Black Joker Hits Tower, Many Killed

The port tower of Genoa was hit by a ship named the "Jolly Nero," which has the nickname of the "Black Joker." Reports of several killed are being noted by media accounts.

• John Hooper in Rome
• guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 8 May 2013 08.59 EDT

The container ship smashed into the 170 ft (50 meter) tall tower of Genoa, bringing it crashing down and killing up to 10 dead. Four people, including a pilot and two coast guards, are confirmed drowned. On Wednesday morning, the death toll was reported to have climbed to seven. Another three people were missing.

Various theories are being developed for why the accident occurred.

John Hopper writing for the Guardian noted:

According to other accounts, however, it was the stern of the vessel –a 40,594-tonne container ship – that brought down the tower. The ship involved in the collision was the Jolly Nero ("Black Joker"), belonging to Ignazio Messina & C.
Stefano Messina, the managing director, said: "We are very upset – more than that. It is something that has never happened before. We are distraught."
The head of the port authority, Luigi Merlo, said the ship was coming out of the port when it struck the tower. There was no obvious explanation for the disaster, he said. "It was a perfect evening. The sea was calm. There was no wind. Visibility was perfect." But he added: "The manoeuvre ought not to have been carried out in that area."
One theory voiced on Wednesday was that one of the Jolly Nero's two engines might have jammed, making the ship impossible to control.
The coast guards operating from Genoa's imposing port tower were responsible for the northern sector of the Tyrrhenian sea. Radar installed in the operations room at the top of the tower could detect ships up to 40 nautical miles away. The tower hosted the offices of the coast guard and the pilots who guided ships in and out of the port.

Genoa = Genua was a city of the ancient Ligurians. Its name may derive from the Latin word meaning "knee" (genu; plural, genua), i.e. "angle," from its geographical position at the center of the Ligurian coastal arch, or it could derive from the Celtic root genu-, genawa (pl. genowe), meaning "mouth," i.e., estuary; thus akin to the name of Geneva.
"The Dark Knight/Joker name game continues to play out," writes BG, who contributed this news.

Charles Ramsey Name Game

Charles Ramsey is the name of the man whose actions resulted in 

the rescue of Amanda Berry, Michelle Knight, and Gina DeJesus.

Illustration by David Rappoccio.

(Used with permission.)

There is an interesting history to the name Charles ("free man") + Ramsey. Ramsey has origins in English for "garlic island"; in Scottish, it is from the name Hræm's Island, which is from the Old English elements hræm(n) (raven) and ég, íg (island); from Ram's Island, which is from the Old English ramm (a ram) and ég, íg (island); or from Ramm's Island, which derives its name from the Old Norse elements rammr (strong) and ey (island).

Ramesses II was regarded as the greatest, most celebrated, and most powerful pharaoh of the Egyptian Empire. Baron de Ramsey, title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, was created in 1887. Ramsey, Isle of Man, is the third-largest town on the island. Ramsey Island is located off the coast of the St David's peninsula in Pembrokeshire, Wales. Various towns are named Ramsey, including a village in Fayette County, Illinois.

Because Cleveland's Charles Ramsey was eating a Big Mac before his rescue of Amanda Berry, a major corporation has found a name and a hero they like too.

But as Judas Disney points out to me, we have met a Philadelphia "Charles Ramsey" before - and his name was linked to Aurora and The Dark Knight Rises:

Source.

Knight, Berry, and DeJesus: Twilight Language in Cleveland

The face of evil? Suspect Ariel Castro.

"I was eating my McDonald's. I come outside and see this girl going nuts trying to get out of the house. I go on the porch and she says, 'Help me.'" ~ So begins the interview with neighborhood hero Charles Ramsey, as he tells the rescue story of Amanda Berry's escape from Hell in Cleveland, Ohio.

Hell had an address: 2207 Seymour Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio.

[Proofs of the famous mathematical result that the rational number 22/7 

is greater than π (pi) date back to antiquity.]

But the three are free. And the questions begin.

Amanda Berry, at the hospital, on the right, with her sister.

Lorain Ave.

Clark Ave.

The suspected abductor Ariel Castro, 52, was arrested at a nearby McDonald's. Perhaps it was this McDonald's at 10710 Lorain Avenue, Westown Square Shopping Center, Cleveland, Ohio? Or apparently, more likely, at 3211 Clark Avenue, Cleveland?

Lorain Ave.

Amanda Berry was last seen in April 21, 2003, when she called her sister to say she was getting a ride home from work at this Burger King on West 110th Street and Lorain Avenue (at 14205 Lorain Avenue). Berry was set to turn 17 the day after her disappearance.

On April 2, 2004, 14-year-old Georgina "Gina" DeJesus went missing while walking home from Wilbur Wright Middle School. She was last seen around West 105 Street and Lorain Avenue.

Michelle Knight, 20, was last seen leaving her cousin’s house near West 106th Street and Lorain Avenue (shown), on August 23, 2002.

Lorain Avenue was the common denominator in these abductions.

The name "Lorain" originates from "Lothar = famous army." The Lorraine region is in eastern France, from Medieval Latin Lotharingia, literally "Lothar's Realm," name later given to the northern portion of the lands assigned by the Treaty of Verdun (843 C.E.) to Lothair I in the first division of the Carolingian empire. His empire stretched from the North Sea to the Mediterranean. Before his death (855 C.E.), Lothair subdivided his lands among his three sons. His son, Lothair (for whom the region is named), was given Lotharingia as his kingdom.

Joan of Arc came from Lorraine. The name also may be possibly derived from Laura (Latin) "laurel" = "victory."

Michelle Knight (note headband)

 DeJesus (note headband)

 Berry (note headband)

The known rescued victims, to date, have been identified as Michelle Knight, Amanda Berry, and Georgina DeJesus. Their names allude to a mounted man-at-arms, a fleshy fruit produced from a single ovary, and a worker of the earth (farmer) linked to Jesus. They were taken from Lorain (= famous army). and brought to a location, Seymour (= Saint-Maur, Maur = Dark Skinned). A Holy Crusade?

For more on the name "Charles Ramsey," see here.

"Green, Berry, Hill. And I would like to think this was only a matter of chance." 

~ Magnolia, 1999.

What profiling was the abductors doing? What name game were they playing, knowingly or unknowingly? What melodrama of horror was scripted here?

In the midst of all of the celebration of the escape of Knight, Berry, and DeJesus, one of dark side of this news issues from a Browne.

Amanda Berry's mother Louwanna Miller appeared in 2004, on the The Montel Williams Show, to ask self-described psychic Sylvia Browne if she could get any information on how her missing daughter was doing. Browne said that Amanda Berry was dead. Browne's "answer" is being discussed online in relationship to Miller's death on March 2, 2006. Browne was wrong.

Browne

In general, telling a family that a relative is dead is irresponsible, and has little to do with being a psychic. That has everything to do with, allegedly, theater, money, and infamy.

Of course, the darkness actually begins with the three Castro brothers. More will be revealed about their crimes against humanity, soon enough. Not to taint others who enjoy the same music, but what is being shared now is that Ariel Castro is reportedly a Puerto Rican fan of del merengue music. This music is well-known for its overly sexualized album covers.

The Unholy

The Facebook face of Ariel Castro.

May 8th Update: Ariel is being charged with the kidnapping of four and the rape of three. His two brothers, below, are not being charged with any involvement with his crimes, based on the testimony of Knight, Berry, and DeJesus - and Ariel.

 Suspect Onil Castro

Suspect Pedro Castro

"The fields of Islington and Marybone.

To Primrose Hill and Saint John's Wood.

Were builded over with pillars of gold.

And there Jerusalem's pillars stood."

~ William Blake, Chapter II, Jerusalem in 1804-1818.

  

Into Darkness

"Darkness is coming" ~ John Harrison.

Update: I enjoyed one of only 300 early screenings in the USA, only one in Maine, on May 15th. It is an incredible film that is not as dark as the promotional material would have you expect. Still, this movie, along with Iron Man 3, certainly start off another "dark" summer of motion pictures, a growing trend.

Near the beginning, there is an explosion in a big city. Sound familiar?

Star Trek Into Darkness really gets going with a terrorist attack in London.

Movie openings, film legacies, and violent incidents have gone hand in hand, of late.

Dark Knight opened July 23, 2008, in Belguim; Heath Ledger died January 22, 2009, in New York City; nursery attack (3 killed, 12 injured) occurred on January 23, 2009, allegedly by the Dendermonde Joker in Belguim.

Captain America opened July 22, 2011 in USA; Anders Behring Breivik on July 22, 2011, set off a car bomb in Oslo, shown above (killed 8, injured 209) and attacked youth camp on Utøya island, Norway (killed 69, injured 110).

Dark Knight Rises opened midnight July 20, 2012; James Holmes allegedly targeted Dark Knight Rises while dressed as Bane with Joker underneath (allegedly killed 12, allegedly injured 58), July 20, 2012, Aurora, Colorado, to Newtown, Connecticut, where on December 14, 2012, Adam Lanza killed his mother, then went to the Sandy Hook Elementary School and killed 20 children and 6 adult staff (total 27).

What have the major studios learned from these recent events? Don't open a blockbuster movie in 2013 on July 20, 21, 22, and 23.  This year, on the closest Fridays, you will note that Red 2 is due to open on July 19, and The Wolverine on July 26. These are not movies in the same darker mold as Man of Steel (June 14), The Lone Ranger (July 5), and Star Trek Into Darkness (May 17) this year.

Star Trek Into Darkness opens in Britain on May 9, 2013, and in the United States on May 17, 2013, the 12th film in the Star Trek franchise that was created about 50 years ago by Gene Roddenberry and led to six TV series.

May 9th is a date called Victory Day throughout most countries in the old Soviet Union, for victory over Nazi Germany was achieved by the Soviet Union on that date. Parades and other celebrations are sometimes still held. Chechen president Akhmad Kadyrov and 23 other people were killed in a bombing in the capital Grozny, during a World War II memorial victory parade in 2004. In Kaspiysk, Russia, a remote-controlled bomb exploded during a holiday parade killing 43 and injuring at least 130, in 2002.

And Star Trek Into Darkness, relatively speaking, opens with a boom....

Let us hope the only darkness is on the screen this time.

But let's not forget....

Boston Marathon Bombing - Three killed, 299 injured

Boston (above and below)

London (below)

 Star Trek Into Darkness opens midnight the evening May 16th, in some US locations.

 Darkness can be evil personified.

More Arrests In Boston Bombing

Arrests: Is there more to the Boston Marathon Bombing that remains to be learned? 

Are there others linked to the events? 

New people developments were confirmed on Wednesday, May 1st.

A conservative blog created the above image. Is there anything to it? 

Or is it just a name game play on Dzhokhar sounding like "Joker"? Image source.

Updated Breaking News...

Tweet from Boston Police:

@Boston_Police: Three additional suspects taken into custody in Marathon bombing case. Details to follow.

Boston Globe says the three are college students. Two were said to be roommates of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.

Source.

Reuters is noting, "The third person taken into custody on Wednesday was a U.S. citizen, and all three were being investigated for actions taken after the bombings, the U.S. law enforcement source said."

CNN is says that the third suspect has been confirmed to be Robel Phillipos, an American.

USA Today notes:

Phillipos, a U.S. citizen, lives with his mother, who is from Ethiopia and works with refugees, WHDH-TV reported. Their Cambridge apartment is next to the gas station where the Tsarnaev brothers carjacked a vehicle before getting into the shootout with police in which 26-year-old Tamerlan Tsarnaev was killed.

The Atlantic reports:

NBC's Pete Williams reports that the three suspects were all roommates of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, and may have removed items, possibly a backpack, from their dorm on his behalf. CNN's Susan Candiotti says the items included fireworks backed in backpacks. (Over the weekend, police searched a Boston-area landfill in search of a missing laptop and more explosives.) They were under surveillance by the FBI for several days, and any crimes that may be charged with likely took place after the bombing, making them accessories after the fact. It appears there's no indication at this time that the suspectes were aware of the bombing plot or helped in anyway before it took place. They are also accused of lying to investigators during interviews.Earlier today, two men that previously been connected to Tsarnaev appeared in court on a visa violation hearing. The men, Azamat Tazhayakov and Dias Kadyrbayev, both from Kazakhstan, were arrested more than a week ago on the visa charge and appeared at the hearing via video conference. It's been reported, but not confirmed, that those two men might have been among today's arrests. One of the students' lawyers confirmed the two men are suspects and will be charged in federal court later today, but has already denied any wrong doing int he case. The third roommate, who is American, was arrested this morning, per Pete Williams.

Earlier today...

Breaking News from the BBC:

Boston police have taken into custody three additional suspects in the 15 April bombing of the Boston Marathon.The police department has released no further details of the suspects' identity or alleged role in the attack.Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, a 19-year-old immigrant student, has been charged over the bombing. His elder brother Tamerlan was killed in a shootout with police.Two bombs at the finishing line killed three people and injured more than 260.

All together five people died in the week of violence and 299 were injured, some very badly.