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It’s all about the Benjamin now – Bibi, that is.

On 21st November 2019, “Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit handed down a harsh and severe charge sheet on Thursday against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.” People worldwide are cheering. The process in the Knesset of removing Bibi’s immunity from prosecution could take up to 30 days. This comes at a very interesting time in the evolving fortunes of the Middle East. We’ll look a little closer at Bibi’s contested chart here to get some clues about what to expect. Continue reading “It’s all about the Benjamin now – Bibi, that is.”

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The 2019 Iranian fuel protests

On the 16th of November the Iranian government abruptly raised fuel prices in the nation without warning, thereby sparking widespread protests. Since then there have been some deaths, riots, and over a thousand people placed under arrest. But this bears an unsettling resemblance to other protests that have taken place in recent years in other nations. Iran has some of the lowest fuel prices in the world, and Iranians take it as a birth right that those prices remain low. Any increases are seen in a very dim light, especially since Trump withdrew from the JCPOA and re-imposed heavy sanctions on the nation. But we simply do not know the truth on the ground in Iran at the moment, for reasons we will examine here. Continue reading “The 2019 Iranian fuel protests”

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Update on Hong Kong

Given recent news out of Hong Kong and given also we are approaching the Year of the White Rat, we will have a closer look at Hong Kong and what is likely to transpire there in the next few years. These are uncertain times for the island, and the violence we are seeing there, unfortunately, is part and parcel of the astrology of the autonomous region. As of this writing, there is a siege at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) and violence on the island has escalated sharply in the past few days. It puts one in mind of the Greek Polytechnic uprising 46 years ago, to the day. In this article we look a little deeper into Hong Kong and what lies ahead. Continue reading “Update on Hong Kong”

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The 2019 Bolivian coup

Def: Coup (/ko͞o/) noun: a sudden, violent, and illegal seizure of power from a government.
“he was overthrown in an army coup”

On the 10th of November, after a contested election result, Evo Morales was ‘strongly urged’ to step down as the Bolivian president, at the prompting of the police and military, after a few weeks of increasingly violent protests contesting the election results of 20 Oct. Morales had duly won the election with a margin of 10%, more than enough to form government. Apparently the right wing parties and middle class in Bolivia weren’t happy with the result. Rather than try to hang on to government and risk widespread violence in the nation and his own life, he chose to leave Bolivia and has since been given asylum by the Mexican government. One Jeanine Áñez Chávez (no relation to Hugo) has declared herself president. Continue reading “The 2019 Bolivian coup”

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The Mercury transit of 2019: background

There is a special eclipse that takes place the day before the full moon – the 2019 transit of Mercury across the face of the Sun. Yes, it is classed as an eclipse, as Mercury ‘occults’ part of the Sun’s face, even if it is a tiny dot – giving us yet another speck of wisdom. This will be a member of the Series 6 of Mercury transits, and the first one in that series since 1973, which saw the closest approach to the center of the sun in that series. (Note: The featured pic is not of this transit. That one is below in the article.) Continue reading “The Mercury transit of 2019: background”

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Britain goes to the polls again

The fourth election in the UK in five years – who would have thought? And all over Brexit. People in the UK are bewildered as to why their MPs would have voted for such a crazy idea. There are reflections of the UK in the US with its election cycle looming (started in earnest, actually) and similarities in the leadership of the two nations. Reactionary forces are seeking to further erode the social progress that was made in the years after WWII in both nations and put both nations on a path of extreme financial capitalism. But resistance is rising. This will be quite a telling election in the UK, and US voters as well should be paying attention. So, we will have a brief look at the projected outcomes. It is widely expected that Johnson and the Tories will romp it home and finally deliver Brexit. Hubris comes before the fall, though… Continue reading “Britain goes to the polls again”

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The Hollywood death of Baghdadi

They’ve killed Baghdadi – again. It has been reported all over the mainstream media. The story goes that on or about 11:30 pm Syria time, 26 Oct 2019, there was a raid by American special forces on a compound where one Abū Bakr al-Baghdadi was hiding out with his wife, his supposed children and other children as well, during which Baghdadi blew himself up with a suicide vest rather than being captured, along with three children. It was like a scene from a Hollywood film. Problem is, there are probably good reasons to doubt the story is true, at least in certain details. Continue reading “The Hollywood death of Baghdadi”

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Brexit: A corporate coup d’état?

It’s crunch time in the UK, with the recent announcement of a deal having been struck between Boris Johnson and the EU and with the bill finally being approved by the House, but the ‘paused’ by Johnson. The British press, largely right-leaning, has hailed the announcement of the deal as a breakthrough, and that Parliament must now follow through and give the British people what they voted for – to leave the EU. But is that really what the British voted for, or was it something else? As the title of this post suggests, there were ulterior motives behind the Brexit movement, and it is clearly shown in the astrology of the United Kingdom. Continue reading “Brexit: A corporate coup d’état?”

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Operation Peace Spring and Rojava

On 9 Oct 2019 the Turks finally made good on their threats and invaded northern Syria. The US betrayed the Kurds, yet again, by pulling their troops back from the border of Turkey and commanding the Kurds to dismantle their posts there. Then began the Turkish operation code-named “Peace Spring” – an ironic name, really. However, it may bring just that in the second quarter of 2020, but probably not to the overall liking of the Turks or Washington. We’ll see why as we go along. Rojava may have just been consigned to the realm of dreams rather than reality. Continue reading “Operation Peace Spring and Rojava”

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Syria, the war, the Kurds, and into the future

Now that the Kurds have gone back into the Syrian fold, the situation on the ground throughout Syria will evolve very quickly. The war that started in 2011 will draw to a close over the coming few months. There will be a small pocket of American forces still extant in Al Tanf, but they will not be a major worry to Damascus. A fly in the ointment, but not enough to spoil it. Given what has just happened, we want to take a look at what will evolve in Syria over the next year. Continue reading “Syria, the war, the Kurds, and into the future”