Nancy’s Starlight News Blog

I have been transfixed by the ice dancing of the last week. Here are my favorites:

http://i.nbcolympics.com/video/assetid=30ab0c6d-4fa7-404c-a3b0-d5d41dd1ef2a.html#

http://i.nbcolympics.com/video/assetid=86ca6d8f-b731-48f5-8393-a1afca516dfc.html#ice+dancing+fd+virtuemoir

(not on youtube yet, you may have to download silverlight to watch)

Thanks of the links, Nancy. Absolutely gorgeous! I caught a few of these routines myself.

Also, how refreshing the possibility of good news to come. Keeping my fingers crossed.

Nancy,

Thanks for the glimmer of hope; it reminds me of basketball games that keep you on the edge of your seat until the very end of the game! Very exciting!

Looking at the Spring Equinox chart, the Moon does trine the U.S. Sibly chart’s Pluto, although it squares the U.S. Moon which still has transiting Neptune and Chiron conjunct. As the equinox Moon falls in the U.S. 6th house in Taurus, it speaks of stability and agreeable terms financially anyway. I hope that’s what it means!

Summary of new Obama care proposal from point of view of its creators (not an unbiased presentation):

http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/summary-presidents-proposal.pdf

“The Moon/Pluto aspect continues to strengthen through March 28, and hence the nitpicking and endless second-guessing will continue until then”

We’ll have to wait and see. I submit that anyone interested in the outcome do their part to personally write your senators and representatives to let your wishes/thoughts be know, loud and clear. It ain’t over till its over.

I have an idea. Instead of starting up a third party - why dpon’t we go backl to being a true democracy instead of a republic. m That way each citizen has a direct say in what goes on instead of the fat cats in Washington.

Since we are in the age of incredibly fast communications, it would be a lot easier (if they could make things hack proof) and then we wouldn’t have to spend millions putting worthless folk in office so they can screw us over in the name of ‘doing it for our own good’.

I don’t know about the states you all live in but Independents are not permitted to even vote in anything but the major political races here in OK. Write-ins are no longer allowed in a lot of places either. Our choices are strictly either/or with nothing in between.

I’m an Independent and have always been that way - in everything I do.

It’s just a suggestion to counter the complaints I have. I think if one is going to complain, then one should at least suggest an alternative.

What say you?

Shadowhawk - “why dpon’t we go back to being a true democracy instead of a republic.”

Actually we have always been a republic, never a democracy, i.e., “the Republic for which it stands.” It’s just been misstated so often that people believe it.

republic - a government in which supreme power resides in a body of citizens entitled to vote and is exercised by elected officers and representatives responsible to them and governing according to law

democracy - in the people and exercised by them directly or indirectly through a system of representation usually involving periodically held free elections

sorry;

democracy - a government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly or indirectly through a system of representation usually involving periodically held free elections

Lorrie U - I know the difference but we call ourselves a ”democracy” when we’re forcing it down the throats of the rest of the world. Let’s really be one.

The ’system of representation usually involving periodically held free elections’ ain’t working the way the definition says. Let’s give it a spin. Can’t be all that much worse than what we are doing now, now could it?

Semantics don’t cut it right now in my book.

Shadowhawk, it sounds good, but would you really want to risk a winner take all election with multiple parties?

Lincoln won in 1860 with about 33% of the vote, but Hitler came to power with about the same percentage in 1933. A crap shoot.

Say what you want about the two-party system (and there is plenty to say), but it makes it difficult for extreme views to win national elections.

I still believe we cannot make further headway until media consolidation and election irregularites are addressed.

Sorry Shadowhawk, I misread your position on third parties. Nothing to see here, move along.

Country has gone gun-mad with fear.

Fearing Obama Agenda, States Push to Loosen Gun Laws
By IAN URBINA
Published: February 23, 2010

When President Obama took office, gun rights advocates sounded the alarm, warning that he intended to strip them of their arms and ammunition.
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Times Topic: Gun Control

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And yet the opposite is happening. Mr. Obama has been largely silent on the issue while states are engaged in a new and largely successful push for expanded gun rights, even passing measures that have been rejected in the past.

In Virginia, the General Assembly approved a bill last week that allows people to carry concealed weapons in bars and restaurants that serve alcohol, and the House of Delegates voted to repeal a 17-year-old ban on buying more than one handgun a month. The actions came less than three years after the shootings at Virginia Tech that claimed 33 lives and prompted a major national push for increased gun control.

Arizona and Wyoming lawmakers are considering nearly a half dozen pro-gun measures, including one that would allow residents to carry concealed weapons without a permit. And lawmakers in Montana and Tennessee passed measures last year — the first of their kind — to exempt their states from federal regulation of firearms and ammunition that are made, sold and used in state. Similar bills have been proposed in at least three other states.

In the meantime, gun control advocates say, Mr. Obama has failed to deliver on campaign promises to close a loophole that allows unlicensed dealers at gun shows to sell firearms without background checks; to revive the assault weapons ban; and to push states to release data about guns used in crimes.

He also signed bills last year allowing guns to be carried in national parks and in luggage on Amtrak trains.

“We expected a very different picture at this stage,” said Paul Helmke, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, a gun control group that last month issued a report card failing the administration in all seven of the group’s major indicators.

Gun control advocates have had some successes recently, Mr. Helmke said. Proposed bills to allow students to carry guns on college campuses have been blocked in the 20 or so states where they have been proposed since the Virginia Tech shootings. Last year, New Jersey limited gun purchases to one a month, a law similar to the one Virginia may revoke.

But recent setbacks to gun control have been many.

Last month, the Indiana legislature passed bills that block private employers from forbidding workers to keep firearms in their vehicles on company property.

Gun rights supporters also showed their strength last year by blocking legislation to give District of Columbia residents a full vote in Congress by attaching an amendment to repeal Washington’s ban on handguns.

Asked by reporters about the Brady group’s critical report on the Obama administration, a White House spokesman, Ben LaBolt, pointed out that the latest F.B.I. statistics showed that violent crime dropped in the first half of 2009 to its lowest levels since the 1960s.

“The president supports and respects the Second Amendment,” Mr. LaBolt said, “and he believes we can take common-sense steps to keep our streets safe and to stem the flow of illegal guns to criminals.”

Still, gun rights groups remain skeptical of the administration.

“The watchword for gun owners is stay ready,” said Wayne LaPierre, chief executive of the National Rifle Association. “We have had some successes, but we know that the first chance Obama gets, he will pounce on us.”

That Mr. Obama signed legislation allowing guns in national parks and on Amtrak trains should not be seen as respect for the Second Amendment, Mr. LaPierre said. The two measures had been attached as amendments to larger pieces of legislation — a bill cracking down on credit card companies and a transportation appropriations bill, respectively — that the president wanted passed, Mr. LaPierre said.

Regardless of Mr. Obama’s agenda, gun dealers seem to be reaping the benefits of fears surrounding it.

Federal background checks for gun purchases rose to 14 million in 2009, up from 12.7 million in 2008 and 11.2 million in 2007. But from November 2009 to January 2010, the number of background checks fell 12 percent, compared with the same months a year earlier.

In Virginia, the success of new pro-gun laws is partly a result of the Republican Party’s taking the governor’s office after eight years of Democratic control.

A major setback for state gun control advocates was this week’s House vote repealing the one-gun-per-month law, which was passed in 1993 under Gov. L. Douglas Wilder, a Democrat, and has long been upheld as the state’s signature gun control restriction.

Supporters of limiting gun purchases to one a month said the law was important to avoid Virginia’s becoming the East Coast’s top gun-running hub. Opponents dismissed the concern.

“We shouldn’t get rid of our Second Amendment rights because some people in New York City want to abuse theirs,” Robert G. Marshall, a Republican delegate from Manassas who supported repeal of the one-gun-a-month limit, told reporters.

Gun control advocates hoped to win new restrictions after the Virginia Tech massacre on April 16, 2007, in which a student, Seung-Hui Cho, shot and killed 32 people before turning a gun on himself.

After the shooting, Gov. Tim Kaine, a Democrat, pushed for stronger gun control measures. But last year the legislature rejected a bill requiring background checks for private sales at gun shows and repealed a law that Mr. Kaine had supported to prohibit anyone from carrying concealed weapons into a club or restaurant where alcohol is served.

In previous years, the guns-in-bars bill cleared both chambers but was vetoed by Mr. Kaine. But the new governor, Robert F. McDonnell, has said he supports the measure.

Virginia is also considering a measure adopted in Montana and Tennessee that declares that firearms made and retained in-state are beyond the authority of Congress. The measure is primarily a challenge to Congress’s power to regulate commerce among the states.

The Montana law is being challenged in federal court, and the United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has sent a letter to Tennessee and Montana gun dealers stating that federal law supersedes the state measure.

Re the gun control article: The country is so polarized and people are so crazy - all they know how to do these days is go to extremes.

I just can’t wait until the uranus-pluto-saturn grand cross or the uranus-pluto square (NOT), whichever will be more responsible for greater looniness…and this time all the loonies will have guns.

We have to go through the same old uncomfortable experiences until people stop being ruled by their fears and show some reason, caution, maturity & common sense. (I’m including the Supreme Court ruling on giving corporations free reign on political donations.) As my cousin likes to say, “the drama is perfect.” It seems we have to go through this in order to get to a higher level.

shadowhawk - the only way the system could be changed from a republic to a democracy is to rewrite the constitution which established it as a republic by the founding fathers. Why we keep saying we’re a democracy is beyond me.

I think the word democracy slipped in sometime around 1900, but I’m not sure.

Thanks for the update Nancy

this discussion about democracy brings me out of long time lurk mode…the reason we keep saying we’re a democracy is because we are a democracy. Yes, we are a Republic, but a Republic is a form of democracy. The reason we have this form of democracy is because of the problem of the “tyranny of the majority” as Madison put it. We really wouldn’t want a direct democracy. We’d have to vote on every single issue and no one would have enough time for anything else (that is, if we were to take that vote responsibly and educate ourselves about every little issue). That’s why we elect representatives to take on that job so we can do ours. The problem, of course, is that we still would have to be educated enough to elect the best representatives and this is obviously why our Republic is failing. Thoreau conceived civil disobedience as another means of dealing with the problem of the “tyranny of the majority”, but the problem with civil disobedience is that it is increasingly more difficult to pull off and too easy to subvert. So we inevitably come back to the basic problem of democracy recognized by Plato in ancient Greece–the problem of the ignorance of the masses. The only defense against Plato’s critique of democracy is the hope that the people can arise to some level of wisdom, a completely naive expectation considering the focus of education today.

it was thought that by electing representatives who would devote themselves full time to educating themselves about the issues we would have some check to the tyranny of the majority. If we didn’t have a Republic things would be a lot worse. If every decision were decided by a popular opinion poll we would have decisions made by knee-jerk reactions by the masses. Its hard to imagine how things could be worse than they have been this past decade, but a direct democracy would definitely be worse.

In Micheal Moores documentary Sicko a retired gentleman suggested that if you can find money to kill people you can find money to heal people. If we concentrated more on health issues than on war issues we could have FREE health care tomorrow. Our war budget would cover us nicely. But then all those war profiteers would loose all that money, toooooooo baaaadddd.

…..and another thing. Even if we di get health care who would you see to get healthy, certainly not a doctor. They know nothing of preventive health care. Nothing about natural remedies. All they can do for you according to the FDA is give you a drug or a device. The FDA, AMA, Insurance companies, Big Pharma are all filing their pockets with your money. It’s sick care not health care. These guys are not in it for the health they are in it for the moeny , make no mistake about it.

It was also thought that by having the two house of representatives (The House and the Senate) there would be more deliberation on important issues, rather than the knee-jerk reactions of popular opinion polls. In a Republic there would be more deliberation, thus mitigating to some extent the danger of decisions being made too hastily by a popular opinion formed without deliberation. The health care bill is a perfect example of the basic problem. Deliberation has certainly slowed the decision, but really, would we have wanted this quickly decided by a popular opinion poll?

Timothy - I agree with you that having a true democracy would be a pain in the butt - especially considering the dumbing down of the American public BUT I personally think that most of our elected representatives aren’t very bright either.

That’s a generalization because there are a few smart folk there. Just not enough. What we have are greedy, self-centered, not very wise individuals who are supporting whatever their party stands for. Not what the American people are all about.

Bush 2 was not elected but selected by the Supremes. Most of the elections are crooked or at least the deck is stacked.

Maybe it would be a good thing to have a lot fewer laws and just stick with the basics. If you think about it, a lot of the laws are unnecessary but there to please a particular group. Too much skin showing is illegal in some places. Getting caught with a personal amount of pot can get you prison time.

The jails are full of people who don’t really need to be there. I’m not saying they’re honest and imprisoned unjustly - just that there are a lot of politicians who should be in jail for much worse crimes but are strutting around free.

Shock therapy comes to mind for both the people and the governments.

Of course, my Aquarian moon is conjunct that lovely trio and inconjunct my sun/neptune and Uranus is in opp to my Sun/Neptune so that’s what could be talking. AND I don’t think anyone would bother with putting themselves out to make a true democracy work.

I think the Universe will deal with it all very nicely and probably rudely. Should be interesting to watch.

Rather than a direct democracy, what we really need is a better way of electing representatives. Perhaps a step in the right direction would be introducing some basic requirements for elected office (at least on the national level) such as an advanced degree, not just in law but also in the humanities, especially philosophy. An acting or athletic career, or a successful business, or having a lot of money, or especially being the son of a former President should not qualify one for high office. Right now it seems the only requirement is some degree of wealth, and that right there is the problem.

There’s also the fact that a great majority of the lawmakers are lawyers and we all know they get paid by the syllable and that’s why the laws are so long and impossible to read.

Also a requirement for holding a political position is having to do your own grocery shopping, child raising, bill paying - you know the stuff the rest of struggle with every day which gives us at least a modicum of common sense.

I’m appalled that most of the people in Congress don’t know the cost of a gallon of milk or a loaf of bread. They have someone else do those menial chores for them and are so far out of touch with the rest of us. I do believe Michelle Obama has a good grasp on things but she’s not elected.

Shadowhawk: I was writing that last point before seeing your response. I quite agree that our elected representatives are often not very bright. Unfortunately we probably do need shock therapy…

I like your suggestion. Perhaps not being wealthy should be a requirement…

I do have to make an exception - Obama grew up in a difficult atmosphere. There are probably a few others but for the most part, they don’t have a clue.

Do you think the heavy planet transits will be a wake up call?

A SuperMoon Superstorm heading for the Northeast?

“The February 28 SuperMoon full moon at 9° 59′ Virgo points to another newsworthy upsurge in moderate-to-severe seismic activity (including magnitude 5+ earthquakes and volcanic eruptions), plus strong storms with damaging winds and heavy precipitation; along with extreme high tides. In effect from February 25 through March 3, and happening within sixteen hours of the Moon’s southward crossing of the celestial equator, this looks mostly like a storm and flood indicator.”
http://www.astropro.com/forecast/predict/2010-02.html

Hurricane-Like Storm Aims for Pennsylvania to Maine Thursday, Friday -

A powerful storm of historical proportions is aiming at much of the Northeast Thursday into Friday and will follow up to a foot and a half of snow through Wednesday over upstate New York and western New England.

This second storm will be nothing short of a monster. Even in light of the blizzards earlier this winter that targeted the southern mid-Atlantic, this may be the one that people remember the most this winter in parts of New England and the northern mid-Atlantic.

At its peak, the storm will deliver near hurricane-force wind gusts (74 mph) blinding snow falling at the rate of over an inch per hour. For some people in upstate New York and eastern and northern Pennsylvania, this may seem more like a “snow hurricane” rather than a blizzard.

Cities likely to be impacted by heavy snow for all or at least part of the storm include: New York City, Albany, Rochester, Syracuse, Binghamton, Scranton, Allentown, Reading, Williamsport and Burlington.

The storm also deliver heavy rain and flooding northeast of the center of circulation.

The cities of Boston, Providence and Portland may have their hands full with coastal flooding problems.

MORE - http://www.accuweather.com/regional-news-story.asp?region=eastusnews

Oh Timothy; I must disagree with you completely!
I have just agreed to run for State Senator! I have NO DEGREE! But I am intelligent, have integrity, a desire to make a difference, have developed my wisdom and negotiating skills over the years while working as an Artist……have vigorously followed & debated politics here and at Astroworld, DU etc. for 6 or 7 years. Innately, I have a killer memory. A college degree wouldn’t have improved on that if I had not!
An immediate problem, many of my progressive friends are registered as Independents, not eligible to sign the petition to get me on the Democratic ballot. We are checking to see if they can switch registration in the limited time framework. ( by March 15) An interesting merge of politics, & political astrology…….aquarian age? I will post as I go!
Thank you Nancy for the figure skating video site!
I have been so frustrated with the limited slide shows I have been able to get online! I did try to download silverlight, but whether I didn’t do it correctly or it isn’t compatable with my Mac, it hasn’t worked. I LOVE the ice dancing!

http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=4847

How to create 18 million jobs

Robert Pollin: Reaching 4% unemployment by 2012 is possible

http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=4851

How to create 18 million jobs Pt. 2

Robert Pollin: Based on a “normal” pace of recovery, it could be 2018 before unemployment hits 4%

Love and Light to all. AND….Pat-wish I could be there to vote for you.
Curious-thank you for reminding us of one of my favorite themes-the money we use to kill and to create death in our graduate programs in chemistry, biology, etc could be used for healing and supporting and education.
I believe that the rush to legalize walking around with guns strapped to the body is an extension of the war and torture videos available through the military or any local video store. Our children are being “brainwashed”-my 19 year old granddaughter came home from an X Box convention with a shiny card advertising war games. I believe that it is NOT a long stretch from that and guns to “revolution”.
I know that I may strike some here as negative and despairing but I am not; however, I do see something ominous gathering steam and I spend a lot of time talking to the the young people who live here or visit. I use critical thought in regards to movies and videos, etc and insist on speaking out loud. Admittedly the result is often
“you can’t play that in my grandmother’s home” but I am willing to accept that as long as the young ones know that I will not allow this conditioning to pass without some critical thinking verbalized.

Well critical thought but weird editing. Please read the last paragraph as one paragraph.

Timothy, thank you for spelling it out so very simply and for the follow-up responses.

Here’s how I see it - again, it goes back to the money issue. Celebs, sons of former politicos and the like all have the funds or the ability to generate the funds to run. Taking the money issue out of politics altogether would change things significantly. Unfortunately, the RWNJs on the Supreme Court took a big ass step in the wrong direction with that latest debacle of a ruling (and were paid handsomly to do so, I’d bet.)

Until we remove that carrot on a stick ($$$$) that is the greatest of all motivators, we will continually find ourselves down this same rabbit hole.

And Pat C - I applaud you for your efforts and wish fervently that there were more who were interested in doing the work FOR the people.

Public financing for office is the answer. Otherwise it’s pay to play.

http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2010/02/23/democrats/index.html

This is what the democrats do ….

MysticalChick…..thank you so much.

clymela, I agree with your observation of the conditioning of the people.

http://www.care2.com/causes/trailblazers/blog/the-bloom-box-buzz-clean-energy-for-the-21st-century/
Suzi Schiffer Parrasch

It’s bigger than a breadbox, but smaller than a power plant. It’s the size of a refrigerator, and according to its inventor, it can power the world. Is K.R. Srindhar’s Bloom Box “the next big thing”?

Srindhar has been highly secretive about his invention – his website Bloomenergy.com cryptically counting down to the official launch – tomorrow — but ever since CBS News 60 Minutes rolled out a story about the Bloom Box on Sunday, and gave the first inside look, one thing it has generated is an enormous amount of speculation about whether or not the Bloom Box is for real.

In a word, Bloom Box promises to produce clean, cheap energy, anywhere, anytime, and with no emissions whatsoever– the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

Srindhar, founder of Bloom Energy in Sunnyvale, CA, has been working on the concept for over a decade. He originally invented a similar device for NASA that would produce oxygen on Mars. When NASA scrapped the project, Srindhar got to thinking. If he reversed the device, he could pump oxygen into it rather than having it make oxygen. And if he could do that, he could create clean energy.

In 2001 Srindhar took his idea to John Doerr a powerhouse with the Silicon Valley venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, and the guy who had discovered such game changers as Amazon, Google, and Netscape. “When he listened to Sridhar, the idea seemed just as transformative: efficient, inexpensive, clean energy out of a box,” said Lesley Stahl in her 60 Minutes piece. Doerr told Stahl Bloom Box was the firm’s first clean energy investment. “But there was a selling point: clean energy was an emerging market, worth gazillions.”

The Bloom Box relies on fuel cells, basically very thin batteries that resemble individual CD cases. Srindhar’s fuel cell is made of simple beach sand baked into a ceramic square and painted with special green and black inks he invented. That’s it. You feed oxygen into one side of the unit and fuel into the other. The chemical reaction inside the cell creates energy – with no need for combustion, no burning, no power lines laced in or out of it. What’s the fuel source? Bio gas, natural gas, even solar power can do it.

Each fuel cell is enough to power one light bulb. But the idea of course is they’re stacked together, sandwiched with metal alloy plates, formed into small bricks, then housed inside refrigerator-sized units. The taller the stack, the more energy. According to the 60 Minutes piece 64 stacks would power a small business such as a Starbucks store. Two small bricks: enough to power the average American home.

More at link.

WOW!

Maine has the ME clean election fund. I have to collect $5.00 from 175 registered voters, to qualify for the $20,000. campaign fund. ( if I don’t use it I have to return the balance) and I have to have a MANDATORY, dedicated treasurer to handle the funds.
Only with THAT kind of funding can we get elected officials to truly represent the people. ( BTW, the US people’s moon 27 aqu. is conjunct my MH exactly)
There is no way I could do it on my own!

Shadowhawk, Timothy, others. .

I’m really enjoying your discussion; thanks so much. Thanks to Nancy too for providing a way to keep on learning.

For anyone interested in the nuances that astrology provides, here are a couple of things to watch for in tomorrows meeting to discuss healthcare plan suggestions.

The moon will be about 23-24 Cancer which will activate a few interesting points:
*it will trine Uranus (25+ Pisces)
*it will quincunx Neptune, Chiron, Mercury (Aquarius)
*it will activate the U.S. Mercury (conjunct) which opposes U.S. Pluto
*it will activate Obama’s yod of Uranus, Saturn and Pallas Athena (Moon will oppose his Saturn & trine his Pallas) with his Uranus the focal point in his 7th house (which is conj. his NN)

Another subtle connection is tomorrow’s Sun at 6 Pisces 54 will conjunct the U.S. Ceres at 8+ Pisces while tomorrow’s Jupiter at 9 Pisces 05 will conjunct the (U.S) centaur Nessus at 9 Pisces. Actually, one big conjunction of all 4. With Nessus, look for themes of abuse and revenge.

Lots of Pisces and Cancer and Moon, promising a lot of feelings being stirred up. With Mars on the nadir, in Leo, it should provide some drama, or maybe not. . .it is still retrograde.

Also look for the unexpected as Uranus is active in tomorrow’s chart (Moon) and the President’s chart too.

No big surprise, but if the meeting starts at around 10 AM (not for sure about that) the Moon in the 9/9/09 address Pres. Obama made to the Congress re healthcare reform will be on the ascendant. (you LIE. . .no really it will be!)

http://www.theonion.com/content/news/latest_sarah_palin_speech_opens

Latest Sarah Palin Speech Opens Sixth Seal

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein/2010/02/the_republicans_genius_comprom.html?wpisrc=nl_pmpolitics

The Republicans’ genius compromise strategy

David Leonhardt has a nice piece running through the basic dynamics of not only tomorrow’s summit, but health-care reform from here on out. A lot of the piece is a discussion of compromises: What’s blocking them, and what’s possible yet.

But the difficulty with this discussion is that the GOP has accidentally hit upon a brilliant insight: The best way to guarantee substantive concessions is to refuse to compromise. Think about the plan that Barack Obama and the Democrats have been left with: It’s not single payer. There’s no public option. It doesn’t cover all of the uninsured. It doesn’t change the insurance of about 90 percent of the country. It doesn’t add to the deficit. It pays for itself with difficult, unpopular and necessary reforms in entitlement programs. It includes a commission to make future reforms of Medicare and Medicaid both easier and less politically dangerous for Republicans.

In fact, the Senate health-care bill looks a lot like Wyden-Bennett — but smaller, and more incremental, and more respectful of the status quo. That is to say, it looks like a more traditionally conservative incarnation of Wyden-Bennett. And it got that way not because Republicans compromised, but because they didn’t compromise.

As Democrats came to realize that they couldn’t get Republican votes for the bill by adding policies that Republican senators supported, they began trimming their ambitions in order to keep their caucus together. As they came to realize that they couldn’t pass the legislation without their most conservative members, they gave their most conservative members a veto card over the bill’s provisions. The result is legislation that’s not only much more conservative and incremental than what past presidents have proposed, but is also much more conservative than the major health-care reforms — namely Medicare and Medicaid — that past presidents have passed. And Republicans got these substantive concessions not by making a deal, but by not making a deal.

More at the link….

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein/2010/02/the_recent_history_of_reconcil.html?wpisrc=nl_pmpolitics

The recent history of reconciliation
The reconciliation process has actually been used for almost all major pieces of health-care legislation passed over the past 20 years and most important bills in recent years.

More at the link…

http://www.counterpunch.org/roberts02192010.html

Wall Street Targets the Elderly
Looting Social Security

…………..

http://www.counterpunch.org/cooke02242010.html

When Reform Means Eliminate
The Plot to Kill Social Security

Gypsi-I missed that story but reading it here brought tears to my eyes. This is just the beauty we need now. I hope that it passes testing and that the money guys let it develop.

Timothy, Shadowhawk - Thank you so much for the intelligent info/dialogue. Very informative. Yes, public financing should also be mandated. When we see how so many are knee-jerks, we really need to do something about our elections, along with voting machines. Then maybe we’d see some real viable elected officials.

Gypsi - Thanks so much for the Bloom Box post! Very interesting and hopeful.

Pat - Good luck in your campaign! You are just the kind of representative that can help this country. No an easy job, so much admiration for taking on the task.

Pat C - thanks for your important posts!

Pat,

Do those registered voters have to be from Maine? I’d be glad to contribute to your campaign, either way.

That’s so cool that the U.S. Moon is conjunct your midheaven too. Good luck in your run for State Senator, we are all very proud of you!

Jeff Jawer’s Astrology Blog
February 23, 2010

Obama Retrograde: Mars turned retrograde in Barack Obama’s sign but is likely to increase his passion when it passes over his Leo Sun on April 30.

-snip-

Right now Obama is trying to revive health care reform that has been stifled in Congress by resistance from Republicans and incompetence by Democrats. This is occurring while Mars is retrograde in Leo. The planet of initiative began its backwards journey last December 20 and won’t turn direct (move forward) until March 10. It backed over Obama’s Leo Sun in January and will not return there until April 30. It’s natural for things to slow down during Mars retrograde, especially for Leos because it’s in their sign. The advantage of any retrograde cycle is that it gives us a second chance to address issues as it returns to recently visited parts of the zodiac.

Perhaps this is Obama’s opportunity to right the ship (or “left” it, if you prefer). Whether it’s his failure, congressional gridlock, corporate lobbyists or some other political cause, reluctant retrograde Mars tells an astrological tale of delay and misdirection. That tide is turning in March and will spark the Obama’s Leo Sun at the end of April. This could mark a major turning point for his presidency. We’ll see whether he’s the bold leader who was elected in November 2008 or the captive of forces beyond his control.

More at link…
http://www.stariq.com/Main/Articles/P0010029.HTM

Saturn is now exactly square US Venus, beginning to barely separate as the meeting tomorrow winds down. Maybe the country will feel some guarded hope when it is over? The Saturn/US Venus aspect also is coinciding with this big storm predicted for New York and Pennsylvania - maybe a foot or two of snow. They only expect a bit around here, but my son is in upstate NY.

Obama has the Sun opposite his Pluto tomorrow AM, so I assume he will be impressive. There will also be a Moon/Mars opposition to his Jupiter as the day unfolds. Certainly a good day for him, but it is the next few weeks that could be stressful.

As I mentioned in a much earlier post, the Saturn square to Obama’s Venus during the first two weeks of March could also have to do with military losses that deeply upset him.

The Bloom Box breakthrough sounds wonderful. A manifestation of the Chiron/Neptune conjunction? Thanks for posting such exciting news, Gypsi!

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2010/02/24/house-votes-to-repeal-antitrust-exemption-for-health-insurers/?fbid=gOx6T_gX0KV

House votes to repeal antitrust exemption for health insurers

Lorrie U., you’re most welcome! Thank you for all of yours.

http://www.alternet.org/story/145797/the_unemployed_now_have_their_own_union%2C_and_it%27s_catching_on_quic

The Unemployed Now Have Their Own Union, and It’s Catching on Quickly

An ingenious grassroots union for the unemployed is only a month old — and its numbers are growing.

…………

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/83469-dodd-introduces-constitutional-amendment-to-reverse-scotus-on-campaign-spending

Dodd introduces constitutional amendment to reverse SCOTUS on campaign spending

Pat, GOOD LUCK - don’t you have Pisces somewhere in your chart, too? venus? midheaven?

You can do this. I think you are the right one for the job - you are so articulate and intelligent. Go for it!

Pat, best of luck in all the world to you! Heaven knows how much we need more passionate and intelligent people in congress.

Pat will be awesome! I pity the conservatives.

Don’t let Wall Street get their hands on SS. Here is a comprehensive history and status of SS.

Social Security Works For America

http://seminal.firedoglake.com/diary/31496

http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2010/02/anthony_weiner_the_republican.html

Anthony Weiner: ‘The Republican Party Is a Wholly Owned Subsidiary of an Insurance Industry’

Pat-I applaud your effort as well as wish you success. I’m sure your case would provide some counter evidence to the point I was making. Still, if one wants to think about a better democracy than what we currently have, getting money out of the election process and having some requirements for elected office (at least on the national level) would be a good place to start. Why is it we require years of specialized education to be a brain surgeon but just about anyone, regardless of their education background, could be President?

Medicine is not a democracy. Government is.

Heads up White House.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/#35573472 Video

Positive News Story - Reincarnation Proven?

This one will leave you thinking!

http://www.fox8.com/videobeta/watch/?watch=7db0695c-0fcd-4d6d-ad8e-668503383a71&src=front

(There are many such stories that make the case for reincarnation. I’m just thrilled that it was forwarded to me by my brother and that it’s reaching people who have not been previously exposed to such evidence!)

Mother Mary’s perspective on the Christmas story‏

What started out as a simple interest in the facts of the first Christmas grew into an amazing tale, bringing forth so much knowledge that has been hidden, confirming some notions that have been widely speculated upon and scotching some long held beliefs. It is an extraordinary document.

Download it now from
http://downloads.ebookpro.com/34976/win/Mother_Marys_perspective_on_the_Christmas_story.exe

If you are a Mac user, download it from http://downloads.ebookpro.com/34976/mac/Mother_Marys_perspective_on_the_Christmas_story.zip

If the links don’t work for you, copy and paste them into your browser and press “Enter”.

Richard Presser
Cosmic Connections

Anthony Weiner live blogs on kos.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2010/2/25/840595/-Health-Care-Summit-Liveblog

Live Streaming the President and the summit now….

http://rawstory.com/2010/02/watch-live-obama-health-care-summit/

I love the example the President uses of his worthless ‘Acme Insurance’ for his clunker car….
He keeps trying to bring it into the reality level…give people an insurance policy that actually does something useful..

I am so disappointed in the meeting now on TV of Pres. with Reps. and Dems. There hasn’t been one Republican, in my opinion, who has tried to move the ball forward.
I commend Obama for his patience in dealing with these petulant, childish members of our legislative body. God help us all.

Republicans = Obstructionists

Democrats = Progressives

Noelle, there was never, EVER going to be one Repug who would work toward compromise. We all know that (Obama, I’m trusting, more than most). I think he scheduled this summit just so people could get a good look at who, really, the repubs (and some damn dems) are working for because it ain’t Joe on Main Street, that’s for sure.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/24/AR2010022404914.html?hpid=moreheadlines

Officials puzzle over millions of dollars leaving Afghanistan by plane for Dubai

KABUL — A blizzard of bank notes is flying out of Afghanistan — often in full view of customs officers at the Kabul airport — as part of a cash exodus that is confounding U.S. officials and raising concerns about the money’s origin.

The cash, estimated to total well over $1 billion a year, flows mostly to the Persian Gulf emirate of Dubai, where many wealthy Afghans now park their families and funds, according to U.S. and Afghan officials. So long as departing cash is declared at the airport here, its transfer is legal.

snip

“All this money magically appears from nowhere,” said a U.S. official who monitors Afghanistan’s growing role as a hub for cash transfers to Dubai, which has six flights a day to and from Kabul.

Meanwhile, the United States is stepping up efforts to stop money flow in the other direction — into Afghanistan and Pakistan in support of al-Qaeda and the Taliban. Senior Treasury Department officials visited Kabul this month to discuss the cash flows and other issues relating to this country’s infant, often chaotic financial sector.

More at the link….

Does any one else think Obama has an excellent plan when he televises his ’summits’? The Repugs look like fools and so do a few Dems. BO has the patience of a saint with those idiots. It’s why I’d never make a politician - just can’t abide that kind of BS and I’d tend to be very rude to say the least.

Could it possibly be that politicians of the world are the cause of global warming? I’ve never seen more hot air or ‘methane’ in my life.

Pat C: “Medicine is not a democracy. Government is.”

So I guess government is not as important or serious as medicine? I wouldn’t trust just anyone to be my doctor but anyone can be my President? Why is it we couldn’t have more stringent requirements for running for national office in a democracy? Why is it that in a democracy we cannot expect some degree of higher education in our elected officials? Why can’t we say that anyone can enter politics, but first they must get some level of higher education? If the only defense of democracy lies in the hope that the people can rise to some level of wisdom or at least elect representatives with some level of wisdom, why is it that the love of wisdom is of such little value in this society?

Maybe Pluto in Capricorn will bring more responsible government, like taking government as seriously as medicine. Aren’t elected officials doctors in a sense, looking out for the well being of the people?

Or perhaps I should have said: Shouldn’t we expect our elected officials to be physicians, looking out for the well being of the people? Obviously, we don’t expect that now.

Timothy……………………MONEY buys degrees!
Learning brings wisdom! Learning/ wisdom, can be acquired without paying for it.
I am a voracious reader & an observer of human nature..70 years worth.
Several years ago, when a bear attacked & killed a Mother, her little daughter, and her 2 yr old son, survived the attack having been picked up by the head, and then the bear dropped him. The DEGREED DR,on the case announced on CNN that the boy wouldn’t remember it because children that young don’t remember things……………..
Incensed, I called the hospital in Tenn. or wherever….. I remember my first birthday. I remember Pearl Harbor. I was 1 1/2 yrs old) Every “nurse”( less educated than Drs ) I talked to applauded my viewpoint.
My stepfather had his liver shot to pieces on Normandy Beach. He was a much loved squadron leader & his ( non medical educated) buddies somehow, sewed the pieces back together, patched him up and he lived to be almost 90. Makes a lie out of Dr Sanjay Gupta’s enthusiasm for the “NEW” sophisticated medical
units, we “initiated” in Iraq!
I did my Jr. year of college ( graphic design major) at age 57. My Dept head prof was a 37 yr old man with a YALE DEGREE. He was immature & undeveloped as a HUMAN BEING. The other prof was a bit wiser being 41, and having worked in the field in Europe. The Pres. & Dean were part of the old wht man elite. This was 13 years ago at the peak of the faddish “without a college degree you are a nothing!”…….thinking. I observed how my young classmates cheated to get on the Dean’s list…..hardly “learning”………their actual work wasn’t really that good!
At the same time I had to battle the AMA to get the thyroid replacement drug that kept the critical thinking part of my brain alert. It took me 6 years and a lot of research. But I found the Medical profession had the WRONG INFO and WERE TEACHING IT IN MEDICAL SCHOOLS. The pharmaceutical firms in their “degreed infinite wisdom” decided to manufacture SYNTHETIC thyroid replacement pills WITHOUT T 1 & T 2, present in the natural thyroid. The OLD 1910 practice of using PIG THYROID to replace human
hormones, is STILL the best solution..and I now have to r travel to Canada to buy it because the ONE LAB in the USA stopped making it for lack of sufficient profit!
AND WHY do I need a thyroid replacement pill?
Well, the Degree’d Drs in 1941 decided to zap babies tonsils with radiation to eliminate them. Result: a wave of thyroid cancer among those of us unlucky enough to have been guinea pigs, 40 years later!
My high school educated Grandfather, ( son of an alcholic) built up a very successful mail order business. He moved heaven & earth to get my Father ( youngest son) a U of P, Wharton School of Business Degree…………….Dad DID NOT HAVE the soul of a business man and was not very good at it!
I think degrees are over emphasized at this point in our history!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Franklin#Early_life
Benjamin was the fifteenth child and youngest son. Josiah wanted Ben to attend school with the clergy but only had enough money to send him to school for two years. He attended Boston Latin School but did not graduate; he continued his education through voracious reading. Although “his parents talked of the church as a career” for Franklin, his schooling ended when he was ten.
I rest my case!

Timothy, degrees can be “arranged”. Wisdom can not.

Of course nowadays, so are some elections arranged via computerized voting machines, privately owned of course.

I wish you good fortune Pat. Maine will be wise to have you in a place of responsibility.

Pat, I couldn’t agree with you more. Having worked with many highly educated people, sometimes they can’t see the forest for the trees. The lack of common sense is riveting. Not all of course, but many college grads simply have a piece of paper, but no real knowledge or wisdom.

PS I have a friend who takes the pig thyroid too. Even though Armour isn’t producing it anymore (due to the medical /pharma mafia) he’s going to a drug store that “makes” it for him with the right ingredients. Off label.

Hillary Clinton blasts Greenspan on U.S. deficit

Feb 25 (Reuters) - Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Thursday said she was heartbroken by the state of U.S. finances and laid the blame in part on “outrageous” advice from former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan…. …

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN2510668220100225?type=marketsNews

Thanks for the support!……….
WHere is your friend MArta I’d like to know more!
I do have a farmer friend who raises pigs. We have joked in the past. Maybe now we can produce some real “down home” grown?

Pat, he lives in Miami, Florida. I’ll find out more. I know he told me it’s a medical dispensary and they are the ones that mix bioidentical hormones, for example. Maybe google can help? But he gets his prescription mixed up every month. No synthroid!

Starlight, you really nailed it as far as the “summit” (I hate the use of that word)yesterday is concerned. I hope going forward you are just as “right on”.
Thank you.

Pearlstein sums up the differences in health care positions best:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/25/AR2010022505948.html

The most important thing Republicans think is that if there are Americans who can’t afford the insurance policies that private insurers are willing to offer, then that’s their problem — there’s nothing the government or the rest of us should do about it. …

That was their clear message Thursday. It was their message during all those years when their party controlled Congress and the White House and they did nothing and said nothing about the plight of the uninsured. And it is clear that they would continue to do nothing if, by some miracle, Democrats were to drop their plan or embark on a more modest approach. For Republicans, the uninsured remain invisible Americans, out of sight and out of mind.

i.e. they just don’t give a sh*t.

Noelle - The good news is that Obama gave the GOP 6 weeks to participate or be left on the sidelines. Although the planets will not be great, at least we will be past the difficult ones of March. There is a prolonged Mars/Pluto quincunx around then, from April 3 to April 11. Maybe that will be the final wrangling.

As I said previously, there could be other difficulties besides health care in the first half of March, though I am sure that will be part of it. Rahm is likely to have much more trouble (Saturn crossing his North Node), and a big bump in troop losses in Afghanistan is possible with Saturn square Obama’s Venus and conjunct US MC.

The first crossing of Saturn to US MC, as predicted by yours truly along time ago, was about our increased burdens in the world that we would rather do without but feel we have to face (Obama deciding on more troops in Afghanistan) and how difficult and sometimes painful these burdens are. It was also about coming to terms with our decreasing clout in the world (Obama’s trip to China). We will see these two themes in some form during the first half of March.

Yep, they just don’t care. Way back I told everyone who would listen, that the contract on America was the real beginning of the “Let them eat cake” GOP, and we hadn’t seen anything yet.

Here we are after over a decade of cake eating fat cats.

Pat - My favorite title for them:
the Hope America Fails Party
from some guy Rachel interviewed a few weeks back.

And it’s apparently true Starlight!!

Isn’t that treason??

starlight and Pat C,

Such a relief to know you will distill and clarify the pea soup of politicing, specifically yesterday’s and all the other times too, before then and in the future. Thanks….and yes, they just don’t give a sh*t, and yes, it (used to be) treason.

Pat and all others too:

Because you are officially on my Champions of the Cause(s) list now, I wanted to pass on some of Phil Sedgwicks thoughts appropriate for these heavily laden Pisces times and also for the New Moon in Virgo in two days. They did ME a world of good and hope they will (if you haven’t already read them) be appreciated by you too.

http://www.philipsedgwick.com/
click on The Galactic Times

http://matrixpsedgwick.wordpress.com/

Starlight, I heard something about the Easter break for congress. You probably know more about that than I do, but id it’s from April 1 - 7 then your window of April 3 -11 looks doable. If it’s a 2 week break, then I guess the picture changes. Correct?

Noelle - Looks like Easter break is 3/29 to 4/11 so I am not quite sure what to think, unless maybe the votes get organized for hcr just before they leave.

Otherwise, July looks good for Obama with Jupiter stationary sextile his Moon, almost exactly, for a month.

Pat - I am not sure about treason, but it is pretty self-centered and stupid, things they are clearly good at.

Timothy

Please don’t over-rate the value of a college degree. I’ve encountered too many people with a fist-full of degrees and no common sense.

I was fortunate enough to grow up in Alaska when it was still a territory and we barely had radio and NO tv. I read everything I could get my hands on. I still read a lot and I am very grateful for the great library system here in Seattle. I don’t have a college degree, but I am thoroughly self-educated because I have an enquiring mind and I love to learn. I think our school systems tend to kill the love of learning and make it all about the grades.

One of the things I like about President Obama is that he combines genuine learning with common sense. I lot of our congress-critters seem to have neither.

Evidently, the Dems have decided that health care should be done by April 4th, which means the few days just before their deadline fit in with the narrow window I found that seems most positive, from the end of March through April 3.

Saturn barely a few minutes past the exact square to US Venus, and a million people without power in a snow blizzard:

http://www.boston.com/news/local/maine/articles/2010/02/26/snowstorm_in_northeast_rain_pounds_new_england/

Pat, please don’t take what I was trying to say personally, or as meant in any way to undermine your effort. As I said I applaud your effort and am sure (mostly just from my lurking over the years and reading your comments) that Maine will be lucky to have you in office.

All I was trying to say is that we don’t in this country play any importance to the love of wisdom. Not really. I understand that there are plenty of people with degrees who have attained alot of knowledge but not much wisdom. Our whole educational system would have to be rethought if democracy is really to work and not be just a naive failed experiment (which it is really turning out to be). Presently our educational system exists primarily to manufacture degrees in order to prepare workers for the marketplace. Democracy requires an education system which aims to develop wisdom in the people. Such a system would emphasize the humanities more than the present emphasis on business, math and science. Perhaps such an educational system would aim to develop the kind of wisdom you have developed, Pat, in your years of experience.

I jumped in here in this thread because the discussion had turned to a dissatisfaction with our elected representatives and someone suggested the remedy might be a direct democracy. I was simply pointing out that we have a republic for good reasons, and a better remedy to the perceived failure of our elected representatives is to hold a higher standard for elective office.

An 8.8 earthquake has hit off coast of Chile. The center was about 115 km from Concepcion and south of Santiago. This has generated a tsunami and warnings are posted for all of Central America and French Polynesia.

I agree with you about education Timothy. My peer group received the equivalent of a college ( humanities/liberal arts ) degree, in high school. Except for the academic studies course most of them didn’t expect to attend college but they were well educated as citizens of a republic. Most of the parents were small business owners or union members and could afford to send their kids to after school classes; musical instruments, dance, elocution ( we read Shakespeare there) social dance class ( etiquitte) and many participated in the local little theater group in town. By the time my kids were in high school the standard had dropped considerably..
The key? comfortable income with disposable componant…doesn’t exist now!
I talked to a woman the other day who as single Mother with a good job, sent her Daughter to my art classes 15 years ago. Her long time company just sold to a Dutch owner & she is now struggling to live on $70. 00 a week PT.
Shock Doctrine indeed!!!

barbk,

Yes, 8.8; that is one mega-powerful earthquake in Chile. I cannot imagine it not having a significant effect upon further shifting of Tectonic Plates off of the various continental shelves. This one’s going to have a great deal of after-shock value.

will,

I agree. I heard CNN weather guy say this was different from Haiti quake in that the plates butt head on rather than slide up & down as in Haiti’s. Don’t know if that’s worse, but he acted like it was.

A chart for 3:30 AM Santiago has Moon at 18 Leo 25 in the 8th house. Using 2/12/1541 for date Santiago was born (Wikipedia), Uranus would be at 17 Leo 48 retrograde.

The Quake chart also has 19 Cap rising and Venus is at 19 Pisces, a sextile. The Moon is quincunx to both and would be the focal point of a yod in the Quake chart.

Tomorrow’s Full Moon (Virgo) is a SuperMoon, which means it is perigree (when it’s closest to earth) and syzygy (in line with Sun and Earth), creating extreme tidal shifts because of the increased gravity pull on the Earth.

Massive earthquake strikes Chile

A massive earthquake of 8.5 magnitude has struck close to the city of Concepcion in Chile.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/8540289.stm

Hawaii is under a general warning of tsunamis.

Sorry, the actual time of quake was 3:34 AM, Santiago time, which is the time I used for chart, not 3:30 AM

This is much worse than Haiti, according to weather people. I said earlier that the plates in Haiti quake slid up and down but I now understand they rubbed sideways. This one today is a head on collision of plates.

This tsunami is expected to cause much greater damage than last year’s tsunami.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/27/AR2010022700229.html?hpid=topnews

8.8-magnitude earthquake hits central Chile

barbk, thank you so much for the aspects!

Pat C and everybody,

Now that I’m REALLY awake, there are many more astro points of interest.

Like the 1541 Santiago chart has a conjunction of Venus and Ceres at 22+ Cap (near today’s north node at 20 Cap) and they are sextile Mars at 25+ Pisces. yeah, here it comes. . .

This sextile of Venus/Ceres to Mars forms a yod with Jupiter at 24+ Leo retrograde,the focal point.

That Santiago Jupiter then opposes the present day conjunction of mercury, Neptune, Chiron in Aquarius. These 3 transiting Aquarian planets in turn trine the 1541 chart’s Saturn at 26 Libra retrograde. The mind boggles.

One can assume that aid (Aquarius Neptune Mercury Chiron) from U. S. (US Moon 27 Aquarius) will arrive in the form of food (Ceres + Venus) and other nurturing stuff ($$?) to the victims of this tragedy in Chile. (The U.S. Chiron at 20 Aries is trine the Earthquake chart’s Moon at 18+ Leo)

Forgot to say that the 1541 chart’s Mars is conjunct today’s Uranus. sheez.. .must get some rest.

Wow!

Rest well.

Folks-this is strange in that I “read” about the quake in Chile yesterday. I can’t now remember if I “saw” it in the paper or the internet but I will say that my day yesterday ended quite early-I layed down quite early to read and never got up again. I am noticing this lag in news increasingly. such as the “riots” in Berkeley on Thursday were not covered at all here until this morning-I read about that in the NYT!!!

clymela,

Someone (Dr. somebody) on CNN said that there were in fact some earthquakes on either side (north of and south of) this quake in Chile this morning. This big one, the 8.8 one, happened at 3:34 AM (Santiago local time). Those yesterday were smaller and they (said they) didn’t know this one was going to happen.

Tsunami warning for Hawaii

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2010/2/27/841/03993

barbk-thanks for this-I can now cut-off the scifi music. I was really troubled what with the “lag” in news that I have documented. I am really thankful for your information-clears my head.

I still haven’t been able to get through to my daughter and granddaughter in Chile (Valparaiso). The rest of my family in Santiago is ok, thank goodness … Haven’t been able to get through to many friends … It’s a disaster.

((((Marta))))

barbk - sorry to interrupt, but more to analyze.

Strong earthquake, tsunami warning in Japan (AP)

27 February 2010, 7:27 AMTOKYO— A powerful earthquake…preliminary magnitude of 6.9 rattled Japan’s southern islands early Saturday…
…. believed to be the strongest in a century to hit Japan’s southern Okinawa Island. …off the coast…of Okinawa at a depth of 6.2 miles (10 kilometers) at 5:31 a.m. Saturday (2031 GMT Friday), the Meteorological Agency said.

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle09.asp?xfile=data/international/2010/February/international_February1284.xml&section=international

Deborah,

I’m thinking this all has to do with the SuperMoon, the “full” moon tomorrow. . this is the closest it gets to the Earth. All that gravity is pulling our plates apart.

Marta, I’m so sorry for your distress and am praying you make contact soon.

My sister in Kauai is packing up and heading to the mountains…..the amount of people having to scatter is unimaginable!

Marta I hope you hear good news soon. I know all circuits are busy in Hawaii.

Hey All - The plates in Chili didn’t just ‘butt heads’ one slipped UNDER the other which is much worse that sliding against each other. (Think of sliding a plate in the cupboard under a stack of plates without holding the top plates in place and see what happens to the plates on the top.)

This one affects the entire Ring Of Fire. The entire Pacific region is under a tsunami advisory/watch/warning. It could also trigger more earthquakes all around the Ring. With the Supermoon aspect in effect, it could get very interesting.

Sending light to everything in the area.

Richard Nolle (www.astropro.com) in discussing the Full Moon on 2/28/10 with Jupiter Sun opposite the SuperMoon in Virgo , and referring to the astro-locality map for that time, says “the Sun-Jupiter line that runs from Newfoundland down through western So. America just kisses the coast of Hispaniola (Haiti)”

I hope this doesn’t add to the grief Haiti has already endured.

No mention in the last hour of the earthquake in the Japanese Islands on CNN or MSNBC.

Huffington Post has a good slide show of what’s going on as well as live feed. Looks very messy.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com

If you like to track what’s going on in real time (sort of) check out this site. The red squares are quakes within the last hour. The 8.8 is totally buried under 5+ squares. You can also see the 7.0 Off Okinawa yesterday. Big Blue square. Then, if you are interested in lists with exact times, etc. check the ‘earthquake lists’ just below and to the right of the map.

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsww/

Thanks Shadowhawk. . will check it out.

Back in January I had written “Super moon’ on tomorrows date on my calender, I had heard it was to be eventful. I rarely make notes like that on my wall calender.

Thanks for the USGS link Shadowhawk…fascinating.

Hi all from NZ - first waves were just recorded here about 1.5 foot - nothing to be concerned about. However it is arriving at the top of the current spring tide (full moon) so the height is noticible - I have been watching through binoculars from my house to the beach below and estimated tidal movement to be a bit over a foot before I read an official report taken at the Chatham Islands.
So Lunagardener, having lived in Hawaii for 33 years and gone through many tsunami evacuations (these days the authorities take an abundance of caution), tell your sister nothing to worry about. I remember the 1960 tsunami from that chilean earthquake here in NZ too. I was just like a couple of extra high tides in the day.

Thanks all for your kind thoughts and words. Just spoke to my daughter and all is well. She said it was terrifying! The rest of my family is also well, so I guess I can breathe easy on that account.

Lots of damage in Chile. three hospitals down, bridges down, buildings destroyed, fires, etc. Really bad!

I’m so sorry Marta, but glad for your family and for you!

Live streaming from Hawaii on tsunami

http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/Global/story.asp?S=12055046

Meanwhile….

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/Hummingbird-Nest-Cam

Hummingbird Nest Cam

She just keeps on doing what she does naturally.

Glad your family is safe Marta.
I suppose the good news is that Chile has experienced far more, and thus is is far more prepared for, high magnitude earthquakes than many places in the world. Not that that makes things easier during the emergency phase for those that live there.

Thanks all. Sofie told me that a friend of hers commented yesterday about the fact that there were no birds at the beach yesterday, no “lobos marinos” (can’t remember what they’re called in english, not walrus, but … oh yeah, SEALS!) or any marine life to speak of and they thought it was weird.

Thats pretty amazing Marta. I wish there were more people studying the ability that animals have in predicting earthquakes.

Red alert: For those who watch the global consciousness dot - http://gcp.djbradanderson.com/

kiwijeanie

That is good News, I am watching on CNN an nothing seems to be happening much. Fortunately my sister has lived there for 30 years and is quite used to these tsunami warnings…most of the time they are not as feared, but you just never know.

Marta I love the animal story!

Live video coverage via Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/video/2005/04/12/VI2005041201240.html?hpid=artslot

Hi All - Wow, what a day. I gave my 2nd workshop today and only just finished. Now I am catching up with the story of the possible tsunami waves through the Pacific Rim and the earthquake in Chile. It really brings it home how connected we all are.

Congratulations on your 2nd workshop Nancy - hope it was a great one and the bad weather back there did not affect you!

Marta I am so gload that your family is safe and well. Starlight I am so happy to hear of yur second workshop. I really would like to be there for one of your classes.

They are expecting a 9 foot tsunami in Japan in the next half hour!! Hundreds of thousands are evacuating.

CNN is covering it.

Latest Frank Rich about the terrorist right fringe in this country:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/28/opinion/28rich.html

check out this list from the usgs website - around 80 earthquakes in chile over the past 24hrs!

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/Quakes/quakes_big.php

Apparently they are still measuring very small tidal activity in Wellington, some 7hrs later.

Please excuse the typos of yesterday-exhausted after cooking, cleaning and getting in new bedroom furniture for my sister.
I am rattled regarding Chile-”around 80 earthquakes…past 24hrs.” I am wondering why so little coverage-seems like we were all over Haiti. Perhaps the distance? Perhaps our corporations have no plans to take over Chile?
I have a deep inner connection to Chile that came to consciousness during the coup d’etat organized by Nixon and Kissinger. The connection was so deep that I had to leave a Joan Armetrading concert in Berkeley’s Greek Theatre because I just was overwhelmed by images of the students rounded up and sent to the stadium-for you younger ones the Armetrading concert was in the early 80’s.
At any rate I am so upset over what is going on there. I don’t remember the 9+ earthquake of 1960 in Chile.

I’m guessing that Andrew Stack’s murder-suicide plane crash may be the Neptune-Chiron incident that one writer was pointing to, as being some kind of harbinger. No?

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/28/opinion/28rich.html

My brother is a journalist with AP. He was gearing up to go to Chile to cover the earthquake (he’s in Haiti and has been for over a week). Got everything organized and then AP decided not to send him. Something bout it not being newsworthy. Not enough dead people? Very strange. Needless to say he’s quite disappointed as we have loads of family and friends there.

Pat,

Good luck with your run for office. Vinegar, especially organic, is really good for heartburn. If you get elected, I suggest you stock up.

I’m glad you caught Timothy. I have a high school diploma. I know a lot of PhD’s with no common sense, that I would not want anywhere near the white house. (wouldn’t want me there either - I do not have the patience.) And the PhD’s I know actually earned theirs, they weren’t bought by mommy and daddy.

Timothy:
“Why is it that in a democracy we cannot expect some degree of higher education in our elected officials? Why can’t we say that anyone can enter politics, but first they must get some level of higher education? If the only defense of democracy lies in the hope that the people can rise to some level of wisdom or at least elect representatives with some level of wisdom, why is it that the love of wisdom is of such little value in this society?”

Read Jeff Green’s “Pluto”. I used to think he was sanctimonious and discriminatory. 80% of the population running in “herd” mode sound discriminatory to anyone today?

It isn’t just our society that devalues wisdom, although we may be the worst example of it. But the tides shift, and every now and then I meet a young person who is reading The Iliad, and it gives me hope.

clymela, Marta,

I get a sense you are right, and even though I know it’s based on the media available to me, am suspicious that it’s for the reasons you named, or that maybe Chile isn’t as needy has Haiti.

Perhaps the public is weary of tragedy, at least the natural kind. Perhaps the “press” is even more weary of covering it.

Wonder why it doesn’t seem to affect war coverage?

I’m not sure what the deal is about not sending more press in to Chile. It is very strange, though. For one thing, we have a change in government in 2 weeks (Pinera will be inaugurated) and a mess in all of the public infrastructure. So much so that Pinera just announced that all of the current governors of the provinces will stay in place (normally the new President would name his own), but because he wants to maintain continuity, he’s going to keep them until the main problems have been cleared up.

The main airport is not functioning, the country has no way to get to the south of Chile because all the bridges have been cut. They’re rationing gas, food, etc. because they can’t get supplies in unless it’s by air. Entire cities have been gutted and leveled. But the weirdest thing is that very little news is on today, just one day after the earthquake in Chile.

And my brother was told it wasn’t “newsworthy”. Wow.

CNN covered the Chilean earthquake to death from the time it happened until I went to bed early this AM. One of the things I heard from Ireporters in Chile was that Chile was relatively prepared for major quakes. They had earthquake drills in the schools. The fact that this happened while most were sleeping will probably raise the death toll will gather more attention when it happens.

Haiti and Indonesia were extremely poor countries with most of their population living in great poverty and in very substandard quarters that would probably fall down in a stiff wind.

Chile has the heavy equipment it needs - well, maybe not all it needs - but at least it has some. The government is in evidence even if it is in disruption at the moment. (Big deal - so is ours). They have the means to get what the villages along the coast need - helicopters work and they have them. Haiti and Indonesia didn’t have anything.

They are taking care of their own and that’s why it’s not ‘newsworthy’. It’s not a big enough pathos for the media.

You can still find in depth coverage online, tho. CNN and Huffington Post are covering it in depth at their sites.

This is my opinion from looking at the information I’ve seen and heard. The people who live there and are Ireporting aren’t in hysterics and are relatively calm about the whole deal. Chile has prepared as well as anyone can for large quakes since they have lots of them. I wonder if California would fare as well.

Shadowhawk, all is not as it appears in the news and things for the poor people are dire and the Chilean government, like all governments, is in the throes of a major disaster. The US also is a powerful organized country, yet we totally blew Katrina/New Orleans and the fact that we had resources, etc. didn’t mean diddly.

Sofie just called me in tears to say the water is cut and there is no food in the supermarkets and she’s frightened. People are starting to loot.

The earthquakes are continuing. Over 50 aftershocks over 5 points registered yesterday. To put that into perspective, the 1985 earthquake was a 6.5 magnitude and I was there. We rocked and we rolled.

You can’t use helicopters to transport enough fuel and food to gas up and feed a city of 212,000 people that is in ruins. And that’s just one city. The damages are all along a country that is longer than it is wider. It’s exponential. Chile may be advanced. But it’s not that advanced.

I know you’ve been listening to the news (what there is of it today, yesterday a lot, today very little that I could see).

We keep on getting told …. let’s move on, nothing to see here (i.e. Chile has everything under control) …. but that couldn’t be farther from the truth. The story is unfolding. It just started yesterday. So, whether the media wants to cover it or not, things are still in transition and flux and there is much to be done to alleviate the people. We’ll see. But I suspect that things are going to get much worse.

There is something fishy going on. I don’t know if there’s no insurance money to pay for the infrastructure repairs, or what. But I suspect that a big can of worms is about to blast into clear view and maybe that’s why the media is being instructed to stay away. News these days is meant to either entertain, distract or meet an agenda. Not necessarily to inform.

Shadow, thanks for the Huffpo info.

Marta - I agree with you. I was just stating what little is being reported. I have a feeling the same kind of crap that took place during Katrina would happen again here when (not if) we have our next major disaster. Obama would not be as ignorant or blase’ as The Shrub, for sure, but it would happen anyway.

When the New Madrid fault goes right smack in the middle of the country it will take out several major cities. And it will be a royal cluster f**k. The soil consistency along that particular fault is the kind that would make a large quake even worse. Read building your house on sand here because that’s what they’ve done all a long that fault.

I feel for the people of Chile and know they are going through hell. Does Chile have oil? Or some other precious commodity?

Just color me very cynical.

For a more positive take on these disasters, you might want to check out Karen Bishop’s Wings. She has one on Haiti and one on Chile. Her outlook is from an evolving spiritual position.

http://www.emergingearthangels.com/latest.html

Shadowhawk,

Chile is profoundly wealthy in terms of agricultural product and exports; wine, meats, produce. It is approximately 2700 miles long and is, essentially, like our San Joachin Valley in Central CA - a veritable bread basket of South America. They are a fairly wealthy country.

Thanks one and all for your input regarding Chile. I don’t feel so abandoned,even with CNN’s coverage for which I have been grateful I just felt left alone again as I did in those years immediately following the coup d’etat
I absolutely know that something stinky is going on. when a country undergoes such a massive quake and the ‘aftershocks” are major quakes and the country has been cut in two so to speak this is news worthy even for those who do not feel related as I do.

Current issue of Mother Jones:

Patriot Games - From blowhardery to nihilism to…treason?

IN THE FALL of 1964, not long after Barry Goldwater had clinched the Republican nomination for president, historian Richard Hofstadter penned an essay for Harper’s called “The Paranoid Style in American Politics.” It was an instant classic—not because it was so elegantly written, but because in just a few pages it described with deadly accuracy one of the major strains of our national dialogue.

“The paranoid spokesman,” Hofstadter wrote, “is always manning the barricades of civilization…Like religious millennialists he expresses the anxiety of those who are living through the last days and he is sometimes disposed to set a date for the apocalypse…He does not see social conflict as something to be mediated and compromised…Since what is at stake is always a conflict between absolute good and absolute evil, what is necessary is not compromise but the will to fight things out to a finish.”

Oath Keepers, the group featured in our cover story, would seem the classic case in point. Its members are cops, sheriffs, and military men and women determined to resist the tyrannical orders they believe are imminent from the Obama administration. The fantasies they spin—a “globalist” leadership intent on declaring martial law, putting God-fearing Americans in detention camps, and asking UN blue helmets to keep order while it imposes health care reform and who knows what else—replicate almost exactly the fears far-right cranks have peddled for generations. Replace “socialism” with “communism” and you are pretty much back to 1964 (or 1934 or 1884, for that matter).

But what was true then is true now: Dismissing one’s adversaries as wing nuts is myopic, both intellectually and politically. Like it or not, the Oath Keepers, and the myriad other “patriot” groups now emerging around the edges of the Tea Party movement, are tapping into a real strain of popular anger. And who wouldn’t be angry? Unemployment for millions, bailouts and bonuses for a few. A health care reform plan supremely undersold by a Democratic establishment unconcerned with the battle for hearts and minds (see: Martha Coakley). A GOP controlled by pro-corporate nihilists.

But righteous anger is one thing. Manufacturing fear, dare we say terror, is another—and over the past year, we have seen cynical politicians and talk-show demagogues increasingly willing to traffic in it. It’s no longer just handfuls of militia types trading overheated conspiracy theories; it’s America’s most popular cable news network giving gobs of airtime to people who all but advocate armed insurrection.

MORE
http://motherjones.com/politics/2010/03/editors-note

Check out the other good articles in this issue:
http://motherjones.com/

Marta, clymela, shadowhawk,

It has occurred to me that most of the “news” shows on Sunday are probably taped on or before Fridays. Perhaps that is part of the reason there is a dearth of up-to-date info re: Chile’s situation. Like you said shadowhawk, it was on 24 hours on Saturday: I started watching about 4 AM and it (CNN) never left the topic of the earthquake and tsunami. But nothing today.

zea,

Thanks for the Mother Jones article and link.

I finally got some updated info when watching the local news and heard that the president was now asking for help from the UN and the like. Most peculiar and I’m now getting suspicious myself.

I remember the 1960 chilean earthquake incident vividly, perhaps because it was of such magnitude and it was covered extensively by the NZ news media of the day. It was a source of ‘teachable moments’ during our school day.
If you go to the usgs website there is all sorts of information on earthquakes in this same region.

This is from the usgs:
“Coastal Chile has a history of very large earthquakes. Since 1973, there have been 13 events of magnitude 7.0 or greater. The February 27 shock originated about 230 km north of the source region of the magnitude 9.5 earthquake of May, 1960 – the largest earthquake worldwide in the last 200 years or more. This giant earthquake spawned a tsunami that engulfed the Pacific Ocean. An estimated 1600 lives were lost to the 1960 earthquake and tsunami in Chile, and the 1960 tsunami took another 200 lives among Japan, Hawaii, and the Philippines. Approximately 870 km to the north of the February 27 earthquake is the source region of the magnitude 8.5 earthquake of November, 1922. This great quake significantly impacted central Chile, killing several hundred people and causing severe property damage. The 1922 quake generated a 9-meter local tsunami that inundated the Chile coast near the town of Coquimbo; the tsunami also crossed the Pacific, washing away boats in Hilo harbor, Hawaii. The magnitude 8.8 earthquake of February 27, 2010 ruptured the portion of the South American subduction zone separating these two massive historical earthquakes. ”

Hey all, I don’t think there is any sort of conspiracy, it is just that because they have experienced more large earthquakes than anywhere else in the world, they are in fact more prepared to cope than most places. Not to diminish the chaos chilean people are experiencing right now, but sometimes having to deal with hoards of people arriving from foreign places strains local resources that could be better used to help their own people. The damage could have been much worse had they not had so many large earthquakes over the past 40 years - they are very experienced with cleanups.
Haiti is a totally different circumstance in that the whole country was affected, is dirt poor, and they have, at best, an unstable government.
Drama sells, and I think sometimes news media en-mass wants to get there for the drama of it all, not to implement hands on the ground tangible immediate assistance for rescue operations.
So probably the last thing the authorities want is having a multitude of journalists taking time and resources away from emergency crews.

1997 DoD Briefing: ‘Others’ can set off earthquakes, volcanoes remotely using electromagnetic waves By Lori Price 28 Feb 2010 Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen, 28 April 1997: ‘There are some reports, for example, that some countries have been trying to construct something like an Ebola Virus [OMG! Who would do such a thing?], and that would be a very dangerous phenomenon, to say the least. Alvin Toeffler has written about this in terms of some scientists in their laboratories trying to devise certain types of pathogens that would be ethnic specific so that they could just eliminate certain ethnic groups and races; and others [LOL] are designing some sort of engineering, some sort of insects that can destroy specific crops. Others are engaging even in an eco- type of terrorism whereby they can alter the climate, set off earthquakes, volcanoes remotely through the use of electromagnetic waves.’ –Just switch ‘yours,’ ‘others’ and ‘they’ with ‘U.S.,’ ‘U.S.’ and ‘U.S.’ This was in 1997. Imagine, after eight years of George W. Bush turbo-funding these lunatics, what they can do now.

High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program 27 Feb 2010 The High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP) is an ionospheric research program jointly funded by the US Air Force, the US Navy, the University of Alaska and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Its purpose is to analyze the ionosphere and investigate the potential for developing ionospheric enhancement technology for radio communications and surveillance purposes (such as missile detection). The HAARP program operates a major Arctic facility, known as the HAARP Research Station, on an Air Force owned site near Gakona, Alaska. The most outstanding instrument at the HAARP Station is the Ionospheric Research Instrument (IRI), a high power transmitter facility operating in the high frequency range. The IRI is used to temporarily excite a limited area of the ionosphere… As of 2008, HAARP had incurred around $250 million in tax-funded construction and operating costs.

http://www.legitgov.org/DoD_1997_set_off_earthquakes_280210.html

Has anyone else but moi been paying any attention to the Olympics? There must be some astrological significance to what is going on in Vancover.

Watching the closing ceremony tonight reminded me of what I saw in meiditation some time ago…..people from many, many nations in a huge circle around the United Nations. It was beautiful and there was a rainbow. (I used to live across from the UN)

Seeing that circle tonight around the Olympic Torch(s) reminded me of what we could be.
I also thought about the heaviness of the Russian anthym compared to “O Cananda”.
Well, I’m not really an astrologer (just a wannabe), but I am a seeker. So, if any of you can shed some light on the Vancover events as contrasted to what’s happening in Chile, Washington, D.C. and elsewhere, maybe we could all benenfit from hearing from you.

CHILE EARTHQUAKE 2010: Why The Haiti Earthquake Wasn’t As Strong, But Far More Devastating

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — The earthquake in Chile was far stronger than the one that struck Haiti last month – yet the death toll in this Caribbean nation is magnitudes higher.

The reasons are simple.

Chile is wealthier and infinitely better prepared, with strict building codes, robust emergency response and a long history of handling seismic catastrophes. No living Haitian had experienced a quake at home when the Jan. 12 disaster crumbled their poorly constructed buildings.

And Chile was relatively lucky this time.

more

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/02/28/chile-haiti-earthquake-2010-comparison_n_480153.html

Noelle,

Your observations are quite interesting and I decided I should look into the history of the Olympics. I learned that it is believed that Hercules founded the ancient Roman Olympic games. They were abolished in 393 CE because of their pagan influence.

Today the asteroid Heracles (Greek for Hercules) is at 6+ Pisces and only 3 degrees away from Jupiter and the Sun at 9+ Pisces. As Jupiter (Zeus) was Hercules’ father it seemed more than appropriate.

I would associate the Olympics with Jupiter because of its multi-national connotation, its joviality (jove = Jupiter) and high spirited contests, and its pomp.

I believe the games started on or around the 7th and at that time Heracles was still in Aquarius, very near Neptune and Chiron, at about 28+ degrees.

Chiron was Hercules’ teacher and Hercules accidently wounded Chiron who, although he was a reknown healer, could not heal himself.

Barbara Hand Clow calls Chiron the “Rainbow Bridge Between the inner & outer Planets” . Perhaps Chiron is sending a healing message from Neptune in Aquarius to the Sun and Jupiter in Pisces, via Heracles/Hercules.
The rainbow you saw in your meditation might imply the reflected light after a storm. Perhaps these olympic games reflect the light like a rainbow after the stormy periods of Haiti and Chile.

Don’t have a clue regarding anthems, but thanks for making me think about the connections between the games and pains of these times.

Even though Chile has strict building codes, they are not always followed as you can see from the brand new buildings that toppled all over the place. And that’s the scandal.

Chile has experienced a huge building boom, much like the rest of the world, and last year there were already many complaints and investigations into buildings that were unsafe, bad developers, etc. And that was before the earthquake.

Has any one heard of the Haiti earthquake being caused by big oil? It was a very localized earthquake, no tsunami’s either. And there is alot of oil under Haiti. You might want to check it out.
Also I have heard that the HARP program has other motives. Like instead of pointing it to ionosphere it is pointed at the earth.
I have come to realize that the world is about 180 degrees out of wack. If you think it is one way then it is probably just the opposite.
Also they have recently found oil in the northwest United States Inc. More oil than all the middle east put together.
And now they want to build more nuclear power plants ( 180 degrees out) where is the incentive for solar and wind power, did they all of the sudden just forget about all of that. It’s a strange picture indeed.

Monday, March 1, 2010
NYT -TOXIC WATERS
Rulings Restrict Clean Water Act, Hampering E.P.A.

Thousands of the nation’s largest water polluters are outside the E.P.A.’s reach because the Supreme Court has left uncertain which waterways are protected.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/01/us/01water.html?th=&emc=th&pagewanted=all

Well worth reading…..

…………

Gun case presents quandary for court

Challenge to handgun bans could test rationale of conservative justices
(By Robert Barnes, The Washington Post)

.. Justice Clarence Thomas, Scalia’s fellow originalist and another opponent of substantive due process, has signaled he is open to revisiting the privileges or immunities clause. And Justice Sonia Sotomayor, deemed by gun rights organizations as an enemy during her confirmation hearings despite a scant record on the subject, will be casting the first of what could be many votes on gun restrictions.

But Scalia’s situation is particularly interesting…….

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/28/AR2010022803985_pf.html

barbk, thank you so much. As I’ve said I’m not an astrologer but my feeling was that it had a lot to do with the Neptune/Chiron conjunction and healing. Thank you again.

Someone gave the link to Matthwes messages and he spoke about the Haiti earthquake and might have mentioned oil but certainly talked about a shipment of money. I’m don’t have time to check out now since I’m at work, but I think he answered some of the questions raised above.

Noelle and all,

You will also appreciate a new article today by Jessica Murray on Chiron and Neptune, in her usual down-to-earth style.

http://www.daykeeperjournal.com/

About the middle of the page on the right called “Walking Wounded”

From Neptune Cafe…

The Bloom Box,
Harbinger of the Age of Aquarius

Last Wednesday, the closely watched start-up Bloom Energy officially launched its product: a $700,000 box of electricity-producing fuel cells. The green technology is still too expensive for homeowners, but a dozen corporations are already using the Bloom Box and saving money in the process. Eventually, CEO K. R. Sridhar hopes the cost will come down so homeowners can have their own Bloom Boxes.

The Bloom Box is clearly a harbinger of the Age of Aquarius. The basic design includes flowing warm air to stimulate the movement of ions from one plate to another in order to create electricity. Aquarius, an air sign, is associated with electricity and new technology. The Age of Pisces and its ruling planet Neptune are associated with an industrial economy dependent on oil.

-snip-

The Bloom Box is making its appearance as transiting Jupiter and Uranus are heading into a conjunction, a 14-year cycle that tends to bring technological revolutions in its wake. The current tech revolution will be challenged by Saturn’s simultaneous opposition to the Jupiter-Uranus conjunction, indicating that there’ll be plenty of bugs and practical considerations to work out. Still, the Bloom Box and other innovative, paradigm-busting technologies are advancing civilization into the Age of Aquarius.

http://www.neptunecafe.com/NewsScope.html

Heads Up: Prayer Warriors and Sarah Palin Are Organizing Spiritual Warfare to Take Over America
The New Apostolic Reformation, the largest religious movement you’ve never heard of, aims to take control of communities through ‘prayer warriors.’

My word, the devil really does wear red! Read this link:

http://www.alternet.org/reproductivejustice/145796

Bette,

I read that article…weren’t we discussing this a few weeks ago? The truly discouraging thing is how focused they are on governing…I think it is quite serious, and many are unaware of their broad activities in all areas.

Myself…I am constantly praying for the highest and best outcome for all human beings, and all the kingdoms of nature……and so it will be. That is the extent of my spiritual warfare abilities….

Hi Lunagardener: Will the Coffee party defeat Palin and the righteous teabaggers?

Thousands Looking for an Alternative to Frothing Teabagging Crowd Find Refuge in Newly-Formed ‘Coffee Party’

” There are now more than 45 Coffee Party chapters in the country, with “over 300 more requests for local chapters that we haven’t yet fulfilled,” according to its website. A series of online videos shows a diverse cross-section of Americans who care about their country, making the case for civic engagement, and recalling the sincerity of so many of those who joined the ranks of Obama’s presidential campaign.”

http://www.alternet.org/rights/145846/thousands_looking_for_an_alternative_to_frothing_teabagging_crowd_find_refuge_in_newly-formed_%27coffee_party%27

Hi Luna, sometimes I stray away from this blog because I’m so frazzled by all the stuff we are all experiencing. It’s so difficult to stay positive in these times but planning a spring vegetable and flower garden is helping right now. Do you just love growing those heirloom tomatoes?

I do Bette,

Today was the first day I could get out and rake up the debris from the winter storms…what a huge relief
Daffodils and spring bulbs are pushing up and out….Spring is emerging. Snow tomorrow….alas, but I will soon sow arugula and baby spring greens when the snow melts.

I highly recommend the ‘Black Plum’ for sauce.

Marta, your family in Chile are on my mind and in my prayers. I hope they are coping well.

Bette,

I will ponder the coffee party during the snowstorm tomorrow…after my experience with the aggressive spirit warriors…I am shy of all groups…..except this one.

Everybody here posts so much food for thought and intelligent comment….(((((Big HUg)))))

Chilean Quake Likely Shifted Earth’s Axis, NASA Scientist Says
March 01, 2010, 2:28 PM EST

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-03-01/chilean-quake-likely-shifted-earth-s-axis-nasa-scientist-says.html

We are all having to Shift……I have to say, gardening get’s ya grounded…..

All Time Top Political Doners

From 1990 to present

http://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/list.php?order=A

Shifting Earth’s Axis is BIG….

Nancy,

I don’t have birth data for the Texas Governor’s candidates, does anyone know if Bill White is as bad a choice as I’m afraid he is?

I’m sure the other democratic candidate is not electable. With a name like Farouk Shami. and plans to convert the governor’s mansion into a solar powered orphanage, I’m just not thinking he is electable.

Of the republicans we have the choice of evils - Rick Perry, whose good friends are guaranteed state contracts, Kay Bailey Hutchison, who has spent the last few years as our senator, and votes pro oil, pro business republican platform consistently, and I think the 3rd one is borderline teabagger. I can’t remember her name.

Pat, have you considered moving to Texas?

Breaking News Alert
The New York Times
Mon, March 01, 2010 — 7:14 PM ET
—–

Harold E. Ford Jr. Decides Not to Run for New York Senate Seat

Under intense pressure from Democratic Party officials,
Harold E. Ford Jr., the former Tennessee congressman, has
decided not to challenge Sen. Kirsten E. Gillibrand in the
primary this fall, according to two people told of his plans.

He has told friends that, while he is convinced he could
prevail against Ms. Gillibrand, he feared the winner of the
primary would have little money and remain highly vulnerable
to a well-financed Republican challenger at a time when the
Democratic party controls the Senate by a slim majority.

Read More:
http://www.nytimes.com?emc=na

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/01/goldman-sachs-board-rejec_n_480434.html

Goldman Sachs’s Board Rejects Shareholder Demands To Cut Excessive Pay, Bonuses

More on the coffee party this morning….

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/02/us/politics/02coffee.html?th&emc=th

Growing through a Facebook page, the party pledges to “support leaders who work toward positive solutions, and hold accountable those who obstruct them.”

It had nearly 40,000 members as of Monday afternoon, but the numbers were growing quickly — about 11,000 people had signed on as fans since the morning.

“I’m in shock, just the level of energy here,” said the founder, Annabel Park, a documentary filmmaker who lives outside Washington. “In the beginning, I was actively saying, ‘Get in touch with us, start a chapter.’ Now I can’t keep up. We have 300 requests to start a chapter that I have not been able to respond to.”

The earth shifting its axis also occurred during the Sri Lanka earthquake…

Luna, I’m not advocating any of these groups, there are so many now appearing…resist, teaparty, coffeeparty, goooh. Just want perspectives if anyone wants. to give one. I’m completely overwhelmed with everything happening and also dealing with my own pluto/saturn on my own cap asc 3′13. I’ve had a heck of a time with frazzle, adrenaline charges, blood pressure, etc, and high doctor bills not covered by deductibles, but I’m lucky my part time job pays enough to cover my monthly insurance premium, nothing else left over. So in effect I’m working for the insurance company.

Thanks Luna for that new Coffee Party article. On that above post with the link to Palin’s spiritual warriors, well that article is frightful. She and politicians like her scare me and they are infiltrating at a furious pace into politics! This group will have women hunted down, burned at the stake and water tortured like the 1600’s over women’s rights issues!

Gypsi - Bill White actually looks pretty good. He might win. If you could get his birth time, maybe we could know more. Perhaps Texas isn’t quite ready to secede?

I don’t know if we will secede - but we have got to get Rick Perry out of the Governor’s mansion. He’s a GWB minion. Thanks for looking. I checked out White’s environmental record last night and it wasn’t bad actually. I’m going to vote in the primary today.
Thanks again.

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2010/03/02/the-latest-rahmlinology/

The Latest Rahm-linology: Working with GOP to Undermine Civilian Terror Trials

New post up.