Lynard Skynard
Gimme Three Steps

Ever wondered what it would be like if Christian-right conservatives maintained a long-lasting control of our government? No need for lashes. There would be a barrel of rocks located at every street corner.

Don’t they hang gays in that part of the world?

NEWS.com.au:

Gang-rape victim faces lashes

A SAUDI woman who was kidnapped at knifepoint, gang-raped and then beaten by her brother has been sentenced to 90 lashes - for a meeting a man who was not a relative, a newspaper reported.

In an interview with the Saudi Gazette, the 19-year-old said she was blackmailed a year ago into meeting a man who threatened to tell her family they were having a relationship outside wedlock, which is illegal in the ultra-conservative desert kingdom.

After driving off together from a shopping mall near her home, the woman and the man were stopped and abducted by a gang of men wielding kitchen knives who took them to a farm where she was raped 14 times by her captors.

Five men were arrested for the rape and given jail terms ranging from 10 months to five years by a panel of judges in the eastern city of Qatif, near the woman’s hometown.

But the judges also decided to sentence the woman, identified by the newspaper only as “G,” and the man to lashes for being alone together in the car.

Unrelated men and women are forbidden from interacting in public in Saudi Arabia, which strictly enforces Islamic Sharia law.

“G” said one of the judges told she was lucky not to have been given jail time. “I was shocked at the verdict. I couldn’t believe my ears,” said the woman, who has appealed against her sentence.

The woman also told the paper she tried to commit suicide because of her ordeal and was beaten by her younger brother because the rape had brought shame on their family.

Fuziyah al-Ouni, described as an activist by the paper, said she was outraged by the case. “By sentencing her to 90 lashes they are sending a message that she is guilty. No rape victim is guilty,” she said.

There are severe legal restrictions on women in Saudi Arabia, including a strict dress code required outside the home and a ban on driving.

This story is from Friday, so many of you may have seen it already. Bat sent it to me (thank you Bat). I didn’t get it until now because I’ve been MIA. Anywhoo….this is what I’ve been saying. Why does Kiley still have a job? A career? Why doesn’t he get the boot?????? I believe there’s going to be hearings today concerning this. More hearings……so far what’s come out of all these hearings? Just askin……

YESTERDAY THE Post reported that Lt. Gen. Kevin C. Kiley heard years ago from a veterans advocate and even a member of Congress that outpatient care at Walter Reed Army Medical Center was distressingly squalid and disorganized. That commander proceeded to do little, even though he lives across the street from the outpatient facilities in a spacious Georgian house. Also yesterday, the Army announced that Maj. Gen. George W. Weightman, the head of Walter Reed since August, had been relieved of his command. His temporary replacement? None other than Gen. Kiley.

Here’s where the story stops making sense. Much of The Post’s article detailed the abuse by omission that Gen. Kiley, not Gen. Weightman, committed, first as head of Walter Reed, then in his current post as Army surgeon general. Gen. Weightman, who very well might deserve his disgrace, has commanded Walter Reed for only half a year, while Gen. Kiley, now back in charge of Walter Reed, headed the hospital and its outpatient facilities for two years and has led the Army’s medical command since. Rep. C.W. Bill Young (R-Fla.) and his wife say they repeatedly told Gen. Kiley about unhealthful conditions in outpatient facilities.

While Gen. Kiley was ignoring Walter Reed’s outpatients, he was assuring Congress that he was doing just the opposite. A staffer for Rep. Thomas M. Davis III (R-Va.) told us yesterday that Gen. Kiley told the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform in 2005 that the performance of the medical holdover program, which covers 69 of the 76 residents of Building 18, “is a good-news story.” In response to questions Mr. Davis submitted, Gen. Kiley stated, “the Army Surgeon General has made their care the medical treatment facilities’ top priority.” At best, Gen. Kiley was ignorant of the conditions at Walter Reed.

Read more at the Washington Post