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KEEP IN TOUCH
This is another new thread because I am up to my eyebrows in paperwork for a two day Board Meeting. Dave Barry once said "if there is one word to describe why a person cannot reach their full potential and will never reach their full potential, that word would be "Meetings." So I am just going to quickly make a few remarks here so that a new thread will be posted and try to do better next week. I do want to make a comment on a paedophile astro signature. It isn't a good idea to define one as "anything" based on just one aspect, so many aspects must be taken into account. Yes Mars does have a great deal to do with sexuality of all types, so does the 8th house and its ruler, so does Chiron and believe it or not Saturn is a huge indicator of sexual expression where sex was learned as repressive leaving a huge potential for perversion. It's long been held that Saturn conjunct the Moon or Moon in Capricorn or in the 10th house, or Saturn in the 4th house points to a "gay and lesbian" orientation (which I don't consider "learned" behavior but born. I certainly have not found that to be true across the board of any of these aspects. All that aside, there are many ways people express or feel a special love and understanding of children and most of them are not sexual. People who write children's books, make kids toys, play Santa, open play stores, the Mom who has all the children's parties in the neighborhoods. Labeling a specific aspect as only one way of expression can be and is dangerous, energy (astro aspects) can be used in so many different ways you have to watch and study how a person has used their energy over time or watch how events unfold historically to get a picture how a similar event will unfold. The fires of California and the floods of Louisiana and Mississippi is a good study. You look at their state's aspects, and the aspects when say Hurricane Katrina came ashore and the date of the last disasterous Hurricane or all of them for that matter. Look at California and their aspects, when this fire started, when the 1993 and 2003 fires began and compare all those charts.
California Los Angeles Sept. 4, 1781 San Diego Santa Monica With Scorpio as the Ascendant in the "California" chart and the ruler Mars in the 12th, and Pluto the other ruler in Aries in the 6th, you can see how volatile the State can become. Lots of 12th house activity and sixth house. Southern California I have marked by Los Angeles. To me, one of the most interesting aspects is the 21 Jupiter in Scorpio, Saturn/Neptune squared the natal Jupiter when they opposed this summer, the beginning of the drought. The Santa Ana winds come regular as clockwork every year, the drought, the heat and the wind have been on a collision course for several months. All the above charts have quite a lot of mutable and cardinal, Saturn in Gemini and Jupiter going to Capricorn isn't going to improve the situation much over the next couple of years. The Lt. Governor made it clear that California and the wealthy GOP counties of Orange and San Diego expect the President to deliver on any and all promises to California and not to be treated like New Orleans where, and I quote "the President has gone several times, promised a lot and delivered nothing to NO, we want to make sure that doesn't happen to us." Wow, there is a Scorpio statement if I ever heard one with the Full Moon falling across the state's natal ascendant. Arnold Schwarznegger sent his Lt. Governor to give the political equivalent of a "Godfather" warning to GWB and to the insurance companies. I don't think California intends to "take one for the Gipper." Tragic and terrible as this disaster is, I remember NO and people on roofs for a week begging for help, people walking in hip deep water with bodies all around them, Fema stopping shipments of food and water into the area, and the Governor and Mayor begging this administration to come and help them. This week the only picture I saw of Paulson and Chertoff was them standing at the airport with their hands in front of them in the praying position and California basically saying "we don't care if you come or not, but if you come you had better be prepared to do something, or don't come." And they are coming, I assume to do something for the stricken counties. It sort of puts this administration on the line, if you deliver on your promises to California, you have to deliver on your promises to Louisiana; we'll see if Louisiana's new Governor puts this administration's feet to the fire, no pun intended.
PS for those of you that know Claudia Dikinis lives in Southern California and have been writing me wondering if she is ok, I talked to her last night and she is fine, fires all around but her area isn't threatened. Just a lot of smoke so that's good. She will be back on when it cools down and there isn't such a drain on the electricity and she can turn on her computer.
Sally Cheyne McDonald on Oct 25 | Link
Comments
Yet another one out of the park. What a writer
Editorial With Democrats Like These ... Every now and then, we are tempted to double-check that the Democrats actually won control of Congress last year. It was particularly hard to tell this week. Democratic leaders were cowed, once again, by propaganda from the White House and failed, once again, to modernize the law on electronic spying in a way that permits robust intelligence gathering on terrorists without undermining the Constitution. The task before Congress was to review and improve an update to the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, known as FISA, that was pushed through the Capitol just before the summer break. That bill endorsed warrantless wiretapping and gutted other aspects of the 1978 law. House Democrats drafted a measure that, while imperfect, was an improvement to the one passed this summer. But before the House could vote, Republicans tied up the measure in bureaucratic knots and Democratic leaders pulled it. Senate Democrats did even worse, accepting a Potemkin compromise that endorsed far too much of the bad summer law. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/20/opinion/20sat1.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&ref=opinion&pagewanted=print Posted by: wv on October 25, 2007 12:23 PM
America's lost soul Created 10/24/2007 - 9:35am America, a once-great nation founded on a notion of freedom, has lost its way. America is a country without a soul, controlled by leaders without conscience, fueled by political agendas without honesty and dominated by issues without purpose. Some say the loss of soul began in 2003 when we invaded a sovereign nation without reason, using rationalizations based on lies, promoting a fear based on political expediency. But America has been losing its grip on reality for many, many years. America is a victim of its own paranoia, driven by an outdated belief in a superiority that doesn’t exist. That egotistical belief that our way of life is the only cure for the world’s ills has led us to become a nation that attempts to export a vision of democracy that no longer exists within our own borders, to believe that our own narrow view of the world must control others peoples and other governments and that we, and only we, can develop, own and use weapons that can destroy the planet. http://www.capitolhillblue.com/cont/node/3608/print Posted by: wv on October 25, 2007 12:25 PMThis is just simply over the top, as I've said before "wonder what it was like to be on the last train out of Germany." The situation here isn't "dire" just yet, but it's extremely serious and I don't think we even begin to know how to stop it. http://www.montrealmirror.com/2007/070507/news1.html And WV you make me blush, thanks for the compliment. Posted by: Sally on October 25, 2007 02:40 PMThe only way to stop it, Sally, that I see, is for this country to 'fess up and acknowledge the fact that we aren't now, nor have we ever been "the good guys". There is always the good and bad, yes, but the US wants to believe that nothing we do is or ever can be wrong. In doing so, we force the negatives into our shadow, and that's how we wind up mired in "justified mayhem" such as in Iraq and Afghanistan... and Vietnam, as well as all of the waste, senseless suburban sprawl and environmental damage we have caused. Bush and Cheney are representative of all of the ugliness in this country. I'm not saying that they are solely to blame for it, but rather that they are just outward reflections of the inner state and soul of the nation at this time. The arrogance, the wilful ignorance and outright stupidity, the crass behavior, the secretive, controlling and fearmongering behavior, which itself stems from deeply rooted insecurities... none of it would exist now and these men would not hold office now if this country truly was aware of its heart and soul. If the US were healthy, Bush and Cheney and others like them could never even come close to power, and maybe we would have leaders, like perhaps a Kennedy, King or Roosevelt who would reflect the balance and better part of our nature. Our 'Shadow' rose up and killed the emerging leaders in the 1960s who would have carried us up along a better path, if that was truly the collective wish of the nation. But apparently, we weren't yet ready for it, or them. I honestly think Al Gore is one of the new and emerging leaders, but we weren't ready for him in 2000, and I don't think that has changed much yet, though a shift perhaps is underway. It seems that many things are lining up to manifest now that were seeded back during the Uranus-Pluto conjunction in the mid 1960s. But if the 1960s brought into to our awareness a series of initial, brand new lessons, the 2010s, highlighted by the Uranus-Pluto Square, are going to be our midterm exams, a major test of what we have learned so far. Have we been studying for the first part of this present semester? Or partying? Whatever the results, it won't be, as some predict, the end of the world. But I think we, at least in the US, have been doing quite of bit of partying, unfortunately. We're not nearly as prepared for the midterm as we ought to be. If the 2010s don't go so well for us, there's still the 'final exam' -- the 2040s, and with it, the Uranus-Pluto Opposition. I do find it interesting that many of our current environmental and resource issues have been projected to reach an absolute 'cut-off' point by the 2040s. So if we know this folks, what are we doing to engineer solutions for or around them? What's holding us back? Posted by: NEOBuckeye on October 25, 2007 05:46 PMNeobuckeye, Your wisdom always awes me! Not that the rest of this group is not wise, but in many cases it has taken us longer to acquire? "Have we been studying for the first part of this present semester? Or partying?" Tinderbox Nation I am doubly pained by this disaster because I believe that it didn’t have to be this way. Southern California is a place that naturally sustains wildfires. They are part of the cycle of renewal and growth, and are usually self-contained. However, UNCHECKED DEVELOPEMENT in San Diego County-with canyons filled in to become prime real estate and farms and ranchland sold for housing-has razed what would be natural fire breaks. Oh man, more gay signatures in my chart. I have Moon in Cap in the 10th. Plus, Venus square Neptune, which I was told by an astrologer, is a gay signature. But, I'm a happy hetero man. Maybe my Mars in Aries in the 1st discounts all that. But, enough about me! ; ) Posted by: Mark on October 25, 2007 06:20 PMhttp://www.firedoglake.com/2007/10/25/please-sign-a-petition-to-harry-reid-on-telecom-immunity/ Please Sign a Petition to Harry Reid on Telecom Immunity Posted by: Pat C on October 25, 2007 06:58 PMMark, your post was hilarious to me. I have a son with what I was told was a "gay signature" (Moon conj. Saturn in the 5th) so when he was 16 (as I did with all my kids) and knowing homosexuality was held out of sex education at that time, I had "my talk with him" Well Moon/Saturn in Taurus is also a sign of great emotional patience. He calmly listened to me as I talked about homosexuality and if he felt he might be he shouldn't feel ashamed of that or worry that it would not be accepted etc., etc., etc. He very patiently said he wasn't gay and that he was sure of that, he wasn't homophobic (that I knew) but he appreciated my talk to him about all sexuality. Later I heard him in a very uncomfortable voice say to his sister "do you think Mom is trying to tell us she's a lesbian, because if she is I think she wants us to be ok with that, and we need to make her feel comfortable," I cracked up, I still had my "16 year" talk with my two younger kids with equally hilarious results. I learned then, not to assume qualities from one or two aspects but to take the whole chart into account. You said your Mars was in Aries, well his Mars is in Scorpio and those are very hetrosexual signs. Neo, you are so right about the 2040's, Uranus was opposed Pluto in the early 1900's and there was a great deal of upheaval in labor, civil rights and women's movement during that time. We were also looking for ways to expand our ability to garner resources. We may be looking for that again as resources dry up. I don't know what's wrong with us Neo, fear, not a belief in our ability to change, not able to find a passionate enough objective, I just don't know. I used to joke there were drugs in the water, that might be close to the truth. Posted by: Sally on October 25, 2007 07:34 PMSocial change can't be rushed. Like being sick. You get sick, you go to the doctor, you do all the tests and you find out what's wrong with you. If it's a simple cold you deal with it. But if it's an insidious cancer eating away at your vital organs then you have drastic therapy and/or invasive surgery, life draining medicines, etc. Your chances of survival are not guaranteed, but eventually you may beat it. Posted by: lunaoscura on October 25, 2007 08:04 PMSally, Felt guilty in intimate situations w/ men, but definitely not w/ women...felt we were all more than just definable by our sexual orientation=truly Pure Spirit=All That Is. However, The astro. signature fits w/ me, and I can stop wondering about it....Clarity:-))). Posted by: Holos on October 25, 2007 08:25 PM
Interview with Dennis Kucinich; "Fear is not a basis to run a government in a Democracy." By Rob Kall I interviewed Dennis Kucinich about the details of a plan to refuse to fund the war. What would it look like? He replied with the quote in the title in answer to my comment that Democrats are not refusing to fund the war because they are afraid the Republicans will accuse them of refusing to fund the troops. Here's the transcript of the interview: RK= Rob Kall DK= Dennis Kucinich RK:I'm running a piece on what things would look like if congress refused to fund the war any further. DK: THis is the way the war can end. The leadership of the house goes to the president and tells the president, "we're not going to provide the funds for the war anymore." That he has to use the money he has in the defense budget to bring the troops and the equipment home. Thatwould cost about $5-10 billion and the money is there to do that now. Concurrent with that has to be the creation of an internation security and peacekeeping force that would move in as our troops leave. That's what would have to happen. That's the plan that I'm promoting. Posted by: wv on October 25, 2007 10:28 PM
Eight Verses SoundArtwork can now be downloaded for free! Congratulations to 2007 Nobel Peace Prize winners
What the Moon in Taurus wants most to convey is the message that all the wisdom of the universe is already present in your body; particularly in the human brain. Aries represents the experience of the impulsive and instinctual body. Taurus asks us to recognize that our instincts can help or harm us and others. In order to take this evolutionary step, we must consider the morality and value of our desires and actions. To succeed at this task we need a well-developed prefrontal lobe which mediates our ability to feel and act with compassion and forgiveness by "seeing' the mind of the other, thereby controlling our impulses to create harmonious interactions. http://www.astrowisdom.com/thisfullmoon.htm Posted by: wv on October 25, 2007 10:31 PM
Kucinich Asks: What About Housing, Education And Health? By Press Release for Dennis Kucinich
Washington, Oct 24 - Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) released the following statement in response to a new Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report showing the Iraq war could total $1.9 trillion through 2017. “With the price of housing, education and health care continuing to rise, imagine what we could do if we had an extra $1.9 trillion to spend on these domestic priorities. Imagine how many students could receive a four-year, quality, college education. Imagine how many people could receive affordable, high-quality health care. Imagine how many homeless people would now have a home,” Kucinich said. Posted by: wv on October 25, 2007 10:41 PM
Clinton's 50-minute speech, which started about an hour behind schedule, was derailed briefly by several hecklers in the audience who shouted that the 2001 terrorist attacks were a fraud. Rather than ignoring them, Clinton seemed to relish a direct confrontation. "A fraud? No, it wasn't a fraud," Clinton said, as the crowd cheered him on. "I'll be glad to talk to you if you shut up and let me talk." When another heckler shouted that the attacks were an "inside job," Clinton took even greater umbrage. "An inside job? How dare you. How dare you. It was not an inside job," Clinton said. "You guys have got to be careful, you're going to give Minnesota a bad reputation." Posted by: wv on October 25, 2007 10:53 PM wv, was that a chink in Bill Clinton's armor? Usually he would laugh at such a suggestion. Now why would he be so offended by someone 'daring' to say 9/11 was an inside job? I'm serious. It reminds me of all the false outrage that the Republicans scream about. Posted by: lunaoscura on October 25, 2007 11:07 PMSanctions were imposed on Iran today. Price of oil went up to $90.46 a barrel. It will probably hit $100 before it starts to retreat. Hope we don't have to face long lines at the gasoline pump again. Posted by: Crystal on October 26, 2007 12:28 AM"Sally Yet another one out of the park. What a writer Hear hear! I second that! I want to know how to do my draconic chart! Also, I hate meetings for the most part. I think collaboration via instant messaging and the phone/conf call is so much easier and a more effective way of sharing information, and allows people to stay on top of their work while allowing them to chime in at applicable points. Oh, I did try to give the pedo thing a fair cop so I looked up the charts of R. Kelly, Gary Glitter, Michael Jackson and John Mark Karr and none of them have retrograde Mars OR Venus. I did that partly because I have Mars retrograde in a very wide square to Venus (~8') and as I want very much for astrology to return to its rightful place as a science and the Sacred Science, I am disturbed by the possibility that I could be classified as such, as I am most definitely not! It could ruin my career and pretty much everything else in my life. Know what I mean? Doesn't mean I'm averse to the research, as it is very important, but the statistical reality is that a broad minority of the population is born with Mars Rx, same as with Venus Rx. Tossing in a square starts to narrow it down, but not by much. Then there's the orb issue... Would still like to see research in this area with astrodatabank tools and so on! Gilgamesh Posted by: Gilgamesh on October 26, 2007 12:42 AM
I'm of the opinion that BOTH Clintons are Here's a clip of Clinton. Heartbreaking. http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=c68_1193347304&p=1 Bill Clinton Takes On 9/11 Conspiracy Protesters Posted by: Pat C on October 26, 2007 01:11 AMWV, I was a little taken aback when Bill started teaming up with the elder Bush with the blessings of Bush Jr. A little too cosy for me. But the final straw was when Bill, just released from the hospital with his heart by-pass operation, decided to sleep on the floor, so that he could give up his bed to Bush senior! Posted by: Crystal on October 26, 2007 01:41 AMIn the middle of an excellent discussion, the subject of Frank Zappa got brought up, which reminded of a classic smackdown he did of some spineless "conservative" back in 1986 on Crossfire. It's telling to see that his prediction of the "fascist theological state" is pretty much a reality now with movies like Jesus Camp. Check this out, I'm sure you'll enjoy this Sag shooting where it counts. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HljzEXJvj8 RIP FRANK Gilgamesh Posted by: Gilgamesh on October 26, 2007 01:46 AMOh! Pat C, yeah, Clinton (Bill) has fallen far from his pedestal. That "how dare you" was SO FAKE! Hah! No more Clintons, No more Bushes! Down with them all! Posted by: Marta on October 26, 2007 03:08 AMI don't know who the 3 other persons that you mention in your post are, but I am not aware that Michael Jackson was convicted on any charge. Au contraire! He was found not guilty on all counts. His behavior is weird, but that doesn't make him a pedophile. And please don't let your Mars Rx keep you up at night. I am sure that the cops are not going to be banging on your door because of it! Now if you are guilty of some criminal act, then I think you would need to worry. Otherwise, I doubt anybody would care whether you have Mars or Venus Rx. I tell you what though, you can buy my book and read it after it gets published. I might even let you write a review on it. Hahahaha. Posted by: Gilgamesh on October 26, 2007 03:09 AMoops! previous post is mine - addressed to Gilgamesh. The sandman threw some sand in my eyes (yawn), so I was a little sleepy while messaging. Off to bed now. Posted by: Crystal on October 26, 2007 03:13 AMThe State of California, admitted to the Union on September 9, 1850 sike, you guys have to see this 2 minute vid clip of Ralph Nader speaking about a very serious possibility that was discussed in Congress recently - Bush attacking Iran, putting the nation into a state of emergency and ***cancelling the 2008 elections*** in response to articles of impeachment being drafted. I think Blackwater is getting an air force soon? http://youtube.com/watch?v=rIO-tCPSfHA I'll be back with Cali on fire. Crystal, heh I know Michael Jackson wasn't convicted of anything but CMONNNN... lol you're right though. You never mentioned the samples you were referring to had to be convicted, or were strict about the definition of pedophile. Yup, I sleep fine at night. I'd love to review your book! Gilgamesh Posted by: Gilgamesh on October 26, 2007 03:19 AMHi Sally In case you missed it. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/24/AR2007102402757.html I always loved that man! One of the monks who led the demonstrations in Burma has escaped. Here is his story: This needs wide dissemination: Back after a family death, my young niece. After catching up, i turn to astroworld to catch up, literally catch up on the REAL news. I have to echo the comments, Sally. Despite your schedule, you manage to wow us with pertinent posts addressing contemporary issues. More, you have attracted to this board wonderful beings. I'm certain many personal bonds would be forged if we ever had the chance to meet one another. I had the opportunity to speak with Carrie Lever (anastrologersperspective), albiet briefly. She's terribly uncomfortable with this coming Mars RX. It's been addressed on this board. I just vision Mars as that steel ball in the pinball machine, banging into and lighting up any number of hotspots throughout the world. Ah, it's good to be back. http://www.space.com/spacewatch/071025-comet-holmes.html Obscure Comet Brightens Suddenly A small and very faint comet has surprised observers around the world by overnight becoming bright enough to see with the unaided eye. Comet Holmes, which was discovered in November 1892 by Edwin Holmes, in London England, was no brighter than magnitude 17 in mid-October—that's about 25,000 times fainter than the faintest star that can normally be seen without any optical aid. In order to view an object this faint, one would need a moderately large telescope. But the comet's brightness has suddenly rocketed all the way up to 3rd-magnitude, brightening nearly 400,000-times in less than 24-hours! On this astronomers scale, smaller numbers mean brighter objects. From urban locations, a 3rd-magnitude object might be hidden by light pollution, but under rural skies it would be clearly vsiible. More... Posted by: Pat C on October 26, 2007 03:07 PMIt's good to see you Karen! Posted by: Pat C on October 26, 2007 03:08 PM
Palestinian militants are using Google Earth to help plan their attacks on the Israeli military and other targets, the Guardian has learned
Palestinian militants are using Google Earth to help plan their attacks on the Israeli military and other targets, the Guardian has learned. Members of the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, a group aligned with the Fatah political party, say they use the popular internet mapping tool to help determine their targets for rocket strikes. "We obtain the details from Google Earth and check them against our maps of the city centre and sensitive areas," Khaled Jaabari, the group's commander in Gaza who is known as Abu Walid, told the Guardian. Abu Walid showed the Guardian an aerial image of the Israeli town of Sderot on his computer to demonstrate how his group searches for targets. The Guardian filmed an al-Aqsa test rocket launch, fired into an uninhabited area of the Negev desert, last month. Despite the crudeness of the weapons, many have landed in Sderot, killing around a dozen people in the last three years and wounding scores more. Al-Aqsa is one of several militant groups firing rockets, known as Qassams, from Gaza into Israel. A rocket attack by Islamic Jihad on a military base last month wounded more than 50 soldiers. Hamas's military wing, the Izzedine Qassam Brigades, is not believed to be firing rockets. http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2007/oct/25/google.israel/print Posted by: wv on October 26, 2007 03:36 PMkaren, my condolences for your niece. Posted by: Carol on October 26, 2007 03:39 PM
------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Obama: Don't pander to homophobes In a bid for the black church vote, the candidate is about to tour South Carolina with antigay gospel singer Donnie McClurkin at his side. He doesn't need to. Oct. 26, 2007 | Sen. Barack Obama's decision to tour South Carolina with gospel entertainer Donnie McClurkin, a self-proclaimed "former homosexual" who believes it is his mission to turn gays straight, suggests that Obama can't live without the support of the homophobic contingent of the black community and the black church in particular. But African-American politicians have already proved that black support is not contingent on homophobia. Few people remember that in 2004, the only presidential candidate besides Dennis Kucinich to support gay marriage was the Rev. Al Sharpton -- both a mainstream black leader and a minister. Sharpton, Jesse Jackson and Obama have all spoken out in favor of gay rights and against black homophobia. So does including McClurkin on his "Embrace the Change" tour signal a retreat on Obama's part? Can tacking on an appearance by the openly gay Rev. Andy Sidden make up for McClurkin? (And wouldn't you love to be backstage on this tour?) Posted by: wv on October 26, 2007 03:52 PM
Journalism and its discontents Ninety years after Walter Lippmann first railed against the complicity of the media in wartime propaganda, we're back at ground zero. Oct. 25, 2007 | Walter Lippmann (1889-1974) was the most influential American journalist of the 20th century. Born into one of the German-Jewish "Our Crowd" families of New York City, he began his career as a cub reporter for Lincoln Steffens, the crusading investigative journalist, then became one of the original editors of the New Republic, and was recruited to write speeches for President Woodrow Wilson and help formulate his plan to make the world "safe for democracy," the Fourteen Points. In the 1920s, Lippmann became editorial director of the New York World, then a major daily newspaper with a Democratic orientation. When it folded, the New York Herald Tribune offered him a column, which, with the Washington Post, served as his journalistic base for almost 50 years. Lippmann wrote books on philosophy, politics, foreign policy and economics. In one of them, "The Cold War," he early defined the struggle between the United States and the Soviet Union while offering penetrating criticism of U.S. policy as a "strategic monstrosity" that would lead to "recruiting, subsidizing and supporting a heterogeneous array of satellites, clients, dependents and puppets," inevitably forcing poor choices of having to either "disown our puppets, which would be tantamount to appeasement and defeat and the loss of face," or else back them "at an incalculable cost on an unintended, unforeseen and perhaps undesirable issue." Lippmann's prophetic warning was realized in the Vietnam War, which he opposed at considerable cost to his personal and political relationships. (Anyone interested in Lippmann, or American politics, should read Ronald Steel's magisterial biography, "Walter Lippmann and the American Century.") http://www.salon.com/opinion/blumenthal/2007/10/25/walter_lippmann/print.html Posted by: wv on October 26, 2007 04:10 PMSo sad to hear about your little niece, Karen. Peace to all of you. Posted by: shylurker on October 26, 2007 04:18 PMRe: the Comet post. I believe comets are signs of things to come. Do you know that Mark Twain was born when a comet appeared (I forget the name)? And he predicted that the comet would reappear at his death, and so it did! He is my favorite American writer. Posted by: Crystal on October 26, 2007 04:23 PM
Valerie Plame Wilson has written a personal account of helplessly observing her career being shattered, as in an out-of-body experience. October 23, 2007 None of Valerie Plame's elaborate training to become an elite covert operative for the CIA prepared her for the byzantine, vicious and dispiriting smear campaigns directed against her and her husband, former ambassador Joseph Wilson, in George Bush's Washington. When he felt compelled to tell the truth about President Bush's false rationale for the invasion of Iraq - the infamous 16 words in his 2003 State of the Union address claiming Saddam Hussein was securing yellow cake uranium for nuclear weapons - vice president Dick Cheney ordered the defamation of Wilson's reputation. When the White House apparatus was instantly set in motion, with Cheney's chief of staff Lewis "Scooter" Libby serving as the action officer on the op, and Karl Rove and Ari Fleischer relentlessly pressing the "scoop" on reporters, Plame still toiled away unknowing at her job at the CIA, seeking information about the existence of weapons of mass destruction, not only in Iraq but also Iran and other dangerous places. http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/sidney_blumenthal/2007/10/the_spy_comes_in_from_the_cold.html Posted by: wv on October 26, 2007 04:40 PM
http://mediamatters.org/items/200710250005?f=h_latest Posted by: wv on October 26, 2007 04:54 PMhttp://ccrjustice.org/newsroom/press-releases/donald-rumsfeld-charged-torture-during-trip-france DONALD RUMSFELD CHARGED WITH TORTURE DURING TRIP TO FRANCE Complaint Filed Against Former Defense Secretary for Torture, Abuse at Guantánamo and Abu Ghraib October 26, 2007, Paris, France – Today, the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) along with the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR), and the French League for Human Rights filed a complaint with the Paris Prosecutor before the “Court of First Instance” (Tribunal de Grande Instance) charging former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld with ordering and authorizing torture. Rumsfeld was in Paris for a talk sponsored by Foreign Policy magazine, and left through a door connecting to the U.S. embassy to avoid journalists and human rights attorneys outside. more... Posted by: lunaoscura on October 26, 2007 05:26 PMfrom the same article I posted above. It looks like Rumsfeld is more of a persona non grata in the world. [snip] My hero http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/10/26/patriots-stand-up/ Posted by: Pat C on October 26, 2007 06:31 PM
FEMA Meets the Press, Which Happens to Be . . . FEMA By Al Kamen FEMA has truly learned the lessons of Katrina. Even its handling of the media has improved dramatically. For example, as the California wildfires raged Tuesday, Vice Adm. Harvey E. Johnson, the deputy administrator, had a 1 p.m. news briefing. Reporters were given only 15 minutes' notice of the briefing, making it unlikely many could show up at FEMA's Southwest D.C. offices. They were given an 800 number to call in, though it was a "listen only" line, the notice said -- no questions. Parts of the briefing were carried live on Fox News, MSNBC and other outlets. Johnson stood behind a lectern and began with an overview before saying he would take a few questions. The first questions were about the "commodities" being shipped to Southern California and how officials are dealing with people who refuse to evacuate. He responded eloquently. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/25/AR2007102502488_pf.html Posted by: wv on October 26, 2007 06:46 PM
Justin Berton, Chronicle Staff Writer Friday, October 19, 2007 To the eyes of an oceanographer, the image is pure catastrophe. In reality, the rogue bag would float into a sewer, follow the storm drain to the ocean, then make its way to the so-called Great Pacific Garbage Patch - a heap of debris floating in the Pacific that's twice the size of Texas, according to marine biologists. The enormous stew of trash - which consists of 80 percent plastics and weighs some 3.5 million tons, say oceanographers - floats where few people ever travel, in a no-man's land between San Francisco and Hawaii. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/10/19/SS6JS8RH0.DTL&type=printable Posted by: wv on October 26, 2007 08:13 PM
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/g/a/2007/10/26/notes102607.DTL&type=printable Posted by: wv on October 26, 2007 08:16 PM
Polls Can’t Pin Down Democrats Tags: polls “As a forecasting device, at least for Democrats, national polls have proved to be less reliable than a divining rod,” writes Walter Shapiro, Salon’s Washington bureau chief. “Gamblers, in fact, would have done very well by following a surefire rule: Bet against the national polls in Democratic presidential races.” http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/10/26/polls-cant-pin-down-democrats/index.html?ref=opinion
Editorial Denying Children If the president carries out this threat, we hope Congressional tacticians can find a way to enact this important measure over the adamant, ideologically driven opposition of Mr. Bush and House Republican leaders. The health of millions of children who lack insurance cannot be held hostage to the president’s visceral distaste for government and its essential role to protect the weak, or his desire to protect the tobacco industry. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/26/opinion/26fri1.html?ref=opinion&pagewanted=print Posted by: wv on October 26, 2007 09:28 PMAnyone know a good place to start with interpreting a Vedic chart? I used an online calculator "RishiCalc" at Gilgamesh Posted by: Gilgamesh on October 26, 2007 11:58 PM
EXPLODING COMET: When we say Comet 17P/Holmes is "exploding," this is what we mean: The gaseous cloud surrounding the comet's core has more than doubled in radius during the past 24 hours. "I captured these images on consecutive nights using the same equipment (a 14-inch LX200 GPS) and similar exposure times (1x10s)," says photographer Eduardo Hernandez of Torreon, Mexico. This follows an even more astonishing million-fold increase in brightness on Oct. 23th. What is happening to this comet? It remains a mystery. It's a mystery you can behold with your naked eye. Step outside after sunset, face north, and look for the extra "star" in the thigh of Perseus: sky map. Comet Holmes is similar in brightness and appearance to the stars of the Big Dipper, very easy to see. If expansion of the spherical cloud continues, Holmes could soon become a naked eye disk rather than a dimensionless point of light. Stay tuned! http://www.spaceweather.com/comets/gallery_holmes_page2.htm?PHPSESSID=51ifn3eb8ao6m6qbplllf8jdf4 Posted by: Pat C on October 27, 2007 04:09 AMI got the torrent but someone already put Endgame up on Google video. Get it while it's hot! It is ... well maybe the comet has something to do with it but whatever you do, it's worth viewing. Jones is an Aquarius with a Sun/Jupiter square - loud and self-righteous, but he's on the right track. Remember that Nader video clip I posted earlier? It *is* much worse than we thought. Enjoy, and let me know if you can't access the video and I will try uploading it. Gilgamesh Posted by: Gilgamesh on October 27, 2007 09:01 AMWhat was I thinking, I'm just a few months older than Alex Jones so of course he'd have a Sun/Jupiter *conjunction* in Aquarius not a square, and actually it's an eclipse and a pretty tight one as well. The square I was thinking of is to Mars, so he doesn't back down from confrontation. "Warrior for Truth" if you will. Feb 11, 1974 *yawn* I don't wanna go to bed lol Gilgamesh Posted by: Gilgamesh on October 27, 2007 09:14 AMPat C & Marta,
Doris Lessing did what no politician would dare to do
Kathryn Hughes
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,2200260,00.html Thank you all for your kind thoughts. I didn't see this particular Bill Moyers broadcast, and hope i'm not duplicating someone else's post, but this is worth repeating if i am. This discussion on the constituionality of torture, of the President's ability to ignore any and all law at his discretion has the protagonist (for the Bush/Cheney regime) defending their policies on the basis of out-of-context historical precendent. http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/10262007/transcript4.html We're definetly reaching some critical mass on several levels. They key one, which will determine the direction of the United States future, is whether or not Bush and company have created a monarchy. I'm of the opinion that it's a done deal. War with Iran will cement it. But with all things anti-human, and disrespectful these self-appointed kings will not rest until much of the planet is destroyed. What remains will merely be a shadow of their grandiose dreams. Posted by: karen on October 27, 2007 06:28 PMGilgamesh, "Beneath a Vedic Sky" by William Levacy and one of the best would be "Ancient Hindu Astrology for the Modern Western Astrologer" by James Braha. James has other books as well for a little more advanced treating of the subject. I don't know your email but if you send it to me at mine I will send you some information and lessons by Gary Gomes or you can contact him, he also gives lessons, at Crystal Expectations. He is very good and well known in the professional Vedic community. Posted by: Sally on October 27, 2007 06:48 PMSomeone I think posted a link to a Guardian article regarding Naomi Wolf and 10 steps to fascism in America - here's a video of her speaking about this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjALf12PAWc Quite a persuasive speaker. Sally, thanks, I will get back to you on that. I'm thinking at this point I would rather just pay someone for a full and thorough reading as well as pointers for future study, despite my normal DIY nature. I got burned the last time I paid, though, as the guy didn't even get my ascendant right - sidereal Virgo instead of sidereal Capricorn (I mean, at least I knew that much but I figured maybe he knew something I didn't....) Referrals, anyone? I'm thinking of consulting Sandy Crowther as I love her site on Magi Astrology and she seems to have detailed case study analyses with Jyotish. Gilgamesh Posted by: Gilgamesh on October 27, 2007 07:31 PMPosted on Starlight News: Separatists claim responsibility for California Wildfires ORANGE COUNTY, California (CNN)—Radical Hispanic separatist organization MEChA (“Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan”) is taking responsibility for setting the wildfires in California, confimed Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. more http://www.cnnheadlienews.com/2007/US/10/25/fire.mecha/index.html Posted by: Pat C on October 27, 2007 08:42 PMQOP, thanks for posting the additional link on Clinton ... don't get me wrong, I voted for the man twice and thought he was the best thing since sliced cheese. It's just that at this point in time I think that he's definitely passed over to the other side (if he ever WAS on our side).... again, I don't think we have a two party system (a real one, not a "pretend one"). I think our whole system of government is at this point a sham and a vehicle to ever more restrict individuals and take power for themselves. I see it more and more every day. By the way, and this has been bothering me for a few days ... someone made a negative comment about a poster, Soulchild, that I found upsetting for two reasons, 1) she's posted here before, if infrequently (like me ... I only get the gift of gab infrequently) and does not deserve to be disrespected the way she was and 2) if every person who is "new" (or perceived to be new) to the board gets that kind of treatment (basically accused of being a troll or somehow enabling a troll by responding to something that she apparently found outrageous - as so many of us have also), pretty soon all the voices will dry up and that's what makes AW worth coming to every day. After all, once the article has been read and digested what's left are the voices that continue the dialogue until the next submission. Anyway, one of the reasons I've always liked AW was because I always felt that if I had the urge I could, "jump in" and that would be ok ... shouldn't we keep it that way? Anyway, there's my two cents. I don't mean to offend anybody ... but just felt that I had to stand up and PS Soulchild, if you're still with us, my brother is going to be sent back to Iraq for a second time in 2008 if he can't find a way out ... so I also happen to agree with your post entirely. Posted by: Marta on October 27, 2007 08:59 PMOh Marta, and Soulchild and oh'dang how did i miss THAT post? Just speaking with a friend of an almost eighteen year old son. He's doesn't seem to get the seriousness of this war, nor a pending draft. They're terribly afraid that his wake-up call will be a shock, if not fatal. They're just plumb out of ideas to get him to pay attention. Even if any young person wanted to dodge this war, they're going nowhere without a passport and WITH A JOB ALREADY LINED UP elsewhere. I find this highly interesting (sarcasm) for when a draft IS instituted what options will we have? Now i'll have to go back and find soulchild's post. Sigh. Posted by: karen on October 27, 2007 09:07 PMMy husband (born 3/28/48 in N.O. at 2:03 pm) has been advised to get prostate surgery. He's put it off for a long time & is now closer to the point where he may have to get it. Should we try to put it off until Mars is out of retrograde (sometime in April, I believe)? I was also thinking that, should he get it soon, Mars retrograde would define his convalescence period. Posted by: on October 27, 2007 09:10 PMIf I insulted anyone who is a regular here I sincerely regret it and apoligize. I was reacting to what seemed like another invitation for the troll to post. It seems to me that if someone were aware of the troll and the many threads he's highjacked that that someone wouldn't go out of their way to invite him in again. My bad. Posted by: lunaoscura on October 27, 2007 10:18 PMRe Pat C's post above about the CA wildfires and MEChA: Does MEChA have a death wish or something? Is that for real? Posted by: shylurker on October 27, 2007 10:28 PMPat C, take a close look at the domain name in that URL you posted: http://www.cnnheadlienews.com/2007/US/10/25/fire.mecha/index.html Rivero (whatreallyhappened.com) is saying hoax; it doesn't even come up for me so I dunno *shrug* Gilgamesh Posted by: Gilgamesh on October 27, 2007 10:28 PMhttp://www.cnnheadlienews.com/2007/US/10/25/fire.mecha/index.html It's coming up for me. Posted by: Pat C on October 27, 2007 10:36 PMYou're right he does say it's a lie. http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/archives/cat_coverupdeceptions.html#072342 If it is a lie, it's akin to Mrs O'Leary's cow. Posted by: Pat C on October 27, 2007 10:39 PMPat C, this is also is rather fishy, since the fires did extensive damage in this particular area where Blackwater wishes to create an 850 acres compound with only one way in and one way out. Boy i hate being a conspiracy theorist, but dang this is just way too juicy. Besides this link, there was discussion on Daily Kos, I believe about the people who were protesting this development. I didn't dig for that link, but many were worried about these folks since the fire since they had not been heard from. Hopefully, there's better news today. http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Massive_security_contractor_faces_growing_protest_0403.html Posted by: karen on October 27, 2007 10:54 PMLuna, that was big of you ...:) Blackwater. Don't you just hate the very notion? Posted by: Marta on October 27, 2007 11:16 PMHey, I just noticed from that MEChA article: "A $70,000 reward is being offered for any information leading to the arrest of those responsible for setting the fire. No suspects have been identified, though they are probably brown." probably brown? What? Why would CNN write with such a racial suggestion? They wouldn't. Karen, oy. Posted by: Pat C on October 27, 2007 11:56 PMWell, I do love pranksters but fyi: Domain Name: CNNHEADLIENEWS.COM Administrative Contact: Whew!! Sure gave me a start. Posted by: shylurker on October 28, 2007 01:33 AMGilgamesh, in one of your previous posts you mentioned that you had an astrology book about what signs the different states fall under, but you lost it. Could you remember the name of the book, and the author? I would really like to get a hold of it. I have been looking for such a book, but have not been able to find it. I find myself so strongly attracted to the state of Calif., and I seem to be like a rolling stone looking for somewhere to settle. Sometimes I think I suffer from wanderlust. BTW, don't take what I'm going to say the wrong way, but when you started posting, I automatically assumed that you were a woman, and I keep getting female energy from your posts. Now this could be because of your choice of moniker, which I keep associating with a female name - Gilgamesh, but I believe in one of your posts you said that you are a guy! Carol, or anyone, can you please post a link to Carol's website. I neglected to bookmark it, and I'm too lazy to go scrolling through all the posts. Sally, if you ever decide to re-design your website, may I make a suggestion? That you design it with a search bar where you can put in a poster's name and pull up all the posts that he/she posted, much like you can on the stock message boards. It will be so much easier to find a post by a particular poster, rather than having to scroll through hundreds, maybe thousands of posts. I don't know if it will work for your particular kind of website, but it sure would save a lot of time. Posted by: Crystal on October 28, 2007 03:24 AMCrystal, this will work with individual threads (not all of them at once): Go to the Comments, press Control and the F key simultaneously. A window should pop up in which you can type the name (or word) you seek and you'll be taken to those places in the Comments section where that appears. That's right SHy. I googled my e-mail address trying to find my hotmail when it went away and got my listing with Maine Arts COmmission AND some comments from AW where I had posted it!LAst year for the calendars and back when Eric was sick. Crystal, were you asking about main page Authors of the blog posts? If that's what you meant all of AW author/contributor names are linked separately in the Archives section in the lower left sidebar that will bring up a list of all their past posts. For commenters search, besides the "Control + F" that Shy kindly cited (or go to Edit > Find on This Page) another way for us to quick search is to use this search engine formula - site:astroworld.us + name (or keyword) But I agree, we do need a blog Search box here to also search for topics and keywords, and maybe a tag system on posts would be great. I'm looking forward to seeng what Sally has in mind for the site improvements that she mentioned recently they want to do. Posted by: Shez SpiritEye on October 28, 2007 06:09 AMHere's a story I've been following since yesterday, the HJC "accidently" sent out emails revealing all the whistleblower's email addresses on their Tip line site and revolving around the DoJ scandals. House Panel Screw-Up Reveals Whistleblower Email Addresses And a kos diary here about it: It included one address, hopefully fake, to vice_president@whitehouse.gov. Many feel Darth Cheney has had this info all along. My websites: http://www.aquariusmoon.info, and http://carolduhart.blogspot.com. On the aquariusmoon.info front page, there is a search engine. Enter the name of the state, and you will get the page (and SunSign)where the state is located. I also have the birthdates of the Presidents too and most of the nations.as well. Posted by: Carol on October 28, 2007 09:40 AMCarol, Someone needs to Google "The Epic of Gilgamesh." Then they need to read it about a hero-king-god- kind of guy that they do not make many of anymore. It takes place in an area of the world where a lot of stuff is happening right now. Someone needs to Google "The Epic of Gilgamesh." Then they need to read it about a hero-king-god- kind of guy that they do not make many of anymore. It takes place in an area of the world where a lot of stuff is happening right now. Wow, Betsy! What a treat to read about your adventures. I enjoyed every word. And Luna. . .you are probably about to post this article on peak oil.(All the more reason to this administration will make another blunder in the middle east.) But, in case you missed this one. . . http://www.fcnp.com:80/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1984&Itemid=35 Posted by: karen on October 28, 2007 03:03 PMhttp://www.bestcyrano.org/THOMASPAINE/?p=406 Truth Matters snip As propaganda, the elements that are deliberately left out of media are as important as those that are retained. It is propaganda by omission, as much as by content. What people are not told shapes their world view and influences their behavior, as surely as what they are told. Imposed ignorance and selective knowledge go hand in hand to forge public opinion and to shape cultural identity. These conditions set the stage for belligerent government and aggressive nationalism. It is not coincidental that professional journalists, those who write for profit in the mainstream media, are the least likely to tell us the truth, the whole truth; whereas, free-lance writers, who operate under a different set of rules and out of the mainstream, are more likely to serve the public interest, and tell us what we need to know in order to be a free people, and good world citizens. snip Truth is simple and uncomplicated, whereas lies and distortions are complex. Truth stands strong and unwavering without artificial support; lies and propaganda require elaborate schemes and constant propping up, the mask of deception. More of us must learn the language of truth; we must be its faithful guardians, if we are to be valuable citizens in this world, rather than the useful idiots of empire. By holding truth and justice in the highest regard, we demonstrate that another world is not only possible, but highly probable. As voracious consumers of media, we must be as careful about what we admit into our minds, as the food we put into our bodies. Food can nourish and sustain us, or it can produce disease and decay. And so it is with media. To date, we have not been very discriminate, and the result is that we have become a culture of the mentally obese, fed on junk media. Our minds, our souls, have been deliberately poisoned; our perceptions twisted and distorted, our humanity abandoned to the quest for profits and power. More... Posted by: Pat C on October 28, 2007 04:36 PMBetsy, I enjoyed your post too! Posted by: Pat C on October 28, 2007 04:37 PMPat, that was an awesome article. I have a question for those who are more google saavy than i. I heard what could be paramont to a huge lie/rumor last night. That is, pilots flying the B52 armed with nukes died while on leave after the incident. Apparently the officer who leaked the information to the press has also died. Posted by: karen on October 28, 2007 04:56 PMIf this was reported, I didn't hear about it, at least not on the tee vee. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7065975.stm Thousands in US anti-war protests Tens of thousands of people have taken part in demonstrations against the war in Iraq in cities across the US. Posted by: Pat C on October 28, 2007 04:56 PMkaren, just type in pilots flying the B52 armed with nukes died while on leave after the incident and see what you get Posted by: Pat C on October 28, 2007 04:59 PMhttp://www.alternet.org/mediaculture/65870/ Where Does the Right-Wing End and the Media Begin? Economist Paul Krugman on how the right-wing media machine is destroying social progress. Posted by: on October 28, 2007 05:24 PMKaren, I'm not sure a video could make your trip more vivid than your words. Many thanks--just beautiful. Posted by: shylurker on October 28, 2007 05:30 PMBig OOOOPS. I was writing to Betsy immediately above. So sorry. *blush* Posted by: shylurker on October 28, 2007 05:31 PMFEMA Director of External Affairs Exits Amidst PR Scandal; Lands at ODNI Just three days after FEMA is outed for a staging a fake press conference, its Director of External Affairs John “Pat” Philbin lands an “amazing opportunity to head the communications shop at ODNI,” according to FEMA’s press secretary Aaron Walker (via email to PRNewser). The Washington Post confirmed the news through Vance Vines, Spokeswoman at ODNI. Posted by: Pat C on October 28, 2007 05:56 PMBetsy, with a little work like fleshing out the story, creating more depth in your characters and dialogue you could write a novel about your epic day trip adventures in modern day China. You just wrote the outline of one excellent chapter there! Karen, trying to keep up with the latest in global warming issues (oil being a major culprit) is like getting whiplash isn't it? My thoughts are that it may have taken us 100 years to use up half of the oil on the planet, but it isn't going to take any time at all to use up the other half. We might as well be practically running on empty right now for the time left us. Posted by: lunaoscura on October 28, 2007 06:05 PMI'm guessing you already discovered this, Pat. There is credibility to this rumor after all. Ugly, ugly, ugly. The posts after are highly interesting as well. http://www.legitgov.org/minot_afb_nukes_oddities.html Posted by: karen on October 28, 2007 07:44 PMThese tycoons are stranger than fiction
Will Hutton
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,2200611,00.html Posted by: wv on October 28, 2007 07:44 PMKaren, I will jump in about the B-52 pilots, etc., since I heard a broadcast on the BBC with an expert with "Jane's Military Magazine" and list this link FYI. It's not about suspicious s though. I don't know if the s are credible news accounts although one pilot may have died while on leave I'm not interest enough to search. More interested that it doesn't happen again. "Airmen punished for nuclear error" - October 20, 2007 The link doesn't seem to work but here is a small excerpt: "Three colonels, a lieutenant colonel, and 66 other personnel were punished following the nuclear error.....Minot AFB of 8-29-07." I'm sure google will bring up the entire article. Posted by: Beverly on October 28, 2007 09:08 PMHey Beverly. . .i too would like to think that this incident was just that -- a wholly innocent one. And, perhaps i'm overly jumpy, and too old not to have seen so many shenanigans by those who spend their lives covering up deceit that i've become absurdly cynical. Given that, i would sincerely like to know the truth. wv. . .I believe The Last Tycoons will be a must read. Did you read the comments following? Posted by: karen on October 28, 2007 09:23 PM
Walking Into Iran's Trap ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates -- Is the United States going to war with Iran? That's what a Lebanese businessman here wants to know from a visiting American. If it's war, he doesn't want to make a big new investment in the region. You hear versions of this same question throughout the Middle East, as Washington and Tehran escalate their campaign of threats and counter threats. President Bush's loose talk of World War III doesn't seem to be deterring the Iranians, but it's scaring the heck out of America's allies in the region. Some talk as if war is almost inevitable. More... Posted by: Pat C on October 29, 2007 01:50 AMI received this morning an unsolicited email from Col. Steven A. Boylan, the Public Affairs Officer and personal spokesman for Gen. David G. Petraeus (see UPDATE III below). The subject line of the email -- which I am publishing in full, unedited form here -- is "The growing link between the U.S. military and right-wing media and blogs," which is the title of the post I wrote earlier this week regarding the politicization of the Army in Iraq, as evidenced by its constant coordination with, and leaking to, the likes of Matt Drudge, The Weekly Standard, and the most extremist right-wing blogs -- in the TNR/Beauchamp case and also more generally. More... Posted by: Pat C on October 29, 2007 02:00 AMOoops, here is the top part of that post. Merc retro I guess. http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2007/10/28/boylan/index.html SUNDAY OCTOBER 28, 2007 07:18 EST Crystal: This is apropos of nothing previous, of course, but non sequiturs are the Aquarius way--anybody wanna move to France? At least they're trying to do the right thing... http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/10/28/rummy-on-the-run/#more-12549 Posted by: Garry Todd on October 29, 2007 04:03 AMThey are determined to destroy what was the culture of old New Orleans. Now the police have cracked down on the music during funeral processions: So sad. So sick!! Posted by: shylurker on October 29, 2007 05:39 AMMoonsiren, YES that is the book I was referring to!!! Thanks! Buying it again! Crystal, I'm a guy but perhaps you were picking up on my Moon/Mercury conjunction? What do you guys think about the upcoming USA Pluto return? Looks like political unrest started to bubble to the surface during the 1760's when Pluto first made its last entrance into Capricorn. England and Switzerland come to mind in terms of continuous existence long enough for a Pluto return, in my opinion. Next research project... Dug up a Vanity Fair article from last year on this topic that may be of interest: http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2006/12/lutin200612?currentPage=3 I looked briefly at California's transits for the past week and the two things that stuck out like a sore thumb were T Mars square N Mars and T Saturn square N Chiron. Sobering assessment of the youth of today and by extension, the future of our country: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2007/10/24/notes102407.DTL Posted by: Gilgamesh on October 29, 2007 05:39 AMDiFi has managed to achieve a new low in terms of behavior and judgment: The youth of today, at least those in Seattle, are doing just fine, thank you. If you don't have time for both, at least don't miss the second where you'll learn of some very impressive things the youth are doing in the Puget Sound area. Posted by: shylurker on October 29, 2007 05:47 AMHi Sally, AWers. I've been very busy with an important case last week so haven't had much time to post. Thanks Sally for the chart data you give for CA state and San Diego. I wanted to ask you a few questions regarding it and what you said. Clearly the people in San Diego and surropunding areas are more affluent than was the case in New Orleans. On the basis of the charts of NO and SD, can you please tell us how you would see this difference in affluence in astrological terms, also perhaps in racial or class terms? Also, you mentioned Republican Bobby Jindel, who is the first nonwhite governor of LA since Reconstruction to be elected. The former Kathleen Blanco and New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin are it seems to me, at least as responsible for Katrina as Bush, right? Do you have any data on Jindel, and how do you account for his election as an Indian in an avowedly Democratic state, if what you assert regarding Bush and his failure regarding Katrina is true? Could you please explain, astrologically and otherwise? Lastly, I too hope that Claudia Dikinis is alive, well and safe. I'm hoping that she will come back to AW soon as I wanted to get her reaction to something that was previously discussed and, from what I've read in her remarks, she seems to have strong views about. Thanks! Posted by: Michael on October 29, 2007 05:07 PMGee Michael, do you think Sally is your servant? You seem to expect a lot from her just because you ask her a question? A convoluted one at that! You seem to expect her to give a hoot about your concerns about who's rich and who isn't? Is it so you can somehow capitalize? Ray Nagin has an IQ that doesn't quite reach room temperature, which was obvious from the moment I heard him speak. He was bought and sold within two weeks of the NO disaster, and about when gwpinhead unleashed Blackwater on innocent citizens and began his theft of the National Guard from the states and sent them to Iraq. We've all been expecting some sort of major fight in the US, kind of like a civil war, but it might be a real nasty fight over water rather than the Constitution. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-water_bdoct28,1,36120,full.story Great Lakes key front in water wars By Tim Jones | Tribune national correspondent While the West burns and the Southeast bakes, there is little to suggest a large-scale, climatological catastrophe playing out any time soon in the Midwest. In fact, farmers in Iowa and Minnesota had trouble last week harvesting their corn and soybean crops because there had been too much rain. But potentially huge battles over water are looming in the Great Lakes region as cities, towns and states near and far fight for access to the world's largest body of fresh surface water, all of it residing in the five Great Lakes. Call them water wars, with the Great Lakes states hunkering down to protect what they see as theirs.
"States like Wisconsin are awash in water," Richardson told the Las Vegas Sun. Richardson soon backed off after swift protests from the Midwest, including a resounding "No" from Michigan's Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm. That won't be the end of it. The fires in Southern California, the prolonged drought in the Southeast and the shrinking flow of the Colorado River, which feeds seven Western states, have underscored the importance of water supplies in rapidly developing regions and the determination of a handful of states to hold on to a resource they see as key to their economic future. more... Posted by: lunaoscura on October 29, 2007 07:11 PMLuna, if Cayce's predicton holds true (that the Great Lakes will dump into the Missippi) then the south, at least, will have more water than they know what to do with. On a more serious note, i was in Michigan not to long ago. They too have experienced drought this year, and the Great Lakes are at historical lows (though you know this). Their drought is pale in comparison to the drought we've had here in the South. On a personal level, i thought i would have canned at least 70 quarts of tomatoes, and an equal amount of beans this year. No such luck. I didn't can one quart of anything accept a few pints of salsa. The neighbor insisted on watering her gardens every single day. I cringed just thinking of who i might be robbing down the pike if i watered every day. Despite my straw mulch, the gardens died. Next year, i'll mulch deeper and cross my fingers. Posted by: karen on October 29, 2007 07:43 PMThanks to everyone who volunteered information to make my search on posters of commentaries easier, and thanks also to Moonsiren for that priceless information on the book. I was kind of busy doing a little investigative research on Robert Murat, because I am so convinced of his guilt in Madeleine Mc Cann's disappearance, and hate to see how her parents are being villified by the press. I think the Portugese police really bungled the investigation. Anyway, I thought I would look at the lunations at the time of the child's disappearance, and I noticed that there was a full moon at 11o Scorpio on May 2nd, just one night before her disappearance, and that it is almost exactly conjunct Murat's Mercury. I think this is yet another piece of astrological evidence to link Murat to this crime. Posted by: Crystal on October 29, 2007 07:58 PMshylurker, thanks for those uplifting videos! I watched both of them all the way through, and there was a video on the same page for the 9/15 DC ones here too. I'm wondering if there are similar port militarization protest groups for Baltimore and Philly over here on the Beast Coast; that is excellent strategy. I sure miss Seattle :( Gilgamesh Posted by: Gilgamesh on October 29, 2007 09:37 PMPatB, please. I thought I was addressing my sincere questions to Sally, who was the author of the post that started this thread. The last time I checked I didn't see any signage saying that no questions could be asked, only cheerleading, and derision of those who refuse to swallow the party line hook, line and sinker. But for your information, no, I have nothing to gain or lose in NO or SD, just asking questions for clarity's sake. For me the jury's still out on Blackwater USA, it seems that since the incident that made the news last month about them another securtiy firm out of the UAE got into a bit of trouble. I notice that no one's mentioned the fact that Blackwater has never lost a person entrusted to them in the whole time they've operated in Iraq. Perhaps little details like that don't matter you, PatB. But me, I try to get all the facts and leave my ideology at the front door. Going back to New Orleans, it was Sally who brought that up as well as the comparison between it and San Diego. I merely asked is she could point out to us the very obvious income disparities between the two city populations. Sally also made mention of Jindel, and so I thought to followup in my questioning by asking how she could account for the fact that he is the first nonwhite governor since Reconstruction to win in a landslide election - as a Republican. That's a powerful rebuke of the former governor, Kathleen Blanco, I would think. Most people living in the region have feelings just as strong against her and Nagin as they apparently do for Bush. And you can cease and desist in your feeble attempts to insult me. We lawyers have very thick skins LOL. Thanks. Posted by: Michael on October 29, 2007 09:49 PMPatB, please. I thought I was addressing my sincere questions to Sally, who was the author of the post that started this thread. The last time I checked I didn't see any signage saying that no questions could be asked, only cheerleading, and derision of those who refuse to swallow the party line hook, line and sinker. But for your information, no, I have nothing to gain or lose in NO or SD, just asking questions for clarity's sake. For me the jury's still out on Blackwater USA, it seems that since the incident that made the news last month about them another securtiy firm out of the UAE got into a bit of trouble. I notice that no one's mentioned the fact that Blackwater has never lost a person entrusted to them in the whole time they've operated in Iraq. Perhaps little details like that don't matter you, PatB. But me, I try to get all the facts and leave my ideology at the front door. Going back to New Orleans, it was Sally who brought that up as well as the comparison between it and San Diego. I merely asked is she could point out to us the very obvious income disparities between the two city populations. Sally also made mention of Jindel, and so I thought to followup in my questioning by asking how she could account for the fact that he is the first nonwhite governor since Reconstruction to win in a landslide election - as a Republican. That's a powerful rebuke of the former governor, Kathleen Blanco, I would think. Most people living in the region have feelings just as strong against her and Nagin as they apparently do for Bush. And you can cease and desist in your feeble attempts to insult me. We lawyers have very thick skins LOL. Thanks. Posted by: Michael on October 29, 2007 09:50 PMBeating the drum for attacking Iran is the 51st and most influential state of the Union, Israel. I was shocked to see these thugs beating and tazing peaceful anti-Zionist jews: http://newsfromthewest.blogspot.com/2007/10/anti-zionist-jews-brutally-beaten-by.html What is wrong with these people? Why do I have to pay for this? Posted by: Gilgamesh on October 29, 2007 09:57 PMSorry for the double posting, what they say about Mercury retrograde must be true LOL. And if PatB is reading along, maybe she can make herself useful and productive by adding some of astrological value to the pointed questions I asked Sally, since she wants to inject herself into the discussion. Thanks! Posted by: Michael on October 29, 2007 10:01 PMGilgamesh, I have the chart of Israel and there is no doubt that the synastry ties between it and the United States are stron and enduring. Have you heard of a book called The Israel Lobby? I haven't read it yet but I've listened to some interviews with the authors. Would love to get your views on it and what you think of the astrology between the two countries. Thanks. Posted by: Michael on October 29, 2007 10:04 PMRumsfeld Charged with Torture in French Court http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/10/29/4890/print/ ............ http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,2200256,00.html Plundering the moon Posted by: Pat C on October 29, 2007 10:35 PMDear AWs--just stumbled across a book in the local library that I think you would be interested in. Here is link to a review http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/article/180462 Thank the God/Goddess/Almighty/ etc. for the Canadians. I was so taken by this book because it is an "as told to" from what we in the South would label a "good old boy." That is, a very decent, hard-luck, barely educated young man with humane instincts who, in this case, was swept into the occupation of Iraq. Posted by: Barbara on October 29, 2007 11:57 PMWarren Buffet, who is campaigning for a more equitable tax system,just said on the news that he pays a lower tax than anybody who works for him in his office e.g. his receptionist pays 32% tax on her income, and Warren says he pays 17% even without any tax shelters that are also allowed for the rich. Posted by: Crystal on October 29, 2007 11:59 PMSibel Edmonds about to tell it ALL! http://www.bradblog.com/?p=5197 Have been following her story for several years now - can't wait to hear all the dirt! She is a real American! Anyone have birth data on her? I'm guessing Taurus with a lot of Gemini and a Venus/Pluto aspect. Posted by: Gilgamesh on October 30, 2007 12:28 AM(from the above link; I did not know this) "On the morning that the SCOTUS refused to hear her case, the facade cracked on the front of the building. In a ridiculously ironic metaphor which would have been rejected by any credible screen-writer, a chunk of marble --- just above an allegorical statue representing "Order" and just below the words "Equal Justice" --- came crashing to the ground." I was watching Cspan when it happened! There are so many plots and counter-plots related to 9/11, that it is almost becoming a farce, and I don't think I would even be able to tell which is the true version if all the facts leading up to it were laid bare. Posted by: Crystal on October 30, 2007 01:34 AMSorry, Gov. Richardson, but beyond perhaps the most basic humanitarian reasons, there's absolutely zero justification for piping water out of the Great Lakes into an overbuilt, and increasingly arid desert. If it's water you want, then you'd best make do with what you've got, and stop building sprawl, sprawl and more sprawl upon sand, out of places such as Phoenix and Vegas, without first securing the proper resources to support it all. Anything short of that is both incredibily shortsighted and a poor investment of our increasingly precious resources. That said, the Midwest/Great Lakes region welcomes everyone who may be displaced in the very near or long term, by the imminent water shortages and the advanced effects of Global Warming in the West and the South. We've already got the infrastructure here in Cleveland, Detroit, Pittsburg and Chicago, and we've been bleeding population to the South and West for decades. The tables are turning again, however, and it's about time to dust these old cities off and put them back into service. Posted by: NEOBuckeye on October 30, 2007 02:07 AMMichael, not a single individual here shares interests which has been expressed numerous times by many. Thick skin is not the word..obtuse and boorish is more like it. Posted by: patb on October 30, 2007 02:09 AMGilgamesh, all I can seem to find on her is that she was born in 1970 with her north node in pisces, south in virgo which is on the current eclipse series. Interesting that bradblog article points to Dennis Hastert as having taken bribes from Turkey, a pretty good indicator of why he just stepped down without explanation, giving up all those pork rinds he could have had with those retirement benefits now gone. What's really surprising is Henry Waxman's reneging on his promise to help her after the '06 elections. WAXMAN backing down is shocking beyond belief! WHAT is going on? Posted by: patb on October 30, 2007 02:48 AMWell, PatB, I suppose being perceived as "boorish and obtuse" might matter if I cared what others think they think they know about me, but in truth I'm sorry to inform you that I couldn't possibly care less about someone who resorts to silly namecalling especially when they were never asked any questions to begin with. My questions to Sally where pertinent, precisely because they were based on statements she in fact made; I was merely following up on said statements for the sake of clarity. She asserts that one city (San Diego) got better treatment than another (New Orleans); she gave the data of one city, but didn't for the other, and I wanted to probe her astrological reasoning as to why she, as a prominent astrologer on the web, might make such a statement. Next, she mentions Louisana state governor-elect Bobby Jindel, who has made history in the ways I've twice indicated. Yet she offers no data, nor does she account for the fact that his being nonwhite and a staunch GOP man didn't seem to prevent him from easily winning election in astate known for first round voting. It would seem that the racial overtones, and the solid "blue state" mentality that Saly alludes to, doesn't seem to hold water here, and I wanted to press her on al of that. Again, mentions all of this in her post, not me. Get used to seeing me question assumptions, PatB. I don't nor won't drink the blue-colored koolaid. If Helen Thomas can pose questions to Bush, the least I can do is pose questions to some of the good folks here at AW. And I see you've yet to add anything of astrological value to the discussion, just more sloganeering and cut and pasting of nonastrological content. Boorish, perhaps. Obtuse? Definitely. Thanks! Posted by: Michael on October 30, 2007 05:11 AMInteresting comparison, doncha think? "Population of San Diego fire evacuation zone: 500,000? "White folk as a % of evacuees, San Diego: 66% "Size counts, too. Size of your wallet, that is: "The numbers would be even uglier, though more revealing, if I included evacuees of the celebrity fire in Malibu." http://www.gregpalast.com/burn-baby-burnthe-california-celebrity-fires/ QOP, you were watching CSPAN when the facade on the SCOTUS building cracked? That is just... priceless. Crystal, I know!!! re: obfuscated nature of 9/11 - I'm so confused!!! patb, I'm getting that movie "Kill the Messenger" as we speak to get a bigger picture look. Waxman not cooperating is a surprise, though. Very baffling as I had this image in my mind of a Virgo from a Virgo state sifting through all the details in service of his nation. Perhaps he doesn't think there isn't enough evidence or that it's a matter so devastating that it is worthy of the "State Secrets Privilege". God that sounds so Soviet. Time will tell, hopefully! Posted by: Gilgamesh on October 30, 2007 05:57 AMHave a little faith in Henry! Leahey got slammed on DU for being wussy, and all the while he was working quietly on thos contempts of congress! Trolls, Get used to being ignored. Posted by: on October 30, 2007 02:57 PMI have bee.n "away" and had to read this one from the top down this am. What intelligent, informed people in this group. So this is a tirade inspired by the thoughts of the troll. I will calm down and take my own advice and ignore the troll. Posted by: clymela on October 30, 2007 03:09 PMI have bee.n "away" and had to read this one from the top down this am. What intelligent, informed people in this group. So this is a tirade inspired by the thoughts of the troll. I will calm down and take my own advice and ignore the troll. Posted by: clymela on October 30, 2007 03:10 PMBetsy, I love your posts regarding your trips and where you live. It's a treat to read and re-read I hope you keep it up. Crystal Comet that Mark Twain was born on was Halley, it comes around every 75 or 76 years. The last time it made its rounds was in 1986. Mark Twain was born on Nov. 30, 1835 when Halley was circling the earth and he died on it's next sojourn in 1910. I always loved that story. As far as Henry Waxman goes, it's out of character for him to block any investigation, so I have to think he had a good reason for doing so. Here is a link to all the news stories about him and his ongoing investigations. I want to respond to the post above by the woman whose husband was having surgery. I don't think there would be a problem with the surgery being done during a Mars retrograde, in fact the Mars retrograde should help to be satisfied being quiet. Posted by: Sally on October 30, 2007 04:17 PMNo matter how bad things get one survival mechanism is the healing energy of laughter. This is the absolute best political cartoon website anyone could find! It features all the political cartoonists from both sides. You can even pick which catergory you want to see. I've been going to it for years and it never disappoints! You can also see the 'Daily Editorial Cartoons' for the most current events. The link is in the left column under the graphic of the book ad. Enjoy Posted by: lunaoscura on October 30, 2007 04:31 PMSorry for the double post!! I was "writing" in the drk in the very early a.m. I was so excited to be back and to read all the wonderful thinking and feeling all the wonderful creativity. This site and Starlight News are like home to me. Wonderful people, wonderful understandings. Posted by: clymela on October 30, 2007 04:51 PMThis is the House version of the Deceptive Practices and Voters Intimidation Act. There's also a version pending in the Senate. Here's the full text of the Senate legislation: I'd like to note here that this bill, if it should pass, will likely have a limited effect, at least as long as BushCo's DoJ remains in place. As you will note, the bill relies on the Attorney General to take remedial action--a rather naive expectation, inasmuch as the Attorney General, and the DoJ's entire voting rights division, is right now busily disenfranchising as many non-Republicans as possible. (I've sent you Steve Rosenfeld's superb work on this all-important, although still neglected, story.) Asking the AG to deal with vote suppression, therefore, is like asking some fat fox to provide protection for a bunch of bleeding chickens. Despite these qualms, however, I support the passage of this legislation, as it would serve the very important purpose of criminalizing actions that the Bush Republicans have been conducting with impunity--actions that, in fact, have helped to put the Bush regime in power. These laws should be on the books, so that they might eventually be used on our behalf, if and when we have a government that's willing to enforce them. Tactically, moreover, it's a wise idea to demonstrate, as vocally as possible, that we won't any longer tolerate the Jim Crow trickery now used nationwide by the Republicans (and largely tolerated by the Democrats). Thanks SO much, Sally, for your response about Mars retro not having a negative effect on surgery. T'was I who asked (Sharon). I know that Mars rules surgery (Pluto & Mercury would probably do so also). We won't be doing it when Mercury is still retro. I did some internet surfing and found out that surgery shouldn't be done on a full moon when the moon is in the sign that rules the body part (prostate = Scorpio). I also found a very good article by an astrologer online that seems to put it all into perspective: (it's kind of amusing & realistic, too). http://innerself.ca/html/astrology/health/astrology-of-scheduling-surgery.html Thanks again, Sally! Posted by: on October 30, 2007 05:54 PMJohn Edwards statement on Blackwater immunity http://www.johnedwards.com/news/press-releases/20071030-blackwater-immunity/ Posted by: Pat C on October 30, 2007 07:51 PMThe Bush machine is backing Rudy Giuliani. Allbaugh signs on with Rudy Joe Allbaugh, one-third of the fabled Texas “Iron Triangle” (with Karl Rove and Karen Hughes) that helped get George W. Bush to the White House signed on today with Rudy Giuliani’s campaign. Allbaugh, a former FEMA director and now a consultant, will be “senior adviser,” advising on “general strategy and homeland security.” Allbaugh was chief of staff for then-Gov. Bush in Austin and served as national campaign manager for the 2000 presidential race. Here, from the official announcement, are the nice things Giuliani and Allbaugh said about each other: More.... Maybe taking a look at a Rudy/Jeb chart would be interesting. Posted by: Pat C on October 30, 2007 11:18 PMhttp://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/10/27/152641/14 Edwards Opposes Peru Free Trade Deal: Trade Policies Must Benefit Workers-Not Just Corporate Profits K Street and Corporate lobbyists are turning up the heat on Congressional leaders to pass the Peru Free Trade Agreement, yet another trade policy that benefits only the bottom line of big corporations, at the expense of American workers. Some Corporate Republicans and Corporate Democrats are sucumbing to the pressure of supporting the Peru Free Trade Agreement before the ink is even dry on the checks. [......] Time to End the Game As Edwards has stated, "5 million jobs lost due to trade and 15 more may move off shore in upcoming years." While wages of Americans workers have dropped, "corporate profits have doubled." The system is rigged. It's rigged against the American workers and the middle class. It's time to put the power of Washington back into the hands of the people. Obama Supports the Peru Free Trade Agreement Barack Obama announced his support for President Bush's bid to expand the North American Free Trade Agreement to Peru. Yup - Obama is once again helping pass one of President Bush's top priorities - even as Bush blocks the entire Democratic agenda and daily rains rhetorical abuse down on Democratic heads. Is this how Obama is going to negotiate in the White House? I don't know for sure if Obama honestly felt that the Peru Free Trade Agreement was, on balance, the right thing to do, or whether he just wanted to curry favor with the major corporations whose financial support is fueling his campaign. It's probably a little of both. Obama, along with the DLC, the pro business U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Bush, supports the Peru Free Trae Deal as reported in TomP's diary: Obama Supports Peru Trade Pact that Unions and Many Progressives Oppose Hillary Clinton is Silent on the Peru Free Trade Agreement Hillary Clinton, who continues to accept federal lobbyist donations from multi-national corporations made a somewhat ambigous statement with regard to trade policies in early October: "It is time that we assess trade agreements every five years to make sure they are meeting their goals or make adjustments if they are not, and we should start with doing that with Nafta." Yet, Hillary thus far, has failed to issue a formal statement on whether or not she will oppose the Peru Free Trade Agreement. Hillary's silence on the Peru Free Trade Agreement coupled with her partnerships with big corporations and ambigious statements, has left many wondering if her words are merely "coded language." Hillary Clinton's coded message on US trade policy However, Clinton doesn't want her position to be fully understood by the majority of her American audience. Yet you may trust that leaders of the anti- social dumping movement in the European Union and organizers for globalized unions had no problem decoding her message. Environmental Groups and Labor Unions Oppose the Peru FTA Meanwhile, no labor unions have endorsed the Peru FTA. In fact, a number of environmental groups and key Unions oppose the Peru FTA. The AFL-CIO notes that in addition to the several issues of concern to working families, particularly with respect to investment, procurement and services, The Peru FTA "will likely impose economic hardship on some of the sizeable rural and poor population of Peru." (AFL-CIO Legislative Alert:PDF) Change To Win, which includes the Service Employees International Union, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America and represents over 6 million workers, issued a statement urging Democratic leaders to "Vote No on Peru Free Trade Agreement NAFTA Expansion. Much more... Posted by: Pat C on October 31, 2007 12:01 AMAl Gore: The Write-In Front-Runner The Nation -- A funny thing happened when the Deaniacs were asked to decide who they might want to back for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination. The supporters of the 2004 presidential campaign of former Vermont Governor Howard Dean and their allies, who form the base of the Democracy for America organization nationally, have been participating in recent days in a poll to see whether a liberal "consensus candidate" can be identified. It's an online vote, certainly not a scientific survey.
So who is winning as the contest heads toward its November 5 conclusion -- a date that conveniently falls two months before Iowa Democrats will be attending what could well be definitional caucuses? It's not Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama; not even John Edwards, who has made a serious play for DFA support. It is not even Dennis Kucinich, the anti-war progressive who is arguably the candidate most in tune with DFA positions in global and domestic issues. The front-runner is a write-in candidate: former Vice President Al Gore. Gore has genuine support among progressives ... .. As such, Al Gore is actually helping Hillary Clinton. For so long as he remains a prospect, he blocks opportunities for other candidates to make their moves. http://news.yahoo.com/s/thenation/20071029/cm_thenation/1246846 Posted by: Pat C on October 31, 2007 12:24 AMThe debate is in my old home town Philly! The protesters are out with signs and chants behind Andrea Mitchell The best quote I heard today is from Jimmy Breslin on Giuliani: "A small man in search of a balcony." Posted by: Pat C on October 31, 2007 02:50 AMHello, All, Great essay on "Limits" Posted by: Barbara on October 31, 2007 03:06 AMBidden just got off a few zingers about Guliani in the debate! He sure did Pat. Barbara I loved the essay on Limits. Posted by: Pat C on October 31, 2007 03:39 AMSharon, often times after surgery we push ourselves beyond where we should and sooner than we should, not giving the body adequate time to heal. With a Mars retrograde we aren't as anxious to jump out there and lift that barge tote that bale too soon. It will work in his favor. Earthquake just hit 9 miles downtown from San Jose along the Calberas Fault, not too big 5 or 6 but they are warning of aftershocks of equal or greater strength. Posted by: Sally on October 31, 2007 04:21 AMOMG, poor California. Oy. Posted by: Pat C on October 31, 2007 04:34 AMHere's a link to follow. http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsww/Quakes/quakes_all.php Posted by: Pat C on October 31, 2007 04:36 AMClymela, the constant ad hominem assaults and the like are completely one, immature and a real admission of just how weak your position is, and two, wholly irrelevant both to the questions I posed and the obstensible purpose of this site, which is to discuss the *astrological* underpinnings of the political world.......not merely be boosters for one political party over another. You, nor Sharon(?), nor Pat or anyone else here knows what my views with regard to race is, and you will never know, because its none of your business and again, is irrelevant to the stated post. My personal views have nothing to do with the question, which again I pose: is there a way to *astrologically* determine, based on the charts of San Diego and New Orleans, affluence and the lack thereof? Now, I can understand if you're simply not up to the job of tackling such a question. I can even understand if you choose not to do so. But for you to silly things like "ICK ICK ICK" goes beyond sophmoric. I've been saying this since day one. I'm neither on the left or the right, I'm a centrist, an independent voter. I vote for the issue, not the person, and definitely not for the party. The reason why both parties in America today are losing more and more people is precisely because of the anti-intellectual, stupid namecalling, and hysterica paranoia your last double-post illustrates so well. I couldn't care less about you or anyone else's cut and pastes. I care about the astrology, and trying to get better at it. Now with that said, do you have anything substantive to add in response to my astrologically based questions? Thanks! Posted by: Michael on October 31, 2007 11:03 AMClymela, the constant ad hominem assaults and the like are completely one, immature and a real admission of just how weak your position is, and two, wholly irrelevant both to the questions I posed and the obstensible purpose of this site, which is to discuss the *astrological* underpinnings of the political world.......not merely be boosters for one political party over another. You, nor Sharon(?), nor Pat or anyone else here knows what my views with regard to race is, and you will never know, because its none of your business and again, is irrelevant to the stated post. My personal views have nothing to do with the question, which again I pose: is there a way to *astrologically* determine, based on the charts of San Diego and New Orleans, affluence and the lack thereof? Now, I can understand if you're simply not up to the job of tackling such a question. I can even understand if you choose not to do so. But for you to silly things like "ICK ICK ICK" goes beyond sophmoric. I've been saying this since day one. I'm neither on the left or the right, I'm a centrist, an independent voter. I vote for the issue, not the person, and definitely not for the party. The reason why both parties in America today are losing more and more people is precisely because of the anti-intellectual, stupid namecalling, and hysterica paranoia your last double-post illustrates so well. I couldn't care less about you or anyone else's cut and pastes. I care about the astrology, and trying to get better at it. Now with that said, do you have anything substantive to add in response to my astrologically based questions? Thanks! Posted by: Michael on October 31, 2007 11:07 AMgod Michael Happy Halloween and thank you all for your kind remarks.bjt Posted by: Betsy on October 31, 2007 11:50 AMJust been reading Chomsky's 'Hegemony or Survival - America's Quest for Global Dominance', which I highly recommend. What is made abundantly clear is that the Republican and Democratic leadership care not a fig for democracy and have lived up to the non-democratic but pro-liberal credentials as laid out by the founding fathers. From day one the U.S. has had imperialistic ambitions and, since 1945, has treated western governments as its puppet/client states to which it has added through the E.U. expansion, NAFTA and APEC - all agencies of corporate neo-liberalism which seeks to disempower the many for the benefit of the elite. Whilst I don't like to see people suffer, I believe it is only through the crises of war and economic collapse that we will see an end to the current system and it is the hubris of the Bush Administration is actually 'helping' us reach that sorry but sure conclusion. As a socialist - and not a liberal, certainly not economically and only a little socially - I would hope that everyone on this board will recognize that NONE of the main contenders represent anything but the status quo, various aspects of it, yes but no real change that would see the people truly represented and that is not good enough. The constitution, which I know most of you are fond, is a marvellous document in terms of its sentiment and ideals and has allowed America to take the moral high ground in most foreign policy areas and sometimes with degree of justification however it is a vague document relying on the courts, which are necessarily politcal in the circumstances, to define the ammendments as they see fit. The vaguaries of the constitution have allowed successive U.S. governments, primarily under the Monroe doctrine, to impose their will in terms of foreign and domestic policy without much to hold it in check except the will of the American people. It is now reaching the point where the will of the people no longer has the power to reign the 'meritocracy' as we have witnessed from Reagan onwards and particularly undrer the current administration and congress. Will you please rise up, as you are given the right to do in your constitution, and demand real change? Gore is not good enough, not Clinton, not Obama - they will all follow the narrow way of post-war American politics and you will get more of the same. If you want decent healthcare through a national health service, a decent welfare system that takes care of all the people, free education, proper treatment of the elderly and lower crime rates (which is the case in Scotland under successive Labour/Lib Dem administrations and now under the SNP - all left of centre parties) then you will not get this under any of your contenders. No one is better placed than you to bring down the American Empire. It is not enough to rely on Harry Waxman or writing a letter to your congressman as it will only achieve a small victory at best but it will not defeat the Rupert Murdochs or Rothschilds of this world who are screwing us all. Organise and bring this corrupt and evil system down. Posted by: Jase on October 31, 2007 01:25 PMHi Barbara, Thank for the post on 'limits'. If you analyse it, it is part of the 'logical illogicality' that has been used to tame the U.S. citizen which the government sees as a child. The limits are imposed on our own behaviour, usually things which are not the business of government - sexuality, gender - which should be private or for 'civil society'. These are the wedge issues used by neo-liberals in order to win votes from those who will then vote against their own economic interests - white working class voters in southern states against abortion. This is a political fudge. The real issue that is held dear is the 'free market' and rolling back the new deal. The neo-liberal agenda is to utilise the market to merge and take-over business until there is no-one left except a few major players who can then dictate policy to governments and control the population of the world through economic means - new world order as envisaged by GHW Bush in the early 90's. Please don't mistake these people for conservatives. Ron Paul is a conservative - preserving/conserving the instituitions of the U.S. and not involving the state in personal matters. They are neo-liberals/globalist/corpratist(modern-day mercantilists) who believe in the 'invisable hand' of the market without taking any responsibility for their actions - as espoused by Reagan, Thatcher, Blair, Clinton, Hayek, and so on. Not so keen on J.S.Mill or Locke though. Brilliant but evil politics - they are playing EVERYONE in the United States. Judge them not by what they say, but what they do. Pizo, I hate to inform you that this is indeed a public forum and if you don't like my questions you don't have to respond, you can simply move on (no pun intended) to something else. I've been respectful and courteous and have focused my comments and questions to astrology. What you and others have done is launch personal assaults. Maybe if you tried as hard at actually giving astrology analysis we could really move the ball forward. Thanks! Posted by: Michael on October 31, 2007 02:19 PM
Scott Shrake
Last time I told you I am a one-issue voter. Now I will reveal that issue. It is the candidate's astrological sign.
What, do you have some "better" issue you base your votes on? I'd like to hear it, then. Face it, the zodiac issue is much more important than what the candidates say, do or believe. This is about character. The kind given to you by the position of the planets when you're born. That's why no matter what happens, I'm voting for Scorpio Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, whose birthday is today! (Mine's tomorrow!) This astrologer has done Hillary's whole "chart." You should look at the results of his research so you can find out why you should "vote Scorpio, vote Hillary"! Everything you need to know is right in front of you. Unless she was born at 8:00 AM and not PM, but it doesn't really matter because all I care about is sun sign, anyway. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/scott-shrake/happy-birthday-mrs-pres_b_70039.html?view=print Posted by: wv on October 31, 2007 03:27 PMhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/30/AR2007103000558.html To Implement Policy, Bush to Turn to Administrative Orders The White House plans to try implementing as much new policy as it can by administrative order while stepping up its confrontational rhetoric with Congress after concluding that President Bush cannot do much business with the Democratic leadership, administration officials said. More…. Posted by: Pat C on October 31, 2007 03:33 PMSO how come the majority of Presidents have been aquarians? How come the Scorpio Howard Dean didn't win? wv, Posted by: bhakti on October 31, 2007 03:59 PM http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,2157197,00.html How the neoliberals stitched up the wealth of nations for themselves snip When the Mont Pelerin Society first met, in 1947, its political project did not have a name. But it knew where it was going. The society's founder, Friedrich von Hayek, remarked that the battle for ideas would take at least a generation to win, but he knew that his intellectual army would attract powerful backers. Its philosophy, which later came to be known as neoliberalism, accorded with the interests of the ultra-rich, so the ultra-rich would pay for it. Neoliberalism claims that we are best served by maximum market freedom and minimum intervention by the state. The role of government should be confined to creating and defending markets, protecting private property and defending the realm. All other functions are better discharged by private enterprise, which will be prompted by the profit motive to supply essential services. By this means, enterprise is liberated, rational decisions are made and citizens are freed from the dehumanising hand of the state. More..... Posted by: Pat C on October 31, 2007 04:28 PMThe Scott-Shrake/huffington post article is somewhat simplistic; so why didn't Bobby Kennedy(assassinated), and Ralp Nader, both Scorpios not go on to become presidents? Was Theodore Roosevelt the only Scorpio president? If so, not very strong data to prove the point. I don't doubt that Hillary may well be the next American president, but not just for the reason of possessing a Scorpio sun. I might start making my own predictions for the Primaries, time permitting, and providing that birth-times are accurate. Posted by: Crystal on October 31, 2007 04:47 PMhttp://jimhightower.com//node/6242 SUBSIDIZING DISASTER Like some B-movie space alien… “The Thing” is back, and it is coming at us with an insatiable appetite. If only The Thing was a piece of fiction. Unfortunately, it’s all too real. It is the return of the nuclear power industry. After the Three Mile Island meltdown in 1979, nuke power finally seemed to be dead in America. The fission plants were too expensive to build, the multibillion-dollar taxpayer subsidies they devoured were ridiculous, the potential for atomic catastrophe was chilling, and the unresolved question of where to put the tons of radioactive waste was damning. More... Posted by: Pat C on October 31, 2007 04:54 PMDear Crystal, The Scorpio article is a joke. It is funny.bjt Posted by: Betsy on October 31, 2007 05:05 PMJase, I admire your passion, and fervor, but unfortunately, your views are too Utopian. I too would like to see someone who espouses the causes you mention, become President, but we don't live in a perfect world. The candidate who comes closest to my aspirations, and many other Dems, is Dennis Kucinich(sp?)but how do we make him electable? How do we move him to the fore? Why is he not getting the press coverage that other candidates are getting? If he does have a campaign manager, who is he? Somebody has to develop a marketing strategy for Kucinich. Sure, he has great ideas, but where is the exposure? The answer may be that he is not successfully marketed, or that he is unmarketable. Maybe he lacks the charisma, or good looks, that so many Americans like to see in their presidents. Maybe he doesn't have a wide appeal, because of his "liberal" views. You need votes to succeed, and to get those votes, you must necessarily appeal to a wide cross-section of the public. I think Kuchinich is too honest to succeed in politics. He is loyal to his following, but sometimes to get votes, you need to straddle the fence, and have a foot straying into a different camp, but of course, then he may be accused of betraying his ideals. So what is the answer? I don't know. For sure, he needs more media exposure, and he needs to be better marketed; or might there be another Dem candidate on the horizon, who may espouse the same causes as Kucinich, but in a more palatable form? Posted by: Crystal on October 31, 2007 05:25 PMThanks Betsy. The joke went over the top of my head. Hahaha. But on closer examination, I can see that it has to have been a joke. Posted by: Crystal on October 31, 2007 05:34 PMScary Times https://johnedwards.com:443/action/contribute/scary Posted by: Pat C on October 31, 2007 05:43 PMhttp://jameshowardkunstler.typepad.com/clusterfuck_nation/2007/10/assumptions.html When historians glance back at 2007 through the haze of their coal-fired stoves, they will mark this year as the onset of the Long Emergency – or whatever they choose to call the unraveling of industrial economies and the complex systems that constituted them. And if they retain any sense of humor – which is very likely since, as wise Sam Beckett once averred, nothing is funnier than unhappiness – they will chuckle at the assumptions that drove the doings and mental operations of those in charge back then (i.e. now). The price of oil is up 53 percent over a year ago, creeping up now toward the mid-$90-range. The news media is still AWOL on the subject. (The New York Times has nothing about it on today’s front page.) The dollar is losing a penny a week against the Euro. In essence, the American standard of living is dropping like a sash weight. So far, a stunned public is stumbling into impoverishment drunk on Britney Spears video clips. If they ever do sober up, and get to a “…hey, wait a minute…” moment when they recognize the gulf between reality and the story told by leaders in government, business, education, and the media, it is liable to be a very ugly moment in US history. Posted by: on October 31, 2007 06:11 PMHey folks, last night during the Dem debate they were asked who was opposed to legalizing marijuana. I saw Biden and Edwards were opposed, I thought I saw two other hands go up. Do any of you know who the other two candidates were who are opposed to legalizing marijuana? Thanks that'll narrow my decision by four! Posted by: Morgana on October 31, 2007 06:51 PMI think very many people know how bad things are, and becoming worse, but they just don't know what to do to change it, since they come up against a brick wall (present administration) every time they try! There will have to be some sort of large scale organization of the masses to effect change. I went to Dennis Kucinich's website to check it out, and there is a story that in Shirley Maclaine's soon to be published book, she claims that Dennis had an encounter with a UFO. Now, if it is true, I know that it makes him sound like a kook, but I had such an encounter too one night in 1969; not as close as Dennis' or maybe it can be called more of a sighting than an encounter, and from the way it moved, nobody could ever convince me that it wasn't a UFO. That night I had a vivid dream that it landed in the large field opposite where we lived, and I went inside it - it was circular in shape and all aglow with a red light, and there were cushioned seats lining the walls of the craft, but no little green men in sight. When I awoke the next morning, I had to pinch myself to make sure I was still in my room, and that it was really a dream. To cap it off, the announcer on the radio that morning said that several persons had called the station to report seeing a strange object in the night sky. And no, this is not a Halloween joke. Posted by: Crystal on October 31, 2007 07:25 PMCrystal, have you ever questioned whether your 'dream' was anything else? I know various people who I trust implicitly who have said they've seen UFOs and one who had a 'lost time' of over two hours on her way home one night. The only reason she told me was because she decided she could trust me not to act as if she was crazy. She swore me to secrecy, other than to vaguely refer to her story. So as far as I'm concerned I know people who say they've had experiences and I have no reason to not believe them. I stay away from those who claim UFO categorically don't exist because it's obvious that they have no experience whatsoever, yet they have made up their minds. That's plain stupid. Posted by: lunaoscura on October 31, 2007 07:50 PMMorgana I think the only candidate that was for legalizing it was Dodd, and for some very sound reasons. Posted by: Pat C on October 31, 2007 08:23 PMScorpio and Aquarius have had the most presidents, the rest are divided between the other signs. Scorpio and Aquarius have had a whopping 5 presidents apiece. http://www.neptunecafe.com/USPresidents.html Posted by: Sally on October 31, 2007 08:47 PMThe MSM is an insideous purple gaseous kinda thing..seeping under the door of the collective consciousness..telling us gossipy things (repetitiously) that this or that candidate is "unelectable". They don't get airtime, talktime, full discussion-time. Without thinking, we buy it and spit it back as fact. Posted by: patb on October 31, 2007 08:56 PMCrystal, my friend who got me into astrology back in college also disclosed to me that he had a "green man" experience when he was very young, I think age 6 or 7? It was kind of a surprise coming from a Taurus with Moon in Virgo with an earth grand trine and Scorpio rising. He was pretty detailed in his description. I was very open to the idea and was fascinated, but neither of us had ever discussed aliens at all, and I had never been interested in the subject except through fiction like Star Trek, or perhaps through occult themes like the "Secret Chiefs" so it was just.. weird in a good way. The sheer odds as evidenced by Drake`s equation and more recent attempts at visualizing the known universe such as the Virgo Millenium Project at the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics ( http://www.mpa-garching.mpg.de/galform/virgo/millennium/ ) of there being other forms of sentient life in the universe that we are able to perceive at this point in our evolution are mindblowing. Take a zoom through a few megaparsecs of that project's simulation to give you an idea just how huge it's thought the universe is, it's really really awesome. I suspect the bulk of you have seen the pictures from the Hubble Telescope's Ultra Deep Field zoom, which collected photos from what is believed to be near the beginning of our Universe, but take a look if you haven't: http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2004/07/ If we could just not self-destruct as a species from all this stupid political haggling, maybe we could develop tech to approach light-speed or greater travel. The main obstacle, of course, is distance. The nearest star system, Proxima Centauri, is over 4 light years away, meaning it would still take over 4 years travelling at the speed of light to get there, assuming there's anything there to colonize or inhabit. Wormholes? Folds in space? We can do it! If there are aliens, maybe they will help us. Maybe some of them are ourselves-in-the-future-coming-back-to-nudge-us. Maybe we are totally alone in the universe, and either way I don't think the majority of Earth's population understands just how fragile this thin envelope of delicately balanced life support we live in is. Obviously Bush's saber-rattling about Iran is not indicative of that. Anyway, does anyone have video of the Democratic debate last night? Lunaoscura, I was so scared on awakening, that I thought maybe they came and took me while I was asleep and done something to me, so I started examining my body, to see if anything was different, but I found nothing, and this was before I knew anything about reported abductions, etc.,because I hadn't yet come to America. I don't know why I didn't tell my parents about the sighting of the UFO until I had heard it over the radio, but since I don't have any evidence to prove otherwise, I would have to say that it was just a dream, and I do have a very active dream life. You know how someone is described as a prolific writer, well I am a prolific dreamer. If I put my head down for 5 minutes, I dream, and I have had a couple of prophetic ones, and a few symbolic ones. Gilgamesh, I didn't see any little men, green or otherwise. Posted by: Crystal on October 31, 2007 10:08 PMCrystal, sorry, I didn't mean to imply that you had seen green men, only that my friend had a similar encounter except that his was not a dream and was, to him, in real life. Gilgamesh, removing his hoof from his mouth AGAIN Posted by: Gilgamesh on October 31, 2007 10:11 PMWow I was just going through video footage of Gravel in the first two debates (?). That guy is awesome. Too bad he doesn't have the eloquence and self-composure that Kucinich has - I notice briefly that Gravel is a Taurus with Merc Rx in Gemini square Neptune, so we get some of the Kerry-ish speaking pedantry. Except, that's one angry Bull! Lock your china down! I see that Kucinich is more of a "smooth operator" with his Sun in Libra sextile Pluto, and the Mercury/Jupiter conjunction in Scorpio (Carl Sagan comes to mind as someone of a similar mental temperament) indicates a wise speaker interested in the what's right but isn't scared to cut to the quick. A better orator, for sure. Speaking of Scorpio, this 3rd generation feminist has written a pretty shocking book on what's going in our increasingly fascist, increasingly police-statish country: Naomi Wolf's The End of America: A Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot She was also an advisor to Al Gore on his 2000 prez campaign. For better or worse, I guess. I think in that Univ of WA lecture she did that I posted a link to of before, she noted that the TSA actually put a warning letter in her luggage while she was travelling, IIRC. Wow. That is creepy. Wow I was just going through video footage of Gravel in the first two debates (?). That guy is awesome. Too bad he doesn't have the eloquence and self-composure that Kucinich has - I notice briefly that Gravel is a Taurus with Merc Rx in Gemini square Neptune, so we get some of the Kerry-ish speaking pedantry. Except, that's one angry Bull! Lock your china down! I see that Kucinich is more of a "smooth operator" with his Sun in Libra sextile Pluto, and the Mercury/Jupiter conjunction in Scorpio (Carl Sagan comes to mind as someone of a similar mental temperament) indicates a wise speaker interested in the what's right but isn't scared to cut to the quick. A better orator, for sure. I am totally impressed with both of these candidates. I love Kucinich's assertiveness in pointing out that he voted against the immoral, preemptive act of aggression in Iraq and that people want that kind of integrity in their leader. Speaking of Scorpio, this 3rd generation feminist has written a pretty shocking book on what's going in our increasingly fascist, increasingly police-statish country: Naomi Wolf's The End of America: A Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot She was also an advisor to Al Gore on his 2000 prez campaign. For better or worse, I guess. I think in that Univ of WA lecture she did that I posted a link to of before, she noted that the TSA actually put a warning letter in her luggage while she was traveling, IIRC. Wow. That is creepy. As one born with Mercury Rx, I can vouch for the fact that they make better writers than speakers. I cannot think on my feet - I need time to reflect and collect my thoughts, but then again, it might just be me, and have nothing to do with Mercury Rx. I didn't watch the Dem debate last night, but I saw some excerpts on the news, and did the other candidates lay into Hillary! I actually felt sorry for her, standing there, smaller in stature than the others, the lone woman, looking very vulnerable. I don't think it was a good idea for them to all attack her at the same time, and I think it will backfire on Obama and Edwards in particular. Posted by: Crystal on November 1, 2007 12:29 AMA dear friend sent this to me. I ask your pardon for posting this completely off topic link. I surely needed this laughter, and I really did laugh. Enjoy. http://birdloversonly.blogspot.com/2007/09/may-i-have-this-dance.html Posted by: Pat C on November 1, 2007 12:43 AMMichael I'm pretty sure Gravel has moon in scorpio........ Courage and commitment personified! Monks in Burma marching again. Woot! Woot! This needs to be widely circulated. Cogent, concise and compelling! Gilgamesh, the problem with light speed is that time slows down for you, the traveller, while it "passes" very rapidly for everyone and everything not travelling at that speed. Travel 10,000 light years away from Earth and back again, and you'll return to a world that has forgotten you were even born, while everyone you know now will have passed on millenia ago. (If humanity survives that long, who can guess what form we might evolve into?) Travel that way and for all intents and purposes you'd best consider it a one way voyage. I agree that the real answer for interstellar travel has to be some sort of "faster than light" speed, a.k.a. Star Trek-style "Warp Drive" or wormholes. There are actually a few theories both, and I'd post the one I read on a possible warp drive system if I could find the bookmark for it. At any rate, half the battle is getting there, and possessing the energy to actually build and power the ships that would test and perhaps even prove those theories real. Given that we're staring a major global energy crisis in the face on the eve of Pluto's ingress into Capricorn, I'd say it will be awhile yet before we can build, much less power the Starship Enterprise. Then again, Pluto's next stop after Cap is Aquarius, and the technological seeds sewn at that time will perhaps sprout and flourish later on, in the 2060s, with the Neptune-Pluto Square followed by the next major pioneering phase (space itself?) when Pluto ingresses into Aries. Posted by: NEOBuckeye on November 1, 2007 07:09 AMShy, you're right, it's a must read link. There are a couple of ways SS could be worked without privatization by the government's choice. Social Security would have been great if they didn't keep dipping into it since Truman, getting worse every administration. There has to be provisions made for those who are sick, handicapped, etc and unable to work and put anything away and there could have been plenty for that. Several countries have had very successful programs, more successful than what we have, and Social Security could have been very successful, more than it is with some shifts in thinking and working it. SS has only been a way for this government to fleece the folks. On to another subject. In light of Tim Russert making sure the country sees Dennis Kucinich NEOBuckeye yah I'm hoping the aliens will help us out with that :) - Stephen Hawking says the #1 priority of humanity is getting off the planet before something intended or accidental wipes us all out, which I totally agree with. I think in the mean we can colonize the moon and Mars before 2100. I'll be volunteering! So, I'm not sure if it's been posted yet, but this PBS Frontline special on Cheney's desire to increase executive power is very interesting: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2655260104684404687 QOP, could be; 12 noon chart (for DC) for Gravel is only about 4' Sag, and I attribute his gesticulations and hotheadedness (not typical of Taurus itself) to Mars/Uranus conjunction in Aries, as well as his rebellious and maverick tendencies regarding his party. He really stares down the rest of the Dems (Kucinich excepted, I hope) in those debates Scorpio style, like he's getting revenge or something. Posted by: Gilgamesh on November 1, 2007 07:58 AMSally, you mentioned in your comments regarding Social Security, that "other countries" have successfully solved their problems in this regard without resorting to the private sector, however you did not mention them in particular. I was wondering if you could mention which countries by name were you referring to, and what astrologically do you attribute "social security" to in general? Thanks! Posted by: Michael on November 1, 2007 11:11 AMAll- This is the same as when they marginalized Dean with the "Dean scream" through audio trickery. In eseence, they're beating us with sound bites. Namaste and love y'all Hi Crystal, Don't worry, I'm not living in some Utopian La La Land. I understand the reality as it stands but I don't think the answer is more PR - god help us, haven't we got enough of that already - I think it is mostly a waiting game. At the moment the neo-libs hold all the cards and I don't think we will see a real change until either: a) there is a major collapse of the global financial markets or b) enough people are excluded from society as to cause real anger at the political system both of which I think are very likely to happen in the next ten years. If the Scottish people can have a decent standard of life, I fail to see why that can't be achieved anywhere - even the U.S. If enough people lose their homes then I can't see an FDR on the horizon to save this sorry, bent system's behind. Who knows, maybe ol' Karl Marx was right? Posted by: on November 1, 2007 12:24 PMJust for a bit of laugh you might want to test where you stand politicallly at this site: http://www.politicalcompass.org/ Very pleased to say that I stand with M. Ghandi and Nelson Mandela. Oh, and Dennis Kucinich! (Sorry, that was me above!) Posted by: Jase on November 1, 2007 12:27 PMPizo, yes I'm an attorney at law, guilty as charged LOL. But apparently you don't comprehend your own reading. Your comments suggested that this is a closed, private setting, and it is not. Moreover, since you're apparently so interested in politics and such, aren't you concerned with protecting the rights of the minority to be heard? Or are you interested in it only when your ox gets gored? Thanks! Posted by: Michael on November 1, 2007 02:17 PMPizo, yes I'm an attorney at law, guilty as charged LOL. But apparently you don't comprehend your own reading. Your comments suggested that this is a closed, private setting, and it is not. Moreover, since you're apparently so interested in politics and such, aren't you concerned with protecting the rights of the minority to be heard? Or are you interested in it only when your ox gets gored? Thanks! Posted by: Michael on November 1, 2007 02:34 PM
Original Content at http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_rob_kall_071031_covering_the_dem_deb.htm
Covering the Dem Debate in Philly for OpEdNews and Gravel's Counter Event By Rob Kall
Having started out about 20 minutes later than planned, and staying longer at the office, checking emails and sending a letter to our editors, I ended up arriving about 4:45. Parking for press was free at Drexel. I have to say, overall, Drexel University did a first class job of hosting the debate, treating the press better than most other organizations that benefit from media coverage.
31 Oct 20.10 After today I’ll drop the Jupiter/Pluto thing for a week or three as there’s still time to go. But to summarise so far – Jupiter and Pluto conjunct each other within one degree of space from the galactic centre and within two degrees of space from the solstice point. This will happen in the middle two weeks of December. The chance of these four points coinciding at the same time is at least 50,000 to one, probably an extra zero, possibly an extra two zeros. The actual triggers for this come towards the end of this period, as I’ll demonstrate soon. Meantime, I notice that as I write Neptune is standing still and moving forward again for the first time in nearly six months. An end to the fog? The membrane is bursting; the vision will become obvious shortly. Something new is imminent. Stay with it and don’t lose the plot. Posted by: wv on November 1, 2007 03:45 PMInteresting article about artifacts on the Moon, Cap'n Sally. It stated that the press conference would be on the 30th (Oct). Did anyone see it? Has there been any follow-up? I'm also curious about the (still can't wrap my head around it) melting of the Arctic and Antarctic. Velikovsky speculated that, if it became possible to perform archeological digs in the Arctic, that major surprises might be there. Dunno. Posted by: shylurker on November 1, 2007 05:09 PMThanks WV for the quotes from Steve Judd. In the latter part of January (21/22/23) Neptune will be crossing over the degree (21 Aquarius) of the Saturn/Neptune conjunction and Mercury will join her. That's a big signal to anyone and everyone with 20/21 degree fixed. Whatever Neptune was hiding during the retrograde period should hit like a thud on a national, international and personal level, oil, water, scandals and corruption will be front and center. Everything anyone tried to hide during the retrograde period will ooze out after the first of the year. There is supposedly a "sex" scandal, huge in the making regarding one of the Presidential candidates, hasn't been identified as Dem or GOP yet, but I am sure it will be soon. We can't seem to hold our attention to anything but sex scandals in this country. But oil is going up and predicted to go higher, water issues are on the front page as are finances. I keep wondering if we are simply addicted to drama in the world. Pundits, astrologers, brilliant writers, journalists, military keep saying "look here, look what's happening here, we need to do something" and we just wait for the next "zippergate" Posted by: Sally on November 1, 2007 05:09 PMPizo, you get the picture? You can't engage (I did crack up on your first post though, too funny). I wasn't sure about the intentions at first and was willing to give the benefit of the doubt. At this point I don't think anyone has any doubts that the game plan is to disrupt, insult/provoke people and shut down our conversation. So, no matter how provocative the post (and they are escalating), unfortunately it's ignore, ignore, ignore. I feel badly for our hostess, Sally, as she bears the brunt of the insinuating and uncouth comments from this cowardly bully. So I guess the only thing we can do is support her by not responding, hard as that may be at times. Hope ya'll have a great day. Posted by: Marta on November 1, 2007 05:11 PMhttp://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSL3166930620071031 Nordic nations sound alarm over melting Arctic [snip] They noted the ice on the Arctic Ocean shrank in September to 4.13 million sq. km (1.6 million sq. miles), the smallest since satellite records began in 1979 and far eclipsing the low in 2005. The ice extent is now expanding as winter approaches. The melt, blamed by the U.N. climate panel on heat-trapping gases emitted by burning fossil fuels, threatens the livelihoods of indigenous hunting peoples and wildlife such as polar bears and seals. Swedish Environment Minister Andreas Carlgren said the thaw of the Arctic ice might already have reached a point of no return. "We may have passed the tipping point," he said. Many climate scientists say the Arctic is warming about twice as fast as the rest of the globe because dark ground and water, once uncovered, soaks up more heat than white ice and snow. more... Posted by: lunaoscura on November 1, 2007 05:12 PMLuna, Thanks for posting that article. There was another article in the NYT last Sunday (sorry, I don't have the link ... I just happened to read it in the paper) on Greenland concerning the fact that the temperature has gone up 2 degrees over the past years and they are now able to grow vegetables and trees are starting to flourish as well. I saw a segment on Bill Maher's show where he interviewed (very poorly, I might add) a Norwegian scientist who just wrote a book about how global warming will be affecting climate differently according to geography, micro climates and a whole host of scenarios and he (the scientist) was very patient with Bill Maher's idiocy (Maher was making fun of him because he said the scientist's theory was stupid - and that other scientists weren't in agreement with him, which is normal ... it is a theory, after all ... The sad thing is, Maher was too dense to understand what the scientist was saying, which made perfect sense to me). He proposed that we needed to break down the study of global warming. Different geographic locales will suffer/benefit in distinct manners from global warming. Not all will be bad, if you are living in a place like Greenland, for instance. As a matter of fact, Greenland was originally colonized by Vikings in, I don't remember what century (the 12th century?), at a time when the climate was more temperate. After about 200 years, the climate became colder and vegetation stopped growing and there was a mass exodus back to other northern European countries. Climate change is not new. Remember the dinosaurs? It's just our turn to experience it and we have foolishly accelerated the process through ignorance and hubris. Anyway, it's a complex subject and it's most definitely timely to look at all of the waste we produce and the effects of that wastefulness on our planet. The changes will not necessarily be all bad if we all cooperate and help push humanity forward. Just don't hold onto any expectations that the US will be leading the way. We have effectively dumbed down the population so much that not much can be expected from our scientific/technology community (who are outsourcing their talent anyway) and the only technology that our country is expending it's resources on is war, war machines, human control, etc. What a tragic waste of time and talent. Posted by: Marta on November 1, 2007 06:11 PMFifty years? More like forever. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071101/ap_on_re_us/abizaid_middle_east Posted by: Crystal on November 1, 2007 06:25 PMMarta, yah I find the whole "public forum" claim hilarious as it is 100% false. This is not protected by the 1st amendment and Sally has every right to remove and edit comments at her discretion. I think I heard something about a lawyer but it was a muffled statement from outside, couldn't quite make it out... lol internet lawyers Posted by: Gilgamesh on November 1, 2007 09:17 PMhttp://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/11/01/60minutes/main3440577.shtml Faulty Intel Source "Curve Ball" Revealed (CBS) 60 Minutes has identified the man whose fabricated story of Iraqi biological weapons drove the U.S. argument for invading Iraq. It has also obtained video of "Curve Ball," as he was known in intelligence circles, and discovered he was not only a liar, but also a thief and a poor student instead of the chemical engineering whiz he claimed to be. 60 Minutes correspondent Bob Simon's two-year investigation will be broadcast this Sunday, Nov. 4, at 7 p.m. ET/PT. Curve Ball is an Iraqi defector named Rafid Ahmed Alwan, who arrived at a German refugee center in 1999. To bolster his asylum case and increase his importance, he told officials he was a star chemical engineer who had been in charge of a facility at Djerf al Nadaf that was making mobile biological weapons. 60 Minutes has learned that Alwan’s university records indicate he did study chemical engineering but earned nearly all low marks, mostly 50s. Simon’s investigation also uncovered an arrest warrant for theft from the Babel television production company in Baghdad where he once worked. Also appearing in Sunday's segment is video that 60 Minutes obtained of Alwan at a Baghdad wedding in 1993 - the first time images of him have ever been made public. He eventually wound up in the care of German intelligence officials to whom he continued to spin his tale of biological weapons. His plan succeeded partially because he had worked briefly at the plant outside Baghdad and his descriptions of it were mostly accurate. He embellished his account by saying 12 workers had been killed by biological agents in an accident at the plant. More than a hundred summaries of his debriefings were sent to the CIA, which then became a pillar - along with the now-disproved Iraqi quest for uranium for nuclear weapons - for the U.S. decision to bomb and then invade Iraq. The CIA-director George Tenet gave Alwan’s information to Secretary of State Colin Powell to use at the U.N. in his speech justifying military action against Iraq. more… Posted by: lunaoscura on November 1, 2007 09:48 PMhttp://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071101/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_iraq_embassy
Jury awards father $11M in funeral case By ALEX DOMINGUEZ, Associated Press Writer
Albert Snyder of York, Pa., sued the Westboro Baptist Church for unspecified damages after members demonstrated at the March 2006 funeral of his son, Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder, who was killed in Iraq. The jury first awarded $2.9 million in compensatory damages. It returned in the afternoon with its decision to award $6 million in punitive damages for invasion of privacy and $2 million for causing emotional distress. Snyder's attorney, Craig Trebilcock, had urged jurors to determine an amount "that says don't do this in Maryland again. Do not bring your circus of hate to Maryland again." Posted by: wv on November 1, 2007 10:04 PMGilgamesh, exactly. Posted by: Marta on November 2, 2007 12:55 AMMarta I thought it was interesting that the last Dem debate was at the tail end of the retrograde. The papers were full of Hillary "mispeaking" although I don't agree. I wonder how the Merc retrograde activates in her chart? Pizo, Mercury rules both Hillary Clinton's first and 10th house and of course went retrograde at 9 degrees Scorpio in her 2nd house of values. What a person claims as their values is an interesting psychological question as well as an astrological one. Hillary's Sun is in Scorpio in the 2nd house, and in a mutual reception the ruler of Scorpio (Pluto) and the co-ruler (Mars) conjoins Pluto, squaring her Sun by sign (not degrees)Hillary values power, her power. The Sun is too far away to be an exact square but it is an applying square and somewhere around 11 and 12 when her progressed Sun did square that Mars/Pluto conjunction she had some kind of incident that would have made it necessary (in her mind) to activate her power. I expect it had something to do with her father, she could also have "given" her power away to men at that time and used men to fulfill her "power" needs. I have always felt that if something were to happen to Bill Clinton, Hillary would, for a time, crumble. The debate the other night would have made her feel powerless with that Mercury retrograde and she would not have liked it. Right before or right after February 2, Hillary has a "sucker punch" coming I think, something that hits her hard and she doesn't see it coming. I don't know what it might be, it could be political or personal, but it will make her rethink her values and who she is trusting. Posted by: Sally on November 2, 2007 07:33 AMSally Very cool! Thank you for that excellent analysis on Hillary. I watched the debate, (while I read a book), and thought that Hillary seemed to be really off-balance in her thinking, ie slowed up and confused some what, and/or not able to communicate with her usual skill. Merc retro stuff for sure. I don’t have your astrological analysis skills, but I have long felt a sense of doom about Hillary’s campaign, as though she will get very close to the finish line but have the prize snatched away by something outside of her control, not of her doing. Bill Clinton’s health has had me worried, if he suddenly succumbs to heart failure no doubt her campaign would be over. Alternately I hope to heck that he doesn’t blindside her with another “Lewinsky”. Has anyone on the board done a side by side comparison of Hillary and Bill re her campaign/election? As I would rather elect virtually any Dem over any Repugnant I certainly hope that some strange twist doesn’t give them the chance to steal yet another election. Sally Very cool! Thank you for that excellent analysis on Hillary. I watched the debate, (while I read a book), and thought that Hillary seemed to be really off-balance in her thinking, ie slowed up and confused some what, and/or not able to communicate with her usual skill. Merc retro stuff for sure. I don’t have your astrological analysis skills, but I have long felt a sense of doom about Hillary’s campaign, as though she will get very close to the finish line but have the prize snatched away by something outside of her control, not of her doing. Bill Clinton’s health has had me worried, if he suddenly succumbs to heart failure no doubt her campaign would be over. Alternately I hope to heck that he doesn’t blindside her with another “Lewinsky”. Has anyone on the board done a side by side comparison of Hillary and Bill re her campaign/election? As I would rather elect virtually any Dem over any Repugnant I certainly hope that some strange twist doesn’t give them the chance to steal yet another election. Sally you should know that your site statistics icon is displaying in the lower left hand corner of the message board. I can click on it and pull up all of your site stats. Sorry to mention this on the board but thought you'd want to know Posted by: Pizo on November 2, 2007 09:39 AMHi, all. Term papers until the 20th. Just sent off one first draft of one paper, and will have to have another done by Tuesday. Then turn around and actually discuss, have corrected and then do a final paper. While this is much better than a final tests, still this is a lot of work even on the computer. Right now I'm averaging about a 92 on both my courses, but turned in one paper late, so I hope for a little mercy. Unless I finish stuff early, I won't be doing online radio or much on the site. Posted by: Carol on November 2, 2007 12:52 PMPizo, having site statistics public isn't always a bad idea. But it does show referrers, and a web master/mistress that deals in matters that people want confidential-a lot of lurkers who may not want themselves revealed-may choose to keep the site statistics private. Nancy now has had 983 thousand visitors so far. For a site that has practically no bells and whistles, no advertising, hardly any graphics, its amazing, isn't it? Here's to reaching that millionth visitor quickly! Sitting here getting a breather and listening to Christmas music while typing. Posted by: Carol on November 2, 2007 01:27 PMOne good thing that I just realized about the 10-week terms is that I won't have to spend Thanksgiving cramming for a final or early December fighting with a term paper. Thanksgiving is free from those things. But the tradeoff is that I start another term December 5th. The term ends on the 27th, but we only have a Discussion that week-and that isn't even a chat, just a bulletin board asking us what we have learned this quarter. We do have Winter Break from 12/22, to the 2nd of January though, and apparently the Weekly Unit interruped by the break will be open until the 2nd, so extra time to get some stuff done, I suppose. One of the things that I have liked about online learning has been the ability to use online resources to get things done-we even have an online library! Even being unemployed and not having many time restrictions, I am glad that on Sunday night I don't have to go out and change buses, nor navigate a campus. I can stay home, send my work to my instructor while drinking some coffee. I have even been able to do some job search work because of the lack of time constraints. Posted by: Carol on November 2, 2007 01:43 PMHi Carol, Good for the grades! Here's a good youtube! As a smoker I really appreciate it. Some very clever young pluto in scorpio, with a fine sense of irony, has made this! scroll down about 7 paragraphs to SCHIP: A DOuchey new reason to hate schip! QOP Posted by: on November 2, 2007 02:48 PMYeah Carol! You GO GIRL! QOP, wish i could see the youtube, but my rural dialup makes loading painful. Would you describe? And Luna. . .this for you, and for anyone else interested in taking this solar issue to their own city councils. And Crystal. . .i've had several UFO dreams, all very real; ones i have not forgotten. Those dreams have a different quality then the usual symbolic ones. I've never been abducted that i'm aware of, nor do i wish to be. My dreams seem to be an awareness of extraterrestrials now present, an alternative universe that we do not normally "see" but is every bit as real as our more mundane view of the world. Posted by: karen on November 2, 2007 03:00 PMThank you Pizo, I do know the site meter is turned on. I've noticed that Daily Kos site meter is on as well. I usually don't check other people's information and guess I assume people don't check mine. I'm not sure how to hide it because I've never thought about it, what would be the benefit in hiding the meter? The main people I would like to stay out of my business (the gov) is already in my business. But I wondered if you had some ideas as to the benefits in hiding it? Carol lots of good luck on your term paper, I am sure you will do great. Posted by: Sally on November 2, 2007 03:10 PMBush: No Attorney General if Not Mukasey http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/110207K.shtml Laurie Kellman reports for The Associated Press, "President Bush sought to save Michael Mukasey's troubled nomination for attorney general Thursday, defending the retired judge's refusal to say whether he considers waterboarding torture and warning of a leaderless Justice Department if Democrats do not confirm him." Posted by: Pat C on November 2, 2007 03:28 PMMercury retrograde or blood sugar? Sally has the 983 thousand hits on this site. I didn't realize the error until I took a second look. Must eat more..must eat more.... I better check out Nancy's stats and see what she does as well since I mentioned it. But this site has few bells and whistes and so does Nancy's, which means its the quality of the writing that attracts people here. Someday, someday, I may actually have a thousand hits.... Posted by: Carol on November 2, 2007 03:57 PMNancy has 409 thousand hits on her. Not bad for two astrology sites that don't do personal charts, daily forecasts and the like. With pretty serious subject matter too, no Oxygen fashion tip astrology here. Posted by: Carol on November 2, 2007 03:59 PMSally, some site meters have IP addresses on them that say who has been accessing the site as well as referrers from linking sites. The benefit of keeping these private would be in the case of "sensitive" sites (and I leave to you the definition of what kind they may be-not necessarily porno, but other kind) where someone finding out who is accessing the site may well be disasterous. For example a "get-out-of-this-cult" site or a site that helps abused runaways might want to keep certain ill-intentioned lurkers from finding out places where people may be going on the net from to find out information. Another may be a site that is for gay teens or people dealing with very personal issues who may not want others to find out about their lurking,say a boss or a parent. Posted by: Carol on November 2, 2007 04:06 PMHere's who we get if we don't get Murkasey. http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/9/20/104958/789 Posted by: Pat C on November 2, 2007 04:19 PMQOP- guess I lack the irony gene. Too bad that people actually don't want an organized single payer approach to health care coverage and find the recent attempt to expand the CHIP program a joke. What I saw was more rightwing programming emphasizing the cynical and destructive edge of the libertarian outlook. What wasn't touched on was hw little of the money being used for Iraq could fund the program and because of the murderous outlook of this administration the congress has to hide its intentions behind a tobacco tax. Posted by: clymela on November 2, 2007 04:57 PMSENATE PREPARES TO RUBBER STAMP "BUSINESS AS USUAL" FARM BILL The Senate Agriculture Committee approved its draft of the $300 billion 2007-2012 Farm Bill last week. The 1300-page bill, now headed to the main Senate floor, includes, as usual, billions of dollars of taxpayer subsidies for chemical and energy intensive crops, factory farms, and junk food purveyors, while "nickle and dime-ing" organic agriculture, conservation, nutrition, and alternative energy programs. Let your Senators know you want to eliminate all taxpayer subsidies, other than those designed to make our food and farming system healthier and more sustainable, and specifically you want a "Fair Share" for organics commensurate with our current 3% market share. Besides billions in corporate subsidies, this version of the Farm Bill includes implementation of the controversial National Animal Identification System (NAIS). NAIS would require that all farmers, even those with just one cow, horse, or chicken, to implant their animals with an electronic tracking device and permanently report their movements to the USDA. This expensive Big Brother procedure, which lobbyists crafted so as to exempt factory farms, could put many small family farms out of business. Please contact your Senators to cut corporate subsidies, eliminate NAIS, and support increases in funding in the Farm Bill for for conservation, organic agriculture, healthy food and beginning farmer programs. http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_7765.cfm
The good news is that a critical mass of dairies and supermarket chains are banning Monsanto's Bovine Growth Hormone, bowing to to consumer pressure. The genetically engineered cow hormone is banned in most industrialized nations, due to its negative health impacts on cows and cancer risks to humans, but Monsanto Corporation, the manufacturer of the drug, is apparently still determined to force-feed rBGH to U.S. consumers. Under pressure from Monsanto, the notoriously pro-agribusiness Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture (PDA) has recently announced new regulations outlawing the labeling of dairy products as rBGH-free. The twisted rationale for the ruling is that truthfully labeling dairy products as rBGH-free is "making it hard for consumers to make informed decisions." In other words allowing consumers freedom of choice is bad for Monsanto's profits, and the profits of Pennsylvania's factory style dairy feedlots who continue to inject their animals with the drug. PDA listed 16 companies that will be required to remove rBGH-free labels by December 31, 2007. In the meantime, Monsanto is working to pass similar anti-consumer laws in other states. The OCA plans to join our allies and stop this latest episode of biotech bullying. http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_7941.cfm and FRANCE BANS FRANKENCROPS France has announced a ban on the planting of genetically engineered crops until the safety of the crops can be further assessed. French President Nicolas Sarkozy indicted that the decision was based on the desire to err on the side of safety. "I don't want to be in contradiction with EU laws, but I have to make a choice. In line of the precautionary principle, I wish that the commercial cultivation of genetically modified pesticide GMOs be suspended," he said. http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_7944.cfm Posted by: Pat C on November 2, 2007 05:16 PMSure karen! Interestingly: 30 years ago I illustrated a book, in Sept., Oct. '77. ( was chosen for the job in August) The publisher JUST DID NOT market it! Saturn was in 18 Leo thru 0 Virgo. I did a google search for that book last month, or Sept? I was trying to establish my eligibility to enter a competition this winter. ( Not if I have done a book that has sold 1,000 copies) karen, thanks for thinking of me and sending the link. I work in the Bay Area and listen to one of the local SF progressive radio stations. They've talked about this so I knew about it. I find that usually the radio station talks about the local news a week or so before it becomes national news. Like the fact that the resistance in Stanford to having Rumsfeld be a guest at the Hoover Institute is still going on. Faculty and students there are not happy! http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/10/31/BACMT3KSS.DTL&feed=rss.bayarea Posted by: lunaoscura on November 2, 2007 06:11 PMhttp://www.atimes.com/atimes/Global_Economy/IJ31Dj01.html End of the guns and butter economy ...... China and India: Same Globalization Road, Different Destinies Ambitions of Asia’s two giant emerging economies could lead to rivalry http://yaleglobal.yale.edu/display.article?id=9871 Posted by: Pat C on November 2, 2007 06:33 PMOne more Saturn return and a chance to renew! In 1977 I was going to college for the first time and felt a little old for my fellow students: it was the first time out in the world. I never finished. Now one cycle later the technology has arrived that so that issue is irrelevant now: I am sure I'm going with people who are anywhere from 60-20 without a qualm, and the technology is there for me. Back then I was told I had the gift of writing, but didn't do anything with it. QQP, one cycle ago you had to depend on someone else to do the selling: now you can finish the cycle and sell the books yourself on ebay-your price, your terms, your editing. Even skip the physical book thing altogether and sell them as e-books if you want.And who knows, maybe Anthony has found his muse too, and has a website? Sometimes I think the internet's biggest progeny may well be the thousands of new writers that get at least some play now that the cost of being heard is now so cheap. Also, the instant feedback and correction just wasn't there back then to help you improve, find an audience, or even encourage you to continue. Posted by: Carol on November 2, 2007 07:07 PMGuess what, I'll have Saturn conjunct Venus for two months, and Uranus conjunct Mars for about a month...Ugh... Posted by: Carol on November 2, 2007 07:39 PMCarol, I guess I didn't make my self clear. Feedback and correction weren't what was needed. HI everyone. Have been lurking alot lately since having been really busy. This is off topic but I was wondering what Sally and Morgana might have to say about Steve Judd's recent postings (especially Oct 24) concerning the Pluto et al conjunction over the Galactic Center at the Winter Solstice Point. Thank you! Posted by: Raven on November 2, 2007 08:09 PMWhat I meant by feedback was that nobody ever got a chance to encourage you or read the manuscript and suggest anything, even to promote it...now it's set free. Don't be surprised if Anthony's been set free and you could both write the sequel. The owner probably would just as soon give Anthony his copyright back since it isn't making him any money. This is what the internet has done-free a lot of people from this sort of petty tyranny. No more begging from gatekeepers or repugs, just do it and get it out there. Posted by: Carol on November 2, 2007 08:26 PMGreat youtube description, QOP. The anti-smoking hysteria really doesn't puzzle me. . .instead of giving energy to stop the real polluters, just pick on smokers, degrade, demoralize, demote and castigate them. And, to heck with all the other far more serious pollutants fouling the air and water. And, interesting rebound story about the book. I've been attempting to market a sci-fi book for almost two years. It's not a blood and guts, rather a more subtle work. Now attempting the same with a children's book. Through my very limited experience i have found that both agents and publishers are often constricted in their choices. Agents often believe they are constricted by the fickle market. Publishers also are specific about what they want to see. I have to give many credit, despite my limited experience, because they are, apparently, inundated with submissions. In your case, it's too bad that the publisher didn't see the gem of a book he had. I'll bet that happens all the time. QOP Now that is truly remarkable about your 30 year old book! Checked and saw Jupiter went retro 10-77 at 6cn and mars is slowing over that point now with that saturn return just completed as well! You know those fantastic stories of a lost ring returned after 60 years on a beach. So it's comforting to know these golden cords reach far and wide and circle back again to the one who generated the brainchild. All grown up and ready for it's new dustjacket. Sally, keen of you to notice Hillary's suckerpunch in Feb. Was thinking more like the last 10 days of that month. Mebee it's partly wishful thinking but I haven't been able to quite see Bill C's butt in the WH or really WITH her in this for whatever reason according to his chart and progressions and transits and thought so from the beginning. PatC, looked at Mukasey's alternative Peter Keisler and think it might be a good thing to have him remain as AG. His relationship to gwpinhead actually appears 'discipinary' and may not be cooperative cleaning up after him or giving him what he wants as easily as we might think. Same with Patraeus: no love lost between him and the psycho in cheese. Posted by: patb on November 2, 2007 09:36 PMAs I have said, while I have a sinking feeling about Al Gore, somehow I have not accepted that he is not going to be in th e White House. But I don't visualize anyone else there either. I took a second look at those progressions and transits he has and somehow I can't see him just running around giving speeches with that energy. And just running a network isn't enough either. One person suggested that he run as a Cheney to the nominee, allowing the President to be a figurehead of some sort. I don't think that would work. Who do you know would not be totally overshadowed by Al in such a capacity? Posted by: Carol on November 2, 2007 09:58 PMAnd just how on board is Bill really being anyway? Bill right now is free to do what he wants when he wants without having to worry about a Congressional probe of any kind. How is being First Gentleman going to be that free? He would have to answer to Hillary and about Hillary every time she made a policy move. Would they expect him to do the entertaining and the decorating, or will that be Chelsea's job? And everytime he looked at anyone remotely attractive, would they be thinking Monica again? Posted by: Carol on November 2, 2007 10:01 PMCarol, coupla things have been rolling around in my head like marbles in a coffee can, random yet connected, other speculations welcome. All I'm saying above, we need to get realistic. Post a comment
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