The Official Saudi Story, Mobs and Jobs

The Usual Suspects: Here’s the official story from Saudi Arabia. They say that the dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi died after an argument and a fistfight with unidentified men inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. Khashoggi was 60 years old and 15 men were waiting for him to arrive. It makes you wonder who threw the first punch.

President Trump said he believes the Saudi explanation and called it a “good first step.” Saudi Arabia is the focus of his Middle East strategy and he’s gotten friendly with the man who probably ordered the hit,  Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham tweeted, “To say that I am skeptical of the new Saudi narrative about Mr. Khashoggi is an understatement.”

The deputy head of Turkey’s ruling party says Turkey will “never allow a cover-up” and will release all the evidence to prove it if they have to.

If you have any doubt whether their story is the truth, remember that the Saudis initially said Khashoggi left the consulate alive and they had no idea where he went. Yesterday after admitting the killing, they didn’t say what happened to the body.

Nonetheless, the official Saudi statement said, “The Kingdom expresses its deep regret at the painful developments that have taken place and stresses the commitment of the authorities in the Kingdom to bring the facts to the public.”

The statement was spare on specifics. It said, and this is a translated version, “the discussions that took place with the citizen Jamal Khashoggi during his presence in the consulate of the Kingdom in Istanbul by the suspects did not go as required and developed in a negative way led to a fight and a quarrel between some of them and the citizen Jamal Khashoggi, yet the brawl aggravated to lead to his death and their attempt to conceal and cover what happened.”

Turkey says Saudi security agents cut off Khashoggi’s fingers, killed, beheaded and dismembered him.

The Saudis say the killing occurred outside the authority of the country’s day-to-day ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.They say they fired five top officials and arrested 18 others. Those fired included a close adviser to the Crown Prince and his deputy intelligence chief.

Making America Great: President Trump appears to have coined his slogan for the midterm elections. At his campaign rally in Montana he said, “Democrats produce mobs, Republicans produce jobs.”

The President is blaming the Democratic party for the caravan of 4,000 refugees from Central America trying to cross north through Mexico to get to the American border. They are fleeing drug violence and poverty, hoping the US will take them in.

Gruesome: More than 50 people were killed yesterday when a train plowed into celebrants who had gathered outside the northern Indian city of Amritsar for the Hindu celebration of Dussehra marking the triumph of good over evil.

The crowds had spilled onto the train tracks, while the explosions of fireworks and the din of  the revelers appears to have  masked the sound of the oncoming train.

Don’t Quit Your Day Job: The Mega Millions lottery jackpot has hit a record $1 billion.

I Don’t Like It, I Never Had It:Nobody likes the food at school and in Nebraska, a school district decided it didn’t like the cook either. A Nebraska school cook who mixed kangaroo meat into his chili has been fired.

The cook defended himself saying that he added very lean kangaroo meat because of its nutritious value. The meat came from an approved supplier and even though kangaroo is eaten in Australia it has yet to reach the menu in Nebraska where chili and cinnamon rolls is a delicacy.

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Thursday, October 31, 2024

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The “Great” President

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It's Been Said

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