Fire Rat: Metal Season: 1a

18 Sep ~~ 22 Sep

All hail the conquering hero. A time for leadership, when the people come thronging together to acknowledge their common lord. Technological advancements and innovations are especially favoured -- the discovery of new tools for creation and invention that promise to improve our lives. As always in times of Wood, we must expect the unexpected: shocks, crises, storms, eruptions and the coming of something new.

The Fulfilment:

UK: Scotland: Catholic bishop resigns his see, then absconds with a divorced woman amid press coverage and interviews with his mistress of two decades ago and their teenaged son. "Expect the unexpected" and "All hail the conquering hero". Don Juan was not quite what I had in mind, but this rascal is not so very different from his archetype ...

Bosnia: Serb presidential candidate (Krajisnik) now says the Bosnian Serbs have abandoned their struggle to separate from the Muslim majority, saying it has cost too much blood. Krajisnik is willing to try to work with Izetbegovic in the presidency. "All hail the conquering hero. A time for leadership, when the people come thronging together to acknowledge their common lord."

Russia: PM Chernomyrdin will receive full presidential powers for the duration of Yeltsin's surgery, including the nuclear button.

France: Pope John Paul II arrives in Tours for a visit looking very frail. Surgery for appendicitis is imminent next month.

Italy: Italian feminist community in uproar over yesterday's court decision saying that an occasional punch does not constitute wife abuse. "Expect the unexpected."

USA: Pentagon now admits that more than 5000 Americans were exposed to sarin nerve gas during the Gulf War. "expect the unexpected: shocks and crises."

USA: Govt abandoning plans for a manned mission to Mars by 2019 due to the expense, but it will double the planned robotic missions. "Technological advancements and innovations are especially favoured."

USA: Arizona: America's first female chain gang of prisoners sets out for work in the community around Phoenix. "The coming of somwthing new."

Iraq: The surviving Kurdish faction leader is now asking for American help in keeping Saddam at bay. Wonders never cease ....

Lebanon: Israeli warplanes raid several suspected Hezbollah camps after they ambushed and killed two Israeli soldiers.

Korea: Communist infiltration ends in a hail of bullets as police discover and shoot seven more spies from the North. "Expect the unexpected: shocks and crises."

Russia: Yeltsin's illness is even worse than expected. He has bad kidneys and advanced cirrhosis of the liver. He may be too sick for surgery.

Bosnia: Evidently about 104% of eligible voters cast ballots in last week's elections. Someone was busy ....

Europa: Russia still opposing Nato's expansion plans for Eastern Europe. It wants the OSCE to fill this role. It also wants a pledge that nuclear weapons will never be moved any closer to its borders, but Nato will not promise this.

USA: Congress agrees to approve law forcing hospitals and insurance companies to keep new mothers for at least 48hrs. "The discovery of something new that promises to improve our lives"??

USA: Govt investigating the CIA for selling cocaine to black neighbourhoods in Los Angeles and San Fran was a way of financing illegal operations in Central America. Oh oh ....

Guatemala: Govt signs pact with leftist guerrilla leaders to shrink the military by a third. This is the prelude to a peace treaty to end 36 years of civil war in this country. "All hail the conquering hero. A time for leadership, when the people come thronging together to acknowledge their common lord."

Kuwait: American troops now engaged in live fire trench war games along the Iraqi border.

Ethiopia: Three Egyptians sentenced to death for their attempt to assassinate Hosni Mubarak during his visit on 26 June last year.

Pakistan: Benazir Bhutto's brother Murtaza Bhutto and six others are gunned down in their cars by police when they refuse to stop for security checks. "Expect the unexpected: shocks, crises."

Italy: Umberto Bossi stages yet another symbolic revolt against Rome by declaring a provisional government for "Padania". "All hail the conquering hero" ....

India: Kashmir: State elections are held today and 20 people are killed at polling booths within a few hours.

India: exPM P.V.N. Rao resigns as leader of the Congress Party within hours of being charged with fraud. "Expect the unexpected".

Thailand: Six parties in the coalition govt force the PM to resign on threat of a non-confidence motion, then meet to try to choose a new PM from amongst themselves and find that they are unable to agree on a choice .... The inverse of "thronging together to acknowledge their common lord".

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