Today’s paper was full of amazing stuff.

In Saudi Arabia they apparently believe that St Valentine’s day is not just silly commercial hype originating in the US aimed at trying to sell stuff to a gullible public buying into the idea.
In fact in Saudi Arabia, the day has been so imbued with evil, it is banned altogether. Right down to not being able to wear red, or buy anything red (including roses) for several days ahead.

When I was at the dating age in Australia, by the way, Valentine’s Day was pretty much unheard of, or dismissed as terribly American and a bit suspect, like Halloween. I don’t remember that I ever received a Valentine, or was taken out to dinner on Valentine’s Day, or given a red teddy bear or whatever the hyped thing was back then. I probably would have been terribly puzzled if I had, and thought the guy was a bit daft.

Second news item that caught my eye: This is about a man hexing other men to have affairs with him and persuading them to hand over lots of money to him.
One fellow called Murad said he met the man at a supermarket last year and “The weirdest part was that my feelings for my wife and my love for my children disappeared. All I could think of was the man,” said Murad. He even gave his new lover a few hectares of his land and RM2,000 monthly pocket money.
He is now working to save his marriage.

Aha! there we have the crux. What do you tell your wife when she finds out a) you’re gay or bi, b) you’re having an affair, and c) you’re really, really stupid?
That you were hexed!

The third item was somewhat similar. What got me about this con man – who sold armulets to a gullible fellow for large amounts of money telling him they were real jewels – was that he told the victim that his name was Superman. Now wouldn’t that make you just a leetle suspicious?

Happy Valentine’s Day!