Over at the Tchotchke News Network they have the the latest developments: They have determined Tamerlan’s cause of death; female DNA was found on the fragments of one bomb; and a fingerprint was found on a fragment. They don’t know what the cause of death is, only that is has been determined. No one knows who the DNA or fingerprint belong to, and it doesn’t actually prove anything useful to anyone except a defense attorney wanting to stir up doubt among the jurors, but it was headlined.

Tomorrow is the first of the month, so maybe things will get better if their budget for part-timers is replenished every month.

There is a profile of the newest member of Jokhar’s Federal defense team, Judy Clarke, but it was written when she was appointed to defend the Arizona shooter, so they are just updating an old piece, not doing anything new.

McClatchy carried a story from the Austin American-Statesman: Officials investigating Texas blast looking to see what was missed

When the West Fertilizer Co. blew up earlier this month, it killed 15 and injured another 200, shattering the all-American town of only 2,800. The Insurance Council of Texas estimates insured losses could reach $100 million.

Now, as state and federal officials sort through the rubble left behind to determine a cause, they have begun looking at what they themselves missed.

On Monday, officials with the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers arrived in West to assist investigators in assessing the crater – 93 feet wide and 10 feet deep – at the explosion site.

As a result of the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing anyone who has more than 400 pounds of ammonium nitrate fertilizer on site is supposed to file a report with the Department of Homeland Security. In 2012 the company told the state of Texas that it had 270 tons of the chemical at the plant, but didn’t tell the DHS anything. In the company’s Federal Risk Management Plan, they only address the dangers of corrosion and toxic release, ignoring the sections on fires and explosions.

So long as the worst that can happen is a fine, these disasters will continue to happen. If CEOs and directors start going to jail, things will get better.

It’s Hexennacht and the moon is waning gibbous [between full and last quarter, but there is no Blocksberg available for dancing down here and local fire officials frown on bonfires during “Fire Weather Warnings”.

Of course the Church grabbed this holiday too and called it Walpurgisnacht in honor of one of their Anglo-Saxon saints, rather than good German witches [Hexen].

The Celts celebrate Beltaine at this time of the year.