President Obama Delivers his Final State of the Union Address - video

Tuesday January 12, 2016 9:10 pm to 10:09 pm est Capitol Building Washington DC Address to a Joint Session of Congress and to the American People with Virgo Rising:

~:~

Related: SOTU 2016: Achievements and Realism.

SOTU 2016: Achievements plus Realism

January 12, 2016: Tonight as President Obama delivers the final State of the Union Address to a Joint Session of Congress (9:00 pm est Capitol Building) the degree of the Pre-Natal Eclipse of the November 8, 2016 Election/s rises @9Virgo (September 1, 2016). This denotes a speech that in some way will touch on the themes of the eclipse in the 19 North Saros Series which are: 'realism, coming down to earth, and becoming aware of an old situation and seeing it for what it truly is' (B. Brady). Refreshing for Washington Politics? Yes, yet this could include critiques of Republican ideas especially with Virgo being the sign of The Critic. Of course, the 19 North is also the PE of Inauguration 2017 so these themes will continue to be on most people's menus.

And naturally the current Mercury (speech; messages) retrograde period is perfect for a president on his way out the White House door--perfect for delivering a litany of his achievements while in office and regrets over what didn't get done. And with Mercury as chart-ruler (Rx) we may expect grandiose ideas, boasts about economic improvements and foreign affairs, and fairly good reception of the speech from the press and from the public (Mercury trines the Jupiter-North Node conjunction in Virgo: broad overview!).

As for 19 North, its initial eclipse occurred on July 5, 1331 (OS) @20Cancer so current themes are filtered through Cancerian concerns such as security, home, and business. For comparison of similar events, 19 North also manifested in the years: 1908, 1926, 1944, 1962, 1980. 1998, (September 1, 2016 @9Virgo), and will next occur in 2034.

"The Big Short": A Pro-Bernie Sanders Film? - Thom Hartmann video

Jan 11, 2016: yes, I heard about this on an Atlanta area radio news cast this morning and am glad that Thom is replying to the critics (who must be fretting that Bernie Sanders could be the 2016 Democratic nominee--wonder who?):

#FeeltheBern

Everything We Say About Trump is a Lie - David Pakman reports

Not all Donald Trump supporters are alike as David Pakman demonstrates:

Edward Snowden on America's Secret Government (plus, Mars and Bacon)

Somehow I had missed this informative excerpt from an interview of November 2014 conducted by former 2016 candidate Lawrence Lessig with shunned NSA official and exile Edward Snowden. Being a presidential election year you would think that such topics would be prominent in our current public discourse! Yet listen for surveillance topics within the current presidential debate cycle and you'll hear little more than crickets. Ask Trump, Bush, Cruz, Rubio, Clinton, or even Sanders to comment on or describe America's secret government or to uphold its antidote government by consent of the governed and evasions and diversions begin though you might get a fevered rise out of Sanders or Trump (to give us the impression that our concerns are 'being heard') while studied non-responses from the rest must suffice. They'll have to leave it there, as their bosses often advise them to say...

This interview with Ed Snowden seemed totally appropriate since the Saturn-Neptune square is upon us all for as you know, mundane Saturn = government, law, business while mundane (as if!) Neptune = secret, invisible, illegitimate, fraudulent. My opinions is that we're brainless fools if we allow the 'ruling class' to tell us we can't even discuss aloud such topics as surveillance, illegalities, and anti-constitutional provisions since our lives and the futures of our children are closely and adversely affected. Too many of our officials are in the raptor's grip and trying desperately to hold on to their positions of power and their generous incomes but constantly act in breach of the public trust and contract. So few of them actually represent the interests of the American public that it would be hilariously amusing were it not so riotously tragic.

Now I wonder if the '30Cap' Sabian Symbol we spoke of earlier will be part of the secrets to be revealed under the auspices of Mars' retrograde period during April into October 2016 which takes us right up to the position of transiting Mars on Election Day 2016 and "A Secret Business Conference" which may possibly be made inconveniently public? For a deeper look, I do feel certain that the symbol of the Illumination Point for '30Cap'--right across the axis at '30Cancer' may be informative for it is, "A Daughter of the American Revolution," a reference to our past political revolution that inspires me to begin quoting (some of which you may have read here in prior posts or elsewhere) as I think of how 2016 candidate Senator Bernie Sanders has been calling for one:

The American Revolution "was not a revolt against an existing indigenous system of government but rather an anti-colonial movement against the English"...that "involved a change in political authority rather than a transformation in the power structure of society. Therefore it does not conform to the model of other revolutions.

The full revolutionary dynamic of the American Revolution can be stated as follows:

Heretical occult inspiration: Scottish Jacobite Templarism (via Gosnold/Bacon)

Intellectual expression: Weishaupt/Franklin/Jefferson/Paine

Political expression: Washington

Physical consolidation: Jackson

The American Revolution brought about a constitutional transformation that ended Britain's colonial rule and created republicanism, the political expression of Templar Masonry. The new Atlantis of America was a Templar-created Masonic State.

The revolutionary dynamic of the ideas behind the American Revolution can be stated as follows:

Heretical occult inspiration: *New Atlantis

Intellectual expression: Illuminism

Political expression: Republicanism

Physical expression: Conquest/westward expansion."

And so the astrological puzzle remains: what structural and political reforms will America's first-ever Pluto Return/s all through 2022 perpetrate? And since the Return of powerful, wealthy Pluto to its 1776 position will soon begin triggering our national Mercury-Pluto opposition (Cancer/Capricorn) of propaganda, secrets, spies, and surveillance, will the spying industry grow by then into the beast it now strives to be? Or has it already?

*New Atlantis by (Sir) Francis Bacon; for more information see Old and New Atlantis: a Mysterious Legend that won't fade.

Quotes from: The Secret History of the West: The Influence of Secret Organisations On Western History From the Renaissance to the 20th Century by Nicholas Haggar.

Mars in 2016 - Steve Judd video

2016: Mars in Scorpio and Sagittarius

In 2016, year of the US presidential campaign and election in November, warrior planet Mars performs a 6-month retrograde period beginning in mid-April, just as he reaches pugnacious, belligerent Antares (9Sag), and the action planet's period of inverted energies lasts way too long for anyone's comfort. Frustration, irritation, and aggression are Martian themes, as you know, and many secrets will be leaked or coughed up during the year along with lies revealed. This may be of interest to 2016 candidate Donald Trump with his Mars rising natal chart though other candidates will be affected as well. For example:

At the end of February, early March 2016, Mars crosses President Obama's natal Midheaven (MC), the Career and Public Status point, and he will be very busy with political projects and self-promotion (which includes promotion of Democratic Party concerns and candidates). it can also denote a time of danger, tension, haste, and/or anger for him in relation to such themes in the public sector. In early June MArs conjoins his MC again and at the end of June MArs stations Direct. Inaugural Moon (We the People) in 2009 is involved as well when Mars conjoins the 29 Scorpio position (30Sco = "A Halloween Jester" degree.) In Politics, this symbol always reminds me of the famous 'October Surprise' perpetrated by the Reagan campaign against Democrat Jimmy Carter in days of yore.

And when testy Mars moves within range of an opposition to President Obama's 3 Gemini Moon more irritation, anger, and potential danger will be evident at the White House (his Moon is in his 4th house of Home). Caution and moderation are advised for him, his family members, and for us, the American people as part of his political family. These Mars-to-Moon periods will occur during March and August 2016.

A hint of better news is that transit Mars will be moving direct after having left his shadow (9Sag where he stationed Rx in April) in August prior to Election Day November 8, 2016 though Mars will be at a critical 29th degree in governmental Capricorn. Rounding up we have '30Cap' = "A Secret Business Conference...OPPORTUNITY...positive expression: a gift for clever planning and successful administration in every area of life; negative (shadow/unconscious) expression: rampant selfishness and rank exploitation of others." Wonder if activist Mars will allow it to remain secret? And will their be explosive events when Mars meets Pluto @15Cap in October?

For more details concerning energetic Mars in 2016, check out this very informative presentation by Steve Judd:

A related video by Steve Judd is Neptune in 2016 which includes the difficult Saturn-Neptune square, a phase of their cycle which began in 1989 in the degree range of 10--12 Capricorn.

Please note that this post was prepared without reference to the 'wild card' interruptions of Solar and Lunar Eclipses which also tend to reveal secrets and lies. Here's a list of eclipses through year 2022 where you'll see the two Solar Eclipses of 2016--on March 9 @19Pisces (Total and in the 18 South Series) and September 1, 2016 @9Virgo in the 19 North Series. Obviously the 19 North eclipse acts as the Pre-Natal Eclipse of both Election Day 2016 and Inauguration Day 2017 so 19N themes will influence both events and outcomes. Plus, if you wish, type 'Eclipses' into the sidebar of SO'W for several more entries concerning these solar and lunar 'cosmic blinks' in relation to our nation's past, present, and future.

'30Sco' and '30Cap' symbols from The Sabian Symbols in Astrology, by Marc Edmund Jones.

Ed Schultz Gives Commentary on the News of the Day (01-07-16) - video

Well, they're all jumping into this week's news cycle: Bill, Hill, and Donald, Rand Paul, Ted Cruz, North Korea... Here's a 5-minute synopsis by progressive broadcaster Ed schultz:

Here's a previois post containing the natal data of North Korea and a list of its natal planets. plus, a few brief notes--one example: NK's natal Uranus (shocking events, eccentricity, electricity, uranium) conjoins 00Cancer, one of the four Cardinal World Points of manifestation and recognition, and of course, where the Sun shines a bright spotlight every Summer Solstice (so he has that goin' for him).

Neptune in 2016: Steve Judd - video

In 7 minutes, astrologer Steve Judd gives us an overview of Neptune in Pisces through 2016 and into 2017 which necessarily includes the difficult Saturn-Neptune square from Sagittarius to Pisces:

Donald Trump's 2016 Campaign New Moon June 16, 2015

Brief Astro-Notes on the 2016 Candidacy of Donald Trump

by Jude Cowell

2016 Republican candidate Donald Trump announced his bid for nomination from Trump Towers, New York City on the morning of June 16, 2015 under the auspices and influence of a New Moon in Gemini (25:07), the communicative sign of announcements, messages, voting, voters, and fluctuations. Perfecting in conjunction with Mars in Gemini, a New Moon phase is as always indicative of a new cycle of activity. Having warrior planet Mars nearby, Mr. Trump's rising planet in his natal chart, seems appropriate as we look back over his candidacy so far with his 'hit back if provoked' stance. And yet that is what his natal chart cautions against with royal Regulus rising along with his Mars in proud, egoistic Leo: success if revenge is avoided. His candidacy has shaken up the Republican establishment, as you know--quarreling Mars the activist stirring things up!

Of course, avoiding vengeance against opponents is a tall order with testy Mars in the royal mix! And it isn't that success won't occur (he's proven that many times over in real estate and on TV) but if revenge is resorted to, one will ultimately lose all that has been gained. Wonder why I have the feeling that the horse of vengeance left Mr. Trump's barn of success long long ago?

Related: a horoscope of the July 2016 RNC Full Moon in Capricorn which conjoins US natal Pluto and hints at a brokered convention, which would be another disruptive Mars occurrence for the Republican hierarchy.