are more likely to die from cancer than those in most other European countries. Death rates here are worse than in Croatia, Russia, Bulgaria and Lithuania."
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1231940/Britains-shame-cancer-toll-women--nearly-worst-Europe.html

Oh yeah - this is just what we need...

Or we can be like the Canadians...

http://www.debbieschlussel.com/6607/obamacare-a-canadian-wait-time-preview/

They seem to have a healthcare system that is about as good as the NHS is.

OH MY GOSH!!!!  I can hardly wait to be treated like Shit when I get sick so I can die faster and in a more painful way.

Aren't you excited too!?

The momentum has slowed

Not sure why but my writing has slowed to a trickle.

It could be one of the below:

1.  I've been sleeping in late every morning...oops!
2.  I don't want to face the fact that my vacation is over.
3.  I'm lazy...
4.  I don't want to organize my thoughts enough to write about them.

I have been thinking of things to write about, I just can't seem to actually write...

Here's a list of items I've I intended on writing about but just didn't.

1.  Personality tests - I took a morality one and a political one.  Here is the results of the Morality test:

"Based on your answers to the previous questions, your overall score on a conservative/liberal dimension of moral attitudes--compared with the general population--puts your percentile at 5, with the 99th percentile indicating the most liberal possible rating. Another way of explaining this is to say that out of 100 randomly-selected people, you will most likely be more liberal than 5 of them."



Hmmm I didn't realize I was THAT conservative. 
 
And the political test said I was a conservative but had liberal social views.  WTF?!  I have no idea what that means!
 
2.  The health care bill that no one read before signing (evidenced by the fact that the politicians screwed their own health care).
 
3.  Vacation plans - where to go?  Vietnam, Malyasia, where???
 
4.  My house - the A/C is leaking, we have to find a new place to live in August, the landlord isn't responding to e-mails.
 
5.  My sister is going to live with our mother - which is good it will allow her to get back on her feet.
 
6.  I joined a gym - that was interesting...let's hope I use it...
 
7.  We're going to Switzerland for our anniversary or as I like to call it, our honeymoon.

8.  The notebook was sent to me - but of course it didn't make it.  ARGH!  Living over here really chaps my ass sometimes.  I don't even know why I bother giving out our address over here - things only make it here about 50% of the time.  The rest just wind up return to sender. 

9.  I just realized all my blog links have disappeared.  WTF?!  It must have happened when I tried to change my layout.  So I need to add them back...
 
Many things to write about - many opinions to share.  None have made it on here.  Well at least I have a list now and if I want to write about these things later I can.
 
Oh and can I just say I can't stand people who don't manage their calendars.
 
It really pisses me off.

Can you believe it?

I cannot accept that people actually believe these things...

1.  Apparently the televangelist Pat Robertson believes that the earthquake in Haiti was caused because of a pact Haitians made with the devil in order to throw off French rule in the 18th century.

He actually said that - out loud - and they didn't commit him to a sanitarium somewhere. Clearly he's not dealing in reality.

2.  A religious leader in Iran, Hojatoleslam Kazim Sadeghi, says women and girls who "don't dress appropriately" spread "promiscuity in society." 

Hmmm o.k.

And we all know what happens when a woman is promiscuous...

"When promiscuity spreads, earthquakes increase," he says in a video posted Monday on YouTube, apparently of him leading Friday prayers in Tehran, Iran, last week.

These two need to be committed together - either for severe mental illness or drug addiction. 

Take your pick.

Here's the article:

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/04/20/iran.promiscuity.earthquakes/index.html?eref=rss_world&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_world+%28RSS%3A+World%29&utm_content=My+Yahoo

Why does the press publish these things?  To show how stupid people are?

Help me to understand...

This article:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100421/ap_on_re_us/us_day_of_prayer_military

Why in is an evangelist speaking at the Pentagon? 

Really?!

Really.

Separation of Church and State - does anyone remember this?

This article is concerned about the fact this guy (Billy Graham's son no less) insulted Muslims.

When they really should be freaking out about the fact this guy was even invited to speak at the Pentagon!

STOP MIXING RELIGION WITH POLITICS!

People act crazy when you start mixing religion with politics - every religion thinks there's is the "right" one.  And when you start mixing that with politics you get religious politicians trying to shove their "morals" and "values" down everyone else's throat.

For example - Bush removing all funding to clinics who offer abortion, and removing funding to schools who teach any form of birth control other than abstinence.  It's all fine and well if you don't believe in abortion or birth control - but don't shove your beliefs onto me. 

I do believe in a woman's right to choose and I do believe in educating teenagers on birth control.

If you don't you should be able to opt your children out of that type of education but you shouldn't be able to opt my children out.  The same goes with the right to choose - if you want to make that decision for yourself fine - but don't presume to make decisions regarding my life and my body for me.

Religion and politics is a slippery slope - someone on their high and mighty horse trying to force what they think is right on the masses is just a dictatorship waiting to happen.