RANTS: NEWS OF THE WORLD

RANTS:

  NEWS OF THE WORLD  

Jamal Khashoggi   Born Oct. 13, 1958 Died: ?

when is a pen more apt to engage:

while in the pocket or setting the page?

Pray that the wicking of word and rhyme

is done by wind and the passing of time.

We all know the story of Jamal Khashoggi, the Saudi dissident writer who was kidnapped and presumed murdered at the Saudi Arabian embassy in Istanbul last fall. We followed  the investigation, such as it was, and there is the usual fall guys suspects who will presumably be found guilty of something or other at some later date and time. Meanwhile the remains of Jamal have not been discovered, although a forest outside the Turkish capital is one possible place he is buried.

Along with his body, of course, goes his voice, one that was critical of the new Saudi regime’s policies, including the bombing of Yemen (it’s always good to have a defenceless country to practice your latest military weapons on; it gets the bugs out, just in case you have to fight an actual war someday.)

With all the garbage floating around today that's called news [read: rumours and opinions], I think we forget there are still honest journalists out there practising honest journalism, often at great personal risk. It behooves us to seek out their voices and to echo them as far and wide as we can. We can only make informed decisions in our lives if we have the facts. Khashoggi’s murder makes our search for truth that much harder. But search we must...