Throw enough rocks at a hornet's nest, they damned well will sting you:

[dancesofthelight]

According to Iranian state media, the Islamic Republic of Iran, in retaliation for the murder of its arch-terrorist Qassim Solemaini, has now launched a War of the Cities-scaled ballistic missile barrage against US forces in central Iraq. The USA doesn't care about some not so subtle points with Iran. Iran is not Iraq. Iraq says it intends to attack, Iraq means it intends to put painted logs and run away. Iran says it's going to attack, Iran damned well will attack. Iran drove the USA out of Lebanon in the 1980s, has a reliable record of military success against Israel. Iran has seem the USA depose two of its most reliable enemies and promote its Iraqi satellites to command the regime it imposed in Baghdad at the business end of an Abrams tank. Iran has spent the time since the Iran-Iraq War and during it studying in detail the methods used by the US Army, with no small amount of success, as its achivements in the Iraq War of 2003 illustrate.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/u-s-base-iraq-comes-under-attack-missiles-iran-claims-n1112171

And now, having successfully goaded the hornets into stinging, the USA gets to have a brand new war with a state it hasn't controlled the airspace of in 20 years and where the shadow-war it hasn't exactly distinguished itself in and the outright wars its proxies have utterly failed in are escalating to exactly the war Trump and Ali Khameini both want.

This edition of 'As the world goes up in smoke' brought to you by the Pale Horse casket company. Our slogan is 'You've got to die sometime, why not now?'

Is it time...

[johnny9fingers]

...to ask if our names are on the list?

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/jan/04/cambridge-analytica-data-leak-global-election-manipulation

And it seems that because the company went into administration and closed, all the folk responsible for this just built new companies to do the same thing under different logos. Here comes the new Cambridge Analytica, same as the old Cambridge Analytica.

When it comes to Facebook, of course, Sasha Baron-Cohen has the right idea. But is it the panel’s opinion that:-

a) Cambridge Analytica alumni will dictate the results in the coming US presidential election via manipulation of a retarded or semi-fascist Facebook policy.

b) ex-C.A. folk will have a small but measurable influence on the election, possibly tipping it Trump’s way if things are close, mainly via social media including Twitter, FB, Mumsnet, Grindr, et al.

c) C.A. Escapees and whistleblowers will give out even more info on C.A.’s previous operations to the general amusement of the intelligence community. The links between political types and C.A. should make interesting reading.

d) Disaffected and disgruntled James Bond assassin-types who never got to be lucratively employed by C.A. vent their anger on ex-C.A. Bosses in an enviously motivated desire to set things right. And the Ex-C.A. Heads lose their bodies. Unpleasantly. Envy of other’s success can be a terrible thing.

e) Boris nominates all ex C.A. Heads for inclusion on the Birthday honours list at Dominic’s insistence.

Items f - z have been omitted due to space limitations; feel free to fit them in at your discretion.