Snot Flickerman

A former dog groomer faces prison in Dubai for posting a critical Google review from Northern Ireland months before holidaying in the United Arab Emirates.

Craig Ballentine, 33, was arrested on slander charges three weeks ago after arriving in Abu Dhabi to visit friends, according to Detained in Dubai, a British organisation that provides legal assistance to tourists in the UAE.

His sudden detention comes months after he criticised his former employer, a Dubai-based canine salon, online about the “legal nightmare” he experienced following a six-month stint at the company.

After becoming ill — and having a couple of days off work — he was diagnosed with fibromyalgia, a long-term condition that causes pain all over the body.

Ballentine, from Cookstown, Northern Ireland, told Detained that despite informing his boss about the diagnosis, and providing his employer with his doctor’s certificate, she registered him as “absconded” with the authorities, meaning he faced a travel ban on his passport which took two months and thousands of pounds to resolve.

“After picking up the pieces, he left an online review of the grooming centre and his former boss, noting the problems she had caused him. It wasn’t an abusive post and he had no idea that several months later, he would become a criminal and face prosecution,” the group said.

Ballentine was transported from Abu Dhabi to Dubai to face charges of slander under the UAE’s strict cybercrime laws that prohibit any form of online criticism.

Ballentine is now “stuck in the country, absent from his employment as a support worker with autistic people and facing two years in prison”, the group said.

“This case will send shockwaves to tourists and expats who feel safe posting online from the safety of their own countries,” warned Radha Stirling, the chief executive of Detained.

His family said they were not informed by the authorities in Dubai about his arrest, and did not know where he was during what was supposed to be a short vacation. Ballentine told Stirling in a phone call: “Mum was so upset and stressed, she thought I was dead.”

Stirling warned that Ballentine “has been advised by local lawyers there is almost zero chance of the case against him being dropped”.

She said: “When someone is offended, even if they are at fault, they can open a criminal prosecution out of spite. Craig deleted the post, apologised but still faces jail. It’s outrageous.

“The UAE’s recently enacted cybercrime laws are a nightmare for foreigners. It is sufficient for a complainant to simply tell police that someone posted something offensive or rude. The police don’t even need to see the actual post. The complainants have all the power and often demand money from the accused to close out the case.”

The Khaleej Times recently warned that those caught out by the strict cybercrime rules become trapped in legal battles and can face hefty fines if they are “overtly critical or give a vilifying Google review, as businesses are becoming increasingly vigilant about safeguarding their reputations”.

A woman in Dubai was last year found guilty of defamation for an Instagram post that “damaged a hospital’s reputation” after she posted a video clip, criticising it as the “worst hospital”.

Stirling said that Ballentine needed to return home and to his work, as he has dedicated his life to helping others.

“It’s atrocious that authorities are allowing such frivolous criminal reports to entangle visitors in the system. There are no protections or safeguards and people’s lives are being ruined,” she added.

The Times has contacted the Foreign Office, the UAE embassy in London, and the Dubai prosecutor’s office for comment.

A spokesman for the Foreign Office said: “We are providing support to a British man in the UAE and have been in contact with the local authorities.”

File this one with “and Trump won’t instate a national abortion ban”

Never ask a woman her age.

Never ask a man his salary.

Never ask an OnlyFans model what happens in Dubai.

I hate to say it but what the fuck did you expect vacationing in an authoritarian shithole???

Like, really? Thought it would be no big deal? What the fuck, this is what’s coming to America, so get ready.

I’m almost sure all my past online comments against Trump will one day be held against me in a court of law.

Most election data comes from the Associated Press, but I don’t see a place to purchase API access, may only be available to news orgs.

https://developer.ap.org/ap-elections-api/

A reddit poster had some JSONs from New York Times four years ago for 2020 but I’m not sure if you can make them work for 2024.

https://old.reddit.com/r/rstats/comments/jo1yuw/us_election_results_api/gmnxfz3/

yet their trial has been repeatedly delayed using legal tactics to hold up proceedings.

It seems like weaponizing the justice systems of the world to let the worst people get away with shit has really become en vogue.

Yet it might have solved those problems had the sanctions been lifted 20+ years ago, allowing Cuba more access to diversifying their power grid through being able to get better deals for parts than they currently can.

The sanctions are part and parcel to why they’re struggling, and to ignore that they’ve been extremely limited in who they can trade with, and that limits their options for budgeting what they can buy because they have very few suppliers, is foolhardy.

No, we can’t fix the past, but we can recognize that it might have gone very differently had sanctions been lifted long ago.

Inflationary money printer goes brrrrrrrrrrr

I guess the years they have been under embargoes and unable to import means its their own fault they didn’t spend that time diversifying their electrical grid into solar and wind? When their lack of ability to import impacted their ability to get a hold of those kind of things easily?

The point is they would be a lot farther along with such efforts if they hadn’t been prevented from trading with half the world for over half a century.

But sure, because they haven’t spun up modern infrastructure when they can’t trade with half the world is their fault, and not because they have limited means and places from which to get the material and tools for such infrastructure.

It is also in part due to 60 years of bullshit ass embargoes.

If they hadn’t been denied trade for six decades, maybe their systems would be more modern and robust.

Why the timid headline? Do we have to wait for Israel’s word on what happened?

The people who own/work at CBS certainly seem to think so, which says a lot about their “journalism.”

I don’t exactly see an exodus of journalists to more independent publications because they refuse to print such horseshit, so yes, the people who work there are part of the problem, too.

Corporate journalists:

Now go away before they taunt you a second time.

Uhhh. I still think that was US learning from Israel… Israel doing this shit ain’t new. Ask Rachel Corrie.

Apology accepted and appreciated. Misunderstandings can happen easily online. Have a good one.

Jesus christ I’m pro-assisted suicide, it was just a cheeky fucking joke.

According to the group that promotes its use, Exit International, this triggers first mild disorientation and euphoria, then unconsciousness, and in a few minutes death by asphyxiation.

“We know this because we’ve tested it thoroughly and have wonderful exit interviews with the test subjects, who assured us of its euphoric effects via ouija board.”

Musk is a real Shooter McGavin so I bet he does eat pieces of shit for breakfast.

I still am struggling to find articles that actually delve into the technical details of how they’re blocking and if it’s any more complicated than a DNS-level block or if they’re also demanding to block that IP range or what. I want to know who the third parties are and what kind of services they’re offering that allow it to be routed around. Damn not being able to speak Portuguese, that’s on me.

A roundhouse kick to the neck!

Doctors with Borders Made for Them.