Saudi teen boy chats up US lady, finds fame, gets arrested

[Snowboarder_Bo]

[AP story here:

The teenager, known only by his online name of ‘Abu Sin,’ a reference to his crooked teeth, speaks almost no English. Christina Crockett, a 21-year-old vlogger from California, speaks no Arabic.

Even so, they managed to create goofy, light-hearted videos in which they appear fascinated by one another. The spectacle of the two trying to communicate attracted millions of viewers both inside the kingdom and abroad. As a result, Abu Sin shot to fame on the livestreaming site YouNow, receiving nearly 6.5 million views of his videos.

While the conversations appear harmless, Saudi media outlets say the teen was detained late last month for “unethical behavior” due to the videos. Footage posted online on Sept. 25 purports to show his arrest, and Abu Sin’s YouNow site, on which he used to post almost daily, had not been updated for 13 days.

Abu Sin’s videos could constitute a violation of the country’s cybercrime law, which prohibits producing material that harms public order, morals or religious values, according to lawyer Abdulrahman al-Lahem. He may also be found in contempt of the kingdom’s sometimes unyielding interpretation of Islamic law. Al-Lahem was quoted in the Saudi newspaper, Okaz, as saying the teenager could consequently face between one and three years in prison.

In comments to the Saudi Gazette daily, Riyadh Police spokesman Col. Fawaz Al-Mayman said Crockett and Abu Sin made “enticing videos” that “became famous and received negative attention.” He said police had received requests from the Saudi public demanding Abu Sin be punished. After his arrest, the case was forwarded to the Bureau of Investigation and Public Prosecution, al-Mayman said.

The Saudi daily Arab News wrote that people in the kingdom argue the teenager deserves to be tried because his videos “made people laugh (at us).” In an op-ed for the pan-Arab Asharq al-Awsat newspaper, prominent Saudi commentator Mishari al-Thaidy said the incident raised serious questions about how young people in the kingdom are being raised.

](http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/ML_SAUDI_TEEN_ARREST?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2016-10-05-02-18-37)Miss Crockett is understandably perplexed and hesitant to try and help and is somehow receiving flack from people:

@Cindy Crockett

Obviously, I think this whole situation is totally crazy and unfair, but I don’t feel I should be getting any hate for this because I have no control over it. It’s not my fault that it went viral. It’s not my fault that he got this fame from it or that I got it. Neither of us asked for it.

I won’t be sorry when this kind of thing doesn’t happen any more.

Oh wait, this is the Pit… Fuck this bullshit. Fuck this pure, unmitigated ignorant bullshit based on a belief in a god right in it’s diseased empty eye socket with a rusty, chipped up straight razor. Fucking assholes.

[Two_Many_Cats]

An American, a Brit, and a Russian were arguing about whose people were the bravest.

The American says, “Americans are the bravest in the fight against terrorism. Look at 9/11. Those passengers fought those hijackers on United 93. Those firefighters walking into the towers before they collapsed. And we’ve been fighting terrorists ever since!”

The Brit says, “Well really, we’ve been fighting terrorism since long before 9/11, old chap, and still do. And who was it really who faced down the Nazis, eh?”

The Russian says, “No, it is we Russians who are the bravest. After all, we live under Putin, and we still tell political jokes.”
And the moral of the story is: Don’t try to be funny in public in a dictatorship. That’s what Saudi Arabia is, let’s face it.

[Czarcasm]

In a contest of bravery, the winners can usually be found resting peacefully……in the cemetery.