America's shadow

An Occupation of Iraq is Not Ours to Choose


By Ward Reilly

The only chance we have of saving our nation is to ensure that Bush and Cheney are not allowed to retire into the sunset. If they are allowed to do that, the concept of our nation is lost forever, and we will all be branded as war criminals in the eyes of the world, because "We The People" allowed all of this to happen.#

Mr.Reilly is right, you know...America's shadow must be ID'd and faced...from Hiroshima to Baghdad, and--God help us--Tehran.

Information Clearing House has the article.

when Wes Clark speaks

he says stuff like this:


"Demand a more realistic and strategic appraisal on the Iraq issue, stop talking troops and start talking policy." - Wes Clark, Aug 08, 2007



Realistic and strategic policy talks would do more for our troops than arguing about if/when/how to withdraw them.

Use of circular logic helps only those employing it as a tactic to gloss over the real issues. - Jude Cowell Aug 13, 2007


A thankful Shout-Out goes to Alex at Astrology Communications Media for bringing Wes Clark's quote to my (fractured) attention.

Foresight of the Neocon Chickenhawk

From LegitGov.org:

Dick Cheney '94: Invading Baghdad Would Create Quagmire 12 Aug 2007

Transcript: Q: Do you think the U.S., or U.N. forces, should have moved into Baghdad?

Dick Cheney: No.

Q: Why not?

A: Because if we'd gone to Baghdad we would have been all alone. There wouldn't have been anybody else with us. There would have been a U.S. occupation of Iraq. None of the Arab forces that were willing to fight with us in Kuwait were willing to invade Iraq. Once you got to Iraq and took it over, took down Saddam Hussein's government, then what are you going to put in its place? ...It's a quagmire if you go that far and try to take over Iraq. The other thing was casualties... And the question for the president, in terms of whether or not we went on to Baghdad, took additional casualties in an effort to get Saddam Hussein, was how many additional dead Americans is Saddam worth? Our judgment was, not very many, and I think we got it right."


You'll also find video of Cheney figuratively gazing into his crystal ball at LegitGov.

Seems to me that their sorry invasion and occupation of Iraq was the desired quagmire and as these prescient words of 1994 made obvious, Cheney and pals knew all this would occur (more or less)...and remember that the black market for Middle Eastern oil was profitable for certain countries and entities until Cheney smirkily stirred the cauldron with a bwa-haha...

So here's a Q for 2007: How many dead Americans is Dick Cheney worth?

A: zero.

Something of a Rovian Farewell

Is your cat psychic? Lim's Limericks thinks so while Pluto continues hanging about and transforming Mr. Rove's Chiron.


Limerick UPDATE: Mr.A.Cat has dissed Rove yet again with another hardhitting limerick...okay, it's a limerick about a hardhitter.

Rrraowrrr-r-r-r!!!

Tommy Thompson calls for his uncle

Gov Tommy Thompson has dropped his bid for nomination before I could get around to looking at his natal chart.

Oh well. Less for me to do, I suppose.

Mitt Romney March 12, 1947

While listening to NPR this morning I learned that some pigs love Oreo cookies, and that Mitt Romney won Iowa's straw poll with 31% of the 14,000 votes cast, as near as their fuzzy math can count.

And while one could say that the lipstick on this pig has been masterfully
applied so far, it's too soon to say whether Romney's brand of charismatic leadership will fly considering his religious heritage and any future problems that may turn up concerning his past.

Where do we see these issues in his natal (sunrise) chart?

One major aspect pattern is the Fixed T-square between Venus opposite Pluto with Chiron (the wound; the blindspot) as apex planet (or planetoid, if you like.)

Chiron is in Scorpio, sign of sex, death, and regeneration and in this Solar or Sunrise chart--good for ego/creative/life purpose information--Chiron is in the mystical 8th house, as are Moon 26Sco08 conjunct moneybags Jupiter 27Sco33. As you know, Scorpio is also the sign of big business and deep pockets.

Chiron in Scorpio shows a need for forgiving the unforgiveable, and adds an occultist flavor to the personality. But if the lower side of Pluto is prominent, a search for pleasure and for power at the cost of others is found.

Born March 12, 1947, Romney is very Piscean which makes him interested in mysticism (perhaps as part of his LDS Church and/or of the unusual groups to which he belongs or associates--and oddly enough, the sign of the fishes seems to birth military generals more often than most people would expect.)

There are several indications of leadership ability in his chart, and of being in contact with the collective unconscious, also a Piscean talent. This is a Watery, intuitive, creative guy, who perhaps is not always aware of his deeper motivations.

The Venus/Pluto opposition gives him charisma and a need to compromise as well as to control. Mom was on the overpowering side and has affected his views of women (anima)...so there may be resentment against females...compliments of mom's obsessive control of little Mitt.

This opposition may result in marriages where role-playing is prominent and shows some confusion with the mythic mother archetype. Control games are typical of this aspect which also is involved in aquiring great wealth--a form of control as well.

Whatever the situation in Romney's relationships, he tends to make excessive demands on partners, and in work situations, strong emotions may interfere with goals. His manipulative Saturn/Pluto conj opposes a detached Venus in AQ...not a good combo for personal relationships perhaps, but may show his money-infused corporate side which is bolstered by Sun conj Cupido, an asteroid relating to family, groups, and corporations.

For the 2008 election, the tr Venus/Pluto midpoint will conj this Solar MC which may mean an affair breaking open to public view. If Romney has any secret fillies or geldings in his stable, he should come clean well before Nov 2008--or this could simply refer to his polygamous heritage.

Relational/values-oriented Venus is linked with another transpersonal planet bwo a trine to Neptune, an imaginative planet of confusion, deception, and veils.

Venus trine Neptune gives a refined nature when it comes to the arts (compliments of mom again), and may tend toward a show of kindness and generosity to others even when they dissappoint. It's helpful with public relations as Neptune gives him a pleasant screen on which to cast an image suitable for entrancing the public.

But negative elements in the environment must be handled by other factors in the chart/nature, for Venus/Neptune trines tend to look the other way. They indicate a need for spiritual development plus, his Venus/Pluto square Chiron shows that sex, death, regeneration, and mysticism play big parts in his nature.

Venus SQ Chiron shows maximum stress between finding a value system that will enhance spirtuality. There may be difficulties in the socialization process and heavy-duty karmic pressure within the sexual realm. (Chiron, Clow, who mentions problems with gender identity--he is cute as a bunny button--to both genders, one imagines!)

But I tend to suppose that this reap-what's-sown karmic sexual stuff comes more from his religious/polygamous background, don't you? But I would since I see heredity where others may see past lives.

Pluto SQ Chiron indicates the Seeker (Chiron) who is conscious of the shape and direction of the archetypal urge to prepare the way and to warn the unwary. He willingly takes on the Quest of struggle against the status quo (uh oh--not another one. This info comes from Richard Nolle's Chiron.)


Let's 'do' the *Sun/Moon personality blend/s...misty, tearful Sun Pis/Moon Sco (but may be ultra-rational in a male) if he was born before 2:34 pm...after that, Moon in Sagittarius...so he's either emotional Water/Water or steamy Water/Fire:

Sun Pis/Moon Sco: psychologically insightful; strong in adversity; embraces the comic and tragic together; self-sacrifice vs self-control...

...jumps to emotionally-charged conclusions; feels misunderstood; innate ability to understand deep mysteries; complex emotional nature; tenacious; courageous; unaware of persistent prejudices and irrational suspicions; relies too heavily on personal opinions; negative self-absorption; may prefer own company.

Images for Integration: Longfellow's The Secret of the Sea...Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath. (This is Longfellow's and Steinbeck's natal Sun/Mon blend which is shared with Beatle George Harrison, Johnny Cash, Cyrano de Bergerac, and Elizabeth Taylor.)


Sun Pis/Moon Sag: far-ranging imagination; seeker of truth; affectionate and friendly; resilient; strong social awareness; philospophical mind; generous and gentle; deep self-confidence; spiritual but may avoid organized religious practice; has an imaginative inner world; humility + nobility; a generous judge of others' weaknesses...

...endearing naivety; emotionalizes moral issues; misplaced enthusiasms; prone to exaggeration, carelessness, and lack of concentration; 'tries' to be all things to all people (a politician!--so that's 'pretends' to be--jc); grandiosity and self-deception (other useful political traits--jc.)

Images for Integration: A black woman priest in the confessional hears a tale of woe form a white converted scientist, and they fall in love...Einstein's Theory of Relativity. (This is Einstein's natal Sun/Moon blend.)


Romney's Prenatal Eclipse is in the 2 South Series which manifested prior to his birth on Nov 23, 1946, 00Sag50. The **Sabian Symbol for "1Sag" is the one I so often use for Pentagon/war/chickenhawk issues...

"1Sag"..."A Grand Army of the Republic campfire"...REMINISCENCE...

pos: accomplishment through the cultivation and preservation of enduring ties with others;

neg/shadow or unconscious side: superficial idleness and unhealthy veneration for the past (Mormonism? Other?--jc.)


From Rose Lineman's Your Prenatal Eclipse, we find that a PE in Sagittarius is associated with the search for ultimate truths (supported by several factors mentioned above--jc), and the gaining of spiritual wisdom.

Motivations stem from moral concepts and/or religious convictions that are holdovers from the past, and which may not be spirtually correct. Karmic endeavors based upon misplaced idealism or misguided beliefs are ineffective, and the resultant exaggerated efforts tend to overshoot the mark. Fake optimism causes underestimation of karmic situations and efforts may fall short.

The Sag PE brings karmic relationships with grandchildren or in-laws, and draws the native toward organized religious practices (which counters the above-mentioned Sun Pis/Moon Sag details. Maybe he has a Scorpio Moon! It would jive with the mother control issues, wouldn't it?)

In Brady's Predictive Astrology we find more Eclipse info:

2 South: feeling that a great deal may be gained by associating with or joining unusual groups.

This Series last manifested Dec 25, 2000 at 4Cap14, and is the same PE Series as Woodrow Wilson, who was a Freemason. And Romney has a 12-degree orb 'conjunction' between Uranus and North Node, an indicator of radical reformist political groups. As you know, Bush has a close conj of rebellious, disruptive Uranus with NN, also in Gemini, sign of the bringer of tidings. "Warning the unwary" indeed.

Well, there's a small portrait of Mitt Romney for you--although somewhat out-of-focus due to an unknown birth time. The portrait does describe charismatic Mitt, but is not as focused as it could be.

However, I have a sneaking suspicion there will be more to add later on about this complex Piscean politician, don't you? So let me know if you find an accurate birth time for him--I'd be interested!



*Sun Sign, Moon Sign, Charles and Suzy Harvey.
**Sabian Symbols in Astrology, Dr. Marc Edmund Jones.

At it again: Check out my recently published content on AC:

Gerry Mander: A Political Poem of Greed and Lust for Power

Endeavor's belly gouge worrisome

Guess you heard that NASA found a gouge on Endeavor's belly so hopefully it can be repaired safely. Whether caused by Neptunian foam or Uranian ice, they do not know.

And astrologically speaking, foam is solid so it's Saturnian, ice is frozen, solid water so they're both Saturnian as well since Saturn = form.

Here's my post on the Endeavor launch which mentions having few options but I hope they have just enough to bring them home all apiece!

UPDATE Aug 15: NASA seems to be leaning toward not repairing the gouge...my post also mentions 'remaining at the mercy of external conditions without trying to make a firm stand.' Doesn't sound smart, m'peops...hope NASA is correct about this.

HoSec's 'BioWatch' still doesn't

On Nov 1, 2005, George Bush painted a glowing picture of his aspiration to set up and administer programs which would detect bio threats to Americans, but as with so many of Bush's pies-in-the-sky, this one is still undercooked.

Biological Detection Program Delayed says WaPo, and if you need a job, Bush'n'friends are quite desperate to interview you to disappear within the bowels of HoSec. But you must be science-challenged like the rest of the Bushies.

The Atlanta Journal and Constitution puts it this way: Biological surveillance falls short, report says.

However you put it, "no one is really sure what it is supposed to do."

Perhaps it's similar to the usual Bush program--it's for doing the opposite of whatever it says it does.

Department of Homeland Security shows ineptness yet again:

HoSec's natal chart has Mercury where the recent Jupiter Direct Station occurred (Jupiter hasn't left "10Sag" yet..."The golden-haired goddess of opportunity" degree.) Jupiter expands and increases whatever he touches and Mercury represents ideas, thinking, communications, paperwork, and such.

And today's Pluto is opposing Nov 1, 2005's Saturn which echoes the cruel Saturn/Pluto opposition of 9/11/01--and deep-leveled Pluto can outweigh heavy Saturn bwo constructional, long-time-coming power issues. Seems the contruction of the BioWatch program wasn't much to begin with, assuming it existed at all.

The Swindlers of Washington are such duds, aren't they?

Perseids and the New Moon of Aug 12

Space Weather News for August 9, 2007

The Perseid meteor shower has begun. Although the display will not peak until August 12th and 13th, sky watchers are already counting as many as a dozen meteors per hour (including some nice fireballs) during the darkest hours before dawn. Rates could increase 5- to 10-fold when the shower reaches maximum on Sunday night and Monday morning. Advice: Get away from city lights. While many Perseids will be bright enough to see from light-polluted urban areas, the shower's full grandeur is reserved for places with dark and starry skies. This is a good weekend to go camping.

Visit SpaceWeather.com for photos, observing tips and a sky map. Full coverage of the shower begins today and will continue until Perseid activity subsides.#


The New Moon of August 12 is at 19Leo51 and occurs in the 7th house of Partnerships over Washington at 7:02:29 pm edt. Venus and Saturn will be near conjunction, with Venus still Rx 27Leo58, and Saturn 27Leo23, both also in 7th house.

Rising is 00AQ14, the degree of the Sun when we install a new NWO-type in the Oval Office on Jan 20 at noon, DC. Most descriptive of US presidents in the last few decades is the "30Cap" degree...

"A secret business conference"...OPPORTUNITY...

pos: a gift for clever planning and successful administration in every area of life;

neg/shadow side: rampant selfishness and rank exploitation of others.

So is Fort Knox empty?

Years ago in Slate's The Fray, I asked that question ad nauseum and was laughed at and ridiculed with hearty alacrity. "America is too rich to go bankrupt, you daft peacely2," the jingos typed back at me.

August 9, 2007...let's ask Paul Craig Roberts how that's goin':


Uncle Sam, Your Banker Will See You Now

Paul Craig Roberts

Early this morning China let the idiots in Washington, and on Wall Street, know that it has them by the short hairs. Two senior spokesmen for the Chinese government observed that China's considerable holdings of US dollars and Treasury bonds "contributes a great deal to maintaining the position of the dollar as a reserve currency."

Uncle Sam, Your Banker Will See You Now puts me in mind of Bush's 'speech' this morning just before Shrub cut and run to Kennebunkport to see Mama.

His nibs had his Mercury (speech; communications; announcements; thought processes) Return to its natal degree 9Leo51+ today but I like to use the rounding-down method for the Sabian Symbol for this one:

"9Leo": "Glass blowers shape with their breath glowing forms"...DEFTNESS...

pos: an effectiveness of personal participation in everyday existence;

neg/shadow side: willful or unintelligent distortion of reality. (Ya think? Me too. I recorded his "speech" because I had to motor and will review it later if I can manage.)

This is also the degree for Gonzo's natal Mercury and that of the Republican Party. Quite a pile-up, si?

Okay, but the interesting thing to me is that as Bernanke and the Fed were flooding the market with more liquidity (a word Bush mentioned this morning), the Moon 5Can08 was at the "Gamebirds feathering their nests" degree conjunct America's natal Jupiter (R-Party; gurus; rich men) and Mars 1Gem32 was at the descriptive "Santa Claus filling stockings furtively."

Somehow I'm sure ole Santa did. Stockings hung with care--in Germany, perhaps?

Meanwhile China yanked our drunken sailors' chains and France showed some feisty lack of confidence thanks to our terminally ill subprime lending market. No one wants it to get out how many bad loans they've made or are still holding.

Yep! the camel's nose has been under the tent for decades now and the bankrupting of America is going well for the neocon-lovin', war-mongerin', pocket-linin', papal-ring-kissin' crooks and swindlers who infest the nation's seats of power and corruption. And the tent is made-in-China, Japan, and any place but here.

Gold has been discovered in Haiti, rumor says. Will wonders never?

Guess the Sheeple will be so relieved to unionize with Canada and Mexico when it turns out we have no other choice, thanks to someone's bad management and fuzzy math--which I assert once again has been done according to plan in order to undermine national sovereignity all over the globe, not just in the USA.

Duhhh....a global economy will mean global collapse--who could disagree? So many things are collapsing these days, aren't they? Bush said today that the global economy is "strong"--one of the Martian's favorite words.


Plus, near the end of today's "press conference" Bush's natal Jupiter, old moneybags himself, was rising and bringing along the US Sec Progr'd (SP) Mars so take your pick--round it up or round it down...

"18Lib": "Two men placed under arrest"...CONSEQUENCE...

pos: a heightened challenge to every special talent (Shrub's talent is "catapultin' the propaganda"...his job, he says; la bouche, the mouthpiece);

neg/shadow side: total inappropriateness of impulse and act.

He's good at that. So was his performance this morning a futile attempt to put out financial fires--or to stoke them? He says Dems are overspending? Have all the mirrors been removed from the White House??? Get that narcissist a clear pond to gaze into!

Then, if you prefer, there's "19Lib"..."A gang of robbers in hiding"...DIVERGENCE...

pos: alertness to every threat against a true individuality;

neg/shadow side: abnormal mistrust of everything worthwhile.


Sitting upon Bush's natal Jupiter and the US SP Mars lately has been the transiting Jupiter/Saturn midpoint (thanks to the societal pair's tendency to Rx), so we've been seeing:

Jupiter/Saturn = sec Mars: discontent; a lack of endurance or tenaciousness; feeling unrewarded and making a change; an inconstant will; separation; not wanting to toe the line.

(A national Mars = the military; police force; men between appr 25-35, etc. Jingos can serve in Iraq, too.)

This means that Jup/Saturn was rising so there's:

Jup/Saturn = ASC: the tactician; separation; a change of occupation (!) or of residence (I'll rent the U-Haul if someone will pack his suitcase.)

So what was rising and conjuncting US SP Mars? Propagandistic
Mercury/Pluto midpoint...

Mercury/Pluto = US SP Mars: the ability to master great tasks; sharp criticism; the desire to attack others; a blackmailer (and how Washington function without blackmailers?)

Mercury/Pluto = ASC: ability to exercise influence upon those in the environment; intellectual domination.

Therefore, Mercury/Pluto = Bush's n Jupiter: the art of persuasion; recognition by the masses; persuasion brings success; publicity; a crook or a swindler.

Well that's about all the arranging and designing of Shrubbery I can stand for this evening. It'll soon be 8:30 pm and even a 30Rock rerun has to be better than this merde.

Besides--I heart Alec Baldwin's acting and wish he wouldn't leave the show!

That Feeling of Fate

Surfing so that you don't have to, I've come upon another well-written article by astrologer Lynn Hayes who opens up the astrology of the natal chart when interpreted with the progressed chart for you--their uses and differences, with her Musings on Fate and the Progressed Chart.

As Lynn explains so well, we're fated to express our natal charts.

Yet much may be gleaned from knowing our progressed charts--how we've evolved and what our natal tendencies have led to. Yes, the information found in a progressed chart is invaluable to the seeker.

Bravo, Lynn!

Solar Eclipses of 1989 repeating for 2007

Having just finished updating Jude's Threshold, I thought you might be interested in its Eclipse details since the same 9 New North and 9 New South Series ('es'?) manifested in 1989 as we're having this year with the next Solar Eclipse due on Sept 11.

The post touches on the health of George Bush--inspired by today's news that he was treated for Lyme Disease last year so check out Eclipses of 1989 and 2007 if you wish.