don't shoot the pianist
he is doing the best he can

I’m getting claustrophobic just looking at this:

“A thorough government survey in 1987 … estimated that 33,000 people resided within the Walled City’s area of 6.5 acres.”

Given a limit of fourteen stories on buildings (imposed due to nearby Kai Tak Airport), that works out to a maximum 120 square feet of land per person—and that’s making the absurd assumption that every square inch was used as liveable space.

By way of illustration, that would be six people living in my one-bedroom apartment.

The Saudis have beheaded and crucified a man convicted of double homicide:

Crucifying the headless body in a public place is a way to set an example, according to the kingdom’s strict interpretation of Islam. Normally those convicted of rape, murder and drug trafficking in Saudi Arabia are just beheaded.

You know, I’m not sure these guys get the point. The idea behind crucifixion as an execution method was to cause an agonizing, prolonged suffering before death. It’s where we get our English word excruciating from. So, beheading the man first and then crucifying the body—well, that just defeats the purpose entirely, doesn’t it?

(Weird language quirk: the headline on the story—Saudis behead, crucify murder convict—contains four consecutive words that can be used as verbs. Isn’t that neat?)