Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Facebook post written in Florida lands US man in United Arab Emirates jail

arstechnica.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

61–69 of 69 posts

Re: Facebook post written in Florida lands US man in United Arab Emirates jail

#61

Post by eru »

buster wrote: post #34
eru wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I lived there for 18 months. Very westernized, and surpassing the west in modernity.

Not sure where the Singapore bashing comes from on HN. It doesn't sound like most people have been there, yet still comment on how strict it is.. And the bubble gum thing.. geez.. Actually, i never felt safer in any city i have been.

I think it comes from certain notions about what freedom means.

Eg Singapore is far from a democracy. I don't care much about democracy, rule of law being much higher on my list. What do I care about my vote being one of millions? A fair and predictable legal system are more important.

Re: Facebook post written in Florida lands US man in United Arab Emirates jail

#62

Post by maxerickson »

marincounty wrote: post #57
_nedR wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>>Money and low taxes More like no taxes. From what i heard, they have no sales tax, or income tax (including companies). And a flat 5% duty on all duty (with that even exempted on certain goods such as computers).

I thought expats(American) were required to pay U.S. taxes? https://americansabroad.org/issues/taxation/us-taxes-while-l...

They are required to file US taxes. Between the $100,000 foreign income exclusion and the foreign tax credit, many will not owe any tax.

http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/International-Taxpayers/Forei...

http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/International-Taxpayers/What-...

Re: Facebook post written in Florida lands US man in United Arab Emirates jail

#63

Post by 616c »

This is not very surprising, especially to residents in Qatar, as there has been great anxiety and lack of clarity over the country's first cyber law.

http://dohanews.co/criticism-qatars-cybercrime-law-mounts-ho... ‎

Granted, they will tell you it is because of acts of cybervandalism and computer intrusion by hacktivists from the likes of the Syrian Hacker Army and company. Now, those groups have attacked even infrastructure of companies like Qatar Petroleum or RasGas (I forget which one). Now, none of us trust the law because of slander/libel provisions.

However, I do not think Americans ought to talk. We have bounced foreigners on entry to the US for non-sensical Facebook commentary about getting wrecked in America, somehow construed to mean they will go on a terror rampage.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-30267026

So, yeah, fellow Americans. We should get off our high horse.

Re: Facebook post written in Florida lands US man in United Arab Emirates jail

#64

Post by 616c »

ghostly_s wrote: post #40
enraged_camel wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah. My cousin works in Qatar and while his salary is around $50,000, he lives in a 4-bedroom condo on the top floor that overlooks the ocean and his company pays for it.

50k (even cash) is not nearly enough for the tradeoff of life in a regime like UAE to be worth it.

It really depends. I have always lived on the cheap side, but others go out to expensive bars (almost all in 5-stat hotels) and waste incredibly dumb amounts of money on everything.

Granted, I can drive a SUV at 1.00QR per litre. at 90 octane gasoline, that is basically 20-30 US cents a litre. However, inflation is a dirty word. Last inflation bump came because gov't sector pentions for Qatari citizens were close to doubled, and almost all grocer products increased by at least 1QR (0.20-0.30 USD) overnight. Many went up a lot more. And people were upset, but that is top-down economics.

Re: Facebook post written in Florida lands US man in United Arab Emirates jail

#65

Post by dmd »

thret wrote: post #25
higherpurpose wrote: post #11

Amnesty International released this tool a while ago to see what "crimes" you're committing with your posts in other countries: http://www.trialbytimeline.org.nz/ Also, once again civil libertarians were right: when US starts arresting people from across the globe for doing "crimes" that hardly have anything to do with its jurisdiction, eventually other countries will start doing the same with Americans, knowing that…

I just ran this for two hours and it was still thinking when I gave up. What if anything does it actually do?

That's the point. You're held indefinitely without trial.

Re: Facebook post written in Florida lands US man in United Arab Emirates jail

#66

Post by coldtea »

coldtea wrote: post #32
protonfish wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Chewing gum, for one.

There's actually no issue with chewing gum anywhere in Singapore. It's just that their sale is forbidden. If you have a pack you chew from your travel to Malaysia nothing will happen to you -- but you better not stick it in any public property or throw it down when you're down...

Downvotes, really? As this is misleading or offensive or something? I've lived in Singapore for 3 years on and off, perhaps those downvoting know better?

Check here for information too, if you don't believe me:

http://www.quora.com/Why-do-so-many-people-think-it-is-illeg...

Re: Facebook post written in Florida lands US man in United Arab Emirates jail

#67

Post by enraged_camel »

level09 wrote: post #53
ghostly_s wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

50k (even cash) is not nearly enough for the tradeoff of life in a regime like UAE to be worth it.

Don't really think that guy was getting a 50K package. The salary I can imagine for an American engineer working in Abu Dhabi would be a minimum of 100,000 - 180,000+ USD , and it is tax free (usually comes with additional benefits). Abu Dhabi is a rich city (they got oil) and they usually pay more than Dubai. Source: I live here, and run a startup and work with multiple companies and consultants.

He's not an engineer.

Re: Facebook post written in Florida lands US man in United Arab Emirates jail

#68

Post by justincormack »

maxerickson wrote: post #62
marincounty wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I thought expats(American) were required to pay U.S. taxes? https://americansabroad.org/issues/taxation/us-taxes-while-l...

They are required to file US taxes. Between the $100,000 foreign income exclusion and the foreign tax credit, many will not owe any tax. http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/International-Taxpayers/Forei... http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/International-Taxpayers/What-...

There is no tax credit if there is no tax in the country you are in.

Re: Facebook post written in Florida lands US man in United Arab Emirates jail

#69

Post by chaostheory »

dschuler wrote: post #39
chaostheory wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Personally, I tend to stay far away from any place that requires an exit visa.

I didn't even know that existed. Agreed.

It's actually how they facilitate modern day slavery in the Middle East.
Post reply on HN