Continued from Part I. Since the events on the 6th at the US Capitol, the tech companies have been busy banning people and groups, censoring anything that hints of violent speech, conspiracies and so forth, with Twitter purging over 70,000 accounts related to QAnon alone, and this after banning Trump himself for life. This is a move that will haunt them for years to come, as reaction has been swift, and the fall in the stock prices of Twitter and Facebook alone having tanked by $51 billion as of this writing. Facebook has borne the lion’s share of the lost stock price – karma, perhaps.
The actions of the tech companies as a result of the 6th will spawn smaller tech companies. The bans have marked a turning point for the industry, indicated by the direct of Jupiter to the US Ceres (see chart in Part I). That Jupiter direction also shows the huge losses involved. Jupiter transits and directions can show worsening of conditions if other factors show stress. On the other side, that direction can also indicate a broader and more beneficial turning point, too, in that spawning smaller tech companies will mean more competition for the giants and will have the effect of bringing them to heel, rather than having to go through the legal hassle of breaking them up. That Jupiter direction to Ceres also shows a turning point for the US, too, especially related to services (6th house), tech (Uranus) and communications (direction of Jupiter from the 3rd house).
While many people are cheering the bans on social media, it is being met with condemnation and outrage with others, especially overseas, with dismay that the President would be banned from a tech platform. Supposedly these moves are being done to protect the public, but if a state wanted to keep tabs on things, it would make more sense to leave these accounts in place. Freedom is ruled by Uranus as well as tech. A whistleblower at Twitter has videoed Jack Dorsey, CEO, saying the ban on Trump is only the start of something much bigger, cue the 70,000+ bans on QAnon-associated accounts, the loss of Twitter followers reported by many commentators and so forth.
Freedom of speech is a fundamental human right. European leaders have expressed shock at Big Tech’s moves, noting that it should be the sovereign state that regulates content rather than the tech oligarchs, the latter having had antipathy with Trump from the beginning. These same tech companies have banded together to ban Parler, a premier platform for conservatives, which could effectively ruin the company. Parler has filed an anti-trust suit against Amazon in response to its ban. Stock shares in Big Tech have fallen sharply as a result of the bans. The tech companies are already facing stricter regulation in Europe, with threats of breaking up the monopolies based in Europe. These moves in recent days by the tech companies will only accelerate that process.
Across the West, the public has reacted sharply to the tech companies, with people leaving apps like WhatsApp in droves (it is owned by Facebook), looking for apps that have strong encryption and giving the finger to the tech companies. Just a note here: If the app is usable via a cell phone or computer, then it can be monitored, regardless. There is no escaping Big Brother via electronic means if they really want to know what is going on. Signal has been called the most secure such app, but even then, 100% security is not guaranteed. And a note to WhatsApp users: After Feb 8th, all your user data, phone numbers, etc., will be made available to Facebook. There is no opt-out. If you don’t want this, then you have to move to another platform, like Signal or Telegram. Privacy is quickly becoming a thing of the past. I have seen a flurry of people signing up for Telegram in the past days.
There is one last remark regarding Uranus in the US chart, in that it has just started to receive a direction from the Pluto/Asc midpoint, which is quite interesting, given events: “A frequent change of environment, the misfortune to live in constant anxiety and restlessness. – Extraordinary incidents and upsets, accidents.” That direction will be exact in a year from now and it will be in effect all year. Thus, for people who like the roller coaster of change, it looks like ’21 will be a good year, in that there will be shakeups across the US this year. These have been years in the making. We can probably safely say the storming of the Capitol was an ‘extraordinary incident’. And the anxiety and restlessness will be felt primarily in the tech and services sector.
Starting on the 20th, in a few days, there will be a new sheriff in town, one Head Honcho Harris, having the deciding vote in the Senate, who will probably not take lightly to any foolishness in her neighbourhood. And that brings us to the latest in our saga from the 6th, and what is being likened by a few comments I have seen to the latest ‘9/11’ for America. There is something to that, which we will get to. The event itself on the 6th cannot be compared to the event on 11 Sep 2001, but the aftereffects domestically may rival what we saw foisted on the American public after 9/11. And from what is emerging since the 6th, the violence on the Capitol was expected and even planned, and not by the mostly misguided men who were there for photo-ops. Some of those have since expressed regret for being involved, claiming they were caught up in the moment.
Referring back to the quote by Bernays at the start of part I this post, other clichés and catch words have been used very deliberately by Democrats and liberal media virtually across the board since the 6th in a prelude to what might be coming:
The liberal media (nearly all of it) as well as some Democratic congressmen have officially declared it “incitement of insurrection.” Other expressions that are popping up include “domestic terrorism,” “sedition,” “right wing mobs,” a “coup” or a “storming” of the building, all reportedly driven by incendiary language used by President Trump. Others preferred describing a “breaching” of security or even a “riot” or possibly “treason.”
Such language is typically used to manufacture consent in the public for something they would not ordinarily endorse. Nancy Pelosi has further amplified the demonization of Trump, using words like “deranged, unhinged, and dangerous” to describe him, even going so far as to bring up the old ‘Russia is behind this’ cadaver. Does anyone remember the “W” administration, with all the hysteria about WMDs and our invasion of Iraq, based on false evidence? Who is more unhinged, deranged and dangerous?
Trump has been effectively ousted from the Presidency since the 6th, and silenced for the moment. McConnell has delayed the impeachment until after the inauguration, and Pence has poured cold water on removal by the 25th Amendment. In hindsight these moves to delay the process might come to be seen as the better part of wisdom, knowing full well that removing Trump before he finishes his term will only enrage his supporters and provoke more violence.
The push for these actions against Trump revolves primarily around stopping him from ever holding federal office again. That is what it really comes down to. It is not going down well with the over 70 million Americans who voted for Trump. And these are not stupid people, much as they are often portrayed, speaking of demonization. Many of the people at the event were middle class and even elite. As a measure, ‘liberal’ readers would probably whole-heartedly agree with Pelosi’s statements, preceding, while ‘conservative’ readers will see them as hysteria and hyperbole. Looking at this from the outside, as many foreign observers see it, both sides of the Red-Blue divide in the US engage in that sort of talk and see the hypocrisy on both sides of the fence. They look on Trump’s impeachment as a kangaroo trial.
A phenomenon that rarely gets mentioned, as in never in the liberal press, is that many of the people who voted for Trump in 2016 and 2020 did so as a protest against a system they see as having failed them. Hillary represented that system to a ‘T’. They were not voting for the man when they voted for Trump, most of them probably not having studied his life, but rather for what he was saying. That Trump has not delivered on most of his campaign promises for the average American is true enough, though he has greatly benefitted the wealthy and the Israelis.
As to whether he is actually dangerous, I always remember a quote, I think it was from David Brooks, that the Beltway has a very effective immune system, speaking on the concerns about Trump after the 2016 election. We have seen that time and again with Trump, especially regarding foreign adventurism, where he has been consistently reined in from his wilder threats. As to domestic policy, Trump has been a faithful servant of the corporate interests and financial class, and his domestic policy has for a large part received bipartisan support, witness the passing of large defense spending bills, tax cuts, bailouts for corporations, etc., but little support for the average American. These things are all very telling. The consistent theme with elections in the US since the turn of this century is that people have voted for change, only to be disappointed time and again. This is the primary reason we see so much anger and polarization in the American public.
So, returning to the astrology, Biden has said he wants to pass a law against domestic terrorism. We will likely see this happen within the year, with Pluto transiting opposite the US Mercury, the latter ruling the 7th house (legislation). Supposedly, this is to counter right wing extremists. It would only further the divide in the nation. The law would no doubt be used to stifle any sort of protest and, given past precedent, would more heavily target minorities and the protests like we saw recently in Portland. Police have a reputation for favouring right wing groups over minorities.
With all the preceding points in mind, there are two main lines of action that need to be watched and which we will probably see on the domestic front once Biden takes office, along with Biden’s policy announcements:
- The passage of the domestic terrorism legislation, which Biden has advocated in the past, and
- The ever-tightening grip of the media and tech giants on the flow of information across the internet.
Those efforts are not for the benefit of the public, and they will produce blow-back by the public, with growing acts of civil disobedience. They will be put in place to protect the oligarchy in the US. This is what the Pluto return for the US represents, lying across the financial axis of the nation (2nd to 8th houses). They will be introduced in the name of ‘protection’ and for ‘the public good’, in the midst of the pandemic, much as we are seeing in the UK with the law being debated in the House of Lords, which is little-known but which will legalise all activity done by undercover police officers in the UK. It is a dangerous bill and all amendments which would serve to protect the public have been dismissed by the lords.
Given that directed Pluto is tracking both the US and the UK at the moment, the preceding perhaps comes as little surprise. The surprise will be for citizens of the UK once the bill becomes law and citizens try to take malfeasance of undercover agents to the courts. Of course, by the letter of the law, their actions would not be prosecutable. It would be much the same with a domestic terrorism law in the US.
What are we really looking at here, then? In probably the best piece of real journalism addressing what happened on the 6th and the immediate aftermath, we have the following:
There are arrest warrants so far for about 150 suspects out of the thousands of protestors who stormed the Capitol. This would indicate that a relatively small group inside the crowd had planned the violent assault on the building. This has led to so far totally unfounded theories that it was a false flag operation to set Trump up for impeachment. Who this small band of men were, whether active or ex-servicemen, or off-duty policemen is being investigated, as were plans discussed in online fora.
Once the police were overwhelmed and doors broken open, hundreds more–mostly acting like tourists–streamed in, some walking single file inside velvet ropes. They too are subject to arrest for illegally entering a federal building. Did what happen constitute a coup or an insurrection, and are the protestors domestic terrorists, as President-elect Joe Biden called them? Was the noose [erected outside] purely symbolic? Did they really think they could succeed in using it?
One has to separate out those few who appeared ready to arrest members of Congress or use pipe bombs, from the vast majority of protestors who entered the Capitol. Smearing them all as “extremists” and even worse as “terrorists” is inflammatory. It is leading to a wholesale reaction that is further deepening the crisis.
Emphases added. 9/11 was mentioned before. The Patriot Act was the result for the American public, along with soaring government debt due to our misadventures abroad and the widening income gulf between the rich and the populace. Joe Biden was one of the chief architects of the Patriot Act. We already have sufficient legal and enforcement means to deal with events like we saw on the 6th. Our freedom of speech is being curtailed by the day by the tech oligarchs. We need to be aware of what is going on. As pointed out in the article just linked, the biggest ‘crime’ the Senators who were calling for debate about the certification committed was wasting the time of Congress. The confirmation was a shoe-in, a fait accompli. No legal manoeuvring was going to stop it, and the protesters outside had no hope of standing up against the state. They all exited the premises anyway once the curfew was called. That is hardly the behaviour of terrorists.
And finally, there has been quite a bit of discussion on the web about a possible civil war developing in the US. Is that realistic? Is such a thing shown in the astrology for the US? Or are we seeing a growing tide of rage against the machine across the ‘left’ and the ‘right’? Frankly, a civil war is not on the cards, nor in the astrology for the US. It is just not there. If you want to see what a civil war looks like astrologically, here is the chart of the beginning of the Civil War of 1861. The war actually was in place a year before then, but the shooting started on 12 Apr 1861. The chart is below (bigger):
We won’t go into an analysis of that chart, but a quick glance of the directions and transits show the extraordinary tensions of the time. There is nothing even approaching that right now in the US. The one thing we do note is the directed Uranus/Pluto midpoint (our ‘revolution midpoint’) at 66°10’. That midpoint produces events about three years before it is exact. Right now it is 6° away, meaning six years from activating the Horizon axis. What this means is that in about three years we will see something revolutionary happen for the US. It doesn’t have to be violent. But the exact direction of Ura/Plu=Asc, will roughly coincide with the Saturn/Neptune conjunction at 0° Aries in 2026, at which point the US will be looking in a different direction, set into law, both foreign and domestic. The events from now until then will probably be turbulent, but with a better outcome for the people. The suggestion is for an economic reset, American-style, with the conjunction taking place at the US IC.
In closing, the worst thing about this whole episode since the election on 3 November is the entrenched animosity and almost tribalism being displayed by many people across the US, if not the majority. And this has been artificially induced, not by presidents, but by people unknown to most of us. Some commentators are beginning to broadcast the fact that the problem does not originate with us, the public:
The Democratic party is not a vehicle for class struggle, after all. Like the Republican party, it is designed to preserve the privileges of an elite. Its biggest donors, like the Republicans’, are drawn from Wall Street, Silicon Valley, Big Pharma, the arms industries. The political battle in the United States is between two parties of capital united by far more than divides them.
The shadow play of US politics is the enervating, antagonistic confrontation of identities described above. While ordinary Americans get stoked into a mutual tribal loathing by a corporate media that profits from this theatre of hate, the elite enjoys a free hand to pillage the planet and the commons. While we fixate on identities that have been crafted to divide us, while we remain immersed in the surface of politics, while we are distracted from the real battle lines, those elites prosper…
Trump is not the enemy. That target is far too small and limited. The class he belongs to is our enemy, as is the system of privilege he has spent the past four years upholding and his successor will defend just as assiduously. Whether Trump is ultimately convicted or not in the Senate, the system that produced him will be acquitted – by Congress, by the new president, by Wall Street, by the corporate media. It is we who will pay the price.
Emphases added. In April we begin the slow transit of Pluto returning to its natal position in the US chart, making its retrograde station just within orb of its natal position. Pluto represents the plutocracy in the United States and it sits in the 2nd house, the US economy. Pluto also has the habit of laying waste to the status quo and dredging up everything from the underworld that needs to be addressed. The national subconscious will be fully open for review, in all its glory and infamy.
Pluto will reach its first exact conjunction with its natal position in February next year, at which point we can expect an uptick in restiveness, the retrograde conjunction in July, and then the final exact conjunction right at the end of 2022. All the collective skeletons of the US closet will be out in the open then. The events of the 6th have shown many of them, but there is much more to come. Once we see matters clearly, then we will see the real revolution in US consciousness take place over the next couple of years. Be glad for it. It needs to happen.
In the Part I of these articles, mention was made of the Mars/Uranus conjunction on Inauguration Day, which will be a feature of the Biden Administration’s chart. We will have a look at that chart, too, in an upcoming post. In his address to the nation on the 14th he outlined his preliminary plans. They sounded Rooseveltian, optimistic, unifying, and the oligarchs will not be happy if he pulls it off. I hope he does. He has a big job ahead of him domestically. His Sagittarian ascendant was on full display in that speech, rather than his Scorpio Sun, the latter for which he is more widely known.
It is said that crisis draws out the soul, and the Ascendant is the pathway to the soul, the ‘higher way’ forward. We hold the thought Biden’s Ascendant holds sway throughout his time in office, rather than the warlike characteristics of his Scorpio Sun. We certainly can use the optimism these days. As he said in his speech, reflecting the Jupiter direction to Ceres in the US chart, squaring the US Uranus, “Come Wednesday, we begin a new chapter.” If we can hold him to his words in that speech, indeed we will begin that new chapter.
Featured pic from News18