Eid Al Fitr - a Feast that Keeps On Keeping On

 For most of the 'civilized' world it's shaping up to be the 'end of June' weekend. Summer is risen almost fully-formed from the busom of one of the screwiest Springs in recent memory - not that that has much to do with 'GW' or anything. But it's great to see the 'normality'.

 A couple of  local interest stories:

Laydee liberty - Russian Oiligarch blocks the Vu.

A Twist of Fate and into the Lake

Charlie Manson:Remember? Somebody Does.

America is besotted with the Warmbier saga.  Perhaps besotted is a term best reserved for Trump and innernational relations  ... which has done a caca-hole swirl this past week.  The 'apparent' Chinese hacking of the GPS system used by the US Navy and international freighters, or something, resulted in the ramming of the "Fitzgerald" - somebody's already working-up a C&W tune about dead swabbies in the crushed 'accommodation space', there's a 'hero' now and everything required to start a war - except, as usual,  the proof. Add to that the Chinese failures really apreciate the best slice of chocolate cake ...  ever.. and to yank the leash of their Korean lapdog, and there is cause for some serious 'considerations' in Washington.   The Norks returning damaged US goods to an America waiting to tar and feather the little creep,  has resulted in that cognitive dissonance that makes somebody stop firing before the clip is empty.   Praise be to  Jebus that Dennis Rodman had his 'nine inches' involved, real patriots can blame him for the treachery.

Some of what Warmbier had coming.

Some of what he was getting, over getting caught

Dennis Rodman: the Prince for the Peasant

And then there's the reason for THE season - a 'new' holiday of which most most westerners weren't aware. It seems that them 'Moslems' do a fast (that means they don't eat much) for a whole month, or so, once during the year.  That's called Ramadan, and it's over this weekend.  That's supposed to be a fairly tough thing - like Lent is for the Catholicks, but like Catholicks  probably the only ones who 'have to do it',  are women (part of what makes us better, again - here nobody has to go hungry unless its their own choice and it doesn't involve religion). Anyway - at the end of it all  they have a big blow-out,  a real yahoo - holidays, feasting and shopping and gifting - it's their biggest 'retail event' of the year!  And that should be interesting for us,  for there is  very little reason  for us to be out to the Mall for much more than the July holiday booze and barbecue season - and the dollar store for  flags and patriotic Chinese-made bunting and fireworks.  Marketers take note!

Hey Mr. Moon, Moon bright and shiny ... No it ain't about Korea!

They do have a sweet tooth

Hit the Mall and Shop for Vict'ry

Those Eid Feasts can be like Seders too: I DO love ponies Bubbe!

And then there are the good things like Christmas amnesties or  trenchline present swaps - truces in the frontlines, Piece on Erth,  goodwill toward somebody, etc. Just like real people do.

A truce in the Philippines - sort of.

Another tyrant tries to distract attention from all their evil.

Bomba Grande in Manchester. Coal to Newcastle?

While 'bringing coal to Newcastle' was always given as an example of uselessness, somebody bombing a kids' concert like the one in Manchester is just the kind of thing that makes me want to give up more of our freedoms in return for being better-protected.  Coming out of the Manchester event - along with the 'normal'   flood of condolences and castigations of 'world terror' - are the standard calls for even tighter security, and in Britain's case the need for an incumbent  Prime Ministerial candidate for election,  to step forward and display the kind of leadership that was missing last week before anybody know something like this would happen.

Adding to the news coverage are a number of strangely dissonant side-stories:  stories of 'missing' children who seem to have disappeared in the glut of 'helping' that followed the blast. Or reports of disappeared children who obviously haven't, or victims who aren't.  There has been an outbreak of social media 'spoofing' laid at the doors of a new phenomenon - 'the Internet hacker' - obfuscating the message that 'real' news services are trying to get out to us, when they're not interfering with a democratic election - like the one underway in England. Meanwhile this: "In the early hours of the morning of the 23rd May – approximately 02.35BST   NDTV via the Washington Post stated quite categorically that:

“U.S. officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, identified the assailant as Salman Abedi. They did not provide information about his age or nationality, and British officials declined to comment on the suspect’s identity.”

This was published at a time when British police and security services were refusing to make any statements as to who they thought the perpetrators were because, at the time, they were "dealing with the immediate aftermath of the event." - taken from the Center for Global research site.  Is this about 'the US leaking secret info ' - ie the Brits knew who did it and informed the US within 4 hours of the incident?

Theresa May, the Tory candidate who has been a large part of the recent governmental 'austerity' program, (which has removed almost 20 000 police from British streets over the past 8 years) is calling for a military deployment of 5 000 troops 'on the street' - I assume in Manchester.  The last time such a military deployment happened there,  it resulted in the Peterloo Massacre - and early attempt to 'put down'  the earliest seditious labour unions.  17 days before election day?   3 days of mourning and  a fortnight to 'take action',  gets Jill elected Prime Ministress - Putin couldn't have done it better.

                                                                         Peterloo


Deployment - Squaddies  to Scotland Yard

And to the Palace

This is REAL terror I tell ya!

The larger picture.

The culprit:  US security forces identified him and he 'was known to them' - not well enough.
Ooops!

The Libyan connection - to a NATO sponsored Anti-Ghaddafi group

   
      The Perps Brother - after arrest in Libya - not ISIS or AQ - NATO-sponsored 'freedom fighters'