On an article and a joke
Interesting article now in The Irish Times about an English journalist and novelist named John Simpson who has been a war correspondent for 50 years. He was tortured in Lebanon in 1982 while reporting on the Israeli invasion there. He is now BBC world affairs editor.
Simpson was not the only one to suffer at the time. From Wiki: “Early on a Sunday morning, October 23, 1983, two truck bombs struck buildings in Beirut, Lebanon, housing American and French service members … during the Lebanese Civil War. The attack killed 307 people: 241 U.S. and 58 French military personnel, six civilians, and two attackers.”
He says the torture was physically brief but emotionally humiliating for much longer. He says he might have used stronger language against his torturer but just called him a “w—er.” He says in the article’s interview that he finds writing more cathartic for his pain than talking to a psychiatrist. Some therapists advise keeping journals.
Simpson’s new novel is called Our Friends in Beijing and deals with political intrigue during the Tiananmen Square violence that he witnessed. The novel is being published on the one-century anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party’s founding.
“Ode to Hand Sanitizer” by yours truly
Oh, hand sanitizer, hand sanitizer!
You have made me much the wiser.
Here comes Fauci with an analyzer.
“But doctor, I’m full vaccinated by Pfizer,
Even if blood-shot my eyes are.”
“That may be because you had too much Budweiser!”
“Maybe, but they say in vino fewer lies are.”