But if I could make just one small positive suggestion. Everybody knows that Saudi Arabia is very rich in certain mineral deposits - notably of course, sand. Oh my goodness, it's got so much sand, it could export the stuff. Or, even better, it could import a load of water and cement, mix itself into a giant block of concrete, and do us all a huge favour.
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Why are we friends with Saudi Arabia? (May 14, 2007; from YouTube)Pat Condell
This was Saudi Arabia, where Islam originated, governed strictly according to the scriptures and example of the Prophet Muhammad. And by law, all women in Saudi Arabia must be in the care of a man. My mother argued loudly with the Saudi immigration official, but he merely repeated in an ever louder voice that she could not leave the airport without a man in charge.
Ayaan Hirsi Ali
With regard to lime we must be careful that it is burned from a stone which, whether soft or hard, is in any case white. Lime made of close-grained stone of the harder sort will be good in structural parts; lime of porous stone, in stucco. After slaking it, mix your mortar, if using pitsand, in the proportions of three parts of sand to one of lime; if using river or sea-sand, mix two parts of sand with one of lime. These will be the right proportions for the composition of the mixture. Further, in using river or sea-sand, the addition of a third part composed of burnt brick, pounded up and sifted, will make your mortar of a better composition to use.
Vitruvius
Fresh pitsand, however, in spite of all its excellence in concrete structures, is not equally useful in stucco, the richness of which, when the lime and straw are mixed with such sand, will cause it to crack as it dries on account of the great strength of the mixture. But river sand, though useless in "signinum" on account of its thinness, becomes perfectly solid in stucco when thoroughly worked by means of polishing instruments.
Vitruvius
After leaving El Paso, our road branched off at an angle of about two points to the westward of the river, the city of Chihuahua being situated nearly a hundred miles to the west of it. At the distance of about thirty miles we reached Los Médanos [The Dunes], a stupendous ledge of sand-hills, across which the road passes for about six miles. As teams are never able to haul the loaded wagons over this region of loose sand, we engaged an atajo of mules at El Paso, upon which to convey our goods across. These Médanos consist of huge hillocks and ridges of pure sand, in many places without a vestige of vegetation. Through the lowest gaps between the hills, the road winds its way.
Josiah Gregg
Well it's a gloomy, rainy old day to be here in London, but it could be worse; I could be in Saudi Arabia where men are men, and women are cattle. Can I say that? The Saudi Arabian Human Rights Commission - now there's a collection of words to boggle the mind, but apparently this organization does actually exist - intends to complain this month at an event in Copenhagen that Muslims living in Europe are denied human rights and are not allowed to freely practice their religion. How about that, folks, we're being lectured on human rights by Saudi Arabia! What's next, animal welfare from the Koreans? I mean, does it get any more surreal, you ask? Well, yes apparently it does, because they also want us to stop linking Islam with terrorism. Pretty rich coming from the guardians of Islam, and the guardians of terrorism. Now, in a sane society, the guy who stands up to make this speech would be bum-rushed out the door the moment he opened his mouth, or even better, run out of town on a rail and dumped in a river. But this is Europe, and we will probably listen to what he says, take it all on board and change our ways to accommodate them, as usual.
Pat Condell
Condell, Pat
Conder, Josiah (editor and author)
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