Day 61: Conspiracy Theory?

I don't believe it.  I can't believe it.  It can't possibly be true.  I get reminding myself that correlation is not causation.  This can't be me.  I am not the cause of these distant events.

But the facts are there.  A few hours before I depart for Paris there is a major terrorist attack in the city.  Today, few hours before I depart for Istanbul there is a major terrorist attack in the city.  Is there some hidden connection here or am I just unlucky?

Mothers, hide your children.  Men, bolt the doors.  Soldiers, man the ramparts.  Everyone, beware because I am coming to visit your city, your town, your homes.  Be afraid.  Be very afraid!

I know I can not possibly be responsible for the troubles that seem to precede my arrival.  But if you reside where I am going, I am susceptible to bribes to encourage detours.

My stop after Istanbul is Jerusalem.  Should I worry?  Or should they?

Day 60(c): A Little Big Man

Never underestimate a man by his stature should have been Napoleon's motto.  He managed to conquer almost all of Europe, changed the map forever, lost an army to an invisible enemy (cold air), and led his adopted country to greatness and ruin.

Without him there wouldn't be canned goods, Germany and a French pastry.

Napoleon's tomb lies in the center of a huge rotunda attached to an ornate chapel and the military museum.  The casket is made made of seven layers of different materials (stone, wood, lead,etc.).

Napoleon wrote in his diary that he thought the British were poisoning him while he was a prisoner on the island of St. Helens (the last British territory serviced by a mail boat).  Napoleon's claim was verified over 150 years later when hair samples from his tomb were found to contain traces of arsenic.