Autumn Equinox 2010 on Capitol Hill

Horoscope: Autumn Equinox September 22, 2010 Capitol Hill, Washington DC; Hour Saturn; chart-ruler Mercury 12Vir49 in 4th house of Domestic Scene and Real Estate - unaspected; Sun 00Lib00:00 in 4th house conjunct US natal Midheaven (Sibly chart); Moon 27Pis11 in 10th house of Public Recognition, Status, and Career; MC 00Pis01 conjoins America's Pre-Natal Eclipse 00Pis33 in the 12 South Series which we are in now: issues at first seem worse, then suddenly clear with successful outcomes (paraphrasing Brady's Predictive Astrology - let's hope so.)

As you see, the 12S Series manifested on July 11, 2010 @ 19Can24 (we're in it now) and falls within the 2nd house of Money, Earning Ability, and Values in the Autumn EQ chart. Fall EQ 2010's Saturn rules 8th house and is positioned at 6Lib46 which inhibits or delays Creative Projects, Gambling, and Risk-Taking. This may be a good thing considering how Capitol Hill has spent and gambled with taxpayers' money the last several years and put us into beggarship. Alternately, Saturn here may indicate loss through gambling or risk-taking, so caution is advised.

The big, honkin' mass of T-Squares all point to manipulative puppet master Pluto 2Cap49 (again opposing US natal Venus in Cancer); Mr. Hades refuses to share his power or reveal his true plans; highlighted in yellow, upper right, is the list of the midpoint pictures formed by the T-SQs; please look them up for some are repeats which I've noted here before.)

One date to mark on our calendars is Nov 9, 2010 when the Moon meets Pluto meeting the transiting North Node of encounters with destiny. The dragon's head (NN) conjoins Pluto, the dragon, while the dragon's tail (SN) swipes US natal Venus, planet of evaluations and relationships. Moon-Pluto-NN 3Cap36 hook up @ 3:13 pm est, Washington DC. (I'm using the Moon as a timer here to get an exact moment; the Pluto/NN conjunction lasts longer than that, of course.)

Soon to come is this Wednesday's New Moon 15Vir41 of September 8, 2010 (Rosh Hashanah) also also falls in 4th house of the EQ chart (noted as 'Syz Moon' = Syzygy Moon, the prior lunation), along with the unaspected chart-ruler Mercury, planet of commerce, trade, young people, reporters, journalists, and bloggers. All types of communications, speeches and speech writers are also under Mercury's purview. That the speedy one is unaspected strengthens the mercurial energies of the chart within its house and sign (with the effects lasting until at least Winter Solstice 2010 - or perhaps until Spring EQ 2011.) Plus, Mercury is strong in one of its own signs.

With Virgo being the sign of the critic, book writer, and health worker, we may expect emphasis placed on these areas to be of great interest in the US. If a new book hits the best seller list, it will most likely be from a home grown author, or its topic will center on US concerns which include real estate.

Mercury in 4th house may also indicate a moving of residence, and its energy may boomerang into the 10th house of Career. Moon in sympathetic Pisces is an interesting placement and with sign Pisces at MC, career decisions may overwhelm the people (Moon); much publicity may continue to center on (un)employment issues.

Plus, Luna nears the Jupiter/Uranus conjunction 28Pis10/33, both Rx, a pairing of energies that describes explorations, scientific, or technological realms. Jupiter rules Pisces with Neptune as co-ruler (as I say around here) and with Neptune 26AQ27 Rx conj Chiron 26:59 Rx - both conjunct US natal Moon - we may expect more news and concerns about oil spills and blowouts, gas leaks, or flooding here or abroad (9th house, but conjunct US n Moon.)

Now I don't usually include the mysterious Dark or Black Moons but I have penned one in because it conjoins the Neptune-Chiron-US natal Moon trio at MC: it's Dark Moon w/mat2 which I note as a depression indicator and as a spot in a horoscope where something is being hidden. Since it's near MC, perhaps revelations about the Deepwater Horizon blowout (and other water disasters) will be aired in the next few weeks or months.

ASC 23Gem00 brings up America's natal Mars, planet of action, energy, motivation, quarrels, and war. Fixed Stars Capella (Alpha Auriga, of constellation Auriga, The Charioteer: the need for independence; taking the reins of control) and Phact (Alpha Columba Noae: exploring unchartered waters; seeking the unknown; the quest for adventure) are rising as well. Note the keyphrases for Phact in relation to America's tendency to expand and invade territories.

Also, Columba Noae = The Dove of Noah's Ark, which is hopefully a reference to President Obama's participation (or refereeing?) of the Middle East peace process - such as there is one. 'Columba' or 'Columbia' also refer to America as does 'Atlantis' (which also relates to ancient Atlantis and to the Atlantic Ocean; keywords: where one feels doomed; abuse of power); you see that
Atlantis is penned into the 4th house and is conjoined with nasty old asteroid, Nemesis (divine retribution; the unbeatable foe.) Foes we got, foes we continue to make as abuse of power occurs on all sides.

One worst case scenario may be that the 4th house Mercury unaspected in criticizing Virgo with difficult asteroids = terrorists in the homeland, yet links to the US military cannot be ruled out (US natal Mars rising) especially with US n Neptune in 4th house - our national Mars/Neptune square may be at work with its confused motivations and/or deceptive actions. US security needs are on the agenda.

And if the 29th-crisis-degreed Dec 21, 2010 Lunar Eclipse (here, in 1st house) affects the markets as previously predicted along with the finance-influencing Solar Eclipse of Jan 4, 2011 (opposing US natal Sun and also at a critical degree), troops may be held on stand-by and perhaps for good reason - to control the angry peasants. Hope not, but there it is. Disagree if you like, add your insights if you please.

Well, as usual, there are more factors to consider yet my blogging time grows short on this Monday holiday with company coming for dinner. If you wish to discuss, please leave an on-topic, courteous comment with no spammy links inside for they will be deleted! (You know who ya are.)

Perhaps you'll wish to mention the ongoing Venus/Mars hook-up, now in intense and passionate Scorpio (sign of Big Business and Surveillance) which here hang out in the risky 5th house of Romance...'6Sco' = "A Gold Rush" - which may be a clue to gold 'piercing' (Mars conjunct Eros) a new and higher level of pricing.

Gold is awfully heavy to transport and store though, isn't it?

~:~

Here's interesting info concerning the Fixed Stars linked to US inaugurations, both when they were held in early March and the switch to January 20. Bernadette Brady compares the inaugurations of Richard Nixon and Barack Obama and why 'scandals and rumors' accompany all US presidencies since the date was switched to January.

Plus, you may wish to check out a few brief details concerning Autumn Equinox 2010's ethereal Sun Libra-Moon Pisces blend.

Scott Simon encapsulates Labor Day 2010

No Astrology this morning, just a link to one of the best Simon Says features I've heard NPR Weekend Edition's Scott Simon deliver in a long time. It gives an intimate picture of Labor Day 2010 in America - personal without being too personal - and the sorry unemployment rate that Americans and their families are dealing with.

They'd Trade Labor Day for Days of Labor briefly but succinctly encapsulates the experience of living without gainful employment, and if you missed it this morning, I recommend a listen to Mr. Simon's voice rather than reading his text.

Also from NPR comes explanation on why US unemployment numbers are now the highest of any nation's in the world. Quite a change since the year 2000 - pre-Bush-Cheney.

You know, I half expected a small mention that US corporations might be doing their part to undermine a Democratic president in the White House.

What a crazy idea! Right?

Well, we all have crazy ideas at some time or another. Like deciding to vote in November 2010 to put GOP big spenders in or back in office! How crazy is that?

Opinions: Obama's 'end of combat ops in Iraq' speech

It was quite a dizzying tightrope he walked and perhaps President Obama's multi-messaged speech with two-directional, murky Pisces Rising concerning the 'ending of combat operations in Iraq' didn't go over very well among his more discriminating listeners. Here's an article round-up of opinions for you including mention of one of my favorite topics when it comes to the US government - Orwellian Doublespeak:

Obama's Iraq Speech An Exercise in Cowardice and Deceit

By Bill Van Auken

The most chilling passage came at the end of the 19-minute speech, when Obama declared, "Our troops are the steel in our ship of state," adding, "And though our nation may be traveling through rough waters, they give us confidence that our course is true."


The Audacity of Cynicism

By Elise Hendrick

Barack Obama's Iraq speech - is an impressive entry in the annals of warpropaganda. In it, he glosses over a criminal war as 'a remarkable chapter'in US history, and creates the false impression that the occupation of Iraqis over. He places the responsibility rebuilding a society out of the rubblewe created on the shoulders of the Iraqi people.


The True Cost of the War

By Paul Craig Roberts

Obama's "end of Iraq war" speech must have shattered any remaining belief in him. Forced to appease both his supporters and the warmonger right-wing, who denounce him as a Muslim and a Marxist, Obama resorted to Orwellian Doublespeak.


Flying the Flag, Faking the News

By John Pilger

Loud noises from Washington about a US pull-out from Iraq are a poor disguise for America's determination to keep waging war. And the same sort of spin is at work here in Britain.


Here's the text of the President's speech in case you missed it in all its hazy glory.

'Stuff Alan Simpson Says' about Social Security

From Daily Kos comes an email with a link to Stuff Alan Simpson Says in an attempt to keep Social Security cuts from beggaring the Americans who depend on it. Those with higher incomes and exalted positions are apparently blinded from appreciating the 1935 SS program's benefit to society as a whole which keeps Americans from having to live out of shopping bags on street corners (and goodness knows there are enough of us doing that already.)

'Cat Food Commission' is a grim yet sadly perfect title for the commission Simpson now chairs and Congress will be voting on the commission's recommendations before the end of 2010 - so do check out the website, if you care.

But perhaps our exalted leaders don't want to appreciate SS's benefits for the American people when there are so many war profits to be made 'going forward', so many borders to breach, so many lies to tell.

Hmmm...America hasn't started a new war in at least 7 years so we know the neocon warhawks must be chaffing over your Aunt Granny Fanny getting her SS check on time when the money could be spent strong-arming some sovereign nation and sending its population into chaos. Drones and bombs don't come cheap, y'know!

Well, as I've stated before, self-employed folk like me have paid 100% of our SS taxes for years and trusted the US government to dribble it back to us when retirement age is reached. To me that makes it our money, not Alan Simpson's. Therefore, completing the social contract bwo SS seems only fair to me but it's turning out to seem mighty gullible of us, especially now that foxes like Alan Simpson are in charge of the hen house. (Please pardon the tired cliche but if it's ever been applicable, then this would be the situation.)

So not only is it not Alan Simpson's money to monkey with but none of the money the US gov spends belongs to anyone but we-the-people, as we certainly know! Washington has forgotten for the most part and they need reminding more and more often.

Like many people, I'm left to wonder What on earth was President Obama thinking when he appointed Alan Simpson (assuming it was BHO's choice)? Whose side is Mr. Obama really on?

Germany bans planting of Monsanto's GM corn

Will the multi-national US corporation Monsanto fight the ban on genetically modified corn Germany has announced?

My guess is, yes. Unless Monsanto decides it's not in their best interests to air their dirty GM laundry in court for all to see.

For an interesting article on what it's like to grow corn (with lovely photos, too) and what happens when one variety crosses with another try The Ladybug Letter.

Here's a brief excerpt:

If one variety of sweet corn crosses with another variety the result could be a loss of quality; the randomly hybridized kernels may not be very sweet, or they could be chewy and fibrous. An affected grower could lose money for a season. But if a GMO corn crosses with an open pollinated, non-GMO variety the consequence might easily be that a new gene is introduced into an otherwise heirloom variety, compromising its purity.

Corn, the matrix of life! Its purity is compromised by big controllers like Monsanto who hijacked our foods with the help of mad scientists who should care more about the human race than they obviously do. Of course, the phrases 'population control' and 'government-induced famine' are in the back of my mind here.

During the summers of my childhood, I loved to play among the rows of two cornfields corn my Dad grew each year and corn on the cob was a favorite dish around our southern household. My Mom and I used to shuck corn together and I was fascinated by corn silk. Boil the water and pass the butter!

That Monsanto thinks it 'owns' corn bwo a Frankensteinian patent to all its kernels (and there are several varieties as The Ladybug Letter explains) is something they cannot be allowed to get away with any longer. (I feel the same about soybeans and other crops but that's a different post.)

So Kudos to Germany for putting a crimp in Monsanto's style! Now please don't let Monsanto strong-arm you over this - or pay you off. A hungry world will be watching.

Obama on Iraq tonight 8:00 pm edt w/ Pisces Rising

This evening at 8:00 pm edt, President Obama will speak for approximately 15 minutes on the ending of official combat operations in Iraq, a war begun on March 20, 2003 6:35 am Baghdad time with 8Ari16 rising.

There's no time this morning to blog on the Iraq War chart itself but I can say that in tonight's TV speech chart, the first planet to rise will be 2003's Mercury 27Pis19, the spot where transiting Jupiter and Uranus have visited off and on of late and still hover.

Tonight at Aries Point tr Uranus 00Ari59 Rx is first to rise with Jupiter 00Ari59 Rx in tow as chart-ruler. As you know, any time a chart's ruler is Rx indicates delays having to do with the function of that planet. (This may refer to the '50,000' US soldiers left in Iraq. Now Jupiter indicates many things on various levels and billions of dollars in war costs is definitely one of them. The Bush-Cheney invasion of sovereign nation Iraq was begun with Jupiter Rx 8Leo25 which sat upon Bush's natal Ascendant and conjoined the natal Mercury positions of the GOP and Senator John McCain.

This at the time indicated to this reluctant astrologer a 'bottomless pit in the money department' as I described it. Eventually tr Jupiter in Aries will trine Iraq War Jupiter in Leo bringing a time of compatibility and success. Pisces Rising points to Neptune as well so we may find the speculation pair (Jupiter/Neptune) of influence in the President's speech tonight. Perhaps he will address the thorny issues of independent contractors and mercenaries.

At 8:00 pm edt in Washington DC this evening, the midpoint of Moon/NN, a significator of public contact, rises...Moon/NN = ASC: establishing personal connections; maintaining inner contacts with others.

Lots of publicity ensues, and pundits must have their jobs and salaries justified.

The Sun/Moon phase is Disseminating (261 degr 23 mins) which is a time when the info, message, and propaganda may be spread far and wide. 8:00 pm edt is an Hour of Saturn indicating 'stoppage' but also control of the narrative. Saturn 4Lib07 is in 7th house of the President's speech, the house of Partnerships, and traversing between US n MC 00Lib53 (Sibly chart) and our nation's natal Saturn (with our Saturn Return upcoming, a three-fer as mentioned in a previous post.)

But has America yet learned Saturn's lessons of accountability and responsibility?

Now with tonight's Uranus conjunct 2003's Sun 29Pis07, we may expect a 'going off in a new direction' theme (as advertised) in order to find a new identity - the ID as 'occupier' having grown stale and overly expensive. Also tonight's Jupiter hovers around 2003's Mercury showing a need for new experiences and methods yet taking on too many projects at once must come to an end. We expect the President to focus more attention and money on fighting in Afghanistan where many empires have failed before us.

Plus, we remember that the 2003 Iraq Invasion was a war of choice a la Bush and Cheney who shackled our nation in more ways than one with the power elite's misguided ideologies such as 'A New American Century' and the '1% Gang' of Dick Cheney and pals.

But since they were determined to do it, electing to invade after April 4, was the better choice since Jupiter the General would have been moving Direct thus shortening the war effort and costing less in taxpayer money. And with Saturn to US n Mars, it makes you wonder if the muddled outcome all these years was precisely their intention...more war profits, you know.

The North Node of public encounter conjoins 2003's Mars 9Cap41 (contacts concerning Iraq) near 2003's MC 4Cap59; tr Pluto Rx tonight @ 2Cap50 has crossed and recrossed the Iraq War's MC in recent months indicating that drifting along is no longer an option. Please form yourself a government, Iraqis!

Tonight, tr Pluto/NN = 2003's MC: dependence of one's future upon associations which influence one's objectives in life and may cause setbacks in one's career.

The speech's Moon 29Tau50 contacts 2003's NN 1Gem22 echoing the public notice of the President's speech which will be followed in Baghdad; Mr. Obama's natal Moon 3Gem21 is nearby and communicating (Gem) with the public (Moon.)

The war's Saturn 22Gem45 conjuncts US n Mars = circumventing rules and regulations is ill-advised; a firm determination to succeed is needed along with more organization and focus. Physical efforts are difficult to say the least with dampening Saturn on America's military forces planet, Mars, god of war.

Tonight's 29th-degree Moon is at a critical crisis degree which shows the the people's dire condition in America - and in Iraq - and Moon is the only one out-of-bounds which signifies a large amount of emotional insecurity about our daily needs which expensive wars tend to ignore, as we see on Capitol Hill. (Our needs are 'unaffordable' says Congress, yet more war funds are easily found, etc. Taurus is all about the creature comforts; Moon also conjoins Fixed Star Alcyone: something to cry about and has a mystical yet judgmental vibe.)

And of course, tr Neptune and Chiron continue traveling in tandem upon US natal Moon in Aquarius (we-the-people) so fraud is still an option for use against us as our domestic conditions continue to waver or disintegrate.

Looking ahead, the human tendency toward holding unrealistic expectations will be evident again regarding US foreign policy when tr Neptune reaches Pisces and conjoins the Iraq War's Uranus 00Pis30: ideals and ideologies will conflict with technical and economic conditions and almost anything can happen. One thing is clear: the US invasion of Iraq will reverberate in global society for years to come no matter how effectively President Obama says his 'peace' tonight.

Okay, 'nuff said. Except for three things:

1. tonight's Venus 23Lib is conjunct more than Arcturus (a different approach) and Spica (potential for brilliance), but the Iraq War's Moon 23Lib06 as well which indicates popularity of the idea, if not the reality, of US troops' combat operations ending in Iraq.

2. the Sabian Symbol for the President's Sun this evening...

'9 Virgo' = "A Man Making a Futurist Drawing"...EXPERIMENT...

positive expression: a gift for the illimitable expansion of the human mind and a consequent extension of its powers;

neg/unconscious/shadow side: complete and continuous confusion of ideas. (Jones.)

('Extension of its powers'?? Confusion used as an oratory tactic?)

3. tonight, the planet of the masses, mass media, deception, and glamour sextiles MC (the goal; the larger world) at 8:00 pm, so we may expect much subtly within the President's message as he uses Neptune's subliminal talents to influence policy and get others to go along with him, thus avoiding opposition and confrontation. He hopes, as he employs a vision and symbolism to create a framework for future decisions.

That's Politics!

~:~

Note: my experience timing TV appearances with their horoscope is that speakers usually begin about 2 or 3 minutes after the scheduled hour. If so, at 8:02 pm edt, the ASC = 19Pis10...'20Pis' = "A Table Set for an Evening Meal" which seems to refer to ending combat ops in Iraq; my greatest fret is that it also refers to the closing operations of our nation.

'To abolish poverty, abolish plutocracy' (Rutherford B. Hayes)

Here's the rest of the above quote from our 19th President Rutherford B. Hayes (1822 - 1893) but I wonder which modern day Republicans (or Democrats) would like to hear it much less implement it. For then their over-stuffed gravy train would have to be brought to a screeching halt instead of honest people's incomes dissolving into thin air:

"Abolish plutocracy if you would abolish poverty. As millionaires increase, pauperism grows. The more millionaires, the more paupers."

That pretty much explains the widening gap between haves and have-nots. And his statement sounds as if Mr. Hayes didn't consider the government he was part of as a plutocracy already in authority and ruling their shriveled little hearts out.

But then he did say "if you would" abolish poverty, didn't he?

So now you know what I'm about to type, don't you? That 'pauperism' is another of Pluto/Chiron's words of oppression, another -ism from their very long to-do list. Yep.

And it amuses me that President Hayes was perhaps the first-ever multi-tasker for he was the first president to have a telephone and a typewriter in the White House at the same time!

~:~

From SO'W's In Case You Missed It Department: Ron Paul calls for an Audit of US Gold Reserves. Great idea. As if.

Gandhi's good question and JP Morgan's Astrology

"What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans, and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty and democracy?" Gandhi

A while back I posted another of Gandhi's quotes along with a smidgeon of details on his natal chart. Included is an excerpt from the 1922 book by Senator Richard Pettigrew Triumphant Plutocracy which you may find enlightening.

Pluto's realm of plutocracy, the form of government we have here in America and have always had, is co-ruled and more fully described by the pairing of Chiron with Pluto. The current Chiron/Pluto midpoint is necessarily conjoined to the transiting Neptune/Pluto midpoint because Neptune and Chiron have been conjunct of late. Both midpoints have been conjoining the position of our national Sun (leader) off and on since before Barack Obama took office.

Might this describe pressure on the president or his collusion with them? With Goldman-Sachs and Clinton agents surrounding him in the White House, it could be either way - probably alternating! My suspicion is that White House tenures for Larry Summers and Timothy Geithner were part of the prerequisite for Mr. Obama's term in the Oval Office.

In other words, without them, he wouldn't be there at all (in more way$ than one.)

Robber Barons Ride Again - well, their biological and ideological spawn do, anyway

Now you remember Neptune/Pluto as the Robber Baron duo whose Great Conjunction/s of 1891 and 1892 time the rise of the great industrialists, oil titans, and corporations. President Teddy Roosevelt put a damper on their style for a while by using US law to bust them up in the early 1900s yet they've continued to thrive and multiply all the same with the US Congress turning on ordinary Americans in favor of corporations.

And recently SCOTUS put its finger on the Scales of Justice by joining the uplift-corporations parade - as if the political playing field weren't skewed against we-the-people already.

Insidious Neptune/Pluto

Separately both Neptune and Pluto relate to oil, gas, things hidden in the ground, and to the tunnels and caves it takes to reach them - in the earth and under the sea.

Here are the dates and degrees of Neptune/Pluto's great hook-ups:

1. August 2, 1891 @ 8Gem38
2. November 7, 1891 @ 8Gem19
3. April 30, 1892 @ 7Gem42

Nuclear degrees, yes, and Pluto's 1930 discovery heralded the atomic age.

But also this area of the zodiac is where asteroid Midas currently traverses (though 'he' just recently reached past 9Gem) and we see how things are playing out for the legendary, archetypal gold-hoarder Midas who has cornered the market on every natural resource possible, along with major gold manipulations.

Is it a coincidence that Midas now inhabits the area of the Great Conjunction/s of Neptune/Pluto's oil barons?

Not if you think 'there are no accidents' or that 'things happen for a reason', as is commonly said. And you don't have to delve very far into Astrology to discover the special branch known as Financial Astrology where markets are timed by the As Above, So Below principles of the ancient art. Astrologers who possess financial expertise make big bucks consulting with investors and the financial wizards of Wall Street.

"Millionaires don't use Astrology, billionaires do," are the famous words of old J. P. Morgan, a client and student of astrologer Evangeline Adams, the Adams family descendant who popularized Astrology in NYC at the turn of the 20th century. Seems her talent in this area was inherited.

Well, here's a link to a post I wrote on the Neptune/Pluto-era magnate's natal chart (w/ chart image, rated accurate) and get ready because you'll find that J. P. was born with Pluto, the Dragon guarding the world's riches, conjunct (of all things) Midas!

And how does America and our financial system fit into this picture? Snugly, with our nation's natal Uranus, planet of revolution, rebellion, independence, and genius positioned in 1776 @ 8Gem55.

Apparently it's the universe that's in collusion!

Sometimes you may have to agree with Ahmadinejad

If Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad comes up with a logical answer that explains the source of all crises around the globe, I just may have to agree with the fellow.

Drat!%*#. Thanks, corrupt US politicians.

Whether Western or Eastern, global crime syndicates are wreaking havoc across the planet and my suspicion is that their members both foreign and domestic are playing on the same team against the rest of us.

Unfortunately, most people never heard the starting whistle so disqualification came in mid-game.

Mercury Rx until Sep 12, 2010, psyops a favored tool

After the post I published earlier today with mention of America's natal Mercury/Pluto opposition and our Mercury/Pluto cycle which began Jan 18, 1776 @ 26Cap32, I was somehow directed toward an informative article containing info on the current Mercury Rx period (August 20 - Sept 12, 2010), psyops, thought control, propaganda, George Orwell's 1984, Noam Chomsky, and government which I believe you'll find worthwhile.

Especially if you don't appreciate such crap as words used as sinister tools, superficial debates, government programs intended to accomplish the opposite of what their names imply, and being spied on by satellites, cameras, and other contraptions that pry, spy, and nose into what should be nobody's b'ness but your own.

The Thought Overlords' mind control techniques have never been more savvy, effective, and entertaining (she typed as she watched the last 3 minutes of The Emmys with a favorite comedian hosting, Mr. Jimmy Fallon.)

Anyhow, the above-linked article really knocked my socks off so do check it out if you wish and pass it around if you may!