First, of course, yes Ramadan is on the lunar cycle - and indeed in most of the MENA region begins based on moon sighting. All very well and good (or not really, but more on that in a second). One should expect then if one is depending on some rheumy eyed Imam and Ulema to sight the moon that some variability will arise - year to year and from place to place. Again, all well and good (in context).

However, as implied in the original comment, others than myself - which is to say locals who one should think do not need tedious and pretension explanations about how Ramadan works - have noted a rather queer and non-random pattern of certain countries rather consistently declaring differently from their neighours. Indeed as noted, among Maghrebines one often hears the opinion that the calling of Ramadan and the suspiciously consistent pattern reflects competition and political tension between the countries.

Justified? Well, all one can say is that it is a bit queer how consistently it happens, and unless one wishes to posit some queerly consistent climatological differences year after year after year, one is moved to see that the jaundiced suspicions are at the least not irrational.

Now, all this aside, I personally find the arch erection and fetishizing of outmoded traditional practices (sighting the moon by eye) as religious precept (despite there being nothing but a dodgey hadith for it) to be nothing but rather typical obscurantism and fetishization of past human practice. Modern science leaves no doubt as to where the moon is, within millimeters, and I see no reason to fetishize the human eye - making millions of Muslims slaves to the whims of religious establishments and human vagaries for no fundamental reason. It rather reminds me of the similar fetishization of human calligraphy in the region (for the production of religious books and especially the Quran) that retarded the introduction and use of the printing press. Pure obscurantism that serves the interest of a narrow ulema and has no real religious justification.

But then I am of the sort to always find such things irritating, being a rationalist.

Regardless, in the future when making comments, people should do a bit of learning first, and not irritate me unnecessarily with pretensious idiocies.