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The 2019 Sri Lanka Easter bombings

On the 21st of April 2019, Easter Sunday, a series of bombings at churches and hotels in Sri Lanka took the lives of 359 people and wounded a further 500. Nine perpetrators were involved in the attacks and fifty have been arrested in connection with them. The group calling themselves National Thowheeth Jama’ath (NTJ) is thought to be responsible for the attacks. They are thought to have connections with Daesh. It was an international tragedy, and an act of terrorism and vengeance. Most of those killed were from Sri Lanka, but there were 41 foreigners among those dead, from 15 nations including India, Japan, Australia, the US and Denmark. Continue reading “The 2019 Sri Lanka Easter bombings”

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The Notre-Dame de Paris fire (postscript added)

As most of us know by now there was a terrible fire that took place on 15 April 19 at the famous cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris. It was a national tragedy for France, as well as for world heritage. The fire started in the attic, i.e. the space between the stone ceiling vault and the cladded roof. It quickly engulfed the roof, which was undergoing restoration at the time, completely destroying it, along with the lone wooden spire. The image of the collapsing spire was repeatedly broadcast worldwide, an iconic moment. Fortunately, due to the stone ceiling vault, the sanctuary, the main organ and most of the treasures were saved. The cathedral will be rebuilt, and funding is already underway. Continue reading “The Notre-Dame de Paris fire (postscript added)”

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Once (?) in a blue moon

What follows are preliminary findings on lunations that take place on Aries points, and the astrological ‘blue moons’ that follow. The so-called Aries points, also known as ‘world view points’ are well-known in astrology as key points of change, especially as they affect mundane events. This is especially true if the lunation happens to be an eclipse. The Aries points are 0° of the cardinal signs – Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn. In my most recent letter I made mention of what had taken place since the previous full moon, the latter having been with the Sun within a degree of 0° of Aries. Mention was also made of the fact that this takes place every 38 years. That is not exactly true, being instead every 19 years, or a cycle of the nodes. However, there is a catch… Continue reading “Once (?) in a blue moon”

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Nixon: Bye bye Miss American Pie

The year was 1971. It was August 15th, a quiet Sunday summer’s eve, and millions of Americans were tuned in to the latest episode of Bonanza, the longest running TV westerrn series in the US. Hoss was still with us, but would pass on the following year. There were nationwide protests growing against the Vietnam war. The nation was still reeling from the Kent State shootings a year before, and the Pentagon Papers had just been leaked two months before. I had my mind occupied with electronic circuitry, high school and how to get my fingers to work on my latest discovery, the guitar fretboard. Yes, it was a quiet evening, and then this happened… Continue reading “Nixon: Bye bye Miss American Pie”

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Dark days for journalism

Today, on 11 Apr 19, Julian Assange was dragged from the Ecuadorian embassy in London, after having had asylum there for  the past 7 years, arrested, and will in all likelihood be extradited to the United States to face a Grand Jury on charges of conspiring to commit computer intrusion. That could change. This happened in broad daylight at around 10:30 in the morning. The Russian news organization RT was on hand to record the entire event. Interest in his personal behavior aside, this is a dark day for journalism, worldwide, and also a sad indictment of international relations, which we will get to. Continue reading “Dark days for journalism”

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Another shining moment in US foreign policy

On Monday, 8 Apr 2019, Mike Pompeo announced that the Iranian Republican Guard and Quds forces would be designated as terrorist organizations. These groups are part of the legitimate government of Iran, regardless of how one might feel about them. In effect, then, he has labeled the entire government as a terrorist organization, with severe sanctions to follow, starting on 15 April. What follows will be a good demonstration of how a chart for an administration works. John Bolton strikes again. Continue reading “Another shining moment in US foreign policy”

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The great Korean embassy heist

This is a follow-on article from the recent Kim/Trump summit in Hanoi, which you may want to read first if you have not. This becomes a rather interesting story of cloak and dagger when we look at the events leading up to the summit. On 22 Feb 19 a gang of 10 thugs raided the North Korean embassy in Madrid, Spain. This was five days before the summit in Hanoi. As the story now reads, the talks were subsequently torpedoed by Bolton and Pompeo, probably based in information gained from the raid on the embassy. Continue reading “The great Korean embassy heist”

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The emerging situation in Europe

Just when we thought things were getting interesting in the Middle East, just when we thought Brexit was going to happen/not happen – who knows any more – the Italians have come along and given us something else to talk about. On the 23rd of March they went ahead and did the unthinkable, at least in the eyes of Washington and the head honchos in Brussels – they became the first G7 country to join China’s Belt and Road Initiative. Washington is not happy. Macron is aghast, as are many in Brussels. Secretly, other European states are looking at it and going, “Why not?” The Germans and the French are probably jealous. I had forecast before that big challenges were coming for Europe, meaning the EU, and it was not just about Brexit. I, for one, think the EU will survive. But there will be very significant changes in its structure. Continue reading “The emerging situation in Europe”

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The verdict is in: It was divine intervention.

The Mueller report is finally out. The long-awaited results of the two-year-long special investigation into whether or not the Trump campaign colluded with Russian entities to influence the outcome of the 2016 election has revealed……not that much so far. Except that Trump is innocent of any criminal wrongdoing. That does not mean he is off the hook for other matters, and the Democrats are still likely to pursue those other matters relentlessly. Continue reading “The verdict is in: It was divine intervention.”

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The emerging situation in the Middle East

This follows on from a previous post. In the morning of 25 Mar 19 a missile was launched from Gaza and landed on a private home in the Moshav Mishmeret in Israel (chart). The Israelis claimed that Hamas had ordered the attack and responded with force, bombing sites in Gaza in retaliation. Hamas claimed the launch was a mistake, the result maybe of a lightning strike or some such. Regardless, the Israeli response as usual was to launch air strikes against the suspected site of the launch and other strategic targets. Continue reading “The emerging situation in the Middle East”