congressional Dems do something right

Salon's Glenn Greenwald: "House Democrats reject telecom amnesty, warrantless surveillance" (March 14, 2008)

As impressive as the House vote itself was, more impressive still was the floor debate which preceded it. I can't recall ever watching a debate on the floor of either House of Congress that I found even remotely impressive—until today. One Democrat after the next—of all stripes—delivered impassioned, defiant speeches in defense of the rule of law, oversight on presidential eavesdropping, and safeguards on government spying. They swatted away the GOP's fear-mongering claims with the dismissive contempt such tactics deserve, rejecting the principle that has predominated political debate in this country since 9/11: that the threat of the Terrorists means we must live under the rule of an omnipotent President and a dismantled constitutional framework.

...It's hard not to believe that there's at least some significant sea change reflected by this. They have seen that they can defy the President even on matters of Terrorism, and the sky doesn't fall in on them. Quite the opposite: an outspoken opponent of telecom amnesty, warrantless eavesdropping and the Iraq War was just elected to the House from Denny Hastert's bright red district, and before that, Donna Edwards ousted long-time incumbent Al Wynn by accusing him of being excessively complicit with the Bush agenda.

Virtually every one I know who has expended lots of efforts and energy on these FISA and telecom issues has assumed from the start—for reasons that are all too well-known—that we would lose. And we still might. But it's hard to deny that the behavior we're seeing from House Democrats is substantially improved, quite commendably so, as compared to the last year and even before that. It's very rare when there are meaningful victories and I think it's important to acknowledge when they happen.

Read the full story here.#

But the proof is whether the fireworks amount to anything worthwhile for the American people.

Portrait of a President doin' how he does

Look, it's upside-down-book-readin' Bush and here's my latest Bush grouse: How the Bush Administration Helped Engineer the Current Market Tumble which contains a link to Eliot Spitzer's Feb 14 WaPo editorial--the one which helped to get him canned.

Iraq war: Solar Return 2008

On March 19, 2008; 11:23:31 am BAT, Baghdad, Iraq, the Sun returns to its degree which marks the birth--the beginning--of the Bush-Cheney war of choice in Iraq.

~note: at end of this post, see link to article on what Hillary really said in 2003's build-up to war.

Click image to enlarge and you will see contentious Mars 5Can22 conj US n Jupiter, a time when one tends to give others more credit than they deserve, and when taking on an unnecessarily exaggerated role in activities is a temptation.

Mars and US Jupiter rise together, in fact, and will be first on the administration's plate for the upcoming period...and I refer to the Iraqi government as well as to Washington's neocons. More money, more troops? Probably both.

Others may facilitate or inspire expansion of the present circumstances and since Congress is apparently on the verge of signing yet another blank check for the Bush-Cheney war (yes! another $102 billion down the drain of this bottomless pit of a war adventure just so Bush-Cheney won't have to admit they were wrong), we may as well look at the war's Solar Return--the 5th anniversary--of the Iraq war chart.

Moon 00Vir32 is chart ruler applying to conj with depressive Saturn Rx, both linked to Royal Star Regulus, keywords: success if revenge is avoided. It's probably safe to say that no horses are left in that barn on any side.

This pairing of Moon-Saturn snug around Cheney's natal ASC so we may say that...Moon-Saturn = ASC: a reserved self-presentation; meeting with sick or depressed people. (He created a bunch of them, the least he can do is meet with them.)


Another indication of money issues is that the US natal Venus (money; values; relationships) is rising: ASC 3Can45. "4Can" is the "A cat arguing with a mouse" degree and I can think of several entities to nominate for 'cat' and 'mouse' roles in this obscene mystery play, can't you?


You see rebellious Uranus 19Pis15 near Mc 16Pis28 ("17Pis": "An Easter promenade") yet Mars is slightly closer to ASC than Uranus is to Mc. It's the combustible combo of Mars-Urnaus that concerns me--they're not square but will be when Mars reaches 19Can22, a degree which is often prominent in violent charts, as I have observed.

As you know, a Solar Return chart is "good for" the coming year it describes and may be used successfully as a predictor bwo transits to it throughout the year. Transits to its Angles--ASC/Desc and Mc/Ic are times of great energy manifestation and should be watched closely whenever timing issues are important.

Having said that (eeuwww--don't think I've ever typed that before--how tiresome) it's the two Dissociate T-squares I'm considering above all (two if you count ASC as part of one of them.)

Using the Tyl and Ebertin directories, here are their midpoint pictures which are driven by the current zealous Mars/Pluto opposition, and both involving the SUN in this Solar Return...any, all, or none may apply, or they may do so at some time during the upcoming year that this Return chart is operative...

Mars/Pluto = Sun: hard work; accident potential; upset of plans that is unredeemable; intervention of some undeniable force or authority; ability to work until collapse; violent measures; upset or shock through the intervention of a Higher Power.

Pluto/ASC = Sun: ruthlessness toward people in the environment; attaining respect through physical prowess and strength; seeing a whole new avenue for development and success; full steam ahead.

Now this is a Cardinal T-square with a Mutable apex planet--the Sun (not a planet of course, but referred to as such in Astrology); this is why it's called a *Dissociate pattern for then the apex planet expresses with more ease psychologically even as the T-square functions like a standard T-SQ on a situational level.

The lessening of internal pressures gives the apex planet (Sun) more leeway in responding to the challenges of the opposition (Mars/Pluto) as long as 'he' can relate to the intensity of outer conditions.

There could be, however, less motivation to extend the needed energy in order to overcome obstacles, and this is obviously made more difficult by the fact that the war's Sun is in Pisces, sign of oil, oceans, fish, confusion, and a desire to escape the real world's responsibilities.

Well, self-motivated Mars is still out-of-bounds and lighting matches and fashioning IEDs on his own, while this Return chart shows the 'loner's position' pair of Saturn/NN at the "1Sag" degree..."A Grand Army of the Republic campfire" indicating our standing alone in the world through our misguided and ill-directed invasion and long-drawn-out occupation of Iraq.

Yes, George and Dick and their imperial, elite globalist pals just had to do it, and with Bacchus, an asteroid whose keyword is: denial, conjunct the war's Sun at a high frequency, critical 29th degree, it bodes ill that the Bush administration will face the reality of their misdeeds and missteps which are bankrupting our nation.


*Dissociate T-square notes from Dynamics of Aspect Analysis, Bil Tierney


UPDATE March 18: In the build-up to war in 2003, what did Hillary really say?

Bank Bail-out suspicious as suspected

Now I thought the timing of the Spitzer revelations and Bernanke's bank bail-out using taxpayer money were suspiciously linked, I just didn't know how...

Eliot's Mess --The $200 billion bail-out for predator banks and Spitzer charges are intimately linked By Greg Palast 14 Mar 2008:

While New York Governor Eliot Spitzer was paying an ‘escort’ $4,300in a hotel room in Washington, just down the road, George Bush’s new Federal Reserve Board Chairman, Ben Bernanke, was secretly handing over $200 billion in a tryst with mortgage bank industry speculators. Both acts were wanton, wicked and lewd. But there’s a BIG difference. The Governor was using his own checkbook. Bush’s man Bernanke was using ours.

This week, Bernanke’s Fed, for the first time in its history, loaned a selected coterie of banks one-fifth of a trillion dollars to guarantee these banks’ mortgage-backed junk bonds. The deluge of public loot was an eye-popping windfall to the very banking predators who have brought two million families to the brink of foreclosure.

Information Clearing House has the article.

America going broke

And now, brought to you by Bush-Cheney, America is going broke and it's become impossible to hide...even when you're George Bush blabbing bromides at the Economic Club of New York (who surely ought to know better.)

Roubini's Nightmare Scenario;

A Vicious Circle Ending In A Systemic Financial Meltdown

By Mike Whitney

America is going broke and the rest of the world knows it. Bernanke is just speeding the country along the ever-steepening downward trajectory.

Information Clearing House has Whitney's article.

Aries Ingress Mar 20, 2008

With my internet connection still acting in squirrelly fashion, the chart for the Aries Ingress (when Spring and the natural year begin) doesn't have time to upload before unceremonious disconnection.

Finances, War, Bush, and Obama are in the chart and here are a few details which hopefully will publish successfully:

The two T-squares are main features which include the Mars-Pluto opposition, and Sun 00Ari00 opposite Midheaven in Washington DC...Aries Ingress at 1:48:25 am EDT, March 20, 2008--the 5th anniversary of Bush's Choice for war.

Mars--Pluto = Sun: taking drastic measures; injury; accident;passionate attack to achive an objective; upset of plans that is irredeemable; hard work.


The second T-square points to out-of-bounds Mars 5Can44 which is conj US natal Jupiter. The Ingress occurs during a Mars Hour.

Sun--Mc = Mars: energetic pursuit of one's objectives; urge to fulfill one's mission at all costs; making perosnal decisions; a powerful personality; strong power maneuvering in the profession; promotion and success.

Sun--Mc = n Jupiter: publicity; optimism; fulfillment.

Perhaps this chart will upload to Jude's Threshold and I will try to do so now.

Bush spy ring nets a rare Spitzer fish

Yeah it did, you know it did. What was he thinking? the analysts are asking. With what part of his anatomy? some may say. Guess he's not such a rare breed of Mr. Clean, after all.

Yet with Bush-Cheney under so much fire (not that the awkwardly-named 'probes' will amount to anything of worth, nor will 'reports' do anything but muddy the truth we heard with our own ears) it's expected that bloggers will, and MSM will have the excuse to, keep their collective eyes on the nutshell on the left when it's the one on the right that hides the real skunks.

Is this a good time to say once again, Never trust a man who says trust me?

Meanwhile, Bush is 'sending' Cheney to the Middle East to sue for 'peace' when he's the one who deserves suing for what he's done to the Middle East! It's a topsy turvy world a la George Bush!


"In the United States, both the Republican and Democratic Parties, with only a few prominent exceptions, have been and are in the pay of the corporate media and communication giants."--*John Nichols and Robert McChesney

And may we not forget it. --jude cowell



*quote heads-up from the excellent Information Clearing House

~note: you may wish to visit Jude's Threshold for a little astro-politics including some details on the Mystic Rectangle over Mississippi's Primary tomorrow...

Senate Seeks Iraq Oil Audit

Breaking News and Commentary from Citizens For Legitimate Government Mar 9, 2008

All items are here: LegitGov Breaking News

Senate Committee Seeks Audit of Iraq Oil Money Mar 9:

Two senior members of the Senate Armed Services Committee have requested a full accounting of how Iraq is spending its soaring oil revenue. Since the invasion in 2003, the United States has invested close to $50 billion in reconstruction Bush's corpora-terrorists.

A letter from the Armed Services Committee says, "we believe that it has been overwhelmingly US taxpayer money that has funded Iraq reconstruction [sic] over the last five years, despite Iraq earning billions of dollars in oil revenue over that time period that have ended up in non-Iraqi banks." #

Ah yes...the Rx Jupiter in the Iraq invasion chart: bottomless pit in the money department, I believe were my exact words. And since this has been going on for years now, and since US taxpayer money funds everything else in most of the world, thanks, guys, for finally noticing.

Whether this 'committee work' will amount to improvements in the situation, that's always a horse of another color in Washington.

America's coffers really MUST be empty for politicians to act as if they're speaking up on behalf of the tapped out taxpayer.

Yep, the cash cow has become a downer headed for slaughter but where's the beef? In non-Iraqi banks!

And meanwhile the American people are left with the patties of Washington.

Spitoon Blues

Sad for you, dear reader...the muse of political rhymerie has landed heavily upon my furrowed brow after watching this morning's political programs on TV...resistance is futile...


Salivating GOP
pray the nom is Hillary
if it's not they'll be in trauma
have to face Barack Obama

latest polls McCain is down
touting war all over town
tasted violence on his tongue
sacrifice our poor and young

Hill and Bar are neck'n'neck
job loss gone way up by heck
better talk about inflation
homelessness across the nation

or you'll both be flash-in-pans
like elite Republicans
Democrats it's yours to lose
US got the Spitoon Blues.

jc 3.9.08

Mar 7, 2008 transits to Arab Oil Embargo chart 1973

The excellent Information Clearing House has an interview by Amy Goodman with Stephen Kinzer author of All the Shah's Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror which gives a basic view of how the US and UK sparked our present troubles by their greed, perfidy, and the Bondian exploits of Teddy R's relative, suave spy Kermit Roosevelt, who facilitated the overthrow of Iran's democratically elected government which resulted in the re-installation of the Shah--bwo the CIA.

We can also thank the Eisenhower administration for the overthrow and its 'unintended consequences' which turns out to be something at which the US government excels. Lots of practice, and 1953 was no exception. Read the article, if you haven't, for it explains a lot of the UK and US machinations,shall we call them. It's the oil, stupid.

And I would add, and the money that can be made from the oil.

The book is now in paperback which I've been waiting for so I've put it on my Wish List.

Inspired by today's $106 barrel oil (the highest ever) here is the chart of the Arab Oil Embargo of 1973 which I took a re-gander at this evening along with the transits for this afternoon, 4:00 pm, NYC.

In the 1973 chart, North Node (associations; connections) is at00Cap58--this afternoon's Pluto? 00Cap58 (no, I didn't realize this until I saw it with my own peepers.)

This places today's tr Mars--out-of-bounds and setting bombs and fires all over the place~1Can08--conj 1973's South Node (of the Moon)--a separative point of karmic repercussions. Mars-SN = violence; war. And I might add, disenfranchised men between the ages of appr 25--35...some of them with red hair.

If we look at the possible word pictures of these three players, Mars, Pluto, NN, we get:

Mars-Pluto = NN: working with others to change the world; joint performance of record achievements; spurring others on; setting an example for others to achieve.

Mars-NN = Pluto: others must 'get on the train' or get left behind; a violent or enforced separation in a partnership.

Pluto-NN = Mars: exhibition of personal power; tyranny; demonstrating violence or brutality in the presence of others; desire to make others amenable to one's wishes; the misfortune to be placed under someone's else's power and control. (Tyl; Ebertin.)

Another clump of planets can be done the same way--1973's close conjunction of Moon 4Can42 and Saturn 4Can45, with 2008's tr Mars 1Can08, so we see:

Moon-Saturn = Mars: lack of determination; desire to overcome difficulties; soul-conflicts; the sense of real problems; difficulty getting off the ground except by very careful, strategically planned exertion of energy.

Moon-Mars = Saturn: caught in the middle of the road; frustration; quarreling; dissatisfaction or an unsatisfied desire; suppression.

Mars-Saturn = Moon: weak will; moodiness; depression; feelings about losing something.

Well, phooey--this post is being overtaken by a massive thunderstorm system rolling in now...so in case I don't get to complete this post before tomorrow, the above linked article makes it plain that a US strike on Iran would result, among other things, in Iran's being able to shut the Strait of Hormuz by sinking a couple of oil tankers which would effectively close the tap on 20% of the world's oil supply.

And the Pre-natal Eclipse Series of the Oil Embargo of 1973 is 11 South...Brady gives this Series as:

old ideas and methods fail; new systems are required to deal with events; blocks may be violently or tragically removed.

So if we hobble toward 2009 without allowing Cheney-Bush their daft and cruel strike on Iran then we've got trouble comin'...this Eclipse repeats on July 22, 2009, "30Can": "A daughter of the American Revolution."