Fire Rat: Earth Season: 4e

1 Sep ~~ 4 Sep

Onerous duties. Burdens. Legal matters of all kinds. Fiats and decrees and edicts. Precedents and decisions and verdicts. Inescapable responsibilities. Weightiness. Taxation. Those with law and authority on their side make their presence and their weight fully known. Security is paramount and everything is kept in its place.
The Fulfilment:
Iraq: Saddam orders pullback from Iraqi Kurdistan after troops execute over a hundred leading Kurds in the streets of Arbil and flood the area with new security agents. "Fiats and decrees and edicts. Those with law and authority on their side make their weight fully known. Security is paramount."
Rwanda: UN census of refugees in Zairean camps was to begin today, but it's postponed when people get suspicious of the indelible ink used to mark them and refuse to cooperate. A census with indelible ink -- very interesting! "Burdens. Legal matters. Responsibilities. Taxation."
Colombia: Last free leader of the Cali drug cartel turns himself in to the police after a year-long manhunt. He is a master of disguise. "Inescapable responsibilities."
China: Opening of a direct rail link from Beijing to Hong Kong. Project took 3yrs and $4.8 billion to construct, but passengers must still walk across the border at Hong Kong and board a local commuter train to complete the journey.
USA: S. Carolina: Four children and three adults drown when a truck rolls into a lake -- it's the same lake where Susan Smith drowned her children and these people had come to see the spot ....
Russia: PM Chernomyrdin is backing the peace deal for Chechnya and has briefed Yeltsin on it. This is part of the revolution: "Some unresolved situation in the world or some condition that has been static or some institution that has been moribund will suddenly give way, become fluid and be transformed. Something that has been intransigent for years will suddenly budge."
Serbia: Milosevic accepts a compromise on Kosovo province in permitting its 1.7 million Albanians to be educated in their own language. They had been boycotting the state schools for five years. "Precedents and decisions and verdicts. Inescapable responsibilities."
Israel: Yasser Arafat now proposing international arbitration if peace talks fail, but, of course, Iraelis want nothing to do with that. Int'l binding arbitration? Certainly a legal matter and something to be enforced.
Philippines: Muslim rebels and the gov't sign a peace treaty today ending 24yrs of civil war and the nation is looking forward to a new prosperity. This event is part of the revolution: "Some unresolved situation in the world or some condition that has been static or some institution that has been moribund will suddenly give way, become fluid and be transformed. Something that has been intransigent for years will suddenly budge."
Cambodia: Khmer Rouge splinter groups seeking amnesty for their leader (Ieng Sary) and acceptance into the govt regular army. Premier advises the king to accept their request. Again, this is part of the revolution: "Some unresolved situation in the world or some condition that has been static or some institution that has been moribund will suddenly give way, become fluid and be transformed. Something that has been intransigent for years will suddenly budge."
Iraq: Clinton unilaterally declares an expansion of the southern no-fly zone from the 32nd to the 33rd parallel, with new airstrikes within the zone. "Fiats and decrees and edicts."
Iraq: Cruise missile strikes against targets in and around Baghdad. "Those with law and authority on their side make their weight fully felt. Security is paramount and everything is kept in its place."
Belgium: Police find the bodies of the other two missing girls whom Dutroux was suspected of having abducted.
Norway: Palestinian man hijacks Bulgarian plane to Oslo. No political motivation -- he just wanted to get there ....
Bosnia: UN intervenes in Banja Luka to evacuate several Muslims who had resettled in the area months ago and were later chased away.
Bosnia: British UN troops drawn into a confrontation with an angry mob of Serbians when they try to disarm Serbian police holding antiaircraft guns. The British scare the mob off by firing shots. "Those with law and authority on their side make their weight fully known."
Mexico: Zapatista rebels refuse to talk peace until all political prisoners have been freed.

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