in bocca al lupo to the dog star

08/10/201815/10/2018

Tracking the wreckage of the Kavanaugh Express

Saturday, October 6 was a bad day for America. By ‘America’, I mean the majority of the American people. It was a great day for Republican operatives and hard right conservatives, and anyone who just wanted to stick it to Democrats and ‘liberals’. I put liberals in quotes because what is called the liberal left in the US is really neither, but that’s a topic for another discussion. Why I say it was a bad day for America is because of the vote to confirm Brett Kavanaugh to the SCOTUS (Supreme Court of the United States) seat and his consequent installation in the SCOTUS. I had seen it coming, like watching a train wreck in slow motion. I just didn’t want to say at the time because of the sentiments I was seeing all over social media, from all sides. We’ll get to why I think the vote was against the American people in a bit, but first to the astrology to tell why I thought he would be confirmed. His hypothetical chart with transits is below (bigger), even though the time of day for his birth doesn’t matter much in this instance: Continue reading “Tracking the wreckage of the Kavanaugh Express”

06/10/201815/10/2018

Why can’t we be friends (with Iran)?

Following on our classic video clip by the band War, on the 3^rd of October a ruling was handed down by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) regarding a little-known treaty that had existed between the US and Iran since 1957. The ruling stated that the US was in violation of the Treaty of Amity, with US sanctions on Iran after having pulled out of the JCPOA (the Iran nuclear deal). The ruling further stated that the sanctions related to foodstuffs, medicines and spare parts for civil aviation had to be rescinded and normal relations restored, citing that the actions of the Trump administration were damaging the humanitarian security of the Iranian state. The Americans had argued that the court had no jurisdiction in the matter. The ICJ is the primary judicial arm of the UN, to which the US is a signatory. The ruling, which is equivalent to an injunction, will take about a year for a full ruling, but it was unanimous and was a win for Iran. The American response was immediate and predictable, given the current climate in Washington. The Trump administration rejected the ruling out of hand and decided it would tear up the treaty, further adding that it would be examining all such agreements as a result. Continue reading “Why can’t we be friends (with Iran)?”

04/10/201815/10/2018

Those Canucks and their grumpy Uncle, or NAFTA v. 2.0

Late in the evening of 30 Sep 18, a tentative agreement was struck between Canadian and American negotiators for a revision of the 1994 NAFTA treaty. It was the fulfillment of a campaign promise by Donald Trump to renegotiate NAFTA, having called it the worst trade deal ever for America. He is not the only one to feel that way, and we will get to why shortly. NAFTA has had its detractors across North America. On 27 August the US and Mexico reached agreement of terms for a renegotiated NAFTA, having sidelined Canada and thus increasing pressure on Canadian negotiators to either agree to a new deal or abandon NAFTA altogether. With the agreement reached at the end of last month, the scene is set for the implementation of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement – dubbed the USMCA, thus easing tensions in what had been an increasingly acrimonious relationship between the Trump administration and the Trudeau government over trade. As with the original NAFTA treaty, there are people who see pros and cons on all sides. But the point of real interest here is the study of Trump’s bullying tactics and a look at the astrology between Canada, the US, Trump and the original NAFTA treaty, the latter of which is actually quite interesting. Continue reading “Those Canucks and their grumpy Uncle, or NAFTA v. 2.0”

01/10/2018

What they don’t tell you about Brett Kavanaugh

If you are American or live in the US, then you have no doubt heard of Brett Kavanaugh, and also with little doubt, have heard quite enough about him. If you have not heard of Brett Kavanaugh, then this will fill you in on what has been a heated debate in the US for weeks now. You see, Brett is Donald Trump’s pick to fill the SCOTUS (Supreme Court of the United States) seat vacated by the retirement of judge Anthony Kennedy. Kavanaugh was nominated for the post on July the 9^th this year, when Saturn was opposite the US Venus/Jupiter conjunction. It was a sobering day for progressives and women. Controversy has surround his ascension to the higher courts of the land since the Bush days, and this time is no different. Kavanaugh is conservative, Catholic, Republican, Yale educated, from a privileged upbringing (his grandfather also went to Yale) and his parents are both attorneys. Public hearings on his confirmation started on Sept. 4^th. Since then, accusations of sexual assault have been leveled against him by three women, and his character has been called into question. The question arises, though, are these accusations where the real focus of attention should be directed at Kavanaugh – many would say yes – or should there be something deeper at the heart of the hearings, something that the press is either not covering or covering up? Let’s see what the astrology says about the man and the nation. Continue reading “What they don’t tell you about Brett Kavanaugh”

29/09/201815/10/2018

Report on the 2018 Sulawesi quake

On 28 Sep 18 at 6:02 PM local time, a shallow Mag. 7.5 earthquake hit the Minahasa region of the island of Sulawesi, Indonesia, causing a tsunami that to date has taken the lives of 384 people. The great majority of the casualties were in the city of Palu, which is on the coast near the epicenter of the quake. Palu has a population of over 300,000 people and is a popular tourist destination. It lies at the end of a narrow bay, which intensified the effect of the tsunami. Residents reported waves as high as three meters (9 ft), confirmed by video evidence. The chart is below. See the bigger chart to follow details: Continue reading “Report on the 2018 Sulawesi quake”

28/09/201815/10/2018

The troubles with Auntie

I came across an article the other day that brought back memories of my years in Australia. There is quite a lot I miss about Australia – Vili’s pies, the warbling of the maggies, Christmas on the beach in shorts, dry summers, the vast land and the silence just outside the cities that stretches on forever – to name just a few things. Most of all, I miss my friends there. But there are two things I do not miss at all: the politics and the nanny state. And that brings us to the article. Auntie’s in trouble, you see. If you don’t know Auntie, you know nothing about Australia. Not really. ‘Auntie’, as we call her, is our national broadcaster, the ABC, or Australian Broadcasting Corporation, the name modeled off of that other ‘Auntie’ up North. And lately, she has been going through some rough times. Seems Auntie has lost her head, one Michelle Guthrie, who was summarily fired halfway into her five-year term. Why, we might ask? It turns out that the latter had refused to fire some journalists who had been less than salutary to certain conservative politicians in their coverage of politics in Oz. Horrors. But then, the man who fired her, one Justin Milne, ABC chairman, had to resign because of revelations that he had been the one pressuring Guthrie to fire the journalists and for other sundry reasons which are covered in the article. But before we get to the dynamics of the stoush, first, some background on dear Auntie and a quick look at her chart. Continue reading “The troubles with Auntie”

27/09/2018

The wisdom of poking at bears…

Most of us would have heard now about the downing of the Russian IL-20 surveillance plane over Syria. The event took place on 17 Sep this year, and I covered the event briefly in the Libra letter. As it turns out, that event has marked a key turning point in the Syrian war, and one which may yet lead to a large escalation in the conflict, with possible disastrous consequences, not to scaremonger here. But the reality of the situation now is that the Russians have been backed into a corner in Syria now by the foolish actions of a few Israeli pilots and the hubris of the Israeli Defense Force (IDF). Russia has established an unofficial no-fly zone over the Syrian coast, has supplied Syria with with its S-300 missile system, which John Bolton of the US called a ‘major escalation’ (?) and blamed the Iranians (?) for the downing of the plane. For its part, the IDF has blamed the Syrians for the downed plane. Russia, on the other hand, has supplied pretty irrefutable evidence that the fault for the incident lies squarely with Israel. As a result, the Russians have stated that any unauthorized aircraft flying through their no-fly zone will be shot down. It would appear that the gloves are off now. If Putin backs down from the next provocation the consequences would be too much and Russia would be set back for years in its foreign policy. The Israelis, Saudis, Emiratis and neocons in Washington may soon have their escalated war, but at what cost? We await the next chemical weapons performance or for an Israeli plane to be shot down. Hopefully not. Continue reading “The wisdom of poking at bears…”

26/09/2018

Mars, Uranus and a few eclipses…What could possibly go wrong?

There are times during each year when the world seems to be a more restive place, with a greater number of accidents, events, military actions and so forth. The period from the start of May this year to the present has been such a time, especially since the end of July. There are many planetary factors that can signal those sorts of periods, and we normally associate the bigger events with the outer planets. Eclipses signal such events, too, and the severity of them can be exacerbated by peaks in sunspot activity. However, at the moment we find ourselves in the beginning of a solar minimum and half of this year has been devoid of sunspots. Yet, the world has been more restive since the start of May. But it is not simply that there has been such activity. Rather, if is that some of the events that took place since that time have been key events that will shape outcomes into the future, such as the abrogation of the JCPOA by the US, further sanctions on Iran, and so forth. So, where do we begin to look for the unsettled times we have been seeing? Continue reading “Mars, Uranus and a few eclipses…What could possibly go wrong?”

24/09/2018

John McCain, a storm called Florence and the death axis

The title of this article might seem a little misleading at first or even off-putting, but given recent events, they call to mind a particular element in astrology that bears consideration. More on that in a moment. The death of the American Senator from Arizona, John McCain, was a major news event, marking in many ways the end of an era – hopefully the beginning of the end of a more warlike era for the United States. But, his replacement will duly be found. And the storm called Florence that recently ravaged the Carolinas reminds us of another era, that of climate change and the changes that is bringing. The rivers in the eastern parts of those states have only now just peaked as of this writing, with estimates of damage marking this as possibly the 7^th-most damaging storm in US history, with all of those costliest storms having come since 2005. Forty-two people so far lost their lives to Florence. I had family members in the path of Florence, but they are all alive and well, thank goodness. But that brings us to the main topic of this article, and Florence gave me pause to stop and think about it. Continue reading “John McCain, a storm called Florence and the death axis”