Fire Rat: Metal Season: 1b

22 Sep ~~ 25 Sep

Parting company. A breaking point is reached when obstructions and hindrances become intolerable. Either the opposition is ploughed under or else it seeks to break free and achieve an independent life by asserting its identity. Things are torn apart from within when private disputes become public. Cooperation is evasive and harmony is broken. Often the situation has deteriorated to this level because one or more sides have pushed too hard or resisted needful change too stubbornly.
The Fulfilment:
Israel: Israeli border police and troops exchange gunfire directly with Palestinian police. Several dead and dozens wounded on both sides -- four Arabs dead, seven Israelis shot, 300 Palestinians hurt in the melee. Israeli troops tried to pursue rioting Arab youths over the border and the Palestinian police defended it with live bullets. Source of the dispute is an Israeli archeological tunnel dig under the Dome of the Rock. Now the whole peace process is in jeopardy. "Parting company. A breaking point is reached when obstructions and hindrances become intolerable. Things are torn apart from within when private disputes become public. Cooperation is evasive and harmony is broken. Often the situation has deteriorated to this level because one or more sides have pushed too hard or resisted needful change too stubbornly." Do I get a gold star for this one? I could not have described it any better if I had had the newspaper in front of me when predicting it!
Greece: Socialist PM Costas Simitis wins an easy victory today over the right wing in national elections. Simitis succeeded Papandreou upon his death.
Armenia: National presidential elections held today.
Macau: Elections today -- the last before China takes over in 1999, but Macau's electoral system will continue under communist rule (unlike Hong Kong).
France: Riviera: Helicopters and ships used to evacuate dozens of people forced to flee sudden torrential rains and floods.
Indonesia: Govt carrying out extensive war games on the Natunas (remote rocky outcrops in the midst of a huge natural gas field claimed by China and others). Twenty thousand troops involved. "Things are torn apart from within when private disputes become public."
China: Chinese and Taiwanese fishermen sail out today to plant flags on some rocky islets in the East China Sea currently occupied by Japan. All three countries lay claim to the rocks. Japan vows they won't get anywhere near them. "Things are torn apart from within when private disputes become public."
Pakistan: Benazir Bhutto buries her brother today. Other family members (including her own mother) publicly accuse her of having a hand in his death. "Things are torn apart from within when private disputes become public."
USA: John F. Kennedy Jr got married today in a top secret wedding ceremony in a chapel on a remote island.
Russia: Communists now demanding that Yeltsin resign the presidency because he will be unable to fulfil his duties for a long time. "Things are torn apart from within when private disputes become public."
UK: London: Police raid several houses at dawn and capture 10 tonnes of IRA explosives. Many arrests. A shoot-out at one spot leaves an IRA guerrilla dead. violence, yes, but difficult to put into its category.
USA: Ross Perot launches lawsuit to gain entry into televised debates. Blockage is the fault mostly of the Republicans. "A breaking point is reached when obstructions and hindrances become intolerable. Either the opposition is ploughed under or else it seeks to break free and achieve an independent life by asserting its identity. Cooperation is evasive and harmony is broken." This is also a private political dispute becoming very public.
Pakistan: Multan: Shi'ite gunman attacks a Sunni mosque during prayers, killing twelve and wounding more than fifty others. "Private disputes become public."
Sri Lanka: Govt launches a new offensive to capture Tamil cities in the north. Two hundred dead since yesterday. "A breaking point is reached when obstructions and hindrances become intolerable."
Turkey: Govt reaches agreement with USA on security arrangements in Iraqi Kurdistan.
Rwanda: Govt border troops exchange heavy gunfire with Zairean border troops for several hours, but without causing casualties. "Private disputes become public. Cooperation is evasive and harmony is broken."
UN: General Assembly opens debate on future of the UN amid its mounting debts of $3 billion, owed mostly by the USA.
Ukraine: Govt admits it has been getting readings of limited chain reactions of radioactive debris inside Chernobyl sarcophagus.
Turkey: Prison riot leaves seven dead and twelve injured. Inmates say the govt has not kept any promises it had made to end the hunger strike staged earlier this year. "Parting company. A breaking point is reached when obstructions and hindrances become intolerable. ften the situation has deteriorated to this level because one or more sides have pushed too hard or resisted needful change too stubbornly."
USA: California: Jury selection in OJ Simpson's civil trial drags on. All the whites say he's guilty. All the blacks say he's innocent. "Parting company. Things are torn apart from within when private disputes become public."
Korea: Govt wants to renew annual war games with the USA as soon as possible as a warning to the North. They were suspended a year ago as a peace gesture.
Thailand: Coalition parties still have not agreed on a choice for PM. Deadlock? Outgoing PM may call snap elections to turn the tables on his persecutors. "Private disputes become public. Cooperation is evasive and harmony is broken."
Australia: Govt provokes China's wrath by agreeing to meet with the Dalai Lama. Trade sanctions threatened. "Cooperation is evasive and harmony is broken. Often the situation has deteriorated to this level because one or more sides have pushed too hard or resisted needful change too stubbornly."
UN: More than seventy nations today affixed their signatures to the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. This is the end of nuclear testing for all time, we hope.
Armenia: Police attack crowd protesting Sunday's election results and accusing the incumbent president of fraud. Some 40000 marched on Parliament, but twenty are shot and wounded for trying to enter the building. "Either the opposition is ploughed under or else it seeks to break free and achieve an independent life by asserting its identity."
USA: Oregon: Kenyan man with history of squabbles with the Church of Scientology enters the local offices and shoots four people dead. "Private disputes become public."
USA: Virginia: Korean-American man arrested for passing secrets to the South Korean government.
Canada: Ontario: Speaker of the legislature resigns today amid strong allegations of sexual harrassment in his office.
Afghanistan: The Taliban have advanced on Kabul and are threatening to seize it. They control most of the country already and want to impose strict Islamic law throughout the nation. "A breaking point is reached when obstructions and hindrances become intolerable. Either the opposition is ploughed under or else it seeks to break free and achieve an independent life by asserting its identity."

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