Saudi women can finally sell lingerie

What's wrong with this picture?

With women banned from retail sales in repressive Saudi Arabia, they were forced to buy from South Asian men. While the restrictive laws were designed to prevent men and women from interacting, the reverse became true as Burqa-wearing women were forced to discuss intimate details with non-related men.

The law also resulted in funny sights such as this.

In 2006 the law was repealed and women were supposed to be able to sell lingerie but, with the restrictions on driving and the lack of trained women, nothing really changed.

But Social Media came to the rescue again. With a Facebook boycott garnering 1300 signatures, King Abdullah put his power behind the rule and gave the shops until June to comply.

While it's a small victory over petty rules that dominate women's rights in Saudi Arabia, there are two very interesting aspects to it that excite me:

1. Facebook, the oil lubricating the entire Arab Spring protests, was involved again and the Saudi royals recognized its power and bowed immediately to the pressure before things became worse for them.
2. Now that the women have a foothold in retail, they will gain experience and start taking over in other areas. They will have to be able to commute to jobs either by a newly developed public transportation system or a relaxing of driving laws.

Could this small change could be to Saudi Arabia what Rosie the Riveter was to the US women's rights?

Why do we care about the British monarchy?

So today the British monarchy increased in size by one. And she seemed like such a nice woman. Why she would choose to join a dysfunctional family like the British royals is beyond me but there's no accounting for taste I guess.

What surprises me more is the worldwide attention such an event generates. When hundreds are dying in Alabama from tornadoes, we hear "Breaking News" that the designer or the bride's gown has been announced.

And here in America, where we threw off the reins of the British monarchy over two hundred years ago, at the cost of tens of thousands of lives, people are glued to their TVs to watch the event. Why? Are people living out their childhood dream of being a princess and being married to a prince? And does it fit our dreams better when they speak practically the same language.

We have a vibrant democracy here and we fight against the corrupt dictatorships of Africa and the Middle East, yet we celebrate the British Monarchy. We even celebrate it to the point that the head of the British state is not the democratically elected Prime Minister, but whoever has inherited the British crown.