Senate Armed Services Committee faults Bush adm on torture

The Senate Armed Services Committee released a report last evening, April 21, 2009, which faults the Bush administration for authorizing torture techniques.

Former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld authorized certain methods on Dec 2, 2002, so I took a quick look at that date and found a Grand Trine between Mars, Saturn, and Uranus which gives three midpoint pictures to consider (energies which could have been operative on many levels anywhere on the globe and for anyone, of course - and people chose how to use them), but see if you think any of them apply to the subject at hand...Grand Trine patterns indicate closed circuits of energy:

Mars/Saturn = Uranus: the inclination to apply brute force; the ability to take as well as give under provocation; extraordinary and unusual powers of resistance; the inclination to apply brute force; a nervous test of strength; sudden illness or separation; intervention by a Higher Power; intense drive; breaking loose; gaining independence through struggle.

Mars/Uranus = Saturn: violence; a lack of adaptability; energy concentrated on separation; a heavy injury; operation; violent destruction; a clash between controls and the freest spirit; potential battles and separations; controls cannot be tolerated.

Saturn/Uranus = Mars: an act of violence; the occasionally wrong use of extraordinary energy; undergoing great efforts and toil; a violent or forced release from tensions or strains; challenging others for a decisive contest or fight; deprivation of freedom; injury; accident; tremendous upheaval possible in rebellion, through calamity, overexertion, or anxiety about how things will get on. (Ebertin; Tyl.)

Happy Earth Day, earthlings! April 22, 2009

People. Of. Earth.

Here is NASA's famous - and first ever - Earth from space photo. Just look at the watery, lonely little thing! And yet...You Are Here.

Hope no one minds if I publish this image in honor of Earth Day, Wednesday, Aril 22, 2009. Since the planet belongs to us all, shouldn't the photograph?

~:~

Scroll just below to my previous post for today's SpaceWeather News alert concerning Earth Day 2009's early morning celestial displays - from Lyrid meteors to a lovely Moon-Venus Occultation! And lusty Mars will be lounging nearby.

Here's an Art representation for '30 Pisces' (where all the action is at the moment) called 'Temple of the Great Stone Face' if you should find yourself in the mood for Sabian Symbol details concerning '30 Pisces' along with a smidge of artwork tossed in just for you from me.

And the above 'People. Of. Earth.' greeting is from TV's Craig Ferguson on The Late Late Show.

4.22.09: Lyrid meteors and Moon occults Venus

Wake Up, you Sleepyheads! It's time for the...

Space Weather News for April 21, 2009

MORNING METEORS: Earth is entering a stream of debris from Comet Thatcher, the source of the annual Lyrid meteor shower. Forecasters expect the shower to peak on Wednesday, April 22, with a display of 10 to 20 meteors per hour over the northern hemisphere. Occasionally, Earth passes through a dense region of the comet's tail and rates surge five- to ten-fold.

In 1982, for instance, observers were surprised by an outburst of 90 Lyrids per hour. Because Thatcher's tail has never been mapped in detail, the outbursts are unpredictable and could happen again at any time. The best time to look, no matter where you live, is during the dark hours before dawn on Wednesday morning April 22.

Visit SpaceWeather for full coverage.

LUNAR OCCULTATION OF VENUS: Even if the Lyrids fizzle, there is still something wonderful to see on Wednesday morning, April 22. The Crescent Moon and Venus are going to have a close encounter of jaw-dropping beauty. Look low and to the east just before sunrise. Observers in western parts of North America will see a lunar occultation: Venus will disappear behind the Moon's limb just after 5 am PDT and reappear again an hour or so later.

Details may be found in this Science@NASA story.

:~:

Can a return of particular meteors and comets bring past issues to the front burner again?

Astrogically the year 1982 saw a bleak Saturn-Pluto conjunction on Nov 8 at 26Lib36. Theirs is an approximately 33-year cycle and tends to bring difficult or even brutal events which demand much endurance.

We know that the culmination of the 1982 cycle is well-marked by the attacks of 9.11.01 with the Saturn-Pluto opposition falling across America's natal ASC/DESC axis (in the so-called Sibly chart - 12Sag/Gem) 'personalizing' the opposition for the USA and heralding the New Millennium for America and for the entire world.

In late November of 1982, Pluto entered Scorpio which brought intense focus on financial issues and other confidential matters.

That year there were military coups in Guatemala and Bangladesh, and Israel invaded Lebanon in retaliation for the wounding of the Israeli ambassador in London.

And the endless cycle of violence and revenge goes on.

Also in 1982 was the invasion of the Falklands Islands by Argentina and subsequently its recapture by British troops. PM Margaret Thatcher in the UK and Pres. Ronald Reagan in the US were at the tops of their heaps if not their games.

Plus, the NYSE saw a record day in trading in 1982 but - surprise! - what goes up must come down. Oh, and Prince William was born in England, and a burglar broke into Buckingham Palace and frightened the Queen.

So if you hear mention of any of these events or persons in coming days - a Comet Thatcher reference having just occurred above bwo SpaceWeather News - perhaps you'll think '1982' - and how cool Astrology blended with Astronomy can be for pointing out similarities and synchronicities...for As above, So Below!

Astrology of the Oklahoma City Bombing

Here you see the Astrology chart of the Oklahoma City Bombing.

With yesterday being the 14th anniversary of the horror of April 19, 1995, I've slightly updated by adding to my Astrology notes concerning the event and left the original post intact.

The link will lead you to my WordPress blog, Jude's Threshold, which isn't allowing a lot of image enlargements these days - at least not in my browser. So I'm publishing the chart for you here as well but my notes are in the WordPress article, if you'd care to check it out.

Nuremberg Trials verdict: film video

If you can spare 6 minutes please watch Spencer Tracey portraying the Nuremberg Trials judge passing verdict on what the world had hoped was left behind in the 20th century - but alas the demons have followed us here.

As a child I watched the film Judgment at Nuremburg with much fascination especially since I'd read The Diary of Anne Frank (at much too early and impressionable an age), plus, my Uncle Bill was living in Germany. Actually it was common to hear a lot about the Holocaust and the subsequent trials when I was a pup although it all had been a few years prior.

The marvel is that Spencer Tracey didn't win an Academy Award for his portrayal - but Maximillian Schell, giving a wonderful performance, did! The film also contains stellar turns by Burt Lancaster, Marlene Dietrich, and Richard Widmark, among other familiar faces.

Somehow I suspect that if a current-day Hollywood studio made a film about The Diary of Anne Frank now, they'd probably name it 'I Shall Call You Kitty.'

The Crystal Ball of Meghan McCain

John McCain's 24-year-old daughter Meghan McCain is making predictions of a civil war within the Republican Party as factions collide - not a new occurrence for the GOP certainly but the themes in 2009 vary greatly from their past dust-ups.

Ex: the contentious 'Stalwarts' vs 'Half-Breeds' division of the party in the 1890s comes to mind (if I think of the Rs at all.)

Taurus New Moon this week: April 20 - 26, 2009

The Tranquil Dark is upon us this week as surface lights and deeper shadows play hide'n'peek with our conscious/unconscious minds. Follow the link to Julie Demboski's excellent column detailing the week's planetary energies as the Dark of the Moon begins April 21 PDT and leads us to a New Moon of fresh starts.

In Washington, DC the New Moon 5Tau04 of April 24 (11:22 pm edt; Hour of the Moon) falls in the domestically-inclined, security-minded 4th house yet it conjuncts the chart's 5th cusp 5Tau29, the house of Risk-Taking, Gambling, and Creative Endeavors. This means that new beginnings will affect the 4th and 5th houses in Washington with 4th cusp/IC 7Ari28 ruled by Mars and the Taurean 5th cusp ruled by Venus.

And there's the lovey pair, Venus 00Ari13 = AP (World Point of prominence) conj Mars 1Ari59, hugging the IC they so recently crossed during the Dark of the Moon. Orchestrating asteroid Terpsichore is conj IC, the Foundation/Basis of the chart, aka the HOW? Point.

The WHY? Point = Midheaven (MC) 7Lib28, and WHAT? is the Ascending degree: 17Sag59, Pluto 3Cap12 Rx in 1st house. Pluto is also focal or apex planet of a Cardinal T-square which forms a midpoint picture - a feisty little number for getting things done...

Mars/MC = Pluto: power; promotion; the big picture; extraordinary zeal; great vigor; a desire to bring immense tasks to successful conclusions; publicity.

In Dynamics of Aspect Analysis, Bil Tierney gives an apex Pluto in a Cardinal T-square as an intense loner, a high-powered and ruthless executive who demands penetrating insight into all phases of operation - he has no intention of sharing control with anyone, thanks; and because of the outgoing Cardinal energy, there may be explosive displays and broken relationships with this apex Pluto.

The Partnership angle, the Descendant or 7th cusp conjuncts the Venus Occultation degree of June 2004, the G-8 Summit on Sea Island, GA. So this New Moon relates to unusual partnerships that were formed then which created unsuspected associations between those whose identities would be a big surprise were we privy to such world-dominating information...Desc 17Gem59 ('18Gem' - think China.)

Chart-ruler Jupiter makes only two applying aspects in the New Moon chart...

Jupiter conj Chiron (2A28), and Jupiter readying for his Great Conjunction with Neptune (3A03 = first conj on May 27.) Both Chiron and Neptune are in 2nd house of Earning Ability, Values, and Self-Worth along with expansive Jupiter. Did I hear you say, excess liquidity? Or perhaps, inflation? Grand plans do abound!

So where is restricting put-on-the-brakes Saturn? 15Vir19 Rx in 9th house of Philosophy, Higher Education, Religion, and Foreign Travel and acting as the bucket pattern's handle.

The 'bucket' stretches from the 1st house Pluto 3Cap12 Rx to Mercury 25Tau15 in 6th house of Work, Service, and Health - and someone (Mr. Saturn - an older person: a manager or professor, and possibly a Democrat) - someone needs control and is being driven by unrelenting demands.

Yes, Saturn is carrying the whole shebang and makes no aspects in the New Moon chart except for a *quindecile (165 degr = obsession-compulsion) to luxury-loving Venus...

Venus QD Saturn: ambitions and goals may be used as substitutes for relationships; fear of material loss; ambitious and materially successful but lacks trust in others.

Now there could reside Saturn's 'unrelenting demands' in this financial climate, and we know the big bankers and Wall Street thieves are having a doozy of a time trusting one another long enough to transact business.

And of course the T-square mentioned above means that Pluto squares Venus which gives a compulsive desire for complete control in relationships, a wayward and wasteful handling of money to the point of destruction, and a conscious or unconscious tendency to undermine partnerships and associations.

Pluto squaring Mars isn't much easier energy to handle: violent tempers flare and destruction of all sorts may ensue. Projects are often aborted under this influence, yet it contains tremendous energy for successful accomplishments if the zealous side can be channeled into positive enterprises on behalf of the collective rather than against it.

Since neither Sun nor Moon apply to another planet (or point) in April 24's New Moon chart, the sign and degree of the lunation increases in importance which emphasizes the 4th and 5th house areas of life (as mentioned above), and highlights the Sabian Symbol for '6Tau'...

"A Bridge Being Built Across a Gorge"...CHANNELSHIP...

positive expression: the directness and the practical instinct by which personality achieves ultimate benefit of its powers;

neg/unconscious/shadow side: a love of short cuts and every possible escape from the obligations of daily living. (The Sabian Symbols in Astrology, Dr. Marc Edmund Jones.)

Dane Rudhyar gives the Keynote for '6Tau' as: 'The conquest of separativeness through group cooperation.'

And while we're at it, let's look at the New Moon's opposite degree, aka the Illumination Point which may give some interesting unconscious information concerning the New Moon in Taurus - and relates rather well to Julie's two levels of awareness for the week's planetary energies (for brevity's sake I shall use only the Jones version with my italics)...

'6Scorpio': 'A Gold Rush'....AMBITION...

pos: instinctive self-dedication to the unseen potentials of everyday existence;

neg/unconscious/shadow side (this one is hidden deep in our psyches - the unconscious of the unconscious): a lack of practical discrimination and an irresistible desire for easy money.

Well, Taurus is one of the money signs and likes good value for its money - though it's seemingly impossible to assess value on the current mystery-meat financial 'instrument' plate. Or so the 'experts' tell us.

The Sun Tau-Moon Tau blend is double-Earth, therefore it is practical, slow and steady, and seeks certainties which are frustratingly in short supply these days.

It's a calm, kind combination unless and until you see steam escaping from Ferdinand the Bull's nose, so the New Moon may relate to a bull market - we'll have to see how the next two weeks play out financially until the culmination of the next Full Moon on May 9 at 12:01:21 am edt in DC.

Keep your red cape tucked away for there may be some foot-stamping and ground-pawing going on prior to May 9's Full Moon 18Sco41/Sun 18Tau41 opposing one another across the 4/10 axis in DC. The Moon will have 'spilled out of the bucket' by then and Mercury will be retrograde at 1Gem35.

More on this particular Full Moon later except for one thing: its Sun Tau-Moon Sco blend is shared natally with Pres. Warren G. Harding who helpfully intoned:

"Our country needs not heroics but healing, not nostrums but normalcy; not revolution but restoration."

Healing, normalcy, and restoration for America? Where do I sign?


Now back to this week's New Moon where we find the Tau-Tau blend's Images for Integration, one of which may well relate on some level to bucket-handle lesson-bringer Saturn, who shall function properly by closing this post...

'A successful baker is surrounded by delighted children eating fresh bread rolls...A loving teacher resolves an angry dispute.'

~:~

* The Quindecile, by Ricki Reeves (see slide show of Amazon books in sidebar. If the sidebar's content isn't displaying properly perhaps you can refresh the page and/or update your browser! I'm using IE8 now.)

Naomi Klein's new Obama lexicon: are you hopesick?

Here's Barack Obama in 2008 campaign mode.

But the 'campaign high' couldn't last and Pres. Obama has yet to pass the fabled '100 days' of his term in office which is only part of the marvel that he's already disappointed many people on multiple issues.

Of course there are several astrological factors involved in the situation for Astrology, like the life on Earth it describes, is complex and multi-layered. And I am about to mention a couple of them unless you stop reading here.

The Inauguration 2009 chart shows a very stressed out Moon (the people; the public) at a critical/crisis point of 29 degrees. (29 degr of any sign is a critical degree as the body there impatiently strains toward the next sign, and one is 'at the end of his/her rope' relating to the sign placement, which in this case is Scorpio.)

The next sign after the Inaugural Moon's 2009 position in Scorpio, sign of big business and creditors, is the happy-go-lucky Jupiter-ruled Sagittarius! Jolly, expansive Jupiter likes to dream big - and that we were anxious to do.

Yes, we-the-people were in trouble and feelin' the pain of others' past political mistakes, financial frauds, and other corruptions by Jan 20, 2009...and a new face was talking the heady language of help-on-the-way. (See photo above.)

And we could say that the people's impatience, tamped down though Mr. Obama tried to make it, is part of the problem now as supporters morph into early flip-floppers and become some of the president's bitterest critics because magic has not been created with a quick wave of a conjurer's wand. Yes, when you lose your job and your family's livelihood, it's extremely easy to succumb to bitterness.

Meanwhile the planet of magic, Neptune, 22Vir25 in America's natal chart (9th house in the oft-used Sibly chart), continues to undergo the cold water of realism with grim-faced Saturn coming to call, a Saturn-to-natal-Neptune transit not exact until late August (2009.)

Right away, most astrologers know that more hopesickness, as Ms. Klein aptly terms it, is waiting to pounce upon wary and unwary Obama supporters and opponents alike.

And with US Neptune conjunct Mr. Obama's natal Mars (to the degree: 22Vir+), we know that the Saturn-to-natal-Mars transit for him is providing a lot of hard work (Mars-Saturn) on his list of actions to take (Mars) which are inhibited by realistic considerations (Saturn.) We also know that we-the-people's ideals, dreams, and hopes (Neptune, in Virgo, sign of work, jobs, and health) have been out of proportion to what one man can reasonably (Saturn) accomplish (Mars.)

Yes, wherever Neptune is positioned in a chart there may be inspiration but also self-delusions, illusions, and deception. That's why Saturn's visit there can seem a cold bucket of grim reality's water. And no matter who had moved into the Oval Office in Jan 2009, America would be experiencing this transit and this quality of reaction.

Yet it seems harder with Pres. Obama because our hopes are set so very high for populist solutions, both practical and inspired.

'Don't get your hopes up too high' is good advice, and 'the bigger they are, they harder they fall' is a good descriptor of what's going on post-inauguration with Obama hopesickness but click above and let Naomi Klein explain her new lexicon for BHO disappointment, if you will, as some people have entered the 'buyers' remorse' phase while others are arriving there soon.

Personally I'm waiting for jobs (Virgo) to be created (Saturn = form and manifestation on the earthly plane) to ease the people's pain before I give up entirely on the mortal shoulders of this one man. Job creation would be a most welcome and positive expression of Saturn-to-Neptune-in-Virgo since Saturn can stabilize what he touches as well.

Yet the fact that Saturn-Neptune together can make for secret government, deceptive government, communism, socialism, and other such unpalatable things for America's usual menu, is even more important than pig-in-poke disappointment, for a New World Economic Order may require America to kowtow to a global boss which most probably won't be the US at the top of the power heap.

Or if it is, we won't recognize the old girl as we be pine for our Lady Liberty.

So how involved and culpable President Barack Obama is in the enabling of a one-world-government agenda - which requires the breaking down of our nation - remains to be seen in full but my sense is that that will be an even greater disappointment to the American people (assuming BHO completes his term in office. Or even if he doesn't.)

His role in such plans, if indeed they succeed, will be bitter fodder for years to come as our Neptunian campaign-promise-gullibility is once again exposed to the light of Saturnian realism. His natal Mars conjunct US natal Neptune shows that our expectations (Neptune) of what Mr. Obama can do (Mars) has clouded (Neptune) our perceptions of his actions (Mars.)

But as Naomi Klein mentions in her article, realism is a good thing.

For no one can solve problems until they're acknowledged and identified - and we need lesson-bringer Saturn's magic wand of clear assessment to help us with this tremendous task.

The Life of Nostradamus + 1999's King of Alarm Eclipse

It is my opinion that the world hasn't been the same since the Solar Eclipse of August 11, 1999 with its stressful Grand Cross hung upon the mid-degrees of the Fixed signs of Taurus (ox), Leo (lion), Scorpio (eagle), and Aquarius (angel), and that this relates to Revelation's prophecy of the angels letting go the winds of war and strife.

Now you don't have to agree with my Biblical view of the Eclipse, but you can't deny that the world is experiencing increasing numbers of wars and strife, can you?

This difficult Solar Eclipse in the 1 North Series was predicted hundreds of years ago by physician, seer, and astrologer Michel de Nostradame, known in modern times as Nostradamus, and it has a few nicknames you've heard before: the Mother of All Eclipses, King of Alarm Eclipse, King of Terror Eclipse, and Nostradamus' Eclipse. Some have said (astrologer Nicholas Campion, if memory serves) that there is a difficult financial component to the Eclipse as well.

Well, considering the attacks of 9/11/01 on the World Trade Center and the gold in the Tower's basement along with Deustche Bank's offices there (and other financial institutions, if memory serves), a financial component seems probable since that's what has been rapidly changing for the worse in the New Millennium (except for the power elite - they're cornering the world's wealth. Do you know it? Can you feel it?)

Yes, financial collapse has issued forth like ripples on a pond from September 11, 2001 to 2008/09's financial crisis - and this reluctant astrologer suspects that the ill effects of greed, corruption, and the 'big plans for world domination' of the select few are continuing to reverberate with excessive war costs destroying the American economy as the US military industrial complex grinds down the dreams of future generations while "collaterally" killing and maiming millions of innocent people along with those who stand up to it.

Written during the Bush-Cheney terms in office, here's my post on the King of Alarm Eclipse with chart image, if you'd care to view. Do notice the Images for Integration for Sun Leo-Moon Leo of this Eclipse...especially the second one about the 'new king.'

Here's a site with the most complete story on the life of Nostradamus that I've ever found, down to the French-with-English-translation of his epitaph.

Now in case the above-linked image of the 8.11.99 Eclipse chart doesn't display well enough for your squinty peepers, here it is again - but you may want to click the link above to read my notes on the Eclipse.

And click the image below to enlarge for viewing some basic info added to the chart:



Note Venus triggering 1999's Eclipse degree; two more posts on the subject:

The Fed expected to cut rates today from September 18, 2007 about the worsening 'credit crunch'; included: Sept 18, 2007 was the 60th birthday of the CIA, with the agency's Pre-Natal Eclipse Series (3 North) being the PE of the attacks of 9/11/01...synchronicity at play? Plus, 9/11's Neptune '6AQ', at its Founding of Islam degree..."A Performer of a Mystery Play."

Or, if you prefer for 9/11's Neptune: '7AQ'..."A Child Born of an Eggshell"...'EMERGENCE OF GLOBAL MAN for the New Age' (Rudyar); America's primary White Lodge, akaThe White House, has a certain room shaped like an egg: the Oval Office. Synchronicity at play once again?

Then there's King of Alarm Eclipse of August 1999, which was written in January 2008 and contains...well, you'll just have to see!

Note on Commenting: all pertinent comments are welcomed here (although moderated) because we're all in this together, m'peops. And one little planet Earth is all any of us have got.

Stars Over Washington adds Congress' TweetStream

Yes, Twitter's excellent real-time TweetStream has been added in SO'W's sidebar column for both Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill.

Let's see how well the social experiment of Congress members keeping in touch with we-the-people works out bwo of 140-character-or-less tweets - just how good are Washington Twitterers in the updating game?