Why sane people shouldn't go to crazy places

[Hawkmoon]

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/6688733/Brit-74-faces-350-lashes.html

Just sayin'

[MechAg94]

I thought I heard a lot of those people do that there (in private).  Who did he piss off? 

[lee n. field]

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/6688733/Brit-74-faces-350-lashes.html

Just sayin'

Sonicwall thinks that's naughty.

[wmenorr67]

I thought I heard a lot of those people do that there (in private).  Who did he piss off? 

That was his mistake.  It was in his car.  If he had kept it behind closed doors he would have been fine.  My guess is he was actually selling it to others and got lucky he didn't get a worse sentence.

[Hawkmoon]

Whatever went down, the idjit had worked there for TWENTY-FIVE YEARS. It ain't like he didn't know the Saudis don't like booze.

[TechMan]

Whatever went down, the idjit had worked there for TWENTY-FIVE YEARS. It ain't like he didn't know the Saudis don't like booze.

This right here ^^^^.

[vaskidmark]

That was his mistake.  It was in his carboat.  If he had kept it behind closed doors he would have been fine.  My guess is he was actually selling it to others and got lucky he didn't get a worse sentence.

Do stupid things, win stupid prizes.

Of course he might have the lashes administered the same as the Thais did* to some old foreign geezer who "might" have been misunderstood when he said something that "might" have insulted the king (like I just did by not capitalizing the 'k').  100 lashes administered 5 at a time, with a day off between lashings.  Stretched the geezer out on a table, brought the rattan cane down from full overhead solely by the power of gravity.

Then they confiscated everything he owned except the clothes on his back and his passport and put him on the first plane heading in the general direction of home.

stay safe.

* - I somehow doubt it.

[TechMan]

^^^^^Where did you get boat?

Karl, who has seven grandchildren, was arrested in Jeddah on August 25 last year after bottles of home-made wine were found in his car boot.

  UK term for car trunk.

[HeroHog]

Boot, not Boat.

[Angel Eyes]

Das Boot?

[bedlamite]

[vaskidmark]

^^^^^Where did you get boat?
  UK term for car trunk.

From my Presbyterian eyes.  Might need to get the prescription checked.

stay safe.

[tokugawa]

Be a great time for every foreign oil worker to just up and leave.

[TechMan]

From my Presbyterian eyes.  Might need to get the prescription checked.

stay safe.

Sorry, I forgot you were on the feasibility committee for dirt. :)

[T.O.M.]

You go to a foreign country, you are bound by their laws.  Break those laws, pay the punishment.  Always drives me nuts when you see people on TV complaining because their loved one got busted breaking the law in Iran or somewhere, got the book thrown at them in accordance with their laws, and complain about how this is unfair, and their loved one shouldn't be punished that way.  We do the same thing to foreign citizens who break laws here.  Why shouldn't they?

[wmenorr67]

You go to a foreign country, you are bound by their laws.  Break those laws, pay the punishment.  Always drives me nuts when you see people on TV complaining because their loved one got busted breaking the law in Iran or somewhere, got the book thrown at them in accordance with their laws, and complain about how this is unfair, and their loved one shouldn't be punished that way.  We do the same thing to most foreign citizens who break laws here.  Why shouldn't they?

FIFY

[RevDisk]

Don't get me wrong, I agree that stupid laws are stupid. But you're a complete retard if you play stupid games in certain countries. I wouldn't touch an ounce of booze outside of designated safe zones in any of the more repressive Arabic countries. Even then I'd be leery. They very clearly express the unwritten rules. Don't do anything in public, or else we WILL make an example of you.

[Perd Hapley]

You go to a foreign country, you are bound by their laws.  Break those laws, pay the punishment.  Always drives me nuts when you see people on TV complaining because their loved one got busted breaking the law in Iran or somewhere, got the book thrown at them in accordance with their laws, and complain about how this is unfair, and their loved one shouldn't be punished that way.  We do the same thing to foreign citizens who break laws here.  Why shouldn't they?

I almost agree with you, but I wonder if you could point to a similar case in this country, within the past 100 years? 50 years? I mean, something equivalent to beating an old man (possibly to death), for a similar crime.

Don't get me wrong. What the guy did was out-and-out stupid. But we protest laws (and punishments) we disagree with in our own country all the time.

[vaskidmark]

That's the difference between the USA and many other places in the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd World.  The concept of prohibiting cruel and unusual punishment was a radical one from the git-go, and over the years the concept of what is cruel or* unusual has evolved.

In the worst jail/prison in America you are going to get fed a life-sustaining number of calories in a nutritious proportion, a bed all your own to sleep on, and medical care at least equivalent to what the folks on welfare get.  In the best jail/prison in some other countries you are going to need an outside contact who will pretty much bring you what you minimally need to survive and pay enough money to bribe the keepers so that you get some level of protection from the predators on both sides of the bars.

Many other countries/cultures do not see some of the punishments they deal out as either cruel or unusual.  And I'm thinking of places like Japan which is supposedly firmly in the 21st century as opposed to Arabic countries that are firmly rooted in the 7th century.

stay safe.

* - the interpretation of the 8th Amendment is fascinating as it has evolved from protection of cruel and unusual to either cruel or unusual.  Back until the mid-19th century flogging was admitted to be cruel but it was not unusual.  By the 1980s hiring out inmates as day laborers was unusual but not cruel.

My favorite story regarding these distinctions was the inmate who began all of his grievance complaints with "I have been subjected to cruel and usual punishment by ...."  Told him that as long as he persisted along that line he had no case because he was only protected from cruel and unusual punishment.  He never figured it out.

[MechAg94]

I almost agree with you, but I wonder if you could point to a similar case in this country, within the past 100 years? 50 years? I mean, something equivalent to beating an old man (possibly to death), for a similar crime.

Don't get me wrong. What the guy did was out-and-out stupid. But we protest laws (and punishments) we disagree with in our own country all the time.

There was the railroad killer in Texas that got the death penalty.  There have been a few other Mexican citizens on death row in Texas.  
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/27/AR2006062700983.html

I don't know if that fits what you are looking for.

[Perd Hapley]

There was the railroad killer in Texas that got the death penalty.  There have been a few other Mexican citizens on death row in Texas.  
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/27/AR2006062700983.html

I don't know if that fits what you are looking for.

Uh, no. The old British guy's crime is imbibing, not killing.

[HeroHog]

"Religious" law that he broke.

[TommyGunn]

You go to a foreign country, you are bound by their laws.  Break those laws, pay the punishment.  Always drives me nuts when you see people on TV complaining because their loved one got busted breaking the law in Iran or somewhere, got the book thrown at them in accordance with their laws, and complain about how this is unfair, and their loved one shouldn't be punished that way.  We do the same thing to foreign citizens who break laws here.  Why shouldn't they?

In general I'D agree....but what about those cases where hikers "accidently" cross borders and get dinged for spying when it's clear that the charge is bogus and/or political?
Do you really approve of Mexico arresting a U.S. Marine for accidently crossing into Mexico with his issue M4 and being stuck in a hell-hole Mexican grey bar hotel?
There are two sides to this issue, you know.

[Hawkmoon]

In general I'D agree....but what about those cases where hikers "accidently" cross borders and get dinged for spying when it's clear that the charge is bogus and/or political?
Do you really approve of Mexico arresting a U.S. Marine for accidently crossing into Mexico with his issue M4 and being stuck in a hell-hole Mexican grey bar hotel?
There are two sides to this issue, you know.

What about female Pennsylvania residents who accidentally cross into New Jersey with a gun in the glove box (and a PA carry permit)?

Oh, wait -- I forgot we were discussing foreign countries. Never mind -- just another case like the Marine in Mexico.

[wmenorr67]

What about female Pennsylvania residents who accidentally cross into New Jersey with a gun in the glove box (and a PA carry permit)?

Oh, wait -- I forgot we were discussing foreign countries. Never mind -- just another case like the Marine in Mexico.

That was no accident.  She knowingly took the pistol into NJ.  She just didn't know the law.  Her bad.