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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”

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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 9th 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. 4th. 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”

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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”

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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”

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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…”

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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 7th-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”

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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”

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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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