The August Review has a must read article on a part of the world economic meltdown which you may not hear about anywhere else: Global banks embrace Islam thus bringing Shari'a banking into the West.
Astrology is excellent at describing how opposites eventually switch places and poles shift. It's natural law as detailed in Scripture--the masculine and feminine of our dualistic world will come together in the herafter for they will have served their purpose on the earthly plane and will no longer have meaning.
It has been my understanding that that is why sexual orientation can't keep someone from Eternal Life--no sex in heaven! The merging there is of a higher caliber.
Of course this unveils the manipulative 79-virgins-await-you reward for murdering your brothers on earth as a fairytale and gives it a bit of a problem--meaninglessness.
So as East takes over West in a way it could never do otherwise, your local bank on the corner may begin eventually to tithe to what Washington says are our enemies...giving debit card a whole new definition.
Read the article for a lot more detail than I can possibly give you here as the New World Order steamrolls along.
Dec 14, 2007
Dec 13, 2007
genocidal legacies of the rich and famous
A day late but tragically appropriate at all times:
Information Clearing House Newsletter
News You Won't Find On CNN
12/12/07
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"The civilized have created the wretched, quite coldly and deliberately, and do not intend to change the status quo; are responsible for their slaughter and enslavement; rain down bombs on defenseless children whenever and wherever they decide that their 'vital interests' are menaced, and think nothing of torturing a man to death: these people are not to be taken seriously when they speak of the 'sanctity' of human life, or the 'conscience' of the civilized world." James Baldwin [From chapter one of "The Devil Finds Work" (orig. pub. 1976), page 489of Collected Essays (1998)]
"They are torturing people. They are torturing people on Guantanamo Bay.. They are engaging in acts which amount to torture in the medieval sense of the phrase. They are engaging in good old-fashioned torture, as people would have understood it in the Dark Ages." Richard Bourke, Australian attorney
"One thing is for certain: There won't be any more mass graves and torture rooms and rape rooms." George W. Bush [press availability in Monterrey, Mexico, Jan 12, 2004]
"Shamefully we now learn that Saddam's torture chambers reopened under new management, U.S. management." Edward Kennedy
"We don't torture people in America and people who say we do simply know nothing about our country." George W. Bush [Interview with Australian TV - Oct 18, 2003]
"--the actions of those folks in Iraq do not represent the values of the United States of America." George W. Bush
"This so-called ill treatment and torture in detention centers, stories of which were spread everywhere among the people, and later by the prisoners who were freed were not, as some assumed, inflicted methodically, but were excesses committed by individual prison guards, their deputies, and men who laid violent hands on the detainees." Rudolf Hoess, the SS commandant at Auschwitz
Read this newsletter online: tinyurl
Number Of Iraqis Slaughtered Since The U.S. Invaded Iraq: 1,131,831
justforeignpolicy.org
Information Clearing House Newsletter
News You Won't Find On CNN
12/12/07
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"The civilized have created the wretched, quite coldly and deliberately, and do not intend to change the status quo; are responsible for their slaughter and enslavement; rain down bombs on defenseless children whenever and wherever they decide that their 'vital interests' are menaced, and think nothing of torturing a man to death: these people are not to be taken seriously when they speak of the 'sanctity' of human life, or the 'conscience' of the civilized world." James Baldwin [From chapter one of "The Devil Finds Work" (orig. pub. 1976), page 489of Collected Essays (1998)]
"They are torturing people. They are torturing people on Guantanamo Bay.. They are engaging in acts which amount to torture in the medieval sense of the phrase. They are engaging in good old-fashioned torture, as people would have understood it in the Dark Ages." Richard Bourke, Australian attorney
"One thing is for certain: There won't be any more mass graves and torture rooms and rape rooms." George W. Bush [press availability in Monterrey, Mexico, Jan 12, 2004]
"Shamefully we now learn that Saddam's torture chambers reopened under new management, U.S. management." Edward Kennedy
"We don't torture people in America and people who say we do simply know nothing about our country." George W. Bush [Interview with Australian TV - Oct 18, 2003]
"--the actions of those folks in Iraq do not represent the values of the United States of America." George W. Bush
"This so-called ill treatment and torture in detention centers, stories of which were spread everywhere among the people, and later by the prisoners who were freed were not, as some assumed, inflicted methodically, but were excesses committed by individual prison guards, their deputies, and men who laid violent hands on the detainees." Rudolf Hoess, the SS commandant at Auschwitz
Read this newsletter online: tinyurl
Number Of Iraqis Slaughtered Since The U.S. Invaded Iraq: 1,131,831
justforeignpolicy.org
Dec 12, 2007
Phaethon and the Geminid meteor shower
Space Weather News for Dec. 12, 2007
Earth has entered a stream of dusty debris from asteroid 3200Phaethon and, as a result, the annual Geminid meteor shower is underway. Sky watchers around the world are reporting a slow drizzle of late-night meteors at least as bright as the stars of the Big Dipper.
The best is yet to come: Forecasters expect the shower to peak on Friday, Dec 14th. No matter where you live, watch the sky between local midnight and dawn; people outdoors before sunrise on Friday could see dozens to hundreds of shooting stars. Depending on the details of Earth's encounter with Phaethon's debris stream, the shower could continue into the weekend as well.
Visit SpaceWeather.com for updates and full coverage including sky maps, photos and eye-witness reports.#
Okay, that's astronomy...now for a smidge of astrology to go with it:
Asteroid Phaethon is associated with fated events and is similar in influence to flying-too-high Icarus (an asteroid which is sometimes active in assassinations among other things--yet Lebanon has just had another of those, sad to say, with its endless cycle of retaliation and revenge leading only to more violence.)
Phaethon has its heliocentric North Node at 25Sag--quite near the Great Conjunction of Jupiter and Pluto on Tuesday, Dec 11 (28Sag+.) And of course they are still within orb of conjunction with Jupiter's expansion and Pluto's deepening beginning a new 13-year cycle of politics, plutocracy, and powermongering.
Whoop-de-doo.
Earth has entered a stream of dusty debris from asteroid 3200Phaethon and, as a result, the annual Geminid meteor shower is underway. Sky watchers around the world are reporting a slow drizzle of late-night meteors at least as bright as the stars of the Big Dipper.
The best is yet to come: Forecasters expect the shower to peak on Friday, Dec 14th. No matter where you live, watch the sky between local midnight and dawn; people outdoors before sunrise on Friday could see dozens to hundreds of shooting stars. Depending on the details of Earth's encounter with Phaethon's debris stream, the shower could continue into the weekend as well.
Visit SpaceWeather.com for updates and full coverage including sky maps, photos and eye-witness reports.#
Okay, that's astronomy...now for a smidge of astrology to go with it:
Asteroid Phaethon is associated with fated events and is similar in influence to flying-too-high Icarus (an asteroid which is sometimes active in assassinations among other things--yet Lebanon has just had another of those, sad to say, with its endless cycle of retaliation and revenge leading only to more violence.)
Phaethon has its heliocentric North Node at 25Sag--quite near the Great Conjunction of Jupiter and Pluto on Tuesday, Dec 11 (28Sag+.) And of course they are still within orb of conjunction with Jupiter's expansion and Pluto's deepening beginning a new 13-year cycle of politics, plutocracy, and powermongering.
Whoop-de-doo.
Wednesday's Politics? uninspiring
Yes, I was around today and keeping up with the week's political theatrics which I found quite uninspiring for blogging purposes here at Stars Over Washington.
That's why instead I followed my artist-astrologer's heart and spent an inordinate amount of time studying and blogging on the natal chart and eyesight deterioration of one of my personal favorites Edgar Degas at Jude's Threshold where I often mix Art, Astrology, and Bad Poetry with whatever else pleases me.
Such neglect! Yet no apologies are due Politics which seldom if ever makes well-deserved apologies to any of us whom it oppresses, deludes, or robs.
And while you may not care for Art History or for Degas' ballet dancers, at least you may agree with me on that since the People's Business is neglected with great regularity in our nation's capital on every issue of real concern as it ignores the common good.
Politicians are masters of diversionary 'hearings' which amount to nuthin'...will this week's tortured testimonies lead to any positive and practical results? Have the 2006 elections answered our need for a better course for America? Puh.
It's more Capitol Hill Theater, dahling...matinee tickets available for a song.
So Romney thinks going after a candidate on religion is "going too far" while I think that's the kind of statement you want someone else to make on your behalf because making it yourself sounds whiney and overly defensive while the polygamy elephant dancing in the room seems to be imagining itself invisible as it pirouettes.
Yet my intuition tells me the GOP would l-o-v-e to shove Mitt into the backdoor of the White House, elephant and all. Well, they managed it with Bush's massively big head and the pretend horse he rode in on. Perhaps it will work in 2008, too.
That's why instead I followed my artist-astrologer's heart and spent an inordinate amount of time studying and blogging on the natal chart and eyesight deterioration of one of my personal favorites Edgar Degas at Jude's Threshold where I often mix Art, Astrology, and Bad Poetry with whatever else pleases me.
Such neglect! Yet no apologies are due Politics which seldom if ever makes well-deserved apologies to any of us whom it oppresses, deludes, or robs.
And while you may not care for Art History or for Degas' ballet dancers, at least you may agree with me on that since the People's Business is neglected with great regularity in our nation's capital on every issue of real concern as it ignores the common good.
Politicians are masters of diversionary 'hearings' which amount to nuthin'...will this week's tortured testimonies lead to any positive and practical results? Have the 2006 elections answered our need for a better course for America? Puh.
It's more Capitol Hill Theater, dahling...matinee tickets available for a song.
So Romney thinks going after a candidate on religion is "going too far" while I think that's the kind of statement you want someone else to make on your behalf because making it yourself sounds whiney and overly defensive while the polygamy elephant dancing in the room seems to be imagining itself invisible as it pirouettes.
Yet my intuition tells me the GOP would l-o-v-e to shove Mitt into the backdoor of the White House, elephant and all. Well, they managed it with Bush's massively big head and the pretend horse he rode in on. Perhaps it will work in 2008, too.
Dec 11, 2007
Ron Paul's article on Iran
Bombed If You Do, Bombed If You Don't
By Ron Paul
The latest National Intelligence Estimate has been greeted by a mixture of relief and alarm. As I have been saying all along, Iran indeed poses no quantifiable imminent nuclear threat to us or her neighbors. It is with much alarm, however, that we see the administration continue to ratchet up the war rhetoric as if nothing has changed.
Read in full here.
personal note to patty: got your details but hesitating to publish them here. If you'll email me at: judecowell at gmail dot com I'll reply to your question there! jc
By Ron Paul
The latest National Intelligence Estimate has been greeted by a mixture of relief and alarm. As I have been saying all along, Iran indeed poses no quantifiable imminent nuclear threat to us or her neighbors. It is with much alarm, however, that we see the administration continue to ratchet up the war rhetoric as if nothing has changed.
Read in full here.
personal note to patty: got your details but hesitating to publish them here. If you'll email me at: judecowell at gmail dot com I'll reply to your question there! jc
Michael Hayden infiltrates Capitol Hill backroom
Due to spychief Hayden's secret meeting with Congressional enablers today, here's the link to a previous post on Michael Hayden's natal chart with the transits for the day of the never adequately explained gunfire in the Rayburn Building.
Guess it was just another day in Washington.
Go to the end of the above-linked post to find a certain transit coming up for Hayden in 2008 which involves mysterious Neptune.
Today's meeting of invisible-helmet-wearing Pluto, the spy, with Jupiter, the judge, rich man, guru, and Republican is yet another obvious manifestation of today's Great Conjunction and Hayden's meeting with politicians on The Hill.
Guess it was just another day in Washington.
Go to the end of the above-linked post to find a certain transit coming up for Hayden in 2008 which involves mysterious Neptune.
Today's meeting of invisible-helmet-wearing Pluto, the spy, with Jupiter, the judge, rich man, guru, and Republican is yet another obvious manifestation of today's Great Conjunction and Hayden's meeting with politicians on The Hill.
Dec 10, 2007
the Fed speaks as Jupiter conjuncts Pluto
If all goes as scheduled Tuesday, the Fed will announce its decision about reducing interest rates--or not.
Here's the chart for the Fed's announcement at 2:15 pm est--and Jupiter conjuncts Pluto at 2:34 pm est, oddly enough.
Not so odd though if you consider all the Middle Easterners in process of purchasing American companies...East buys West, it seems. Guess the destruction of The Tower on 9/11/01 is yielding benefits as planned--at least for the haves of the world who love to orchestrate the "big picture."
The transiting Saturn/Neptune midpoint (loss) is now at critical degree, 29Sco07, and just before reaching the degree I always relate to the military industrial complex (and thus to Cheney's Iraq occupation) of "1Sag": "A Grand Army of the Republic campfire."
As to the Fed announcement chart, we see the Jupiter/Pluto conj snugged about the chart's 9th cusp of foreign enemies and interests; Sun 19Sag22 in 8th house of shared resources and debt, along with Mercury, the Messenger, at 16Sag07. Mercury is conjunct Sunday's New Moon, so we have:
Sun/Moon = Mercury: thoughts about relationships; plans for fulfillment.
Sun is conj the Fed's natal Venus (values; money; relationships) which was at 19Sag03 on Dec 23, 1913 when the Fed became law to save America's bacon (or so they said. They've been 'privatized' from the start, not governmental.)
Sun to n Venus highlights negotiations and relationships when important alliances and partnerships may be formed.
The Fed's n Sun (at sunrise): 1Cap06, with n Jupiter 23Cap13--near the MC of the announcement chart. 1913's Uranus 5AQ35 was conj US natal South Node...
The Uranus/SN combo indicates upsets through revolution and war, and changing social and technological conditions which are disruptive.
WWI began August 1, 1914 with Uranus Rx at "14AQ" by then, and there was a difficult Solar Eclipse in the 6 South Series (28Leo) on Aug 21, 1914:
being forceful and taking power; manic flavor with great force or strength in relationships; huge effort expended in group activities. (Brady's Predictive Astrology.)
By 1917, Pres. Woodrow Wilson declared war in order to "end all war" and "make the world safe for democracy" which sounds nauseatingly familiar, doesn't it? (And it isn't that "they" never learn--it's that WE never do.)
The 6S Series last manifested at 21Lib06 in October, 2004, coming next at "2Sco" in Oct, 2022.
So what of the Jupiter-Pluto conjunction?
Star IQ says this Great Conjunction of opinionated Jupiter and intense, powerful Pluto indicates extreme beliefs bringing debates with judgement of others being due to exaggerated fears. It's time to give up outmoded ideas, dreams, and false expectations (such as houses built on subprime loans?) to make room for realistic plans to fulfill our deepest desires.
Or perhaps the deepest desires of the haves of our shakey "ownership society"?
StarIQ also has an informative article by Rick Gover on Pluto and the Fed which mentions a cornucopia...and here's today's degree for asteroid, Cupido, keywords: corporations; The Family...
"24Aries": "An open window and a net curtain blowing into a cornucopia"--Cupido is in the behind-the-scenes, karmic 12th house of the announcement chart--and pulling hidden strings, no doubt. And Cupido is now conj Bush's n MC!
Chart-ruler Venus is in 7th house of partnerships and legal affairs ('relationships' again) so money is all over this chart--click to enlarge and you'll see for yourself. She's in big business-loving Scorpio, too.
Even the relational Sun-Moon midpoint is highlighted at a World Point (00Cap55), a spot where tr Pluto will soon be visiting: new perspectives required and a critical time of development. Pluto will also conj the Moon-Mercury midpoint of this chart...
Moon/Mercury = Pluto: persuasion or being persuaded; the force of thought; a reorientation of thinking caused by special events or destined experiences; tragic realizations (all midpoint pics: Tyl and/or Ebertin.)
Rich man Jupiter rules 8th and 9th houses, and there are critical degrees (20Can/Cap) at MC/IC, the WHY and HOW Points of the chart. Jupiter applies to conj with the Sun (9A02); chart-ruler Venus' three applying aspects (how things will "go" for the rate decrease or non-decrease announcement) are:
1. Venus trine Mars (0A15);
2. Venus sextile Saturn (1A11);
3. Venus square Chiron (4A39)...sounds like fairly smooth sailing but ends with a square indicating obstacles and blockages by a 10th house Chiron in AQ. Will America's wounded (Chiron) reputation and status in the world (10th house) gum up the works? Or will weasley values and rampant corruption in the financial system sink the deal?
Contacts between Venus and Chiron show stress in relational values with their square indicating maximum stress in finding a permanent value system. The world could use one of those...esp America, imho.
But There's More:
Hypothetical planet, Apollon forms a YOD ('Finger of God' = special purpose or task; crisis) by sextiling the Jup-Pluto pair. The YOD is pointing to the Part of Fortuna of this chart--28Tau08, in 1st house. The Jup-Pluto duo trine the ASC (2:15 pm--the announcement) so they are helping things along.
BTW: there was a Saturn-Uranus conjuction at 29Tau20 on May 3, 1942.
Saturn-Uranus = old vs new; tradition vs progress; the need to fight for gains; violence; tension; intervention in the destiny of others. This grumpy combo of planets is linked with the Middle East, esp with Israel and Palestine.
Saturn and Uranus' cycle of appr 45 years will soon culminate in opposition from their last Conjunction/s of 1988 at 28/29 Sag which is the Jupiter-Pluto Conjunction's degree NOW...
Jupiter/Pluto = Saturn: strategy becomes necessary; adjusting the big picture to meet with convention; difficulties; separations.
Jup/Pluto = Uranus: fanatical striving for improvements; quick exploitation of every situation; sudden reform; an adjustment to new circumstances; intense application of resources to establish a new perspective; overturning the tables; getting back on track or finding a better one.
Saturn/Uranus = Jupiter: resolution of tensions comes rewardingly from without; a sudden turn of destiny; losses; damage to buildings.
Saturn/Uranus = Pluto: brutality; desire to overcome a difficult situation through extraordinary effort; rebellion; major harm; tremendous fear of loss; upheaval to protect assets.
But Back to Apollon:
Apollon's keywords are: commerce and trade; greatest expansion and success.
And there's an asteroid conj the Jup/Pluto conj: Hopi, whose keywords are:
awareness of oppression and prejudice; ambush, including psychological ambush. Funny--I always think of high hopin' Bush when I see Hopi--and he did rather ambush the White House.
The Sabian Symbol for the Moon's degree, "13Cap" is: "A fire worshiper" (Jones' The Sabian Symbols in Astrology), keyword: MAGIC...
pos: extraordinary skill in enlisting every resource of the world for the exaltation of self and the consummation of its ambitions;
neg/unconscious/shadow side: consistent overestimation of personal capacity.
No comment! In fact...stick a fork in me, I'm done.
On a lighter note: I've published a new/old image at Dreamyfish Art, if you'd like to see along with a link to an AP article about new deep water coral that's just been discovered!
Jane Harman's personality blend
Here are a few chart details concerning Jane Harman, born June 28, 1945, in Queens, NY, and her Sun in Cancer/Moon in Aquarius personality blend.
collapsing America going well, thanks
As this blog and many others have been saying for years:
The Planned Collapse of USA
By Peter Chamberlin
We risk blowing the world apart, to avoid watching America slowly choke on its own excesses. The government has known for decades that America is on a countdown to self-destruction. Among the elite it is common knowledge that our "global economy" must one day collapse from its own dead weight...
Read article here.
Got mortgage? Well, in 2001 Bush did speechify America as an "ownership society"--he just didn't say who'd be doing the owning in his poppa's New World Order.
My previous post, Cheney and 9/11 has Cheney's Secondary Progressed chart (the physical plane) set for 9/11/01 and voila! the pair of plutocracy, oppression, and class warfare, Pluto/Chiron, sits at the top o' the chart--the Midheaven, the WHY? or Aspiration Point of any chart.
As you know, a Progressed chart is always based on a natal chart, so I can't make this up.
It's ugly but quite a descriptive sight, in case you missed it 'ere this, so take a peek if you may...collapse of The Tower continues as per the globalists' plan.
Even with my natal Jupiter/Saturn trine and its sense of humor, I am not, nor have I ever been, kidding.
The Planned Collapse of USA
By Peter Chamberlin
We risk blowing the world apart, to avoid watching America slowly choke on its own excesses. The government has known for decades that America is on a countdown to self-destruction. Among the elite it is common knowledge that our "global economy" must one day collapse from its own dead weight...
Read article here.
Got mortgage? Well, in 2001 Bush did speechify America as an "ownership society"--he just didn't say who'd be doing the owning in his poppa's New World Order.
My previous post, Cheney and 9/11 has Cheney's Secondary Progressed chart (the physical plane) set for 9/11/01 and voila! the pair of plutocracy, oppression, and class warfare, Pluto/Chiron, sits at the top o' the chart--the Midheaven, the WHY? or Aspiration Point of any chart.
As you know, a Progressed chart is always based on a natal chart, so I can't make this up.
It's ugly but quite a descriptive sight, in case you missed it 'ere this, so take a peek if you may...collapse of The Tower continues as per the globalists' plan.
Even with my natal Jupiter/Saturn trine and its sense of humor, I am not, nor have I ever been, kidding.
Gore: toasted in Stockholm
News at Noon: NPR reporting that Scooter Libby will not be appealing his conviction in the Valerie Plame case. (Okay by me.) And an ice storm has several states without power--hope you're all okay and back on the grid soon.
It's Monday, I'm back from an early family holiday gathering, and Al Gore is in Stockholm accepting the Nobel Prize and being toasted at a fancy banquet.
Five days without blogging! I missed SO'W and Jude's Threshold, too. But politics? Not so much. Got injured in an accident while gone so I'm not up to much today--here are some previous posts on Al Gore:
his natal chart;
Gore wins Nobel Prize;
Gore's ores;
Frontline's 9/11 and The Scotsman's article, Can Al Gore save the world? This post has a link to the article on Gore concerning
An Inconvenient Truth, with, as you can tell, a little propaganda on the side.
Nobel's Ringing:
Yes, Gore's reward cycle has come round again (it's a 12 year cycle)--his Jupiter Return is Dec 12, the day after the Great Jupiter-Pluto Conjunction.
Now a Nobel Prize is certainly a good Jupiter Return, isn't it? And with powerful-behind-the-throne Pluto involved, too. Good for Al, a member of the world-bossing Trilateral Commission like the rest of 'em. It's who ya know, isn't it?
And we're about to have our Winter Solstice 2007 so click for details with chart (over Washington, of course), plus you'll see the Winter Solstice 2006 chart as well. The 2007 Solstice chart shows a 'Fist of God' which is a pattern with a lot of punch, and it's pointing at Mars in Cancer.
In The Power Trio, Mae R. Wilson-Ludlum gives the keyphrase for Mars in Cancer as,
magnanimous pursuit for private interests.
She says it is a good placement for dealing with the public, for propery matters and real estate, feminine needs, beverages, liquids, and/or the sea.
Gore travelled over the sea to be toasted with bubbly beverage for publicity's sake. And the Fed may lower interest rates tomorrow, day of the Jupiter-Pluto conjunction, a good forerunner of the Solstice's Fist of God.
Now if we could just pry Bush-Cheney fron the White House, our real estate on Pennsylvania Avenue might increase in value and become our own again. It's this 'feminine need' that I have--to aid the only nag I've ever had in the race--the United States of America.
It's Monday, I'm back from an early family holiday gathering, and Al Gore is in Stockholm accepting the Nobel Prize and being toasted at a fancy banquet.
Five days without blogging! I missed SO'W and Jude's Threshold, too. But politics? Not so much. Got injured in an accident while gone so I'm not up to much today--here are some previous posts on Al Gore:
his natal chart;
Gore wins Nobel Prize;
Gore's ores;
Frontline's 9/11 and The Scotsman's article, Can Al Gore save the world? This post has a link to the article on Gore concerning
An Inconvenient Truth, with, as you can tell, a little propaganda on the side.
Nobel's Ringing:
Yes, Gore's reward cycle has come round again (it's a 12 year cycle)--his Jupiter Return is Dec 12, the day after the Great Jupiter-Pluto Conjunction.
Now a Nobel Prize is certainly a good Jupiter Return, isn't it? And with powerful-behind-the-throne Pluto involved, too. Good for Al, a member of the world-bossing Trilateral Commission like the rest of 'em. It's who ya know, isn't it?
And we're about to have our Winter Solstice 2007 so click for details with chart (over Washington, of course), plus you'll see the Winter Solstice 2006 chart as well. The 2007 Solstice chart shows a 'Fist of God' which is a pattern with a lot of punch, and it's pointing at Mars in Cancer.
In The Power Trio, Mae R. Wilson-Ludlum gives the keyphrase for Mars in Cancer as,
magnanimous pursuit for private interests.
She says it is a good placement for dealing with the public, for propery matters and real estate, feminine needs, beverages, liquids, and/or the sea.
Gore travelled over the sea to be toasted with bubbly beverage for publicity's sake. And the Fed may lower interest rates tomorrow, day of the Jupiter-Pluto conjunction, a good forerunner of the Solstice's Fist of God.
Now if we could just pry Bush-Cheney fron the White House, our real estate on Pennsylvania Avenue might increase in value and become our own again. It's this 'feminine need' that I have--to aid the only nag I've ever had in the race--the United States of America.
Dec 5, 2007
George and Adolph: 2 peas in a pod?
"Through clever and constant application of propaganda, people can be made to see paradise as hell, and also the other way round, to consider the most wretched sort of life as paradise" --Adolf Hitler, German Chancellor, leader of the Nazi party
"See, in my line of work you got to keep repeating things over and over and over again for the truth to sink in, to kind of catapult the propaganda." --
George W. Bush-43rd US President, leader of the neocon chickenhawks
Now both of them were/are backed by big spenders and you know that Prescott Bush supported Hitler...the devouring spirit is alive and active in the world and seeks his own.
He doesn't have far to look, does he?
Sabian Symbol for Bush's natal Ascendant (his nibs himself):
"8Leo": "A Bolshevik propagandist"...LEAVEN...recurrent battles over social and political concepts.
pos: a determination to share the soul's vision and to make a permanent impact on history;
neg/unconscious/shadow side: futile ranting against a multitude of superficial ills (Jones' The Sabian Symbols in Astrology.)
Adolph Hitler (Apr 20, 1989 NS; 6:30 pm; Braunau am Inn, Austria; Rodden rating AA for accuracy) was born with Sun 00Tau48/Moon 6Cap38.
His Moon is conj one of the nastiest of Fixed Stars--Facies (Fah' sheez)...its darkest shadow is the cruelty of war;
keywords: ruthlessness or the victim. Facies is linked with Hitler's Moon and Jupiter conjunction in Capricorn--and Jupiter arose with Facies on his day of birth increasing the star's cruel tendencies (Brady's Fixed Stars.)
When I progressed his chart by Solar Arc Direction for today I found that his S.A. Moon (00Tau24) is in process of conjuncting natal Sun...seems his mission's needs are being fulfilled in our time...not comforting, is it?
Sun Tau/Moon Cap's Image for Integration:
A royal banquet honours the longest-serving headmistress of the oldest and most pretigious school in the land (Sun Sign-Moon Sign, Chas & Suzi Harvey.)
Apparently she's still serving her pupils all too well.
"See, in my line of work you got to keep repeating things over and over and over again for the truth to sink in, to kind of catapult the propaganda." --
George W. Bush-43rd US President, leader of the neocon chickenhawks
Now both of them were/are backed by big spenders and you know that Prescott Bush supported Hitler...the devouring spirit is alive and active in the world and seeks his own.
He doesn't have far to look, does he?
Sabian Symbol for Bush's natal Ascendant (his nibs himself):
"8Leo": "A Bolshevik propagandist"...LEAVEN...recurrent battles over social and political concepts.
pos: a determination to share the soul's vision and to make a permanent impact on history;
neg/unconscious/shadow side: futile ranting against a multitude of superficial ills (Jones' The Sabian Symbols in Astrology.)
Adolph Hitler (Apr 20, 1989 NS; 6:30 pm; Braunau am Inn, Austria; Rodden rating AA for accuracy) was born with Sun 00Tau48/Moon 6Cap38.
His Moon is conj one of the nastiest of Fixed Stars--Facies (Fah' sheez)...its darkest shadow is the cruelty of war;
keywords: ruthlessness or the victim. Facies is linked with Hitler's Moon and Jupiter conjunction in Capricorn--and Jupiter arose with Facies on his day of birth increasing the star's cruel tendencies (Brady's Fixed Stars.)
When I progressed his chart by Solar Arc Direction for today I found that his S.A. Moon (00Tau24) is in process of conjuncting natal Sun...seems his mission's needs are being fulfilled in our time...not comforting, is it?
Sun Tau/Moon Cap's Image for Integration:
A royal banquet honours the longest-serving headmistress of the oldest and most pretigious school in the land (Sun Sign-Moon Sign, Chas & Suzi Harvey.)
Apparently she's still serving her pupils all too well.
RESTORE Act
Setting the Record Straight on FISA: a letter from John Conyers
In recent weeks, there has been lot of conflicting information floating around
about efforts by House Democrats to protect the country by adopting rules for intelligence gathering that are both flexible and constitutional. This week, President Bush suggested that my legislative alternative to this summer's hastily-enacted Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) reform, the "Protect America Act," would take away important tools from our intelligence community.
He characterized as "obstruction" the skepticism that many of us have about granting amnesty to telecommunications carriers who may have cooperated in warrantless surveillance. I was disappointed that the President did not propose any concrete steps to improve our capabilities or protect our freedoms--he just repeated his demand for immunity.
This comes close on the heels of a recent controversy concerning the House Democrats' FISA legislation stemming from Joe Klein's column in Time Magazine on Nov 21 in which his Republican sources seem to have spun a tale that led Mr.Klein to characterize our efforts as "more than stupid."
I believe that it is time for a comprehensive and detailed response to the President's accusations of obstruction, the misinformation in the Time Magazine column, and the debate over warrantless surveillance.
Below is that response. Please let me know what you think, and feel free to pass along to your friends and colleagues.
Joe Klein's recent column deriding the House-passed FISA legislation along with his subsequent stumbling efforts to clarify its intent, and Time Magazine's failure to publish the protests my Democratic colleagues and I had regarding its many inaccuracies are only the most recent manifestation of disinformation put forth concerning the Bush Administration's warrantless surveillance program and legislative efforts to modify the law.
As the lead author, along with Silvestre Reyes, of the RESTORE Act, allow me to set the record straight once and for all.
First,contrary to GOP and media spin, the RESTORE Act does not grant "terrorists the same rights as Americans." Section 105A of the RESTORE Act explicitly provides that foreign-to-foreign communications are totally exempt from FISA–-clearly, this exception for foreigners such as members of Al Qaeda does not apply to Americans.
In cases involving foreign agents where communications with Americans could be picked up, Section 105B of the legislation provides for liberalized "basket warrant" procedures by which entire terrorist organizations can be surveilled without the need to obtain individual warrants from the FISA court.
Again, this new authority is aimed at foreign terrorists, not Americans.
Mr. Klein appears to base much of his criticism of our bill on our use of the term "person" to describe who may be surveilled, based on the suggestion of a Republican "source" that this risks an interpretation that terrorist groups would not be covered. The truth is that under FISA the term person has been clearly defined for almost thirty years to include "any group, entity, association, corporation, or foreign power."
It is also notable that both the RESTORE Act, and the Administration's bill
passed this summer, contain the exact same language that Mr. Klein questions,
yet we've never heard an objection to the Administration's bill on this score.
Second, I must strongly disagree with Mr. Klein's assertion that the Speaker "quashed...a bipartisan [compromise] effort."
As the Chairman of the Committee with principal jurisdiction over FISA, the House Judiciary Committee, I am aware of no effort to prevent bipartisan compromise on this issue.
As a matter of fact, last summer, beginning in July, Democrats tirelessly negotiated with Director of National Intelligence (DNI), Mike McConnell, to develop consensus legislation to address the Administration's stated concerns about our intelligence capability.
We addressed every one of the concerns Mr. McConnell raised.
He said he needed to clarify that a court order was not required for foreign-to-foreign communications--our bill did just that. McConnell said he needed an assurance that telecommunications companies would be compelled to assist in gathering of national security information-–our bill did that. The DNI said he needed provisions to extend FISA to foreign intelligence in addition to terrorism-- the bill did that.
He asked us to eliminate the requirement that the FISA Court adjudicate how recurring communications to the United States from foreign targets would be
handled–-the bill did that. McConnell insisted that basket warrants be structured to allow additional targets to be added after the warrant was initially approved – again, the bill did that. When this legislation was described to DNI McConnell, he acknowledged that "it significantly enhances America's security.''
Yet, suddenly, on the eve of the vote, Director McConnell withdrew his support
after consultation with the White House. If the media wanted to identify over-the-top partisanship, they could begin by citing the declaration of David Addington, Vice President Cheney's Chief of Staff, that "We're one bomb away from getting rid of that obnoxious FISA Court," and DNI McConnell's assertion that by merely having an open debate on surveillance, "some Americans are going to die."
Third, the RESTORE Act legislation is badly needed to provide accountability to the Bush Administration's unilateral approach to surveillance. The warrantless surveillance program has been riddled with deceptions that only began to come to light when The New York Times first disclosed the existence of the program in 2005. The program itself appears to directly violate FISA and the Fourth Amendment, as a federal court, the non-partisan Congressional Research Service, numerous Republican legislators, and independent legal scholars have found.
The Administration has also mischaracterized the existence, degree, extent and nature of the program itself as well as how much information it has shared with Congress. For instance, compare the President's speech in 2004 with his admission that there was indeed a program of warrantless surveillance. When high-ranking DOJ officials found the program lacking, the White House went to absurd, if not comical lengths, to convince a dangerously ill and hospitalized Attorney General Ashcroft
to overrule them.
Even today, the Administration continues to obscure its own past misconduct with extravagant claims that the "state secrets" doctrine bars any legal challenges whatsoever--a position that has been rejected by the Court of Appeals.
The Administration's hastily enacted legislation, signed this summer, is little better. Instead of being limited to the stated problem of foreign-to-foreign electronic surveillance, it could apply to domestic business records, library
files, personal mail, and even searches of our homes. Against that backdrop, it is clear we need a new law with the critical oversight provisions included in the RESTORE Act, such as requiring the Administration to turn over relevant documents to Congress, mandating periodic Inspector General reports, and acknowledging that the Administration is indeed bound by FISA.
Finally, the Administration has yet to explain why offering retroactive immunity to telephone giants who may have participated in an unlawful program is vital to our national security. Under current law, the phone companies can easily avoid liability if they can establish they received either an appropriate court order or legal certification from the Attorney General.
Asking Congress to grant legal immunity at a time when the Administration has refused to provide the House of Representatives with relevant legal documents for more than eleven months is not only unreasonable, it is irresponsible.
Civil liberties and national security need not be contradictory policies, rather they are inexorably linked. Perhaps nowhere is this interrelationship more true
than in intelligence gathering, where information must be reliable and untainted by abuse to be useful.
So when we discuss FISA, the first thing we need to do is drop the partisan rhetoric, and stick to the actual record. Under the RESTORE Act, the intelligence community has the flexibility to intercept communications by foreign terrorists without obtaining individual warrants, and the Court and Congress are given the authority to perform their constitutional oversight roles.
The only parties who lose in this process are the terrorists, and those who want the executive branch to have absolute and unreviewable power.
Rather than being, in Mr. Klein's words, "well beyond stupid," the RESTORE Act offers a smart and well balanced approach to updating FISA and reining in the excesses of an unchecked executive branch.
John Conyers, Jr
"Do you think that we want those laws to be observed? We want them broken. There's no way to rule innocent men. The only power the government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren't enough criminals one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws." --Ayn Rand (1905-1982) Atlas Shrugged, 1957
In recent weeks, there has been lot of conflicting information floating around
about efforts by House Democrats to protect the country by adopting rules for intelligence gathering that are both flexible and constitutional. This week, President Bush suggested that my legislative alternative to this summer's hastily-enacted Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) reform, the "Protect America Act," would take away important tools from our intelligence community.
He characterized as "obstruction" the skepticism that many of us have about granting amnesty to telecommunications carriers who may have cooperated in warrantless surveillance. I was disappointed that the President did not propose any concrete steps to improve our capabilities or protect our freedoms--he just repeated his demand for immunity.
This comes close on the heels of a recent controversy concerning the House Democrats' FISA legislation stemming from Joe Klein's column in Time Magazine on Nov 21 in which his Republican sources seem to have spun a tale that led Mr.Klein to characterize our efforts as "more than stupid."
I believe that it is time for a comprehensive and detailed response to the President's accusations of obstruction, the misinformation in the Time Magazine column, and the debate over warrantless surveillance.
Below is that response. Please let me know what you think, and feel free to pass along to your friends and colleagues.
Joe Klein's recent column deriding the House-passed FISA legislation along with his subsequent stumbling efforts to clarify its intent, and Time Magazine's failure to publish the protests my Democratic colleagues and I had regarding its many inaccuracies are only the most recent manifestation of disinformation put forth concerning the Bush Administration's warrantless surveillance program and legislative efforts to modify the law.
As the lead author, along with Silvestre Reyes, of the RESTORE Act, allow me to set the record straight once and for all.
First,contrary to GOP and media spin, the RESTORE Act does not grant "terrorists the same rights as Americans." Section 105A of the RESTORE Act explicitly provides that foreign-to-foreign communications are totally exempt from FISA–-clearly, this exception for foreigners such as members of Al Qaeda does not apply to Americans.
In cases involving foreign agents where communications with Americans could be picked up, Section 105B of the legislation provides for liberalized "basket warrant" procedures by which entire terrorist organizations can be surveilled without the need to obtain individual warrants from the FISA court.
Again, this new authority is aimed at foreign terrorists, not Americans.
Mr. Klein appears to base much of his criticism of our bill on our use of the term "person" to describe who may be surveilled, based on the suggestion of a Republican "source" that this risks an interpretation that terrorist groups would not be covered. The truth is that under FISA the term person has been clearly defined for almost thirty years to include "any group, entity, association, corporation, or foreign power."
It is also notable that both the RESTORE Act, and the Administration's bill
passed this summer, contain the exact same language that Mr. Klein questions,
yet we've never heard an objection to the Administration's bill on this score.
Second, I must strongly disagree with Mr. Klein's assertion that the Speaker "quashed...a bipartisan [compromise] effort."
As the Chairman of the Committee with principal jurisdiction over FISA, the House Judiciary Committee, I am aware of no effort to prevent bipartisan compromise on this issue.
As a matter of fact, last summer, beginning in July, Democrats tirelessly negotiated with Director of National Intelligence (DNI), Mike McConnell, to develop consensus legislation to address the Administration's stated concerns about our intelligence capability.
We addressed every one of the concerns Mr. McConnell raised.
He said he needed to clarify that a court order was not required for foreign-to-foreign communications--our bill did just that. McConnell said he needed an assurance that telecommunications companies would be compelled to assist in gathering of national security information-–our bill did that. The DNI said he needed provisions to extend FISA to foreign intelligence in addition to terrorism-- the bill did that.
He asked us to eliminate the requirement that the FISA Court adjudicate how recurring communications to the United States from foreign targets would be
handled–-the bill did that. McConnell insisted that basket warrants be structured to allow additional targets to be added after the warrant was initially approved – again, the bill did that. When this legislation was described to DNI McConnell, he acknowledged that "it significantly enhances America's security.''
Yet, suddenly, on the eve of the vote, Director McConnell withdrew his support
after consultation with the White House. If the media wanted to identify over-the-top partisanship, they could begin by citing the declaration of David Addington, Vice President Cheney's Chief of Staff, that "We're one bomb away from getting rid of that obnoxious FISA Court," and DNI McConnell's assertion that by merely having an open debate on surveillance, "some Americans are going to die."
Third, the RESTORE Act legislation is badly needed to provide accountability to the Bush Administration's unilateral approach to surveillance. The warrantless surveillance program has been riddled with deceptions that only began to come to light when The New York Times first disclosed the existence of the program in 2005. The program itself appears to directly violate FISA and the Fourth Amendment, as a federal court, the non-partisan Congressional Research Service, numerous Republican legislators, and independent legal scholars have found.
The Administration has also mischaracterized the existence, degree, extent and nature of the program itself as well as how much information it has shared with Congress. For instance, compare the President's speech in 2004 with his admission that there was indeed a program of warrantless surveillance. When high-ranking DOJ officials found the program lacking, the White House went to absurd, if not comical lengths, to convince a dangerously ill and hospitalized Attorney General Ashcroft
to overrule them.
Even today, the Administration continues to obscure its own past misconduct with extravagant claims that the "state secrets" doctrine bars any legal challenges whatsoever--a position that has been rejected by the Court of Appeals.
The Administration's hastily enacted legislation, signed this summer, is little better. Instead of being limited to the stated problem of foreign-to-foreign electronic surveillance, it could apply to domestic business records, library
files, personal mail, and even searches of our homes. Against that backdrop, it is clear we need a new law with the critical oversight provisions included in the RESTORE Act, such as requiring the Administration to turn over relevant documents to Congress, mandating periodic Inspector General reports, and acknowledging that the Administration is indeed bound by FISA.
Finally, the Administration has yet to explain why offering retroactive immunity to telephone giants who may have participated in an unlawful program is vital to our national security. Under current law, the phone companies can easily avoid liability if they can establish they received either an appropriate court order or legal certification from the Attorney General.
Asking Congress to grant legal immunity at a time when the Administration has refused to provide the House of Representatives with relevant legal documents for more than eleven months is not only unreasonable, it is irresponsible.
Civil liberties and national security need not be contradictory policies, rather they are inexorably linked. Perhaps nowhere is this interrelationship more true
than in intelligence gathering, where information must be reliable and untainted by abuse to be useful.
So when we discuss FISA, the first thing we need to do is drop the partisan rhetoric, and stick to the actual record. Under the RESTORE Act, the intelligence community has the flexibility to intercept communications by foreign terrorists without obtaining individual warrants, and the Court and Congress are given the authority to perform their constitutional oversight roles.
The only parties who lose in this process are the terrorists, and those who want the executive branch to have absolute and unreviewable power.
Rather than being, in Mr. Klein's words, "well beyond stupid," the RESTORE Act offers a smart and well balanced approach to updating FISA and reining in the excesses of an unchecked executive branch.
John Conyers, Jr
"Do you think that we want those laws to be observed? We want them broken. There's no way to rule innocent men. The only power the government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren't enough criminals one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws." --Ayn Rand (1905-1982) Atlas Shrugged, 1957
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