greener...green...gr...grrr...gray...grayer...grayest

More reflections on expatriation this morning. Later, coincidentally, while reading my daily dose of economist.com, I caught a new article on that very topic. It sums things up nicely and I would recommend it to anyone who is out there, far away from their home.

And (harsh) justice for all.

On Tuesday, Briton Akmal Shaikh was executed by the Chinese authorities, and that put a chill in my heart. I can hardly imagine a fear greater than that of being imprisoned in a foreign land, vilified, and ultimately made an example of by being deprived of life, so far away from home and labeled a "Bad Guy".

A friend of mine and I discussed this sad story over lunch today, and we agreed that the sheer lunacy of attempting to smuggle 4kg of heroin into China by stashing it in luggage registered to one's name -- such were the accusations against him -- bogs the mind. An accuser would have to be either simpleminded or delusional to not recognize such a fact, after some deliberation of course.

Which brings this proverb -- apparently of African origin -- to mind:

in times of trouble, leniency becomes crime