We Call Ourselves Civilized

Image: Don't Bomb My Baby by jude cowell 2007



A Violent Cartography

Bomb After Bomb

By Howard Zinn

I am stunned by the thought that we, the "civilized" nations, have bombed cities and countrysides and islands for a hundred years. Yet, here in the United States, which is responsible for most of that, the public, as was true of me, does not understand--I mean really understand--what bombs do to people.

Click to read full article at Information Clearing House.#


"It's not right to respond to terrorism by terrorizing other people. And furthermore, it's not going to help. Then you might say, "Yes, it's terrorizing people, but it's worth doing because it will end terrorism." But how much common sense does it take to know that you cannot end terrorism by indiscriminately dropping bombs?" --Howard Zinn Terrorism and War


"Wanton killing of innocent civilians is terrorism, not a war against terrorism." --Noam Chomsky



And if you're in the DC area, there will be a fundraiser for Capital Hospice, Epilepsy Foundation of Virginia, United Cerebral Palsy and other noble causes on New Years Eve...go to: A Party and A Purpose for details and ring in the New Year by partying on for a good cause!


Blogger Note: haven't had time to figure out the cause of this weird underlining crisis SO'W has going here since yesterday.

This week is the busiest of the year in my 'real world' so by weekend I'll be around more...if you've had a similar quirk with your own blog, all advice would be greatly appreciated. So far Blogger's HELP section has not been of any.

Contact me at: judecowell at gmail dot com if you please, or leave an informative comment here (hint: mocking my lack of tech savvy won't help at all so hold yourself back, Sparkie!)

Mars closest to Earth Dec 18

After my posting of a few minutes ago which resulted in all my sentences being underlined mysteriously and annoyingly in each entry, I'm taking a risk with this SpaceWeather post on Mars' closest approach to Earth--but I thought you'd like to know even if it is underlined.

Wonder if it's Blogger, IE, or me? If you have a clue, please let the clueless know!


Space Weather News for Dec 17, 2007:

CLOSE ENCOUNTER WITH MARS: Have you noticed an intense red star rising in the east in recent evenings? That's no star, that's Mars. The red planet is having a close encounter with Earth this week. At closest approach on Tuesday evening, Dec 18th, the two worlds will lie only 55 million miles apart. Mars won't be this nearby again until the year 2016. To the naked eye, Mars now outshines every star in the night sky (it is slightly brighter than Sirius) and it looks great through a backyard telescope.

Visit SpaceWeather.com for photos, observing tips and sky maps.

NOTE: While, technically speaking, Mars is at its best and brightest only on Dec 18, the red planet will remain unusually close and beautiful for weeks to come. This makes it a Merry Martian Christmas for anyone who finds a telescope under their tree on Dec 25: Meade.com

GREAT GEMINIDS: The Geminid meteor shower peaked on Dec 14 and 15; as predicted, it was a great show. Some observers counted more than a hundred meteors per hour including fireballs that cast shadows like a full moon and gave off ghostly-sounding radio echoes.

It's all chronicled in our Geminid Gallery here.

Full Moon in Cancer: Dec 23, 2007

Will this Full Moon shine a light on actors or actions from the attacks of 9/11?

As you see, the Full Moon of Dec 23 occurs at 1Can50, opposite Sun 1Cap50; Can/Cap is the Security Axis and concerns issues with Home; Parents/Career; Public Status, and often emotions-as-bottomless-pit leading ambitiously (and rather desperately) to fame.

On 9/11/01, Mars at 1Cap27 was near the tr SN, a connection which commonly brings war and violence (warrior Mars being the god of war, of course.)

This Full Moon is also quite near the Solar Eclipse prior to 9/11/01--June 21, 2001, "00Can" in the 3 North Series. Keywords again are:

news of young people or news that transforms a situation; info causing worry or obsession; large plans or activities which will be positive if they are not over-excessive. (Brady's Predictive Astrology.)

Over-excessive? Invading Iraq, I'd say. Perhaps old issues from 2001 will be spotlighted by Dec 23's Full Moon bringing to light some new info on the subject due to its links with the chart of 9/11/01. Full Moons are, of course, the culmination phase of something begun two weeks ago at the New Moon ("18Sag"), the beginning of the cycle and ruled by Jupiter.


Sunday's Full Moon also has asteroid, Morya at 1Cap02, and preachy Jupiter 1Cap12 to expand issues (and in process of parting from his recent Great Conjunction with Pluto on Dec 11, the day the Fed made their interest rate cut announcement, disappointing though it was.)

Chart-ruler is the Sun, disposited by Saturn (Cap)--and authoritative, restrictive Saturn in Virgo is placed in 2nd house of Money and Values and is thus in mutual reception with Mercury in Capricorn. No-nonsense Saturn tends to strengthen neutral Mercury when in mutual reception, plus, they are in a helpful, benefical trine which trines MC (Goals; Aspirations) of the Full Moon chart.

(And since Saturn = the Democrats, will an older Dem aid a younger (Mercury) Dem? Or perhaps he/she will make a weighty (Saturn) announcement (Mercury) concerning the subprime housing catastrophe or an accounting irregularity.)

The trine gives a midpoint picture:

Mercury/Saturn = MC: winning through planning; mind over matter; the heavy thinker; concentration; philosophizing; being wrapped up in one's own plans; travel (Tyl; Ebertin.)

The risk-taking, speculative 5th house cusp 11Sag58 (degree of the Pluto-Chiron conj of Dec 30, 1999) is ruled by moneybags Jupiter (associated with the Republican Party), while the 8th house of shared resources is also ruled by Jupiter through his connection to the obfuscating--or perhaps inspired--sign of Pisces, associated with liquids such as oil, gas, alcohol, with fishies in the sea, and creativity.

Technologically-advanced and disruptive Uranus is placed in 8th house and conj Fixed Star, Achernar...keywords: risk of rapid endings. (With all the fluctuations in the stock market this year, I can't help but wonder if hacking is part of the problem, in spite of--or because of--PROMIS software and the big brother computer in Brussels.)

Rising is asteroid Hera (keeping accounts; the jealous wife; women's issues) is Rx and conj the position of vengeful Venus on 9/11/01 at the degree of Nostradmus' *King of Terror Eclipse of Aug 11, 1999, and with quite a full 5th house of speculation, it seems that SN in first house is not what you'd like to see--it isn't fortuitous to have SN rising and indicates that others (7th house) may be 'calling the shots' or in control.

Transiting NN has now entered Aquarius (backing out of Pisces) which places NN and the rising SN at a critical 29th degrees. Any planet or point at 29 degrees of any sign is a high frequency vibe--impatience, rashness, and lack of self-control can cause trouble and misfortune. Overreacting is a bad idea now, so don't do it, esp with the Leo/AQ polarity being the Will Axis (aka self-willedness.)

~Click chart to enlarge and you'll hopefully be able to read some natal USA/Bush placements in the appropriate places.~

With Taurus and Scorpio (both money signs, and money-loving Venus in Scorpio in the 4th house--the Foundation of the chart) on the 4/10 axis, and for other factors already cited, this chart screams security, money, and desires for easy money as the Full Moon nears Rx Mars in Cancer--and since both Moon and Mars often act as triggers, it will be interesting to see what develops under the rays of the last Full Moon of 2007.



*Nick Campion says a better translation of the Old French would be King of Alarm Eclipse. Alarm or Terror--the world has been coup'd by use of fear.

note: why in the ever-lovin' are all my posts underlined now as I published this entry on the Full Moon?

Bush spying on Americans since Feb 2001

Breaking News and Commentary from Citizens For Legitimate Government

15 Dec 2007 All items are here: Breaking News

'Within two weeks of taking office, the Bush administration was planning a comprehensive effort of spying on Americans' phone usage.' Wider Spying Fuels Aid Plan for Telecom Industry 16 Dec 2007:

For months, the Bush regime has waged a high-profile campaign, including personal lobbying by President [sic] Bush and closed-door briefings by top officials, to persuade Congress to pass legislation protecting companies from lawsuits for aiding the National Security Agency’s warrantless eavesdropping program...

In December 2000, N.S.A. officials wrote a transition report to the incoming Bush administration, saying the agency must become a "powerful, permanent presence" on the commercial communications network, a goal that they acknowledged would raise legal and privacy issues...A lawsuit filed in federal court in New Jersey claims that in February 2001, the N.S.A. met with AT&T officials to discuss replicating a network center in Bedminster, N.J., to give the agency access to all the global phone and e-mail traffic that ran through it. [Since Bush bin Laden has been spying since December 2000, why wasn't he able to prevent the 9/11 terrorist attacks?]

LegitGov.org#

This lends credence to the Bush-Cheney culpable in 9/11 theories, imho, for those with eyes to see.

Eugene Debs still speaks convincingly

Information Clearing House Newsletter

News You Won't Find On CNN

12/14/07
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"It is extremely dangerous to exercise the constitutional right of free speech in a country fighting to make democracy safe in the world...

These are the gentry who are today wrapped up in the American flag, who shout their claim from the housetops that they are the only patriots, and who have their magnifying glasses in hand, scanning the country for evidence of disloyalty, eager to apply the brand of treason to the men who dare to even whisper their opposition to Junker rule in the United States. No wonder Sam Johnson declared that "patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel." He must have had this Wall Street gentry in mind, or at least their prototypes, for in every age it has been the tyrant, the oppressor and the exploiter who has wrapped himself in the cloak of patriotism, or religion, or both to deceive and overawe the people...

Every solitary one of these aristocratic conspirators and would-be murderers claims to be an arch-patriot; every one of them insists that the war is being waged to make the world safe for democracy. What humbug! What rot! What false pretense! These autocrats, these tyrants, these red-handed robbers and murderers, the "patriots," while the men who have the courage to stand face to face with them, speak the truth, and fight for their exploited victims-they are the disloyalists and traitors. If this be true, I want to take my place side by side with the traitors in this fight."

Eugene V. Debs [The Canton, Ohio, Anti-War Speech; June 16, 1918]

Thanks for the above quote go to the excellent Information Clearing House#


An orator whose communication skills rivaled those of the great William Jennings Bryan, Debs' anti-war speech given in Canton, Ohio on June 16, 1918 is perhaps his most famous speech, while his appeal to the jury and statement to the court at his trial for treason (arrested and imprisoned for giving this speech against America's entry into WWI) are considered two of the great classic statements ever made in a court of law.

Born in Terre Haute, IN on Nov 5, 1855, Debs has a Sun Sco/Moon Virgo personality blend and Mercury in intense Scorpio (8Sco03 Rx, and opposite Pluto...Mercury/Pluto = the orator; a sharp critic; the propagandist.)

The Sun Sco/Moon Virgo combo is intensely passionate, a relentless perfectionist, witty, conscientious, loyal, and a dedicated worker. (Dedicated to workers' issues as well, in Debs' case. And he was devoted to his wife all his life--they had no children.)

His straight-from-the-shoulder honesty and excellent mind are still on display in his speeches and can stir the heart as well as the mind of anyone who appreciates honesty and forthrightness...anyone who believes America should change course and return to higher ideals than those of the lower road brought upon us by the Bush-Cheney regime (and others--it's been a drawn-out process since Carter or even since Eisenhower, some say. Guess that would have to be Ike's warning against the "military industrial complex" notwithstanding.)

An interesting feature of Deb's natal chart (Nov 5, 1855; Terre Haute, IN; using sunrise: 6:36:55 an lmt) is his Pluto/NN conjunction at 3Tau+--the Discovery degree of Chiron (Nov 1, 1977.)

This adds an oppressive Pluto-Chiron plutocratic flavor--the very people he spoke against all his life--to his North Nodal path (connections with the public; encountering the powerful.)

Pluto conj NN gives a special knack for seeing through prevailing social trends and the necessary drive and determination to take advantage of the ability. Negatively, this conj indicates a dangerous tendency toward attempting to manipulate social forces too large to be handled with safety--it's the tiger-by-the-tail aspect. Affairs get our of hand and there is danger of collapse (The Astrologer's Handbook., Sakoian)

Prison terms which ruin one's health would definitely qualify here.


Images for Integration for Debs' Sun/Moon blend:

An artist combines simplicity with intensity in a study of still life...A scientist probes into the mysteries of the cosmos...Britten's opera Billy Budd. (Sun Sign-Moon Sign, Chas & Suzi Harvery.)

You may wish to visit the Eugene V. Debs official website where you'll find, among other things, a list of recipients of the Debs Awards Program given for contributions to the advancement of the causes of industrial unionism, social justice, or world peace. Some recipients include Molly Ivins in 2003; Howard Zinn 1998; Edward Asner 1987; and Studs Turkel in 1983.

Eugene Debs ran for US president as the Socialist Party candidate in 1900, 1904, 1908, 1912, and 1920 (in 1920 from fed prison in Atlanta, Ga) and he must have been quite a thorn in the imperialist-robber barons' sides. Pres. Wilson "vigorously denied" a request for pardon in 1921, but Pres Warren G. Harding released him under a general amnesty on Christmas Day, 1921.

Harding then invited Debs to stop by the White House and told him, "I have heard so damned much about you Mr. Debs, that I am very glad to meet you personally."

Well, I'm glad someone in the White House (ever) showed some shame and humility. Debs' humility and friendliness in prison had won him the respect of fellow prisoners, and personally I would have been honored to have met him myself.

Needless to say, Debs' health was broken by his years in confinement and he died in a sanitarium on Oct 20, 1926.

Now perhaps you read "Socialist Party" and cringe a bit, yet no one can deny that Eugene V. Debs gave his all for America and for social justice--losing his health and his citizenship in the process.

Whenever I read the words of Eugene Debs I feel proud of America and feel her spirit of decency--whenever I read the words of recent US administrations I feel anxious, depressed, and above all--threatened. Our liberties are their toys, and our freedoms are to be dispensed with asap. The attacks of 9/11 were about just that for we've been couped from without and, even more debilitatingly, from within.


But just what have I done for America lately? Grouse, complain, and dissent against Washington DC imperialists and warmongerers...while it's still permissable. Is this "extremely dangerous"? Probably so, for somewhere in Bush's back pocket there must be an imperialist's signing statement covering the abolishment of sassy blogs such as this! If not, perhaps I may up the sass (no, I don't have a Pluto-NN conj!)


Hear an excerpt of Debs' presidential campaign speech of 1904.


And now some final bon mots from Mr. Debs:

"When great changes occur in history, when great principles are involved, as a rule the majority is wrong."

"Intelligent discontent is the mainspring of civilization."



update: here are my comments about this post at Jude's Threshold.

Shari'a banking near you

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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!