Fire Rat: Earth Season: 1a

9 Jly ~~ 13 Jly

The birthright is divided. Shares to everyone, but not all sharing. Opponents meet with pure spirits and find their strength equal. No one prevails.
Eruptions. Storms. Coups d'état. Revolts. Crisis. An assault on the Citadel. Power is claimed and used by those who know not their own strength. Things taken by suddenness and not by stealth. The coming of something new. A time for bold action.
The Fulfilment:
USA: Hurricane Bertha sweeps along the Atlantic seaboard. First hurricane of the season arrives in step with the Tao's seasons. :-)
Libya: Riot at soccer match precipitated when fans shout revolutionary slogans at Gaddafi's sons who were playing on the field at the time. Their bodyguards open fire, killing 50 or more people. "Coups d'état. Revolts. Crisis."
UK: Ulster: Protestant Orangemen march until they come to a police barrier at the edge of a Catholic area. Then they camp there, demanding that it be removed, while Catholics shout their disapproval and jeers from the sidelines. After two days of holding them back, the police relent and take down the barrier, letting them march and guarding them while they march. Many Catholics beaten bloody by police billy sticks. Then the riots begin: 3 police shot, 11 others hurt, 41 civilians hurt, 900 gasoline bombs thrown. Worst riots in 20 yrs all over the province and even the IRA is calling for calm. "Opponents meet with pure spirits and find their strength equal. No one prevails."
UK: It's all settled: Charles and Diana will be divorced by the end of August. "The birthright is divided. Shares to everyone but not all sharing."
Russia: Bomb destroys city bus. Driver badly hurt but passengers only scathed. No one claims responsibility. Second bomb the next day -- twenty hurt.
Italy: Judge orders both Silvio Berlusconi and Bettino Craxi to stand trial for illegal campaign funding. Craxi already in self-imposed exile.
UK: London: Nelson Mandela goes in triumph to Brixton, where people demonstrated at South Africa House against apartheid. He also meets with Lady Thatcher and expresses his forgiveness. "Opponents meet with pure spirits and find their strength equal. No one prevails."
Europa: Vienna: Last Russian objections overcome to signing of the Treaty of Wassenaar regulating the export of technology to maverick states.
Japan: Sakai: Epidemic begins today (12 Jly) of food poisoning among school children in the Sakai area. One week incubation period. Doctors soon realised that this was a new and more virulent strain of the already toxic bacteria O-157 coli. "The coming of something new."
USA: California: Slab of rock 1/10km across (100 metres) falls off a mountain in the Yosemite. Dust cloud rises 1km into the air. Wind flattens 2000 trees. Some dead, but no one sure how many yet. Refreshment booth flattened. "Things taken by suddenness and not by stealth."

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