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(2014) March, the Mad Scientist (Steven Wilson Stereo Remix) | 1:48 Jethro Tull | 344K subscribers | 1,648 views | January 26, 2024

Learn to light a candle in the darkest moments of someone's life. Be the light that helps others see; it is what gives life its deepest significance Without his likely ever realizing it, Canada Free Press commenter Fred Niziol brought me solace today just as I learned about the tragic deaths of prominent Zimbabwean freedom warrior Roy Bennett, his wife, Heather and Charles Burnett III. Niziol posted these inspiring words to Facebook: “Learn to light a candle in the darkest moments of someone’s life. Be the light that helps others see; it is what gives life its deepest significance.” —Roy...

On Saturday 5th February, far beyond the reach of any reporters or the probing lens of any cameras, an event of major significance took place. In the prison compound at Mutoko, some 140 kilometers north-east of Harare, one of Zimbabwe's leading clerics and outspoken critic of the Mugabe regime, met and talked with a prominent member of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), now a prisoner of conscience incarcerated by that regime. Archbishop Pius Ncube of Bulawayo met Roy Bennett the imprisoned opposition MDC member of parliament for the Chimanimani constituency. Roy Bennett is serving out in the Mutoko...

With Christmas nigh and the international community looking the other way, Roy Bennett, the only white farmer MP in Zimbabwe’s opposition government, marks more than 40 days in prison. Sentenced to one year’s hard labour, Bennett’s already badly blistered from sunburn and covered in lice. The MP’s crime? Officially, it’s that he angrily pushed then apologized to Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa, who had most flagrantly insulted his family. Chinamasa had called Bennett’s father and grandfather "thieves and murderers" and told him he’d never be allowed to return to his farm, taken by Robert Mugabe’s treacherous ZANU-PF government. Fighting words, indeed...

The unjust imprisonment of Roy Bennett is continuing to attract international and regional media attention, highlighting the appalling Human Rights record of the ZANU PF government. And as long as Roy remains in prison the coverage will continue. He is still being held in Mutoko Prison, and continues to be forced to work outdoors without a hat, suffering from sunburn and from skin infections caused by the lice. Yet his spirit remains strong and the support from his friends, Zimbabweans of all races and backgrounds, and thousands of people worldwide, has made this ordeal that much more bearable for Roy,...