Can BP head Tony Hayward leave any sooner than October 1, 2010?
Too late, for BP has decided to take nearly $10 billion in US tax credits to offset the costs of cleaning up and compensating the Gulf Coast due to the BP Deepwater Horizon blowout and its subsequent environmental disaster extraordinaire.
Besides the raw audacity of this tax credit move, its brazenness points out to me how big corporations hold all the cards on their side (with the US government's collusion) for even when industrial titans seem poised on the verge of paying up fairly for their wrongs, transgressions, and cost-saving neglect they can always pull a legal rabbit out of a privileged and silken top hat...perhaps the one they wore last to the yacht races.
Why, it's almost another form of corporate welfare, isn't it? What a sneaky way of transferring corporate costs incurred by their own hand onto the backs of US taxpayers!
And it will be interesting to see if our hallowed US Congress can - or will - move an exalted muscle (so weakened is Congress by executive privilege encroachments these last few years) to do a single, practical thing about BP's tax dodge.
But that's with camera ops and long-winded grandstanding notwithstanding, of course.
Jul 27, 2010
A podcast on Political Astrology now available!
Just a brief heads-up for those who may wish to listen to a fresh podcast interview which Practical Astrology's Victoria Bazeley conducted with me concerning Political Astrology, and it's now available at WebTalkRadio.
I feel so 'New Millennial' doing my first-ever podcast, you know, and only 10 years in. So click for a freebie listen, or the interview may be downloaded for later listening, if you prefer. And don't be surprised if you detect my (slight?) southern drawl.
'Political Astrology' is a modern term for looking at politics, political events, politicians, nations, weather, natural disasters, and world concerns using the excellent lens of Astrology; all Political Astrology is Mundane Astrology but not all Mundane Astrology is political.
But there's a statement that needs correcting from the interview: I mention an article now on my drafting board for Julie Demboski's e-zine Eclipse - that I am using for my article the Jefferson-Dunlap version of America's natal chart (1:51 am LMT.) This is not true. In my files are many versions of the US birth chart with most set for July 4, 1776, but with various birth times garnered from the notes or journals of our Founders. Some times are based on additional historial records as well, so many potential Ascendants make for quite a puzzlement concerning America's true natal horoscope.
After all, using various Ascendants can create various chart-rulers so the astro-plot thickens considerably. And it takes years of study and chart rectification through the timing of major events to gain a sense of which chart to use, which one 'works' best. The attacks of 9/11/01 spotlights the Sibly version (5:10 pm LMT) since 2001's Saturn-Pluto opposition falls on its ASC-DESC axis with transit Pluto to natal ASC, tr Saturn to n DESC. Even before 9/11, America's Sibly chart is the one I used most often myself for that and for other reasons.
However, these days I am experimenting with different versions (Gemini, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, or Sagittarius rising!) Plus, it's possible to use a variety of US charts for certain issues; ex: Scorpio rising for spying agencies, surveillance, the occult, and/or Big Business. As said, the astro-plot thickens considerably.
However, the Jefferson chart I use for my Eclipse e-zine article is not the 'Jefferson-Dunlap' version, as stated (aka, the 'Jefferson-Jones chart' after Marc Edmund Jones' work on it) but the 'Jefferson chart' set for 6:30 pm LMT (July 4, 1776; 29Sag43 rising which keeps Jupiter as chart-ruler; Mc 22Lib44; Hour of Mercury Rx; Chiron conjunct Ic) which gives a Secondary Progressed New Moon for the US which is within one day of America's Secondary Progressions which are featured in my article.
Whew! I feel better having said that for it's bothered me for days that I "misspoke" during the podcast interview with Victoria - not a huge gaffe, to be sure, yet you and I both know that if I were a DC denizen and perpetrator of Washington politics, a mere 'misspeak' would be all I'd ever admit to!
I feel so 'New Millennial' doing my first-ever podcast, you know, and only 10 years in. So click for a freebie listen, or the interview may be downloaded for later listening, if you prefer. And don't be surprised if you detect my (slight?) southern drawl.
'Political Astrology' is a modern term for looking at politics, political events, politicians, nations, weather, natural disasters, and world concerns using the excellent lens of Astrology; all Political Astrology is Mundane Astrology but not all Mundane Astrology is political.
But there's a statement that needs correcting from the interview: I mention an article now on my drafting board for Julie Demboski's e-zine Eclipse - that I am using for my article the Jefferson-Dunlap version of America's natal chart (1:51 am LMT.) This is not true. In my files are many versions of the US birth chart with most set for July 4, 1776, but with various birth times garnered from the notes or journals of our Founders. Some times are based on additional historial records as well, so many potential Ascendants make for quite a puzzlement concerning America's true natal horoscope.
After all, using various Ascendants can create various chart-rulers so the astro-plot thickens considerably. And it takes years of study and chart rectification through the timing of major events to gain a sense of which chart to use, which one 'works' best. The attacks of 9/11/01 spotlights the Sibly version (5:10 pm LMT) since 2001's Saturn-Pluto opposition falls on its ASC-DESC axis with transit Pluto to natal ASC, tr Saturn to n DESC. Even before 9/11, America's Sibly chart is the one I used most often myself for that and for other reasons.
However, these days I am experimenting with different versions (Gemini, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, or Sagittarius rising!) Plus, it's possible to use a variety of US charts for certain issues; ex: Scorpio rising for spying agencies, surveillance, the occult, and/or Big Business. As said, the astro-plot thickens considerably.
However, the Jefferson chart I use for my Eclipse e-zine article is not the 'Jefferson-Dunlap' version, as stated (aka, the 'Jefferson-Jones chart' after Marc Edmund Jones' work on it) but the 'Jefferson chart' set for 6:30 pm LMT (July 4, 1776; 29Sag43 rising which keeps Jupiter as chart-ruler; Mc 22Lib44; Hour of Mercury Rx; Chiron conjunct Ic) which gives a Secondary Progressed New Moon for the US which is within one day of America's Secondary Progressions which are featured in my article.
Whew! I feel better having said that for it's bothered me for days that I "misspoke" during the podcast interview with Victoria - not a huge gaffe, to be sure, yet you and I both know that if I were a DC denizen and perpetrator of Washington politics, a mere 'misspeak' would be all I'd ever admit to!
Of sassy Virgo virgins and Mars-Neptune quincunxes
Today I've been moseying around the internet picking a small bouquet of articles for you, dear reader, and you simply cannot go wrong with Julie Demboski's take on the current Virgoan energies now shared between lovers Venus and Mars.
Mars now quincunxes (inconjuncts; 150 degrees) nebulous Neptune and shaman Chiron so check out what Julie has to say about this week's Virgoan sassiness with her usual clear-eyed, clearly explained planetary info.
Then Donna Cunningham points us all to the August-September issue of The Mountain Astrologer Magazine where we'll find her brilliant article on quincunxes, the square-peg-in-a-round-hole aspect that figures prominently in Finger of God patterns (YODs) when two quincunxes point to a third planet; the two planets in sextile (60 degrees) make a base which results in a shape that favors a squooshed triangle, third planet/s at its apex.
In Astrology, YODs denote a special task or purpose, a crisis, and/or turning point and in natal charts may indicate a purpose, lesson, or undealt-with condition passed down through the generations. It's time to deal in your lifetime with the issues shown by the involved planetary energies if you have a YOD in your chart. And when a YOD pattern forms by progression, it can be like an alarm clock going off saying, Get Busy. Outer planet involvement shows a larger condition which may need your input on behalf of the collective.
Yes, the quincunx is a major, not a minor aspect!
In fact, Mars quincunx Neptune gives an over-anxious, impatient quality to their hook-up and indicates failure of efforts even though one attempts to assert oneself positively. Postpone any hastily made plans when Mars inconjuncts Neptune (whose foggy, nebulous energies tend to gum up or confuse matters quite regularly on its own!)
Relationships can make huge demands on us under a Mars-Neptune quincunx so exploitation is a potential; we find it difficult to see through other people's insincerity. Machinery failures are common, and we're also vulnerable to infections so do what Mama said: wash those hands and cover your mouth when you cough or sneeze please. Even psychosomatic conditions may act up or sabotage us under this influence (which Neptune tends to have a hand in even without Mars coming along.)
And anyone considering doing something shady under Mars quincunx Neptune should be prepared for loads of guilty feelings welling up inside (or even better - reconsider and don't do it!)
Well, those are the good stuff I've found so far in my ramblings today. If you've found, know of, or have written an Astrology article of interest to the collective, do feel free to leave a Comment including its link here for others to follow.
Now for the sakes of Venus, Mars, and magical Neptune, here's Faye's Magic Lamp, one of my Vesta-esque drawings from Cosmic Persona Designs, a collection of fanciful figure studies for the 17+ among us.
Mars now quincunxes (inconjuncts; 150 degrees) nebulous Neptune and shaman Chiron so check out what Julie has to say about this week's Virgoan sassiness with her usual clear-eyed, clearly explained planetary info.
Then Donna Cunningham points us all to the August-September issue of The Mountain Astrologer Magazine where we'll find her brilliant article on quincunxes, the square-peg-in-a-round-hole aspect that figures prominently in Finger of God patterns (YODs) when two quincunxes point to a third planet; the two planets in sextile (60 degrees) make a base which results in a shape that favors a squooshed triangle, third planet/s at its apex.
In Astrology, YODs denote a special task or purpose, a crisis, and/or turning point and in natal charts may indicate a purpose, lesson, or undealt-with condition passed down through the generations. It's time to deal in your lifetime with the issues shown by the involved planetary energies if you have a YOD in your chart. And when a YOD pattern forms by progression, it can be like an alarm clock going off saying, Get Busy. Outer planet involvement shows a larger condition which may need your input on behalf of the collective.
Yes, the quincunx is a major, not a minor aspect!
In fact, Mars quincunx Neptune gives an over-anxious, impatient quality to their hook-up and indicates failure of efforts even though one attempts to assert oneself positively. Postpone any hastily made plans when Mars inconjuncts Neptune (whose foggy, nebulous energies tend to gum up or confuse matters quite regularly on its own!)
Relationships can make huge demands on us under a Mars-Neptune quincunx so exploitation is a potential; we find it difficult to see through other people's insincerity. Machinery failures are common, and we're also vulnerable to infections so do what Mama said: wash those hands and cover your mouth when you cough or sneeze please. Even psychosomatic conditions may act up or sabotage us under this influence (which Neptune tends to have a hand in even without Mars coming along.)
And anyone considering doing something shady under Mars quincunx Neptune should be prepared for loads of guilty feelings welling up inside (or even better - reconsider and don't do it!)
Well, those are the good stuff I've found so far in my ramblings today. If you've found, know of, or have written an Astrology article of interest to the collective, do feel free to leave a Comment including its link here for others to follow.
Now for the sakes of Venus, Mars, and magical Neptune, here's Faye's Magic Lamp, one of my Vesta-esque drawings from Cosmic Persona Designs, a collection of fanciful figure studies for the 17+ among us.
Jul 26, 2010
A link to WikiLeaks' "Afghan War Logs"
With a spirit of full disclosure concerning what the US government purports to be doing in my name, I'm posting the WikiLeaks Afghan War Diary 2004 - 2010 link which I had to switch to Firefox as my browser to obtain.
By the time you click to read what the Pentagon has been up to in this privatized-for-profit war in distant Holy Lands - the link may be broken, or links within the page may not be Live. The site may be taken down or otherwise sabotaged.
Therefore, you may wish to try The Guardian.
This will be primarily because the White House and the Pentagon are understandably upset that this massive information dump has occurred and as one of the Vietnam-era Flower Power Generation, perhaps I may be forgiven for remembering fondly Dr. Daniel Ellsberg and his leaking of The Pentagon Papers which helped mightily to change the debate on the Vietnam War, eventually ending US aggression.
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has compared the leaking of The Pentagon Papers with the documents he has recently released on his site and - weeks ago - made available to 3 newspapers including The Guardian and Der Spiel.
Yet it seems that so far, the White House isn't 'challenging the veracity' of some of the reports such as the info on Pakistan's ISI spy service working and planning with the Taliban while the Pakistani government facetiously takes billions of dollars of 'aid' from American coffers to allegedly 'fight' the Taliban.
It is said that the newspapers' publishing of the 'Afghan War Logs' have been coordinated with WikiLeaks. This may be considered an 'attack' on the White House and Pentagon - on the nation, actually. The 'national security' card is already being played and will win out, I suppose.
Well! It seems that Sunday evening's Full Moon @ 3AQ00 has brought to light many transgressions which are unavoidable in war. These Bush-Cheney wars were, however, completely avoidable in both cases as they were neocon warhawk wars of choice.
President Obama has so far stuck with the set course toward imperialism and plunder.
My previous post mentions that the Full Moon of July 25, 2010 is/was a Buck Moon, and I wondered where the 'buck stops'...turns out, the buck stops with America and is driven by our government's unquenchable thirst for more power, more resources, more territory, and more wealth.
Even if these things belong to someone else.
Shame.
It's win-at-any-cost and might-makes-right as the tattered, threadbare cap knit together by strands of 'spreading democracy and freedom' is rent now in two and the freedom bells ring hollow in the United States of America this morning.
Surely there can be no going back. Is this An Awakening, perhaps? Out of the slumber of war?
For me there is no patriotic flag large enough to cover the hypocrisy and the out and out criminality of what the American government has perpetrated in Afghanistan and Iraq - in my name.
And my horror includes the idea that it may be my own government whose finger-on-The-Button is most worrisome in this dangerous world where Niobe's Plea too often goes ignored by cynical idealogues who plot against little children while remaining so very far above the fray.
Niobe's Plea is imported from Cosmic Persona Designs (for 17+ only, for Chiffonery Art is involved.)
The Niobe archetype in Myth and Astrology: the grieving mother; this includes Ecology and Eco-Awareness of our living, breathing Mother Earth.
By the time you click to read what the Pentagon has been up to in this privatized-for-profit war in distant Holy Lands - the link may be broken, or links within the page may not be Live. The site may be taken down or otherwise sabotaged.
Therefore, you may wish to try The Guardian.
This will be primarily because the White House and the Pentagon are understandably upset that this massive information dump has occurred and as one of the Vietnam-era Flower Power Generation, perhaps I may be forgiven for remembering fondly Dr. Daniel Ellsberg and his leaking of The Pentagon Papers which helped mightily to change the debate on the Vietnam War, eventually ending US aggression.
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has compared the leaking of The Pentagon Papers with the documents he has recently released on his site and - weeks ago - made available to 3 newspapers including The Guardian and Der Spiel.
Yet it seems that so far, the White House isn't 'challenging the veracity' of some of the reports such as the info on Pakistan's ISI spy service working and planning with the Taliban while the Pakistani government facetiously takes billions of dollars of 'aid' from American coffers to allegedly 'fight' the Taliban.
It is said that the newspapers' publishing of the 'Afghan War Logs' have been coordinated with WikiLeaks. This may be considered an 'attack' on the White House and Pentagon - on the nation, actually. The 'national security' card is already being played and will win out, I suppose.
Well! It seems that Sunday evening's Full Moon @ 3AQ00 has brought to light many transgressions which are unavoidable in war. These Bush-Cheney wars were, however, completely avoidable in both cases as they were neocon warhawk wars of choice.
President Obama has so far stuck with the set course toward imperialism and plunder.
My previous post mentions that the Full Moon of July 25, 2010 is/was a Buck Moon, and I wondered where the 'buck stops'...turns out, the buck stops with America and is driven by our government's unquenchable thirst for more power, more resources, more territory, and more wealth.
Even if these things belong to someone else.
Shame.
It's win-at-any-cost and might-makes-right as the tattered, threadbare cap knit together by strands of 'spreading democracy and freedom' is rent now in two and the freedom bells ring hollow in the United States of America this morning.
Surely there can be no going back. Is this An Awakening, perhaps? Out of the slumber of war?
For me there is no patriotic flag large enough to cover the hypocrisy and the out and out criminality of what the American government has perpetrated in Afghanistan and Iraq - in my name.
And my horror includes the idea that it may be my own government whose finger-on-The-Button is most worrisome in this dangerous world where Niobe's Plea too often goes ignored by cynical idealogues who plot against little children while remaining so very far above the fray.
Niobe's Plea is imported from Cosmic Persona Designs (for 17+ only, for Chiffonery Art is involved.)
The Niobe archetype in Myth and Astrology: the grieving mother; this includes Ecology and Eco-Awareness of our living, breathing Mother Earth.
Jul 23, 2010
Aquarius Full Moon of the Buck: July 25, 2010
The Full Moon 3AQ00 on July 25, 2010 @ 9:37 pm edt is an annual Buck Moon and my friend C.J. Wright, author of the wonderful Auntie Moon blog, has published an excellent article telling us how to read a Full Moon in relation to our personal horoscopes.
Check out C.J.'s Full Moon in Aquarius: Feel Like Bucking the System? for details. For where better to go for lunation information than from Auntie Moon herself? ;p
In Washington, they like to say The Buck Stops Here whether they mean it or not. (And yes, it's usually just a political slogan trotted out when expedient.)
But where will the buck stop in your chart for July-August 2010? If you know where '3AQ' falls, there you'll find you inner lunar Bambi! (Mine's in 5th house and I'm still feeling traumatized by a childhood viewing of Disney's film Bambi.)
Now in the Inauguration 2009 horoscope for President Obama, '3AQ' was inhabited by a 10th house Jupiter, planet of big bucks, bankers, The General, professors, gurus and yogis, priests, and Republicans.
If we look to the Sabian Symbols for clues to 2010's Buck Moon we find that:
'3AQ" = "A Deserter from the Navy"...'Keynote: The individual's self-realization through a crucial repudiation of a collective status which has become unbearable. (Rudhyar, An Astrological Mandala.)
(My italics in memory of that great Shakespearian bard, Sarah Palin.)
Dane Rudhyar goes on to explain this degree as: 'Something with collective social value is being potentially destroyed, but nature is not the destroyer. Man, the individual, steps out of his bondage to collective patterns and ideals. He may "find himself" by means of a sharp renunciation of his social birthright, i.e. by a crucial process of DESOCIALIZATION.'
Well, many things of collective social value have been and are in process of being destroyed with the collusion of many entities and forces as big industry titans like BP Oil execs seem to have forgotten their own social birthrights as part of the human race. This makes the exploitation of the natural world and of their fellow man more palatable and must in part account for their ability to sleep at night and face themselves in mirrors next morning, imho. (Vampirism notwithstanding.)
Then, if you prefer the rounding-up method for the symbols, there's '4AQ" which may relate more to Inugural 2009 Jupiter 3AQ32 - and this is also Jupiter's position in the natal chart of Bavarian Iluminati founder, *Adam Weishaupt:
'4AQ" = "A Hindu Yogi Demonstrates His Healing Powers"...'Keynote: The disciplined use of spiritual energies in restoring the natural harmony disturbed by man's inharmonic attempts to transcend nature through mind.
It is the spiritual duty of individuals who have been able to tap the vast reservoir of spiritual forces pervading our planet to use these energies for healing their less-fortunate comrades. (...)
Self-discipline, purity of motive, compassion, faith in the divine order are required--and the FOCUSING OF SPIRITUAL ENERGY.'
(My bold in honor of Inaugural Jupiter 2009.)
May people of good faith take the lead in focusing of spiritual energy and thereby put the dark forces behind us, forces which intend only ill for all mankind...even the power elite who imagine themselves above such mundane considerations.
~:~
*Read more on the Astrology of Adam Weishaupt's Illuminati here.
A Blog Note: this Buck Moon weekend will be sparse in the blogging department as I work to complete an article for a certain online magazine. For those with an interest in using the lens of Astrology to look at US history and its effects on the future of America, I hope you'll be open to checking it out. But for now, the article is To Be Announced.
Now here's one of my favorite Full Moon drawings to wish you a Happy Buck Moon!
Full Moon Shining Across the Lake, copyright 2010.
~:~
Brief Update 7.24.10: NPR's book review feature this morning with Scott Simon made a rare mention of author, Pearl S. Buck. The mention seemed of interest to me for Sunday's Buck Moon though one occasionally hears of a long-ago lady author who lived in China until 1934 and used her experience to write her classic novel The Good Earth with a rousingly affectionate and loving description of Chinese peasants and a perfectly rhythmed writing cadence. The novel was a best-seller in 1931 and 1932; it won the Pulitzer Prize in 1932.
Pearl Sydenstricker Buck was a prolific literary genius yet her work has been overlooked by cultural gatekeeprs as this article points out and thus is seldom recommended.
Yet Buck was the first American woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature (1938) and her multiple works of fiction and non-fiction are worth a look from later generations. It's been later than her heyday and in our own times that feminism has successfully been diluted and given a black eye.
Those with short attention spans might better enjoy reading her short stories!
Check out C.J.'s Full Moon in Aquarius: Feel Like Bucking the System? for details. For where better to go for lunation information than from Auntie Moon herself? ;p
In Washington, they like to say The Buck Stops Here whether they mean it or not. (And yes, it's usually just a political slogan trotted out when expedient.)
But where will the buck stop in your chart for July-August 2010? If you know where '3AQ' falls, there you'll find you inner lunar Bambi! (Mine's in 5th house and I'm still feeling traumatized by a childhood viewing of Disney's film Bambi.)
Now in the Inauguration 2009 horoscope for President Obama, '3AQ' was inhabited by a 10th house Jupiter, planet of big bucks, bankers, The General, professors, gurus and yogis, priests, and Republicans.
If we look to the Sabian Symbols for clues to 2010's Buck Moon we find that:
'3AQ" = "A Deserter from the Navy"...'Keynote: The individual's self-realization through a crucial repudiation of a collective status which has become unbearable. (Rudhyar, An Astrological Mandala.)
(My italics in memory of that great Shakespearian bard, Sarah Palin.)
Dane Rudhyar goes on to explain this degree as: 'Something with collective social value is being potentially destroyed, but nature is not the destroyer. Man, the individual, steps out of his bondage to collective patterns and ideals. He may "find himself" by means of a sharp renunciation of his social birthright, i.e. by a crucial process of DESOCIALIZATION.'
Well, many things of collective social value have been and are in process of being destroyed with the collusion of many entities and forces as big industry titans like BP Oil execs seem to have forgotten their own social birthrights as part of the human race. This makes the exploitation of the natural world and of their fellow man more palatable and must in part account for their ability to sleep at night and face themselves in mirrors next morning, imho. (Vampirism notwithstanding.)
Then, if you prefer the rounding-up method for the symbols, there's '4AQ" which may relate more to Inugural 2009 Jupiter 3AQ32 - and this is also Jupiter's position in the natal chart of Bavarian Iluminati founder, *Adam Weishaupt:
'4AQ" = "A Hindu Yogi Demonstrates His Healing Powers"...'Keynote: The disciplined use of spiritual energies in restoring the natural harmony disturbed by man's inharmonic attempts to transcend nature through mind.
It is the spiritual duty of individuals who have been able to tap the vast reservoir of spiritual forces pervading our planet to use these energies for healing their less-fortunate comrades. (...)
Self-discipline, purity of motive, compassion, faith in the divine order are required--and the FOCUSING OF SPIRITUAL ENERGY.'
(My bold in honor of Inaugural Jupiter 2009.)
May people of good faith take the lead in focusing of spiritual energy and thereby put the dark forces behind us, forces which intend only ill for all mankind...even the power elite who imagine themselves above such mundane considerations.
~:~
*Read more on the Astrology of Adam Weishaupt's Illuminati here.
A Blog Note: this Buck Moon weekend will be sparse in the blogging department as I work to complete an article for a certain online magazine. For those with an interest in using the lens of Astrology to look at US history and its effects on the future of America, I hope you'll be open to checking it out. But for now, the article is To Be Announced.
Now here's one of my favorite Full Moon drawings to wish you a Happy Buck Moon!
Full Moon Shining Across the Lake, copyright 2010.
~:~
Brief Update 7.24.10: NPR's book review feature this morning with Scott Simon made a rare mention of author, Pearl S. Buck. The mention seemed of interest to me for Sunday's Buck Moon though one occasionally hears of a long-ago lady author who lived in China until 1934 and used her experience to write her classic novel The Good Earth with a rousingly affectionate and loving description of Chinese peasants and a perfectly rhythmed writing cadence. The novel was a best-seller in 1931 and 1932; it won the Pulitzer Prize in 1932.
Pearl Sydenstricker Buck was a prolific literary genius yet her work has been overlooked by cultural gatekeeprs as this article points out and thus is seldom recommended.
Yet Buck was the first American woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature (1938) and her multiple works of fiction and non-fiction are worth a look from later generations. It's been later than her heyday and in our own times that feminism has successfully been diluted and given a black eye.
Those with short attention spans might better enjoy reading her short stories!
Jul 21, 2010
Is Obama a threat to Social Security benefits?
Can't resist posting this link so I'll know where to find it myself - it's an interview between Amy Goodman and Dean Baker concerning what's going on with current threats to Social Security by the Obama administration.
And no, I've never considered SS an 'entitlement' program especially since those of us who are self-employed have paid 100% of these taxes through the years and stupidly trusted the US gov to keep their dirty paws off it. Lockbox, schmockbox.
If SS benefits are cut and the retirement age is raised to 70 (who wants a 70-year old worker?! who???) then it will be yet another case of robbery perpetrated upon the under fire American people by their own government, or by tamping down on the government's years of wastefulness by the strong-arming from foreign entities and global fraudsters.
Now who can miss it?
Financial Collapse 2008 was engineered to make the rich richer while starving state, local, and national budgets so that an end to FDR's New Deal programs of what the rich among us call 'entitlements' (not always the correct term to describe what they want to steal) will be accepted by the general population as being 'necessary'.
Riling us up now, aren't they?
And no, I've never considered SS an 'entitlement' program especially since those of us who are self-employed have paid 100% of these taxes through the years and stupidly trusted the US gov to keep their dirty paws off it. Lockbox, schmockbox.
If SS benefits are cut and the retirement age is raised to 70 (who wants a 70-year old worker?! who???) then it will be yet another case of robbery perpetrated upon the under fire American people by their own government, or by tamping down on the government's years of wastefulness by the strong-arming from foreign entities and global fraudsters.
Now who can miss it?
Financial Collapse 2008 was engineered to make the rich richer while starving state, local, and national budgets so that an end to FDR's New Deal programs of what the rich among us call 'entitlements' (not always the correct term to describe what they want to steal) will be accepted by the general population as being 'necessary'.
Riling us up now, aren't they?
Financial Reform Bill signed
President Obama signed into law today his Financial Reform Bill @ 11:48 am edt White House, DC; Hour of Mars; chart-ruler Venus 12Vir25 is in 12th house and makes one major applying aspect (how things will proceed): a square with the Moon (the people); US natal Saturn 14Lib48 is our first natal planet to rise.
Here you see the Horoscope of the Financial Reform Bill signing, aka 'Wall Street Reform' (and thus this horoscope is the natal chart of the bill itself) but we'll have to keep the Wall Street potential for ethics improvement in mind as things go forward:
With separative South Node of the Moon at Mc (The Goal Point), Fixed Star Alhena (to have a mission) at Mc, and the above-mentioned Moon/Venus square, I don't expect the bill to garner much support from the American people especially with the constant and tiresome undermining from the opposing political party whose determination to cause Obama's failure as President affects America the Nation's failing or succeeding as well.
A good point is that the housing market may receive a boost from having NN at IC, the cusp of Home, Domestic Scene, and Real Estate. Yet there is lurking Pluto 3Cap28 Rx in the neighborhood (3rd house) focal planet in a midpoint picture:
Uranus/ASC = Pluto: use of force; a desire to attain success even under the most difficult circumstances; commanding success. There's a midpoint of energies opposing Mercury 20Leo55, planet of contracts and such...the combo = radical reforms; reformist policital groups.
Uranus/NN = Mercury: studying deeply before effecting change; a quick comprehension of things; excited thoughts shared with others; fast-traveling news; criticizing others. (Tyl; Ebertin; Munkasey; any, all, or none may apply.)
Another picture of interest: Mercury/Mc = Sun: further change.
If you count the ASC and MC, there's a Cardinal Grand Cross with the big bankster duo, Jupiter and Pluto which are squared to the degree (3Ari/Cap.)
A YOD between Sun/Saturn (sextiling one another still but just barely since Saturn changed signs) was pointing to an apex Neptune but now points to a crisis-ridden 29th degree: Chiron 29AQ57 Rx in 5th house of Gambling and Speculation.
And as you see, the ongoing opposition of wealthy, secretive Pluto to US natal Venus is on the Mc/Ic axis, the security/career axis - not a good portent for the signing, imho, yet it is one of the many reasons that reform is necessary.
SN at Mc has this Sabian Symbol: '12Can' = "A Chinese Woman Nursing a Baby with a Message" - and you know, this isn't the first time in recent weeks that a reference to China turned up in a US mundane chart, for obvious reasons: China is our #1 creditor, and Pluto the Dragon echoes China's national and traditional archetype of The Dragon. So, the Dragon it is, opposing our evaluating Venus, one of the money planets. Our n Jupiter is within orb of Pluto's opposition, too. Double dip recession?
(Also, Venus is a significator of our Statue of Liberty made of her favorite metal, copper, which today was evacuated for supposedly an incorrect smoke detector reading. None were hurt, I believe, except for the long stair hike down. Hmm...)
Sun (the leader) 28Can47 in 10th house, a bright and shiny place, yet Sun opposes US natal Pluto (in the 4th house of this chart' US natal planets are scribbled outside the chart in red) which indicates that others will firmly stand in one's way when trying to get to the bottom of things. If this bill is a power play, it won't work as far as secret hand Pluto is concerned. As a power move against the American people, it will be blocked or resisted but is now on track to be ruthlessly forced upon us, unintended consequences, or no.
Additionally with Sun opposing our national Pluto, others may be jealous or intimidated by the events of the day, by the power wielded by the President.
Be that as it may or may not be, today Mr. Obama got to play boss and sign another large piece of legislation - and the DOW closed down this afternoon 109 points.
Perhaps Wall Street is pouting. Someone is trying to take away their red truck and they only have 1,000-gazillion-bazillion blue ones, boo hoo.
Plus, there are interesting items tucked into the new reform bill (one concerns Jim McDermott's 'conflict mineral' provision) and many specifics are not yet written - guess they're still in the 'vision' stage - but not to fret. For hordes of lobbyists are already on Capitol Hill and working to sway how the specifics are written in favor of the financial, real estate, and insurance industries.
Meanwhile, the careless-with-oversight ratings agencies (S&P, Moody's, and Fitch) are up to shenanigans, too, concerning the bond markets. Seems they're afraid they could get themselves sued. Oh really? Integrity in one's business doesn't often lead to getting sued, my financial friends! Oh ye Ponzi-enablers!
Oh, and transiting Saturn 00Lib00 conjoins US natal Mc 00:53 in the Sibly chart, and opposes more closely tr Uranus 00Ari29 Rx, both planets now in Cardinal (active, outgoing energy.) Jupiter 3Ari24 Rx travels in tandem with Hermes, one of trickster archetypes...aka, the magician or alchemist.
Speaking of alchemy, I wonder if anyone has spotted in the bill provisions that concern gold or the gold market? Plus, tr Midas 8Gem53 (conjunct US n Uranus 8:55) and Pan, another trickster element with a 'panic' vibe @ 7Gem43 - both opposing the people's Moon in Sagittarius.
So please click to enlarge the image for more details, consider this horoscope and the situation as you will, and get back to me with a comment, if you may, because LINK TV is rebroadcasting Orwell Rolls in His Grave right now, a documentary about media being part of the problem rather than being the public watchdogs that Thomas Jefferson thought they'd always be on behalf of the American people.
But instead, the mainstream media obfuscates issues, focuses on trivial stories, and blurs the line between news and entertainment. Is the future of this nation and our children's futures only 'entertainment'?!? (See link below for news of real value with no fluff; check local listings for regional times. In edt, Amy Goodman broadcasts at 11:00 am weekdays.)
All these class warfare 'players' are part of a global crime syndicate, and have weakened our democracy over decades. And I fear that we haven't held on to our republic very well either.
DemocracyNow!
President Obama's remarks at signing ceremony July 21, 2010:
Over the past two years, we have faced the worst recession since the Great Depression. Eight million people lost their jobs. Tens of millions saw the value of their homes and retirement savings plummet. Countless businesses have been unable to get the loans they need and many have been forced to shut their doors. And although the economy is growing again, too many people are still feeling the pain of the downturn.
Now, while a number of factors led to such a severe recession, the primary cause was a breakdown in our financial system. It was a crisis born of a failure of responsibility from certain corners of Wall Street to the halls of power in Washington. For years, our financial sector was governed by antiquated and poorly enforced rules that allowed some to game the system and take risks that endangered the entire economy.
Unscrupulous lenders locked consumers into complex loans with hidden costs. Firms like AIG placed massive, risky bets with borrowed money. And while the rules left abuse and excess unchecked, they also left taxpayers on the hook if a big bank or financial institution ever failed.
Now, even before the crisis hit, I went to Wall Street and I called for common-sense reforms to protect consumers and our economy as a whole. And soon after taking office, I proposed a set of reforms to empower consumers and investors, to bring the shadowy deals that caused this crisis into the light of day, and to put a stop to taxpayer bailouts once and for all. (Applause.) Today, thanks to a lot of people in this room, those reforms will become the law of the land.
Passing this bill was no easy task. To get there, we had to overcome the furious lobbying of an array of powerful interest groups and a partisan minority determined to block change. So the members who are here today, both on the stage and in the audience, they have done a great service in devoting so much time and expertise to this effort, to looking out for the public interests and not the special interests. (Applause.) And I also want to thank the three Republican senators who put partisanship aside -- (applause) -- judged this bill on the merits, and voted for reform. We’re grateful to them. (Applause.) And the Republican House members. (Applause.) Good to see you, Joe. (Applause.)
Now, let’s put this in perspective. The fact is, the financial industry is central to our nation’s ability to grow, to prosper, to compete and to innovate. There are a lot of banks that understand and fulfill this vital role, and there are a whole lot of bankers who want to do right -- and do right -- by their customers. This reform will help foster innovation, not hamper it. It is designed to make sure that everybody follows the same set of rules, so that firms compete on price and quality, not on tricks and not on traps.
With this law, we’ll crack down on abusive practices in the mortgage industry. We’ll make sure that contracts are simpler -– putting an end to many hidden penalties and fees in complex mortgages -– so folks know what they’re signing.
With this law, students who take out college loans will be provided clear and concise information about their obligations.
And with this law, ordinary investors -– like seniors and folks saving for retirement –- will be able to receive more information about the costs and risks of mutual funds and other investment products, so that they can make better financial decisions as to what will work for them.
So, all told, these reforms represent the strongest consumer financial protections in history. (Applause.) In history. And these protections will be enforced by a new consumer watchdog with just one job: looking out for people -– not big banks, not lenders, not investment houses -– looking out for people as they interact with the financial system.
In the end, our financial system only works –- our market is only free –- when there are clear rules and basic safeguards that prevent abuse, that check excess, that ensure that it is more profitable to play by the rules than to game the system. And that’s what these reforms are designed to achieve -- no more, no less. Because that’s how we will ensure that our economy works for consumers, that it works for investors, that it works for financial institutions -– that it works for all of us.
This is the central lesson not only of this crisis but of our history. Ultimately, there’s no dividing line between Main Street and Wall Street. We rise or fall together as one nation. So these reforms will help lift our economy and lead all of us to a stronger, more prosperous future.
Here you see the Horoscope of the Financial Reform Bill signing, aka 'Wall Street Reform' (and thus this horoscope is the natal chart of the bill itself) but we'll have to keep the Wall Street potential for ethics improvement in mind as things go forward:
With separative South Node of the Moon at Mc (The Goal Point), Fixed Star Alhena (to have a mission) at Mc, and the above-mentioned Moon/Venus square, I don't expect the bill to garner much support from the American people especially with the constant and tiresome undermining from the opposing political party whose determination to cause Obama's failure as President affects America the Nation's failing or succeeding as well.
A good point is that the housing market may receive a boost from having NN at IC, the cusp of Home, Domestic Scene, and Real Estate. Yet there is lurking Pluto 3Cap28 Rx in the neighborhood (3rd house) focal planet in a midpoint picture:
Uranus/ASC = Pluto: use of force; a desire to attain success even under the most difficult circumstances; commanding success. There's a midpoint of energies opposing Mercury 20Leo55, planet of contracts and such...the combo = radical reforms; reformist policital groups.
Uranus/NN = Mercury: studying deeply before effecting change; a quick comprehension of things; excited thoughts shared with others; fast-traveling news; criticizing others. (Tyl; Ebertin; Munkasey; any, all, or none may apply.)
Another picture of interest: Mercury/Mc = Sun: further change.
If you count the ASC and MC, there's a Cardinal Grand Cross with the big bankster duo, Jupiter and Pluto which are squared to the degree (3Ari/Cap.)
A YOD between Sun/Saturn (sextiling one another still but just barely since Saturn changed signs) was pointing to an apex Neptune but now points to a crisis-ridden 29th degree: Chiron 29AQ57 Rx in 5th house of Gambling and Speculation.
And as you see, the ongoing opposition of wealthy, secretive Pluto to US natal Venus is on the Mc/Ic axis, the security/career axis - not a good portent for the signing, imho, yet it is one of the many reasons that reform is necessary.
SN at Mc has this Sabian Symbol: '12Can' = "A Chinese Woman Nursing a Baby with a Message" - and you know, this isn't the first time in recent weeks that a reference to China turned up in a US mundane chart, for obvious reasons: China is our #1 creditor, and Pluto the Dragon echoes China's national and traditional archetype of The Dragon. So, the Dragon it is, opposing our evaluating Venus, one of the money planets. Our n Jupiter is within orb of Pluto's opposition, too. Double dip recession?
(Also, Venus is a significator of our Statue of Liberty made of her favorite metal, copper, which today was evacuated for supposedly an incorrect smoke detector reading. None were hurt, I believe, except for the long stair hike down. Hmm...)
Sun (the leader) 28Can47 in 10th house, a bright and shiny place, yet Sun opposes US natal Pluto (in the 4th house of this chart' US natal planets are scribbled outside the chart in red) which indicates that others will firmly stand in one's way when trying to get to the bottom of things. If this bill is a power play, it won't work as far as secret hand Pluto is concerned. As a power move against the American people, it will be blocked or resisted but is now on track to be ruthlessly forced upon us, unintended consequences, or no.
Additionally with Sun opposing our national Pluto, others may be jealous or intimidated by the events of the day, by the power wielded by the President.
Be that as it may or may not be, today Mr. Obama got to play boss and sign another large piece of legislation - and the DOW closed down this afternoon 109 points.
Perhaps Wall Street is pouting. Someone is trying to take away their red truck and they only have 1,000-gazillion-bazillion blue ones, boo hoo.
Plus, there are interesting items tucked into the new reform bill (one concerns Jim McDermott's 'conflict mineral' provision) and many specifics are not yet written - guess they're still in the 'vision' stage - but not to fret. For hordes of lobbyists are already on Capitol Hill and working to sway how the specifics are written in favor of the financial, real estate, and insurance industries.
Meanwhile, the careless-with-oversight ratings agencies (S&P, Moody's, and Fitch) are up to shenanigans, too, concerning the bond markets. Seems they're afraid they could get themselves sued. Oh really? Integrity in one's business doesn't often lead to getting sued, my financial friends! Oh ye Ponzi-enablers!
Oh, and transiting Saturn 00Lib00 conjoins US natal Mc 00:53 in the Sibly chart, and opposes more closely tr Uranus 00Ari29 Rx, both planets now in Cardinal (active, outgoing energy.) Jupiter 3Ari24 Rx travels in tandem with Hermes, one of trickster archetypes...aka, the magician or alchemist.
Speaking of alchemy, I wonder if anyone has spotted in the bill provisions that concern gold or the gold market? Plus, tr Midas 8Gem53 (conjunct US n Uranus 8:55) and Pan, another trickster element with a 'panic' vibe @ 7Gem43 - both opposing the people's Moon in Sagittarius.
So please click to enlarge the image for more details, consider this horoscope and the situation as you will, and get back to me with a comment, if you may, because LINK TV is rebroadcasting Orwell Rolls in His Grave right now, a documentary about media being part of the problem rather than being the public watchdogs that Thomas Jefferson thought they'd always be on behalf of the American people.
But instead, the mainstream media obfuscates issues, focuses on trivial stories, and blurs the line between news and entertainment. Is the future of this nation and our children's futures only 'entertainment'?!? (See link below for news of real value with no fluff; check local listings for regional times. In edt, Amy Goodman broadcasts at 11:00 am weekdays.)
All these class warfare 'players' are part of a global crime syndicate, and have weakened our democracy over decades. And I fear that we haven't held on to our republic very well either.
DemocracyNow!
President Obama's remarks at signing ceremony July 21, 2010:
Over the past two years, we have faced the worst recession since the Great Depression. Eight million people lost their jobs. Tens of millions saw the value of their homes and retirement savings plummet. Countless businesses have been unable to get the loans they need and many have been forced to shut their doors. And although the economy is growing again, too many people are still feeling the pain of the downturn.
Now, while a number of factors led to such a severe recession, the primary cause was a breakdown in our financial system. It was a crisis born of a failure of responsibility from certain corners of Wall Street to the halls of power in Washington. For years, our financial sector was governed by antiquated and poorly enforced rules that allowed some to game the system and take risks that endangered the entire economy.
Unscrupulous lenders locked consumers into complex loans with hidden costs. Firms like AIG placed massive, risky bets with borrowed money. And while the rules left abuse and excess unchecked, they also left taxpayers on the hook if a big bank or financial institution ever failed.
Now, even before the crisis hit, I went to Wall Street and I called for common-sense reforms to protect consumers and our economy as a whole. And soon after taking office, I proposed a set of reforms to empower consumers and investors, to bring the shadowy deals that caused this crisis into the light of day, and to put a stop to taxpayer bailouts once and for all. (Applause.) Today, thanks to a lot of people in this room, those reforms will become the law of the land.
Passing this bill was no easy task. To get there, we had to overcome the furious lobbying of an array of powerful interest groups and a partisan minority determined to block change. So the members who are here today, both on the stage and in the audience, they have done a great service in devoting so much time and expertise to this effort, to looking out for the public interests and not the special interests. (Applause.) And I also want to thank the three Republican senators who put partisanship aside -- (applause) -- judged this bill on the merits, and voted for reform. We’re grateful to them. (Applause.) And the Republican House members. (Applause.) Good to see you, Joe. (Applause.)
Now, let’s put this in perspective. The fact is, the financial industry is central to our nation’s ability to grow, to prosper, to compete and to innovate. There are a lot of banks that understand and fulfill this vital role, and there are a whole lot of bankers who want to do right -- and do right -- by their customers. This reform will help foster innovation, not hamper it. It is designed to make sure that everybody follows the same set of rules, so that firms compete on price and quality, not on tricks and not on traps.
With this law, we’ll crack down on abusive practices in the mortgage industry. We’ll make sure that contracts are simpler -– putting an end to many hidden penalties and fees in complex mortgages -– so folks know what they’re signing.
With this law, students who take out college loans will be provided clear and concise information about their obligations.
And with this law, ordinary investors -– like seniors and folks saving for retirement –- will be able to receive more information about the costs and risks of mutual funds and other investment products, so that they can make better financial decisions as to what will work for them.
So, all told, these reforms represent the strongest consumer financial protections in history. (Applause.) In history. And these protections will be enforced by a new consumer watchdog with just one job: looking out for people -– not big banks, not lenders, not investment houses -– looking out for people as they interact with the financial system.
In the end, our financial system only works –- our market is only free –- when there are clear rules and basic safeguards that prevent abuse, that check excess, that ensure that it is more profitable to play by the rules than to game the system. And that’s what these reforms are designed to achieve -- no more, no less. Because that’s how we will ensure that our economy works for consumers, that it works for investors, that it works for financial institutions -– that it works for all of us.
This is the central lesson not only of this crisis but of our history. Ultimately, there’s no dividing line between Main Street and Wall Street. We rise or fall together as one nation. So these reforms will help lift our economy and lead all of us to a stronger, more prosperous future.
Jul 20, 2010
PASS unemployment benefits extension so that...
...people can pay for their internet service so they can apply online and fill their gas tanks to drive to interviews if they should be so fortunate as to find an interview to show up for.
Is this rocket science?
Every member of Congress who votes against the extension this afternoon is welcome to forfeit their paychecks (compliments of the American people) for the next three years to 'pay for' the benefits. Sunset tax cuts for the rich for now, for tax cuts will surely come again when they can be afforded. If tax cuts for the wealthy really did 'trickle down' to the piggybanks of the masses we'd have experienced it before now.
Cut military spending and bring America home and don't just talk about it.
Making the President 'look bad' is making the GOP look like the tightfisted, overpaid lackeys of industry that they are. How to look worse than a Democrat in Congress is to look just like an Oilcan Harry Republican twirling his moustaches with glee at the thought of cutting the American people's social net out of the financial picture entirely.
Without extension of unemployment benefits for the chronically unemployed? Can forcing unemployed workers onto welfare rolls (as if there's room in most states) be an improvement over putting benefits money into the economy where people will spend it in their local economies? Why, it's almost as if Republicans, along with mouthpiece Rush Limbaugh, want the American people to fail! As if we-the-people haven't been punished enough for Financial Collapse 2008 which rich banksters and others engineered and grossly profited from!
Well, big business Scorpio rises this afternoon when the benefits extension vote is scheduled for around 2:30 pm edt (after Senator Robert Byrd's seat is spoken for by Mr. Goodwin @ 2:15 pm w/ Sco rising then, too) and chart-ruler Mars makes two applying aspects: Mr. Testosterone conjuncts Saturn in Virgo, then opposes Uranus in Aries (ruled by Mars) at a Mars Hour of energy, action, and quarrels.
Mars (one of the two primary timers in Astrology, the Moon being the other) sets off the ongoing stand-off (opposition) between progressive Uranus and status quo Saturn, and aspect of relationship and awareness which perfects on July 26, 2010 @ 1:07 pm edt.
Meanwhile, the Moon 28Sco (we-the-people) approaches her Return to our Inaugural Moon 2009 @ 29Sco45 and for the vote today, Luna sits atop the natal Midheaven of President Barack Obama and is in first house, a good portent.
Now we know one thing that was indicated on Jan 20, 2009 by our crisis-degreed and critical Inaugural Moon...today's critical vote for the people or against the people. Can Congress rise to the test?
Yes, this is proving to be an interesting, eventful week overhead and down below and if I didn't have an insurance adjuster pulling up in the driveway right now (to view storm damage from two nights ago), I'd fuss about it some more...later...
Update 7.20.10 3:36 pm edt: the vote in favor was a predictable 60 to 40.
Is this rocket science?
Every member of Congress who votes against the extension this afternoon is welcome to forfeit their paychecks (compliments of the American people) for the next three years to 'pay for' the benefits. Sunset tax cuts for the rich for now, for tax cuts will surely come again when they can be afforded. If tax cuts for the wealthy really did 'trickle down' to the piggybanks of the masses we'd have experienced it before now.
Cut military spending and bring America home and don't just talk about it.
Making the President 'look bad' is making the GOP look like the tightfisted, overpaid lackeys of industry that they are. How to look worse than a Democrat in Congress is to look just like an Oilcan Harry Republican twirling his moustaches with glee at the thought of cutting the American people's social net out of the financial picture entirely.
Without extension of unemployment benefits for the chronically unemployed? Can forcing unemployed workers onto welfare rolls (as if there's room in most states) be an improvement over putting benefits money into the economy where people will spend it in their local economies? Why, it's almost as if Republicans, along with mouthpiece Rush Limbaugh, want the American people to fail! As if we-the-people haven't been punished enough for Financial Collapse 2008 which rich banksters and others engineered and grossly profited from!
Well, big business Scorpio rises this afternoon when the benefits extension vote is scheduled for around 2:30 pm edt (after Senator Robert Byrd's seat is spoken for by Mr. Goodwin @ 2:15 pm w/ Sco rising then, too) and chart-ruler Mars makes two applying aspects: Mr. Testosterone conjuncts Saturn in Virgo, then opposes Uranus in Aries (ruled by Mars) at a Mars Hour of energy, action, and quarrels.
Mars (one of the two primary timers in Astrology, the Moon being the other) sets off the ongoing stand-off (opposition) between progressive Uranus and status quo Saturn, and aspect of relationship and awareness which perfects on July 26, 2010 @ 1:07 pm edt.
Meanwhile, the Moon 28Sco (we-the-people) approaches her Return to our Inaugural Moon 2009 @ 29Sco45 and for the vote today, Luna sits atop the natal Midheaven of President Barack Obama and is in first house, a good portent.
Now we know one thing that was indicated on Jan 20, 2009 by our crisis-degreed and critical Inaugural Moon...today's critical vote for the people or against the people. Can Congress rise to the test?
Yes, this is proving to be an interesting, eventful week overhead and down below and if I didn't have an insurance adjuster pulling up in the driveway right now (to view storm damage from two nights ago), I'd fuss about it some more...later...
Update 7.20.10 3:36 pm edt: the vote in favor was a predictable 60 to 40.
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