Head Count

Five murderers and two drug dealers had their bodies separated from their heads last month in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It appears that they have cleared out their backlog of criminals deserving of the sword and are back to single digit execution numbers. The year to date total is now 92.

In other, less lethal, news....in the United Arab Emirates, a female American tourist was found not guilty of insulting the country and allowed to leave the country. She was arrested back in February after she had a confrontation with some locals at the airport. They can do that in countries with Sharia law.

In similar news, a former Miss Turkey was given a 14 month suspended sentence for insulting President Erdogan. You see how important that First Amendment is? When was the last time you cursed our President?

And also this week, the courts in Dubai sentenced American businessman Zack Shahin of financial impropriety and sentenced him to 15 years. He was CEO of the development company Deyaar. He was first arrested back in 2008. He was let out on bail and tried to flee the Emirates but was caught and was extradited.  Being a foreign business executive there can be a dangerous job.