in bocca al lupo to the dog star

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”

22/09/201823/09/2018

Libra 2018: Emerging blocs and the changing economic order

A summary of my recent post on the Libra full moon. You can see the full article at the READ MORE link below. Comments welcome. Topics include:

Libra and the Mountain Dog

Libra, relationships and money

The Libra ingress and full moon

The nations and city with Libra

The financial war and blocs

India, China and Ray 1

China

China and the trade war

Human rights and China

Turks, Syrians and Chinese

The latest provocation in Syria

China, Syria and the BRI

Canada, in brief

Brexit and the emerging order

Brexit, the Eurozone and a possibility

“We are just about to enter the Libra interval for 2018 with the equinox and the Libra ingress. The full moon of this period is becoming of increasing importance for us as we slowly attain to the Aquarian Age, and the full moon of the Libra interval will therefore receive more than the average emphasis, by nature of what it represents. The activity of the planet Venus is thus more and more pronounced as an outer emphasis, with Uranus acting behind the scenes and with people who are able to respond to it in a positive manner. This is a powerful pairing of planets, leading to greater integration between the higher and lower mind and thereafter to reorganization of life along more spiritual lines. As a result, we are seeing transitions, shifts in the balance of power in the world, shifts in relations between nations, some of which have existed for many centuries, a shift from the West to the East in terms of economic power, and so forth. It is all according to plan and it is something to be welcomed, even though nations that once were able to exert great control see their power waning through this transition period…READ MORE

Featured Image: https://www.deviantart.com/juliedillon/art/Libra-Llewellyn-Worldwide-350276480

10/09/201822/09/2018

The Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea

On 12 Aug 18 the five nations that border the Caspian Sea signed a historic agreement that will have very significant impacts in Eurasian relations and integration, probably far into the future. The five nations – Iran, Russia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan – signed the agreement at Aktau, Kazakstan after over 20 years of difficult negotiations. Media outlets from around the world covered the event. The convention has solved many security issues for the region, has defined borders in the Caspian Sea and enables unfettered implementation of energy projects and transit, provided the signatory states agree. It also stipulates that no foreign powers – such as the US and NATO – can place military bases in those nations. The last two points, energy and military bases, have foreign policy planners in Washington and London royally peeved, because it shuts the US and UK out of the immediate region and greatly benefits China’s Belt and Road Initiative, not to mention significantly easing Russian security concerns. Two of the signatories – Russia and Iran – are guaranteed a free transit route between them, in case any great troubles were to take place with Iran, another factor which has particularly irked Washington, because Western powers would not be able to interdict such shipments directly from the states involved. Continue reading “The Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea”

07/09/201815/10/2018

Is war with Iran on the horizon?

A continuation of the previous Iran post and Part II. The full article is linked below. For a preview:

“Following on from our discussion of Iran, its history, society and people, we can now get a clearer view of what is taking place currently between the US and that ancient culture. There are currently many methods being employed by the US and the Saudis to try to isolate and bring Iran to heel. The think tanks in Washington have been busy. Among those methods we see economic sanctions, cyber warfare, threats to other nations in an attempt to end trade with Iran and attempts to destabilize Iran from inside using proxy forces. None of these are likely to have the desired effects, and we will examine why in due course. In addition, those efforts are likely to produce blowback for the nations involved in trying to sabotage Iran. So, the question is, why would the US, the Saudis and Israel want to see Iran marginalized? There are three main reasons…” READ MORE

Topics: The reasons; The MEK; An overview of the Israelis and Saudis; Israel and the propaganda; What is the Saudi’s beef with Iran?; What war with Iran would mean; The emerging realities

Featured image link

07/09/201815/10/2018

What is it with Washington’s love affair with Iran?

This is a re-direct to a longer article I recently posted in two parts, which we can leave open here for discussion now:

“I recently came across an article that caught my attention, regarding plans for an attack on Iran by the US, coming possibly as soon as this month (August 2018). [Thankfully it didn’t happen.] Defense Secretary James Mattis has since denied the claim, which came from Australian intelligence sources. This followed upon the hyperbolic tweet of Trump’s threatening Iran with apocalyptic consequences if they ever threatened the US again. Iran had done nothing of the kind. The more cynical side of me thinks that Mattis’ denial is confirmation that an attack is being planned. I have read comments in other blog sites that echo that cynicism. However, the common sense side of me says no, that an attack on Iran would be the height of stupidity. But, stupider things have happened. My sense of what is taking place is an effort to get Iran to the negotiating table for a re-negotiation of the Iran nuclear deal (the JCPOA), like we saw with North Korea. The astrology of the US looks quite revealing with regard to both the yes and the no arguments for an attack, as it shows an administration under stress and with its hands tied, at least at the moment. In that sort of scenario, anything is possible. So, in this article we will take a look at Iran, its people, the reasons behind the belligerency of Washington toward Tehran, what the current administration is up against, and what a war with Iran might actually mean, looking at Iran and its people in this section and starting with the astrology of the US at the moment, perhaps finding some clues…” READ MORE

Topics: The current US transits; Iran, the nation; Iran’s troublous journey; Life under the Shah; A preview of the future?; The Iranian chart; The Basij

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01/09/201803/08/2020

Morandi: Bridges and Italy’s troubled waters.

Il Ponte Morandi (the Morandi Bridge) in Genoa, Italy was a landmark bridge on the A10 Autostrada across the Polcevera viaduct. It was one of the main road links between Italy and France and part of the European route E80. On 14 Aug 18 at 11:36 am local time, a large section of it came crashing down, taking the lives of 43 people with it and permanently displacing over 600 others who lived below the bridge. It is set to be demolished within a month of this writing, along with the buildings below it, which are large apartment blocks and a few industries. The cause of the collapse is currently under investigation, with 20 people so far having been indicted for manslaughter over the incident, including government ministers of infrastructure. Lack of maintenance is widely held to be the cause of the collapse.

Spending on infrastructure in much of Europe has dramatically dropped since the 2008 financial crisis. A witness at a bus stop (article in Italian) described the moment the bridge collapsed, saying she saw the tie-rods snap simultaneously, making the carriageway rise up, and then the span broke, collapsing the entire section. Fingers were immediately pointed at the Autostrade Company, a private Italian contractor owned by the Benneton family, who oversaw the maintenance of the bridge, and from then on fingers were pointing everywhere – at the government, at the EU, at anyone who could possibly be blamed. Continue reading “Morandi: Bridges and Italy’s troubled waters.”

30/08/201815/10/2018

Syria: the last big battle?

OK, the first post. This post is actually from Aug 31, but I am travelling this week and my posts will be few and far between for the week. But we’ll start with a good one. With all the talk we have been hearing in the news about possible gas attacks in Syria, war with Iran, so on and so forth, here is an addendum I just added to the 2nd half of the Iran article I recently posted. Talk about manufacturing consent in the West and jockeying for place among the actors…:

Update, as of 29 Aug 18: Since the original posting of this article, a couple of significant factors have come to light which may indeed signal a conflict with Iran. The first and most significant item is that Syria and Iran have just signed a mutual defense pact. This was indicated by a solar arc of Jupiter to the Syrian Mars (military in general) and the following transits: Mars trine Syria’s Saturn (the latter ruling partnerships for Syria) and with transiting Mars in the 7th house, north node to Syria’s Pluto (a karmic link and the common destiny of large groups of people), and Jupiter sesquisquare to Syria’s Midheaven (the former representing the military for Syria). We also make note of the approaching t-square of Saturn with the Syrian meridian axis, indicating a key decision of the Assad government. Saturn makes its direct station at a degree and a half from exactitude. The Iranian Defense Minister Hatami visited Damascus a couple of days ago in order to sign that agreement. Citing the linked article: Continue reading “Syria: the last big battle?”