Saudi Arabia has made flogging a virtual signature of the Kingdom. Flogging women for using bad language. Flogging bloggers. Even flogging tourists. The Kingdom could change its slogan to “Saudi Arabia: Come for the Basbousa, Stay for the beatings.” Now, the Kingdom is reportedly flogging dozens of foreign workers who protested the fact that they have not been paid. The Saudis have a long history of refusing to pay bills from hotels to maids to construction workers. The company involved in many of these protests is the Binladin Group . . . yes, the family business of that infamous Bin Laden.
There are reports of 49 workers who protested the failure to pay them. Some of the protests have included the burning of company buses last May. They are sentenced to four months in jail and 300 lashes for destroying property and inciting arrest.
The construction workers have been simply denied pay due to the decline in oil revenues . . . after all, while the Saudi Royal family continues to spend wildly, workers can hardly be expected to received a barely living wage. The workers were employed by Binladin Group and another firm Saudi Oger. Tens of thousands of workers have reportedly been left destitute. However, many will now have a good flogging to take their minds off their wages.
Foreign domestic workers are treated like third class citizens, and often abused in the UAE.
Flogging deeply bruises, and can create a bloody mess, leaving scarring and nerve damage, sometimes death with enough strokes. Internal organs and deep muscle tissue can be damaged.
We cannot control other country’s values. But we don’t have to be particular friends with them. We desire military access to the Middle East, and make Machiavellian deals to get it. Perhaps we should rethink the value of the Saudis.
http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/feminism/2017/01/stop-boring-about-babies-gender-pay-gap-isnt-about-choice
Anyone who wears a tent on their head is suspect. When you get a room full of those fruits on tv or on the computer screen it is time to take out the garbage.
PE Trump, no doubt, thinks these are smart leaders. The workers probably “didn’t do a good job”.
Pretty sure President-Elect DONALD J. TRUMP does not need you to put words in his mouth.
Let’s not forget the Saudi’s vile imprisonment of Raif Badawi.
Of what use are they? We don’t need their oil and we don’t need their sand. Best way to treat them is cut off their money. With all that SW Texas double oil field finds we are now exporting so why are we importing? cut off their money they have nothing to contribute to the Jihadists for starters. Truth to tell they are not important anymore except fronting a major international waterway. Let them drink ethanol.
The time is going to come when they need us far more than we need them. They tried to farm wheat in the deep desert, making circular lush green fields. They drained deep aquifers that took millennia to fill, and collapsed their scarce water resources.
We’ve already shifted our energy portfolio to be less dependent on them. One day, we won’t need them at all. And then what industry will they have to support their economy? What do they produce besides oil, dates, and goat cheese? They’ve even ruined their reputation with horses, cheating and drugging to win.
If they fail to plan for a future without oil, they will one day find themselves back in the Pleistocene, except without the water.
Times are hard for the 10,000 Princes and they are going to get harder. The US is now exporting oil and has NO need of importing any nor for continuing uninspected offshore drilling sites and by the way when is BP going to pay for the Gulf spill or be charged with illegal use of dispersants?
I seem to recall that Barry O shook BP down for some $$B back when it happened.
Didn’t BP pay something on the order of $18 billion?
“Total costs of disaster at $54.6 billion, …
Most Of BP’s $20.8 Billion Deepwater Horizon Fine Is Tax Deductible …
oilprice.com › Energy › Energy-General
Oct 7, 2015 – BP will be forced to pay $20.8 billion, the largest settlement ever reached … Even litigation costs are often tax deductible. … Similarly, the $32 billion that BP spent to clean up the Gulf area following the massive oil spill was …”
While there were catchall fines I found no evidence of fines for using dispersants to sink the oil to the bottom which of course destroyed the bottom A second report follows.
“Settlement of all federal and state claims brings total costs to nearly $54 billion. BP PLC agreed to pay $18.7 billion to settle all federal and state claims arising from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, including the biggest pollution penalty in U.S. history.Jul 2, 2015
BP Agrees to Pay $18.7 Billion to Settle Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill …
http://www.wsj.com/…/bp-agrees-to-pay-18-7-billion-to-settle-deepwater-horiz”
and a third
ost Of BP’s $20.8 Billion Deepwater Horizon Fine Is Tax Deductible …
oilprice.com › Energy › Energy-General
Oct 7, 2015 – BP will be forced to pay $20.8 billion, the largest settlement ever reached with a single entity. … Even litigation costs are often tax deductible. … bars companies from writing off penalties paid to the government. … Similarly, the $32 billion that BP spent to clean up the Gulf area following the massive oil spill
Apparently most of the costs are tax deductible.
The spill took place in 2010 during the administration of Barak H. Obama. The outcome was hardly one of his successes but is a part of his legacy of failure.
However the point is to get back on track ……the best I found was we are using 18 million barrels a day but only have enough oil from the various fields to refine 10 million barrels a day. Even though there is plenty of oil the process of fracking is much more expensive and I reckon no one wants to convert plants to that system. Instead the plans bring in foreign oil, refine it to various products and re-export it for a much higher return. The Canadian Oil from the pipeline is Canadian export oil which they pay to have refined in the Houston area.
That takes up some of the capacity. It’s not available to refine oil for use in country even if the oil is in country. Third problem is lack of water in SW Texas to do the refining so building plants there are not economically feasible. I recall going into Galveston Bay and all the wayup to Houston on tanker ships the plants were wall to wall all the way through Houston to the North side. This included oil brought in fromt he Gulf offshore rigs. A key problem is our industry is not producing enough oil although it ‘s there to keep the plants running 24/7 and that is an economic requirement
I did not do research on why more plants are not being built thinking it was probably because of expensive suits to stop such building from the tree huggers. Same with nuclear plants not being built.
Didn’t get that far.
So the unverified start point is we are importing refining and exporting to keep the existing plants running and production from the otherwise big time oil fields and others all the way to North Dakota is an eight million barrels a day short fall and then some of the pipeline capacity will go to the Canadian oil. All specious reasons but again I didn’t investigate further.
The best or most positive article was being able to cut oil imports in half in ten years or so – maybe – and meanwhile we’re held hostage to the Saudi’s and others. We used to get oil fromVenezuela on a foreign owned tanker line that delivered to Puerto Rico then on US Ships to the East Coast for Ness Oil which has their own gas stations. Or did. That was ten years ago.
The whole search was a mass of reports none of which coincided and no swingle concrete solid report on the issue in any particular. I’ve seen philosophical arguments handled with more facts from just objective thinking that this mess.
My conclusion – so far – is thinking about Kerry’s side deals and how the money tgrail to the Clinton Foundation. Good a reason as any so far but I wouldn’t take it to the bank. That’s Huma’s job.
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The Saudi government should show introspection and self-examination: form a Flagellant Movement and treat themselves to some of their own medicine.
Religion of peace.
the floggings will continue until morale improves.
I don’t know how the workers are supposed to obtain redress for grievances. But it does appear to me that the punishment was for destruction of property. Not that I approve of that form of punishment.
This is the top legal blog? Horrors.
Boycott Saudi oil. Fly over and flush. Kick the UN out of NYC and all the tent heads can then go.
Reblogged this on pundit from another planet.
And the Saudis are on the on the UN Human Rights Commission!