This video was too good to pass up - hope the readers will enjoy this:
YouTube Link
7.16.2011
7.04.2011
Sustainability and "The Vegetarian Myth" - Where Many Have Gone Wrong
It has been a good long time since I've posted (and rightly so, maybe more on that at some future time). Things have been quite crazy "out there", but that's what was expected and should most certainly come as no surprise. Between the now admitted triple meltdown at the Fukushima nuke plant, the record breaking floods that currently threaten one or possibly two nuclear plants here in the US and the raging wild fires currently threatening the Los Alamos nuclear storage containers in New Mexico, there definitely appears to be a "running theme" developing. Then there's the continuing "GlobalRev" uprisings around the world along with the failed attempts to hijack the movements by TPTB, the continuing economic collapse playing out like a slow motion train wreck and the incredible weather anomalies that are only now being recognized as "incredible" by the MSM. Again, maybe more on these at a future time.
See, that's not what this post is about. I'm not interested in posting an "update" on the news, nor an editorial opinion piece...nor even a "how to" type article about RVing or growing a container garden in a campground somewhere in Florida.
If you're not already "up-to-date", you're simply doing it wrong.
If you're more interested in what I have to say than what an expert has to say, I thank you but please do check out the expert first - we can chat later about what he/she says.
If you haven't been greedily consuming everything you can find on the net about "how to" this or that, you are not only wasting valuable time but you most likely deserve the ignorance you currently possess on your particular "this or that".
No - this "post" is a sort of reminder of what should be considered sustainable. This post is here to help clarify some very false and potentially lethal misinformation that's out there (and has been out there), and hopefully help guide the misguided toward a more rational middle path (both in a physical, practical sense and in a more "spiritual path" or "way of life" kind of way).
And to top it all off, I'm not even going to write a "proper post". I'm going to simply embed a video you should watch, in which an actual expert talks about this, and leave it at that. So here's that video:
See, that's not what this post is about. I'm not interested in posting an "update" on the news, nor an editorial opinion piece...nor even a "how to" type article about RVing or growing a container garden in a campground somewhere in Florida.
If you're not already "up-to-date", you're simply doing it wrong.
If you're more interested in what I have to say than what an expert has to say, I thank you but please do check out the expert first - we can chat later about what he/she says.
If you haven't been greedily consuming everything you can find on the net about "how to" this or that, you are not only wasting valuable time but you most likely deserve the ignorance you currently possess on your particular "this or that".
No - this "post" is a sort of reminder of what should be considered sustainable. This post is here to help clarify some very false and potentially lethal misinformation that's out there (and has been out there), and hopefully help guide the misguided toward a more rational middle path (both in a physical, practical sense and in a more "spiritual path" or "way of life" kind of way).
And to top it all off, I'm not even going to write a "proper post". I'm going to simply embed a video you should watch, in which an actual expert talks about this, and leave it at that. So here's that video:
4.03.2011
Dear American
The story, as many others do, begins like this: A long time ago, in a land far away...
The story is a long one, leading up to this point, and may, in fact, be a long one leading forward. We wont concern ourselves with what happened before, nor what happens later, as this story is about a young man's "today".
You see, "today" is today, no matter where you are - no matter what land you inhabit - and what this young man was realizing is something many of even our own people, and our current generations, can relate to. His world, as it stood, had become a very dismal place. Greed and corruption ran rampant. The people of his land were encouraged by their overlords to "sacrifice" their "cares" in order to pay their bills. Everyone was being forced into acting as a sort of compulsory slave, and they found themselves working long hours for little in return.
It seemed only the most ruthless could succeed in this young man's world. Those who followed their hearts were destined to become outcasts.
The young man wasn't happy about any of this, and so he found himself taking it upon himself to worry. He would worry about his family, his friends and his neighbors. He even worried about the future generations of his people. Continually reminding himself that he shouldn't worry so much, that it was unhealthy to do so and that these people he worried over had, for the most part, brought this all upon themselves, didn't seem to help.
He found himself sleepless and experiencing a very real physical pain as he imagined how his world "should be".
Day after day, night after night, the young man would put on a brave face. He would spend time with his family and pretend that he fully understood the situation his world was in. He offered his very best spiritual and emotional insights to others who worried, and he assured them that their worry was unnecessary...that things would take care of themselves.
After a few hours of this, he would retreat to his home, exhausted, and find himself swimming in his despair. The world was so big, and so corrupt. He knew there was no way for him to save his people from the approaching cataclysm.
Each night, his heart would cry silently while he attempted to distract himself from the problems he knew he alone could never solve. Evil itself had corrupted everything he knew, every aspect of his society, and the only solution to this problem was a complete devastation of his world.
But today, instead of impatiently waiting for sleep to come, as he usually did, the young man decided to take action. He decided that it was more honorable to try to speak out to the people of his world than it would be to just watch silently as his world was destroyed by the pervasive greed and corruption.
So, sitting quietly in front of his computer, he began to write:
Dear American,
I am writing in hopes that you will wake up. Your way of life is corrupt, and it will soon be over. I am not making a "death threat", I am trying to warn you of what is coming if you don't open your eyes. The world we live in is changing rapidly, is becoming more difficult to live in by the day, and it will soon become impossible to maintain society in its current form. It is up to each and every one of us to change the way we think about life and the way we act in the world.
There is but a short time to get your affairs in order. Soon, time will run out and we will all be living a very different way. Today's world is about to become a thing of the past...both a happy memory and a dire warning for future generations. The question is, will you be helping to preserve freedom and liberty, or will you be helping to destroy both with your blind faith in a failing system? Will you be prepared for the world you find yourself in?
We are all aware of the rampant corruption in government. We are all aware of the escalating erosion of our liberties. What we may not all be aware of is that such things as the current economic collapse were planned events. You see, a handful of individuals, families and corporations have amassed a large amount of wealth through their financing of such atrocities as World Wars 1 and 2, Hitler's concentration camps and even modern day terrorist activities. With this wealth came power. Lots of power. From the Federal Reserve Bank and the Bilderberg Group to Skull and Bones and Bohemian Grove, there is far too much secrecy surrounding those who run this country's affairs. Just ask yourself this question: if these people have my best interests in mind, why do they meet behind closed doors?
I am not telling you to go out and buy guns, nor am I telling you to stock up on canned meats and vegetables, though both of these may be good ideas. What I am telling you to do is this: become aware of the very painful but obvious conspiracy at play. You have become slaves in your own country. The dystopia of science fiction is already our way of life, from constant surveillance and big government nanny states to mind controlling drugs administered to the masses and high tech gizmos that betray every aspect of your being.
Through the consolidation of power by the wealthy elite, we the people have lost all but the faded memories of what made this country great. The dollar bill in your pocket is nothing but a debt to be repaid, and every hour you work, every penny you save, makes somebody else rich as you slide deeper into poverty. This is not the "American Dream", and it's not intended to be. This is the dream of the powerful elite. And it will only get worse from here.
It is already too late to make things right without many years of painful recovery and rebuilding, but if we don't start working today, we're only allowing things to become worse. Every year we sit back and allow this cancer to progress, our nation's recovery will become harder and more painful. You can help save our children and grandchildren from decades of suffering, but you must start by changing the way you think about wealth.
Wealth is NOT money. Wealth is NOT a new car or expensive clothing
Wealth is love, friendship, family and happiness
Wealth is freedom of emotional and spiritual fulfillment
To make things right, you must stop buying your video games, cell phones and fake fingernails. You must stop feeding these empty material desires that have done nothing but enslave you. Stop sacrificing your dreams by flipping burgers and answering phones for a living. Instead, invest your time and money into what makes you truly happy...what truly fills you with joy. Decide to love your neighbors and cherish your dreams. Invest in your local businesses. Buy your local produce. Grow flowers and vegetables in your own back yard. Spend time with your children before they learn to distrust and hate you. Withdraw all your money from the bank and spend it on what you know will last...on things that can be handed down generation to generation and shared amongst communities.
This is the only way to break the cycle of corruption we find ourselves in today.
This is the only way to get our country back.
It is your duty, as an American, to become informed. It is your duty to prevent the slavery that has been planned for you and your children by the powerful elite. There is little time left to open your eyes, and little time left to do what's right. Failure is simply not an option.
I am asking for you to work harder than you ever have before to ensure our country's survival. Now, more than ever, your country needs you. And it needs you to wake up.
Sincerely,
Your Friendly Neighborhood Blogger
The story is a long one, leading up to this point, and may, in fact, be a long one leading forward. We wont concern ourselves with what happened before, nor what happens later, as this story is about a young man's "today".
You see, "today" is today, no matter where you are - no matter what land you inhabit - and what this young man was realizing is something many of even our own people, and our current generations, can relate to. His world, as it stood, had become a very dismal place. Greed and corruption ran rampant. The people of his land were encouraged by their overlords to "sacrifice" their "cares" in order to pay their bills. Everyone was being forced into acting as a sort of compulsory slave, and they found themselves working long hours for little in return.
It seemed only the most ruthless could succeed in this young man's world. Those who followed their hearts were destined to become outcasts.
The young man wasn't happy about any of this, and so he found himself taking it upon himself to worry. He would worry about his family, his friends and his neighbors. He even worried about the future generations of his people. Continually reminding himself that he shouldn't worry so much, that it was unhealthy to do so and that these people he worried over had, for the most part, brought this all upon themselves, didn't seem to help.
He found himself sleepless and experiencing a very real physical pain as he imagined how his world "should be".
Day after day, night after night, the young man would put on a brave face. He would spend time with his family and pretend that he fully understood the situation his world was in. He offered his very best spiritual and emotional insights to others who worried, and he assured them that their worry was unnecessary...that things would take care of themselves.
After a few hours of this, he would retreat to his home, exhausted, and find himself swimming in his despair. The world was so big, and so corrupt. He knew there was no way for him to save his people from the approaching cataclysm.
Each night, his heart would cry silently while he attempted to distract himself from the problems he knew he alone could never solve. Evil itself had corrupted everything he knew, every aspect of his society, and the only solution to this problem was a complete devastation of his world.
But today, instead of impatiently waiting for sleep to come, as he usually did, the young man decided to take action. He decided that it was more honorable to try to speak out to the people of his world than it would be to just watch silently as his world was destroyed by the pervasive greed and corruption.
So, sitting quietly in front of his computer, he began to write:
Dear American,
I am writing in hopes that you will wake up. Your way of life is corrupt, and it will soon be over. I am not making a "death threat", I am trying to warn you of what is coming if you don't open your eyes. The world we live in is changing rapidly, is becoming more difficult to live in by the day, and it will soon become impossible to maintain society in its current form. It is up to each and every one of us to change the way we think about life and the way we act in the world.
There is but a short time to get your affairs in order. Soon, time will run out and we will all be living a very different way. Today's world is about to become a thing of the past...both a happy memory and a dire warning for future generations. The question is, will you be helping to preserve freedom and liberty, or will you be helping to destroy both with your blind faith in a failing system? Will you be prepared for the world you find yourself in?
We are all aware of the rampant corruption in government. We are all aware of the escalating erosion of our liberties. What we may not all be aware of is that such things as the current economic collapse were planned events. You see, a handful of individuals, families and corporations have amassed a large amount of wealth through their financing of such atrocities as World Wars 1 and 2, Hitler's concentration camps and even modern day terrorist activities. With this wealth came power. Lots of power. From the Federal Reserve Bank and the Bilderberg Group to Skull and Bones and Bohemian Grove, there is far too much secrecy surrounding those who run this country's affairs. Just ask yourself this question: if these people have my best interests in mind, why do they meet behind closed doors?
I am not telling you to go out and buy guns, nor am I telling you to stock up on canned meats and vegetables, though both of these may be good ideas. What I am telling you to do is this: become aware of the very painful but obvious conspiracy at play. You have become slaves in your own country. The dystopia of science fiction is already our way of life, from constant surveillance and big government nanny states to mind controlling drugs administered to the masses and high tech gizmos that betray every aspect of your being.
Through the consolidation of power by the wealthy elite, we the people have lost all but the faded memories of what made this country great. The dollar bill in your pocket is nothing but a debt to be repaid, and every hour you work, every penny you save, makes somebody else rich as you slide deeper into poverty. This is not the "American Dream", and it's not intended to be. This is the dream of the powerful elite. And it will only get worse from here.
It is already too late to make things right without many years of painful recovery and rebuilding, but if we don't start working today, we're only allowing things to become worse. Every year we sit back and allow this cancer to progress, our nation's recovery will become harder and more painful. You can help save our children and grandchildren from decades of suffering, but you must start by changing the way you think about wealth.
Wealth is NOT money. Wealth is NOT a new car or expensive clothing
Wealth is love, friendship, family and happiness
Wealth is freedom of emotional and spiritual fulfillment
To make things right, you must stop buying your video games, cell phones and fake fingernails. You must stop feeding these empty material desires that have done nothing but enslave you. Stop sacrificing your dreams by flipping burgers and answering phones for a living. Instead, invest your time and money into what makes you truly happy...what truly fills you with joy. Decide to love your neighbors and cherish your dreams. Invest in your local businesses. Buy your local produce. Grow flowers and vegetables in your own back yard. Spend time with your children before they learn to distrust and hate you. Withdraw all your money from the bank and spend it on what you know will last...on things that can be handed down generation to generation and shared amongst communities.
This is the only way to break the cycle of corruption we find ourselves in today.
This is the only way to get our country back.
It is your duty, as an American, to become informed. It is your duty to prevent the slavery that has been planned for you and your children by the powerful elite. There is little time left to open your eyes, and little time left to do what's right. Failure is simply not an option.
I am asking for you to work harder than you ever have before to ensure our country's survival. Now, more than ever, your country needs you. And it needs you to wake up.
Sincerely,
Your Friendly Neighborhood Blogger
3.24.2011
The 8th US Saturn Return - Revisited
Back in January, I wrote up a 3 part examination of US Saturn returns, along with some interpretation of what the current Saturn return may bring. Interesting things have abounded over the last 3 months, many of which have been seriously downplayed and all but ignored by the mainstream media, but have still had the effect of bringing us to what I would have to call the proverbial edge of national catastrophe. Between the pro- and anti- union protests of February here in the US ("Valentines Day Protests" anybody?), ongoing revolutions in Tunisia, Egypt, Syria, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, etc, the new war in Libya (sorry, the "Kinetic Military Action"), and the Japanese earthquake, tsunami and multiple nuclear meltdowns ("partial meltdowns", sort of like being partially pregnant in my opinion), things have been shaping up to be some of the most interesting of times witnessed in modern history internationally. It's times like these that I like to take a step back, review what has been written, and then make some projections of the outcomes...so that's what we'll do.
As I outlined in The 8th US Saturn Return - Part 3, Neptune is currently transiting the US 3rd natal house in Aquarius, and has been conjuncting with the US natal Moon placement since the early summer of 2008. The US natal Moon is often thought to denote the "American Dream" and "the US as a melting pot" ideology. Neptune here has been causing lots of confusion surrounding these aspects of the "American personality", and, as March progresses into April, we're finally seeing some of that confusion fall away.
As I noted, it was during this time of "confused devotional fanaticism" that Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize (before completing even a full year in office). Today, we can clearly see some of this "false glory" fading, as actions begin to speak louder than words, with international calls for Obama's Peace Prize to be stripped. This issue will be raised in the international arena again in the near future, likely around early May when Mars sextiles the US natal Moon from late Aries, but by this time I think there will be other issues taking the main headlines.
Also noted was the imminent move of Uranus from Pisces and the 3rd natal house into Aries and, eventually, the 4th house. Today, March 24th, Uranus is at approximately 0 degrees and 45 seconds of Aries, and in approximately 3 days will enter the 4th natal house of the US. Placed within a 1 degree orb of the MC/IC axis, there is a strong dynamic being brought to the surface, showing clearly the dichotomy between the US public appearance and what is going on "behind the scenes". It was just this morning that the video of Obama himself being locked out of the White House surfaced...I can only say to read between the lines on that one.
Also with this movement of Uranus into Aries came an increased risk of natural and unnatural disasters worldwide. It's interesting to note that on very day that Uranus moved into Aries, the world's most costly natural disaster to date began occurring in Japan. I say "began" because, to date, the nuclear reactors and spent fuel rod storage pools at Fukishima Daiichi are STILL not fully under control. Already, due to the damage throughout Japan from this horrifying triple-disaster, US auto plants have begun laying off workers, food imports from Japan have been halted and such things as "potassium iodide", "millisieverts" and "cesium 137" have become part of the national lexicon. Uranus will remain in Aries through to 2018 before moving into Taurus and the US natal 5th house - between now and then I believe we can expect continued disasters involving nuclear power and radiation that threaten the US mainland. Also on the front-page will be more and larger earthquakes along with the most catastrophic fires, flooding and wind damage seen to date. This is a large window of opportunity, but do expect most of these events to happen during 2011 and early 2012, while Uranus traverses the first 5 degrees of Aries.
Looking to the more personal planets during the second conjunction of this Saturn return, Mars was noted to be in a strong opposition to the natal Neptune placement and loosely squaring its own natal position in Gemini and the 7th house. This is a warlike aspect, and I noted that, though war itself was rather unlikely, posturing and rhetoric were to be expected. Also, oil issues would be in the headlines throughout this period. Both of these have come to pan out, with oil today hovering around $106/barrel and the unpopular, US led military intervention in Libya making front-page news over the last week.
As Mars conjuncts Uranus and the US natal IC, and enters the first degree of Aries, over April 2nd through April 4th, expect a "heating up" of these issues as "oil fears" are realized and "war" begins to spread beyond the borders of Libya.
I had also noted that the Moon was seen transiting the US natal 11th house and Scorpio during the hours of conjunction on March 22nd, bringing a woman into the spotlight on "international affairs", while "distancing" herself from "domestic issues". This woman, of course, represents Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, same as during the first of this three part return back in November and December. Also of note was Venus becoming conjunct with the US natal Moon, signifying confusion being brought to light over "an issue of immigration or humanitarian aid". On March 26th, as the Moon transits the US natal Pluto placement and Venus conjuncts the transiting Neptune, expect some sudden and tragic news to break. This looks to be related to something already in the headlines, but will allow us to see it in a new and disappointing light.
Another key aspect was seen as Jupiter being loosely opposed to the natal and transiting Saturn placement, and squaring the natal Sun, as the transiting Sun conjuncted with Uranus and the IC in the first degree of Aries. I noted that a likely interpretation would be a man coming into the public eye through some form of accusation of corruption by either the US government or big business. Interestingly, on the 18th, Bernard von NotHaus was convicted on spurious counts of counterfeiting US currency and conspiracy against the United States. Meanwhile, a bill to begin the process of having the state issue its own currency of gold and silver has been introduced in North Carolina and Ron Paul introduced the Free Competition in Currency Act to Congress, which would repeal the very laws used to convict the so-called "architect" of Liberty Dollars. Though this issue hasn't seen major street protests and rallies as of yet, I certainly have a feeling these will be front page news in a matter of weeks (especially as April 15th approaches).
Also related to all of this is the release of photos showing members of the US military posing proudly with dead Afghans just this Sunday. Hopefully this will prove to be a fairly isolated incident and not the sort of widespread abuse seen at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.
The New Moon of April 3rd will be loosely conjunct Jupiter, still in opposition to the natal and transiting Saturn placement and square to the natal Sun (setting up a powerful T-square aspect), and could signify new developments of government and big business corruption issues. Perhaps a planning phase will begin for a national movement against the Federal Reserve system or the IRS, or perhaps some related information will be brought out through the mainstream media. Either way, the days surrounding the 3rd look to be full of fireworks.
We're only beginning the second phase of the US Saturn return, and already we're seeing some of the most chaotic times in recent memory coming to pass. It should come as no surprise that much is yet to be decided in the near- and long-term fates of the US, with another "stop-gap" spending bill pushing the big issues back another couple weeks, but so far we can see that things have only escalated. That's never a good sign when dealing with a Saturn return, as the worse things seem to be, the worse they will inevitably get.
During the weeks preceding the final conjunction of this Saturn return on August 28th, we should see things calm down significantly on the domestic front. This will be noticeable once Jupiter transits into Taurus on June 4th and stability, renewed optimism and a sense of direction take shape nationally.
Leading up to that time, the big news stories to hit headlines will likely deal with many of the same issues of last fall, specifically those of October and November. As Americans continue to wake up to the various forms of corruption and criminal mischief at the highest levels of government and big business, many of the same debates of 2010 will be replayed, this time with a new sense of clarity and purpose. The big fight, delayed over and over again, will finally take place in Congress as the fiscal irresponsibility of the last 7 years is exposed to some sunshine. The officials elected to office in November will be called upon to perform the toughest task of our times, and a high level of anxiety will hang over the debates taking place in Washington. The chaotic scenes of February in Wisconsin and Ohio will be seen again, likely at every state capitol, and perhaps even in DC before middle July.
Probably the most interesting thing to NOT develop thus far, in my opinion, is the promised WikiLeaks "bank data" release. The release will likely play the role of "biggest game-changer" when it finally does develop, possibly sparking massive banking reforms or even a sort of popular revolution. This may happen as soon as April 6th during the Sun/Jupiter conjunction, or as late as May 23rd as Mercury goes direct.
In any case, the next few months look to be chock full of "interesting times".
As I outlined in The 8th US Saturn Return - Part 3, Neptune is currently transiting the US 3rd natal house in Aquarius, and has been conjuncting with the US natal Moon placement since the early summer of 2008. The US natal Moon is often thought to denote the "American Dream" and "the US as a melting pot" ideology. Neptune here has been causing lots of confusion surrounding these aspects of the "American personality", and, as March progresses into April, we're finally seeing some of that confusion fall away.
As I noted, it was during this time of "confused devotional fanaticism" that Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize (before completing even a full year in office). Today, we can clearly see some of this "false glory" fading, as actions begin to speak louder than words, with international calls for Obama's Peace Prize to be stripped. This issue will be raised in the international arena again in the near future, likely around early May when Mars sextiles the US natal Moon from late Aries, but by this time I think there will be other issues taking the main headlines.
Also noted was the imminent move of Uranus from Pisces and the 3rd natal house into Aries and, eventually, the 4th house. Today, March 24th, Uranus is at approximately 0 degrees and 45 seconds of Aries, and in approximately 3 days will enter the 4th natal house of the US. Placed within a 1 degree orb of the MC/IC axis, there is a strong dynamic being brought to the surface, showing clearly the dichotomy between the US public appearance and what is going on "behind the scenes". It was just this morning that the video of Obama himself being locked out of the White House surfaced...I can only say to read between the lines on that one.
Also with this movement of Uranus into Aries came an increased risk of natural and unnatural disasters worldwide. It's interesting to note that on very day that Uranus moved into Aries, the world's most costly natural disaster to date began occurring in Japan. I say "began" because, to date, the nuclear reactors and spent fuel rod storage pools at Fukishima Daiichi are STILL not fully under control. Already, due to the damage throughout Japan from this horrifying triple-disaster, US auto plants have begun laying off workers, food imports from Japan have been halted and such things as "potassium iodide", "millisieverts" and "cesium 137" have become part of the national lexicon. Uranus will remain in Aries through to 2018 before moving into Taurus and the US natal 5th house - between now and then I believe we can expect continued disasters involving nuclear power and radiation that threaten the US mainland. Also on the front-page will be more and larger earthquakes along with the most catastrophic fires, flooding and wind damage seen to date. This is a large window of opportunity, but do expect most of these events to happen during 2011 and early 2012, while Uranus traverses the first 5 degrees of Aries.
Looking to the more personal planets during the second conjunction of this Saturn return, Mars was noted to be in a strong opposition to the natal Neptune placement and loosely squaring its own natal position in Gemini and the 7th house. This is a warlike aspect, and I noted that, though war itself was rather unlikely, posturing and rhetoric were to be expected. Also, oil issues would be in the headlines throughout this period. Both of these have come to pan out, with oil today hovering around $106/barrel and the unpopular, US led military intervention in Libya making front-page news over the last week.
As Mars conjuncts Uranus and the US natal IC, and enters the first degree of Aries, over April 2nd through April 4th, expect a "heating up" of these issues as "oil fears" are realized and "war" begins to spread beyond the borders of Libya.
I had also noted that the Moon was seen transiting the US natal 11th house and Scorpio during the hours of conjunction on March 22nd, bringing a woman into the spotlight on "international affairs", while "distancing" herself from "domestic issues". This woman, of course, represents Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, same as during the first of this three part return back in November and December. Also of note was Venus becoming conjunct with the US natal Moon, signifying confusion being brought to light over "an issue of immigration or humanitarian aid". On March 26th, as the Moon transits the US natal Pluto placement and Venus conjuncts the transiting Neptune, expect some sudden and tragic news to break. This looks to be related to something already in the headlines, but will allow us to see it in a new and disappointing light.
Another key aspect was seen as Jupiter being loosely opposed to the natal and transiting Saturn placement, and squaring the natal Sun, as the transiting Sun conjuncted with Uranus and the IC in the first degree of Aries. I noted that a likely interpretation would be a man coming into the public eye through some form of accusation of corruption by either the US government or big business. Interestingly, on the 18th, Bernard von NotHaus was convicted on spurious counts of counterfeiting US currency and conspiracy against the United States. Meanwhile, a bill to begin the process of having the state issue its own currency of gold and silver has been introduced in North Carolina and Ron Paul introduced the Free Competition in Currency Act to Congress, which would repeal the very laws used to convict the so-called "architect" of Liberty Dollars. Though this issue hasn't seen major street protests and rallies as of yet, I certainly have a feeling these will be front page news in a matter of weeks (especially as April 15th approaches).
Also related to all of this is the release of photos showing members of the US military posing proudly with dead Afghans just this Sunday. Hopefully this will prove to be a fairly isolated incident and not the sort of widespread abuse seen at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.
The New Moon of April 3rd will be loosely conjunct Jupiter, still in opposition to the natal and transiting Saturn placement and square to the natal Sun (setting up a powerful T-square aspect), and could signify new developments of government and big business corruption issues. Perhaps a planning phase will begin for a national movement against the Federal Reserve system or the IRS, or perhaps some related information will be brought out through the mainstream media. Either way, the days surrounding the 3rd look to be full of fireworks.
We're only beginning the second phase of the US Saturn return, and already we're seeing some of the most chaotic times in recent memory coming to pass. It should come as no surprise that much is yet to be decided in the near- and long-term fates of the US, with another "stop-gap" spending bill pushing the big issues back another couple weeks, but so far we can see that things have only escalated. That's never a good sign when dealing with a Saturn return, as the worse things seem to be, the worse they will inevitably get.
During the weeks preceding the final conjunction of this Saturn return on August 28th, we should see things calm down significantly on the domestic front. This will be noticeable once Jupiter transits into Taurus on June 4th and stability, renewed optimism and a sense of direction take shape nationally.
Leading up to that time, the big news stories to hit headlines will likely deal with many of the same issues of last fall, specifically those of October and November. As Americans continue to wake up to the various forms of corruption and criminal mischief at the highest levels of government and big business, many of the same debates of 2010 will be replayed, this time with a new sense of clarity and purpose. The big fight, delayed over and over again, will finally take place in Congress as the fiscal irresponsibility of the last 7 years is exposed to some sunshine. The officials elected to office in November will be called upon to perform the toughest task of our times, and a high level of anxiety will hang over the debates taking place in Washington. The chaotic scenes of February in Wisconsin and Ohio will be seen again, likely at every state capitol, and perhaps even in DC before middle July.
Probably the most interesting thing to NOT develop thus far, in my opinion, is the promised WikiLeaks "bank data" release. The release will likely play the role of "biggest game-changer" when it finally does develop, possibly sparking massive banking reforms or even a sort of popular revolution. This may happen as soon as April 6th during the Sun/Jupiter conjunction, or as late as May 23rd as Mercury goes direct.
In any case, the next few months look to be chock full of "interesting times".
3.19.2011
Web Bots, Japan and ... Nuclear Fallout?
I haven't posted anything to the blog in quite some time now... Almost an entire month. Why? Because it seems like DOOM is basically just falling from the sky these days. In fact, it very well might be soon. It certainly already is in Japan.
We'll start this by taking a look at a couple references from the Web Bot Project's "Shape of Things to Come" report released back in January. Specifically, I'm concerned here with a LACK of direct reference to the Japanese earthquake, tsunami, and ensuing nuclear meltdown.
There are many references throughout the report to ocean current and tidal anomalies, rising sea levels, flooding, earthquakes, etc, yet there are only two occurrences of the word "tsunami", both of which refer to the Boxing Day Tsunami of 2004. This is quite interesting, especially in light of this statement from page 15 of the report: "The data is NOT specifically saying that any given [earthquake] will be more devastating than any other earthquake this year..."
There are some references to specifically flooding-in-conjunction-with-earthquakes that do occur in the report, as well as a reference to specifically Katrina like devastation, only on a larger scale.
Page 36: "Some of the [flood] descriptor sets also include support for [earthquakes] and [earthquake damages] that are also contributory to the [impact levels (of the) floods]. These [earthquake] sets are dwarfed by the Terra entity [earthquake] sets, so that entity needs to be taken into account, but there are nonetheless, significant sets pointing to [earthquakes] that [precipitate damages] that in turn [cause] some [flooding], and [exacerbate] other [floods] already in place."
Page 36: "... Some of these linguistic sets are reminiscent of the language we saw that allowed us to forecast the Katrina hurricane disaster. There are 4/four sets located so far that have sums for impact (damage levels) that are higher than we had prior to Katrina. Not only do the descriptor sets contain the 'usual' kind of [disaster] language such as [buildings collapsing] and [levees failing], but also there are sets that contain [(insanity producing) gas releases] and [toxic waste contamination] and [contamination by fuel spills (of magnitude)]. ..."
As we know, we have already seen major flooding this year in several locations, not the least of which includes northeastern Australia. I suppose that now we can deduce that two of these four or more distinct events have already happened.
The truly interesting part in this is that the earthquake and tsunami events themselves, while truly catastrophic and will surely be memorable, have received less of a "fear quotient" than the current happenings with the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Also, the loss of life was thankfully small compared to such events that have occurred in the past. The ongoing overheating problems, radiation leakage and "partial meltdowns" at the six reactors in the FUK-1 nuclear power plant, has the potential to devastate the region for decades and cause many more deaths.
And this is where the radiation references come in.
Page 10: "The Terra entity continues to show that [toxic contamination] including [waves (of) radiation] will be problems for [humans] and [animal life] over the next 3/three years. The data sets are supported at the primary levels by [accumulation (of radiation exposures)]... These aspect/attributes are focused on [space based effects], however there are Terra based linguistic sets that include [airplane radiation exposure], and [inclusion (of) radiation] within [daily concern]... Some of the detail layers provide the image of teevee stations and a new position of [radiation forecaster] with [daily minutes] devoted to [broadcasting radiation alerts]."
Also related to this disaster appears that monster again, "ill winds", along with the continuing "diaspora" language, mainly related to migration away from coastal areas due to the ongoing "global coastal event(s)".
Page 25: "... Further cross links to the Populace/USofA entity from this area are terminating in [tainted water resources] sub set that had held the [results from the oil volcano] set in previous Shape and ALTA reports. In this case the cross links contain detail sets that include internal connections to the [ill winds]. Again, the sets holding the [valley] where the [ill winds] cause a [health risk] are continuing to gain supporting sets. ...descriptors we continue to get include [large] and [well traversed (by major roadway system)], [high mountain] and [south opening]."
Considering both the extreme nature of the data in this latest report, as well as the sheer amount of it, I certainly wont be calling Clif and his team out on not specifically pointing to the Japanese quake, tsunami and ensuing nuclear meltdowns. The data is certainly there, mixed in amongst many other pieces of data related to many other, and likely more extreme, sudden catastrophic events. We can safely expect at least two more major water related disasters in the coming months, at least one of which will likely be related to a tsunami event caused by a major earthquake.
From the data in this report, it's also looking likely that radiation, and radioactive fallout, will become a major issue not only for Japan, but for the whole northern hemisphere. This could be due to ongoing disasters at the FUK-1 plant in Japan, or it could be (more likely in my opinion) that other nuclear disasters are quickly approaching.
The fact that the events in Japan began unfolding BEFORE the expected turn into "release language" (March 21st), during the culmination of "building tension language" that began in the latter part of January, means we're about to experience one hell of a wild and tragic ride.
We'll start this by taking a look at a couple references from the Web Bot Project's "Shape of Things to Come" report released back in January. Specifically, I'm concerned here with a LACK of direct reference to the Japanese earthquake, tsunami, and ensuing nuclear meltdown.
There are many references throughout the report to ocean current and tidal anomalies, rising sea levels, flooding, earthquakes, etc, yet there are only two occurrences of the word "tsunami", both of which refer to the Boxing Day Tsunami of 2004. This is quite interesting, especially in light of this statement from page 15 of the report: "The data is NOT specifically saying that any given [earthquake] will be more devastating than any other earthquake this year..."
There are some references to specifically flooding-in-conjunction-with-earthquakes that do occur in the report, as well as a reference to specifically Katrina like devastation, only on a larger scale.
Page 36: "Some of the [flood] descriptor sets also include support for [earthquakes] and [earthquake damages] that are also contributory to the [impact levels (of the) floods]. These [earthquake] sets are dwarfed by the Terra entity [earthquake] sets, so that entity needs to be taken into account, but there are nonetheless, significant sets pointing to [earthquakes] that [precipitate damages] that in turn [cause] some [flooding], and [exacerbate] other [floods] already in place."
Page 36: "... Some of these linguistic sets are reminiscent of the language we saw that allowed us to forecast the Katrina hurricane disaster. There are 4/four sets located so far that have sums for impact (damage levels) that are higher than we had prior to Katrina. Not only do the descriptor sets contain the 'usual' kind of [disaster] language such as [buildings collapsing] and [levees failing], but also there are sets that contain [(insanity producing) gas releases] and [toxic waste contamination] and [contamination by fuel spills (of magnitude)]. ..."
As we know, we have already seen major flooding this year in several locations, not the least of which includes northeastern Australia. I suppose that now we can deduce that two of these four or more distinct events have already happened.
The truly interesting part in this is that the earthquake and tsunami events themselves, while truly catastrophic and will surely be memorable, have received less of a "fear quotient" than the current happenings with the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Also, the loss of life was thankfully small compared to such events that have occurred in the past. The ongoing overheating problems, radiation leakage and "partial meltdowns" at the six reactors in the FUK-1 nuclear power plant, has the potential to devastate the region for decades and cause many more deaths.
And this is where the radiation references come in.
Page 10: "The Terra entity continues to show that [toxic contamination] including [waves (of) radiation] will be problems for [humans] and [animal life] over the next 3/three years. The data sets are supported at the primary levels by [accumulation (of radiation exposures)]... These aspect/attributes are focused on [space based effects], however there are Terra based linguistic sets that include [airplane radiation exposure], and [inclusion (of) radiation] within [daily concern]... Some of the detail layers provide the image of teevee stations and a new position of [radiation forecaster] with [daily minutes] devoted to [broadcasting radiation alerts]."
Also related to this disaster appears that monster again, "ill winds", along with the continuing "diaspora" language, mainly related to migration away from coastal areas due to the ongoing "global coastal event(s)".
Page 25: "... Further cross links to the Populace/USofA entity from this area are terminating in [tainted water resources] sub set that had held the [results from the oil volcano] set in previous Shape and ALTA reports. In this case the cross links contain detail sets that include internal connections to the [ill winds]. Again, the sets holding the [valley] where the [ill winds] cause a [health risk] are continuing to gain supporting sets. ...descriptors we continue to get include [large] and [well traversed (by major roadway system)], [high mountain] and [south opening]."
Considering both the extreme nature of the data in this latest report, as well as the sheer amount of it, I certainly wont be calling Clif and his team out on not specifically pointing to the Japanese quake, tsunami and ensuing nuclear meltdowns. The data is certainly there, mixed in amongst many other pieces of data related to many other, and likely more extreme, sudden catastrophic events. We can safely expect at least two more major water related disasters in the coming months, at least one of which will likely be related to a tsunami event caused by a major earthquake.
From the data in this report, it's also looking likely that radiation, and radioactive fallout, will become a major issue not only for Japan, but for the whole northern hemisphere. This could be due to ongoing disasters at the FUK-1 plant in Japan, or it could be (more likely in my opinion) that other nuclear disasters are quickly approaching.
The fact that the events in Japan began unfolding BEFORE the expected turn into "release language" (March 21st), during the culmination of "building tension language" that began in the latter part of January, means we're about to experience one hell of a wild and tragic ride.
2.28.2011
When Mars and Saturn Conjunct, Expect Disaster
Something intriguing, and truly terrifying, happened last year from July 29th through August 2nd, and I am sure I'm not the only one who's noticed it. It's like everyone lost their friggin minds and the universe itself became hostile to life. People were quick to anger and nothing seemed to get done. Everything blew up in your face, all at once. It became a Hell on Earth, and it seemed to come out of nowhere. At least, that's how I experienced it.
You see, the two "big bad guys" of astrology, Mars and Saturn, went conjunct in the first degree of Libra. They formed a T-square with the Uranus/Jupiter conjunction on the Aries cusp in opposition and Pluto in Capricorn at the apex. Anyone paying attention should have seen it coming, and with my own natal Mars just beyond 1* Libra, and my natal Saturn at about 17* Libra, I definitely should have. But who would have thought a "silly conjunction" could lead to what transpired?
While this conjunction was happening, a friend and I were RVing our way out to New Mexico. We were on our way through Alabama on the 2nd, taking what I believed to be the more relaxed and scenic route. A severe, record-smashing heatwave was in progress, with temperatures soaring over 110*F and humidity beyond anything I thought was possible on this planet, so we had been driving at night. Each day, when the roads got too hot to drive safely, we'd pull off and either find a motel or pull into a rest area. This particular morning, we had pulled into a rest area and had fired up the generator so we could run the AC. When the generator would overheated and quit on us, which happened at a fairly regular interval, I'd wait a little while before running out to fire it back up. Meanwhile, we were kicking back and enjoying the AC, chatting about trivial things and what had been on the radio that night. I remember my friend telling me a story about something that had happened that morning which struck me funny in a bad way. I knew then that it was important, but I had no idea that it was foreshadowing the week-long living nightmare that would have us actually fearing for our lives.
She had gone to get a couple gallons of water from the restrooms. On her way up to the restrooms, a young shirtless man, American Indian, pointed her toward an old style water pump. Not thinking much of it, she went over and started pumping like crazy trying to fill the jugs. Barely anything was coming out. She gave up and went into the restroom to use the sink at this point, if memory serves. After getting the water and on her way back to the RV, an old man (I think she said he was wearing all black) was walking down the steps next to her and had said something to her. For the life of me, I can't remember what he said to her, but it struck me as a sort of admonition or judgement, whatever it was.
I had immediately remembered that Saturn and Mars were conjunct in Libra, and connected it to that - the young shirtless man represented Mars as "Warrior" (with a mean sense of humor evidently) and the old man was Saturn as "Judge". We both got a bit of a chuckle out of it, but didn't really know what to make of it.
It was only a little while later, on one of my trips out to fire up the generator, that I realized we had sprung a massive leak and gasoline was pouring out from under my friend's RV. An urgent call went in to her roadside assistance service and before we knew it, all hell seemed to be breaking loose. They had called out the fire department, police and hazmat. The entire rest area was being cleared out for fear of explosions. For people who don't like to be in the spotlight, this was becoming humiliating.
Hours were going by as we waited for a tow truck to show up, and temperatures were already soaring over 110*F in that unshaded parking lot. My friend and I were overtired and hungry, and quickly becoming severely dehydrated and sunburned. Nothing was going right. In my attempts to figure out the cause of the leak, and hopefully stop everything from pouring out of the tank, my whole upper body and most of my face had become covered with dirt, melted tar and gasoline. It felt like my skin was on fire as the gasoline burned the surface of my skin. A second call had gone in to roadside assistance...A third... "Someone should be out there in about 45 minutes," they kept saying.
The police and hazmat team had left after a little while, but "fire and rescue" stayed waiting for the tow truck to show. Their "chief", or whatever he was, continuously quizzed me, asking pointed questions as if probing for dirt and honestly looking to piss me off. This guy wanted to pick a fight with me for whatever reason. It was a miracle I didn't knock the guy's teeth down his throat, honestly - I was stressed right to (what I thought was the breaking point) and this guy was purposely, and very obviously, trying to throw me over the edge.
After about the 5th call in to her roadside assistance (it all got pretty blurry after a while), we learned that they had been waiting for an "all clear" phone call from the fire department before they could send out a tow truck. "Wow, what a mess," was all I could say. Once we were told they were waiting for this, and they were told in no uncertain terms that the fire department had been waiting for hours with us, we were finally able to get our tow.
When the tow truck had arrived, the driver insisted that it was ok for us to leave my friend's car on the tow dolly attached to her rig while he towed it. This way I could follow with my rig and my friend, who was in no shape to be driving, with severe dehydration and sun poisoning setting in, could just ride with me as we followed him to the shop. Everything seemed great until he got it on the highway and commenced driving at speeds over 65 miles per hour. I could barely keep up, hauling my rig with my undersized truck, and we could see the car violently bouncing all over the road behind him.
And that's when then the next series of disasters began. You see, the roadside assistance service called him to come out and haul the rig to a closer shop where another company would fix the gas leak. We ended up getting towed miles further, into what seemed the middle of nowhere, to the "shop" run by the towing company. But this "shop" was not a shop at all - it was a scrap yard. We found ourselves standing inside a barbed wire fence and surrounded by busted up cars and trucks, rusty and falling apart, replete with bullet holes and smashed up windshields, in the middle of Central Alabama, miles from the nearest town. The place was truly like something out of a horror film.
They asked me to pull the car off the tow dolly so they could back up the rig into the shade and start working on it - no problem...but as I put the car into gear, a loud grinding sound erupted from underneath. The car rolled back off the dolly and the driver's side wheel went sideways! The ball joint had snapped, quite obviously from the violent 70mph towing, and now nobody wanted to fix it!
At this point, trying to handle all the pressure, as I argued angrily with the people that ran the scrap yard, I found myself shaking all over and on the verge of hysteria. All I knew was someone had to fix this. We couldn't even put the car back on the tow dolly the way it was! My friend, at this point, was beginning to pass in and out of consciousness, and was becoming delirious, because of the extreme heat and dehydration combined with sun poisoning from severe sunburn. My keys had gone missing and the pets were locked up in my 5th wheel, baking in the full sun.
I found myself in the middle of a literal Hell on Earth.
I don't know who made the call, but somebody decided to cut me a bit of slack. Someone was sent out to fix the car. A small miracle. Of course, they weren't going to fix it for free - we would have to pay for parts and labor. They had no idea how that ball joint broke and assumed zero responsibility for it. Being stuck the way we were, I said no problem...I just wanted things fixed so we could get away from there ASAP. Interestingly, the timing of this small reprieve coincides with the Moon coming within a 3* orb of my natal Sun in Taurus.
But then a new disaster began. Yes, another disaster. Evidently, after arguing with the woman in the "office" (if you could call it that), she had decided to call her brother to come "beat me up". It was suddenly like a fight scene from a grade school playground - this guy comes walking over and starts pushing and shoving me. Six others come out from nowhere and begin circling. I remember the guy having some kind of long metal tool in his hands - a tire iron? I'm yelling at this guy to calm down - that I don't want to fight anyone - barely believing this is happening. He's in a fit of rage, yelling about something to do with his sister and me threatening her, and can't even hear me. My friend suddenly appeared in the middle of all this, pushing the guy back and yelling at him. Absolute chaos.
Honestly, I remember so very little, and everything was basically a blur, but no punches were ever thrown and nobody got hurt. It's like another small miracle occurred. Next thing I remember was that I was trying to help the guy who was tasked with fixing the gas leak, handing him tools again. I assume I was starting to black out because of the extreme stress, both physical and mental. A good portion of the day is nothing but a hazy fog.
Anyway, the "shop" was proving itself completely incompetent at this point, and was unable to fix the gas leak. We ended up spending the night boondocking (no water/electric/sewer) in their dirt "parking lot" and once everyone left the scrap yard for the night, we contacted the roadside assistance service and told them all of what had happened. They seemed extremely concerned and informed us to call the next day if they weren't getting it fixed right away, or if there was any more trouble whatsoever. I had some water still in my tanks and a fully charged battery, so I was finally able to get the gasoline and other filth off my skin. At this point, though, I was pretty numb all over and wasn't feeling any pain. We settled in and talked about the events of the day in utter disbelief. Needless to say, we waited all night for someone to show up looking to "disappear" our bodies in that scrap yard.
The next day we were woken at 7:30am and informed they wanted to start on fixing the leak "first thing". Hours went by as the temperature increased and nothing was touched. At noon, we gave the roadside assistance another call to let them know that nothing had been done. They replied, in a somewhat snotty tone, that they couldn't do anything about it and we'd just have to wait. I can tell you, the look on our faces must have been priceless.
About an hour later, however, the "shop" decided to send someone out to begin working on it. Less than 2 hours later, they told us it was fixed and we owed them some outrageous amount of money. They claimed to have adjusted the carburetor, replaced hoses and all other sorts of unnecessary and non-approved work. We happily payed them and left that place as fast as we could.
On our way to the highway, we pulled off to wait for the roads to cool down as it had been another scorcher with temperatures around 110*F. We couldn't afford to ruin expensive tires on hot roads, especially now. Besides that, we desperately needed a mental and emotional break before we got back on the road. The ordeal of the last two days had been rough on both of us, so we got some fast food and sat in a grassy spot under a shade tree, relaxing for a couple hours.
As the sun got lower in the sky and the roads began to cool, we made our way back to the rigs to get ready for the road...and we found another puddle of gas starting to develop.
Another call in to the roadside service - and we flat out refused to have the same people work on the leak. After some arguing and talking with supervisors, they called the place we were supposed to be towed to originally who showed up in record time to tow the rig. The story of what had happened at the last place had been told, so this shop went the extra mile to make sure we were comfortable - even going so far as to get us water and electric hookups so we could shower and run the AC...but then the waiting game began...
Hours went by...and then days...without any work being done on the leak. The one mechanic they had on duty was being called over and over to on-site truck repairs, one after another, until he could barely stand up straight. We didn't dare complain. The mechanic was friendly, plus we had water and AC now, so we felt that to complain or seem impatient would be insulting...if not to him, then to the universe itself.
Days went by as we waited patiently for him to have time. Each night we spent there, we found ourselves keeping our ears perked, listening for the people from the scrap yard looking to get revenge for our complaints. We started to feel like prisoners - like we'd never get out of Alabama without leaving my friend's RV behind.
Finally, as Venus conjuncted with Saturn on the 9th, the mechanic found a couple hours in his day to fix the leak. He told us that he felt bad we had to wait so long, and gave us a deal on labor. And that night, we were back on the road.
I'm wondering if anyone else out there had an experience last summer coinciding with that Mars and Saturn conjunction. If you did, what happened? Was it related to heat? Combustion? Anger? Broken metal or bones? Delays?
I, for one, will never underestimate the power of transits again.
You see, the two "big bad guys" of astrology, Mars and Saturn, went conjunct in the first degree of Libra. They formed a T-square with the Uranus/Jupiter conjunction on the Aries cusp in opposition and Pluto in Capricorn at the apex. Anyone paying attention should have seen it coming, and with my own natal Mars just beyond 1* Libra, and my natal Saturn at about 17* Libra, I definitely should have. But who would have thought a "silly conjunction" could lead to what transpired?
While this conjunction was happening, a friend and I were RVing our way out to New Mexico. We were on our way through Alabama on the 2nd, taking what I believed to be the more relaxed and scenic route. A severe, record-smashing heatwave was in progress, with temperatures soaring over 110*F and humidity beyond anything I thought was possible on this planet, so we had been driving at night. Each day, when the roads got too hot to drive safely, we'd pull off and either find a motel or pull into a rest area. This particular morning, we had pulled into a rest area and had fired up the generator so we could run the AC. When the generator would overheated and quit on us, which happened at a fairly regular interval, I'd wait a little while before running out to fire it back up. Meanwhile, we were kicking back and enjoying the AC, chatting about trivial things and what had been on the radio that night. I remember my friend telling me a story about something that had happened that morning which struck me funny in a bad way. I knew then that it was important, but I had no idea that it was foreshadowing the week-long living nightmare that would have us actually fearing for our lives.
She had gone to get a couple gallons of water from the restrooms. On her way up to the restrooms, a young shirtless man, American Indian, pointed her toward an old style water pump. Not thinking much of it, she went over and started pumping like crazy trying to fill the jugs. Barely anything was coming out. She gave up and went into the restroom to use the sink at this point, if memory serves. After getting the water and on her way back to the RV, an old man (I think she said he was wearing all black) was walking down the steps next to her and had said something to her. For the life of me, I can't remember what he said to her, but it struck me as a sort of admonition or judgement, whatever it was.
I had immediately remembered that Saturn and Mars were conjunct in Libra, and connected it to that - the young shirtless man represented Mars as "Warrior" (with a mean sense of humor evidently) and the old man was Saturn as "Judge". We both got a bit of a chuckle out of it, but didn't really know what to make of it.
It was only a little while later, on one of my trips out to fire up the generator, that I realized we had sprung a massive leak and gasoline was pouring out from under my friend's RV. An urgent call went in to her roadside assistance service and before we knew it, all hell seemed to be breaking loose. They had called out the fire department, police and hazmat. The entire rest area was being cleared out for fear of explosions. For people who don't like to be in the spotlight, this was becoming humiliating.
Hours were going by as we waited for a tow truck to show up, and temperatures were already soaring over 110*F in that unshaded parking lot. My friend and I were overtired and hungry, and quickly becoming severely dehydrated and sunburned. Nothing was going right. In my attempts to figure out the cause of the leak, and hopefully stop everything from pouring out of the tank, my whole upper body and most of my face had become covered with dirt, melted tar and gasoline. It felt like my skin was on fire as the gasoline burned the surface of my skin. A second call had gone in to roadside assistance...A third... "Someone should be out there in about 45 minutes," they kept saying.
The police and hazmat team had left after a little while, but "fire and rescue" stayed waiting for the tow truck to show. Their "chief", or whatever he was, continuously quizzed me, asking pointed questions as if probing for dirt and honestly looking to piss me off. This guy wanted to pick a fight with me for whatever reason. It was a miracle I didn't knock the guy's teeth down his throat, honestly - I was stressed right to (what I thought was the breaking point) and this guy was purposely, and very obviously, trying to throw me over the edge.
After about the 5th call in to her roadside assistance (it all got pretty blurry after a while), we learned that they had been waiting for an "all clear" phone call from the fire department before they could send out a tow truck. "Wow, what a mess," was all I could say. Once we were told they were waiting for this, and they were told in no uncertain terms that the fire department had been waiting for hours with us, we were finally able to get our tow.
When the tow truck had arrived, the driver insisted that it was ok for us to leave my friend's car on the tow dolly attached to her rig while he towed it. This way I could follow with my rig and my friend, who was in no shape to be driving, with severe dehydration and sun poisoning setting in, could just ride with me as we followed him to the shop. Everything seemed great until he got it on the highway and commenced driving at speeds over 65 miles per hour. I could barely keep up, hauling my rig with my undersized truck, and we could see the car violently bouncing all over the road behind him.
And that's when then the next series of disasters began. You see, the roadside assistance service called him to come out and haul the rig to a closer shop where another company would fix the gas leak. We ended up getting towed miles further, into what seemed the middle of nowhere, to the "shop" run by the towing company. But this "shop" was not a shop at all - it was a scrap yard. We found ourselves standing inside a barbed wire fence and surrounded by busted up cars and trucks, rusty and falling apart, replete with bullet holes and smashed up windshields, in the middle of Central Alabama, miles from the nearest town. The place was truly like something out of a horror film.
They asked me to pull the car off the tow dolly so they could back up the rig into the shade and start working on it - no problem...but as I put the car into gear, a loud grinding sound erupted from underneath. The car rolled back off the dolly and the driver's side wheel went sideways! The ball joint had snapped, quite obviously from the violent 70mph towing, and now nobody wanted to fix it!
At this point, trying to handle all the pressure, as I argued angrily with the people that ran the scrap yard, I found myself shaking all over and on the verge of hysteria. All I knew was someone had to fix this. We couldn't even put the car back on the tow dolly the way it was! My friend, at this point, was beginning to pass in and out of consciousness, and was becoming delirious, because of the extreme heat and dehydration combined with sun poisoning from severe sunburn. My keys had gone missing and the pets were locked up in my 5th wheel, baking in the full sun.
I found myself in the middle of a literal Hell on Earth.
I don't know who made the call, but somebody decided to cut me a bit of slack. Someone was sent out to fix the car. A small miracle. Of course, they weren't going to fix it for free - we would have to pay for parts and labor. They had no idea how that ball joint broke and assumed zero responsibility for it. Being stuck the way we were, I said no problem...I just wanted things fixed so we could get away from there ASAP. Interestingly, the timing of this small reprieve coincides with the Moon coming within a 3* orb of my natal Sun in Taurus.
But then a new disaster began. Yes, another disaster. Evidently, after arguing with the woman in the "office" (if you could call it that), she had decided to call her brother to come "beat me up". It was suddenly like a fight scene from a grade school playground - this guy comes walking over and starts pushing and shoving me. Six others come out from nowhere and begin circling. I remember the guy having some kind of long metal tool in his hands - a tire iron? I'm yelling at this guy to calm down - that I don't want to fight anyone - barely believing this is happening. He's in a fit of rage, yelling about something to do with his sister and me threatening her, and can't even hear me. My friend suddenly appeared in the middle of all this, pushing the guy back and yelling at him. Absolute chaos.
Honestly, I remember so very little, and everything was basically a blur, but no punches were ever thrown and nobody got hurt. It's like another small miracle occurred. Next thing I remember was that I was trying to help the guy who was tasked with fixing the gas leak, handing him tools again. I assume I was starting to black out because of the extreme stress, both physical and mental. A good portion of the day is nothing but a hazy fog.
Anyway, the "shop" was proving itself completely incompetent at this point, and was unable to fix the gas leak. We ended up spending the night boondocking (no water/electric/sewer) in their dirt "parking lot" and once everyone left the scrap yard for the night, we contacted the roadside assistance service and told them all of what had happened. They seemed extremely concerned and informed us to call the next day if they weren't getting it fixed right away, or if there was any more trouble whatsoever. I had some water still in my tanks and a fully charged battery, so I was finally able to get the gasoline and other filth off my skin. At this point, though, I was pretty numb all over and wasn't feeling any pain. We settled in and talked about the events of the day in utter disbelief. Needless to say, we waited all night for someone to show up looking to "disappear" our bodies in that scrap yard.
The next day we were woken at 7:30am and informed they wanted to start on fixing the leak "first thing". Hours went by as the temperature increased and nothing was touched. At noon, we gave the roadside assistance another call to let them know that nothing had been done. They replied, in a somewhat snotty tone, that they couldn't do anything about it and we'd just have to wait. I can tell you, the look on our faces must have been priceless.
About an hour later, however, the "shop" decided to send someone out to begin working on it. Less than 2 hours later, they told us it was fixed and we owed them some outrageous amount of money. They claimed to have adjusted the carburetor, replaced hoses and all other sorts of unnecessary and non-approved work. We happily payed them and left that place as fast as we could.
On our way to the highway, we pulled off to wait for the roads to cool down as it had been another scorcher with temperatures around 110*F. We couldn't afford to ruin expensive tires on hot roads, especially now. Besides that, we desperately needed a mental and emotional break before we got back on the road. The ordeal of the last two days had been rough on both of us, so we got some fast food and sat in a grassy spot under a shade tree, relaxing for a couple hours.
As the sun got lower in the sky and the roads began to cool, we made our way back to the rigs to get ready for the road...and we found another puddle of gas starting to develop.
Another call in to the roadside service - and we flat out refused to have the same people work on the leak. After some arguing and talking with supervisors, they called the place we were supposed to be towed to originally who showed up in record time to tow the rig. The story of what had happened at the last place had been told, so this shop went the extra mile to make sure we were comfortable - even going so far as to get us water and electric hookups so we could shower and run the AC...but then the waiting game began...
Hours went by...and then days...without any work being done on the leak. The one mechanic they had on duty was being called over and over to on-site truck repairs, one after another, until he could barely stand up straight. We didn't dare complain. The mechanic was friendly, plus we had water and AC now, so we felt that to complain or seem impatient would be insulting...if not to him, then to the universe itself.
Days went by as we waited patiently for him to have time. Each night we spent there, we found ourselves keeping our ears perked, listening for the people from the scrap yard looking to get revenge for our complaints. We started to feel like prisoners - like we'd never get out of Alabama without leaving my friend's RV behind.
Finally, as Venus conjuncted with Saturn on the 9th, the mechanic found a couple hours in his day to fix the leak. He told us that he felt bad we had to wait so long, and gave us a deal on labor. And that night, we were back on the road.
I'm wondering if anyone else out there had an experience last summer coinciding with that Mars and Saturn conjunction. If you did, what happened? Was it related to heat? Combustion? Anger? Broken metal or bones? Delays?
I, for one, will never underestimate the power of transits again.
2.25.2011
MSNBC Runs Story on Fed Money Printing - WOW
Who'd have thought we'd see the day when MSNBC actually runs a story on the Federal Reserve printing too much money?
I mean, wow...this story just doesn't get reported.
I believe they're wrong that these protests and revolutions in the Middle East and North Africa are simply due to higher food and commodity costs, but what do you expect? It's mainstream media. If they can't spin it, they wont report it.
That said, admission by the MSM, especially MSNBC, that the Federal Reserve is printing too much money - times are definitely changing.
Get ready for a wild 2011...
I mean, wow...this story just doesn't get reported.
I believe they're wrong that these protests and revolutions in the Middle East and North Africa are simply due to higher food and commodity costs, but what do you expect? It's mainstream media. If they can't spin it, they wont report it.
That said, admission by the MSM, especially MSNBC, that the Federal Reserve is printing too much money - times are definitely changing.
Get ready for a wild 2011...
2.24.2011
Protests, Revolution and A Whole Lot of Stupid People
Reading this article today, Middle East Chaos: What To Learn And What To Expect, I couldn't help but think of all the banter I've witnessed, and often been a part of, on the various forums as of late. There seems to have developed several distinct camps on the issue of the protests and the whole idea of revolution here in the US.
Camp 1 is the original protesters. These are the people who took to the streets, etc, early on in the game - the ones who warned of protests before there were protests, then followed through with the protests they had threatened. They don't appear to talk of revolution, nor do they publicly declare support for right or left as part of their protests. Camp 1 took to the streets simply because they were wronged by bad legislation. They don't froth at the mouth spouting rhetoric they first heard on their favorite daytime talk radio show.
Camp 2, however, is composed of those with a liberal, thieving mindset. They believe wholeheartedly that NPR, the Democratic Underground, ObamaNation, etc, are all out for the American people's best interests. It's the camp where nothing but the ideologies of liberlalist, socialist leaders are being used as rallying cries among the people. These people are not actually protesting anything resembling the real issue themselves, but somehow believe they are playing a central role in some great "revolution" by simply frothing at the mouth about how tough teachers have it and how those "republicans" are such bad people. Engaging these people in meaningful dialogue is pointless as they truly believe that our government should spend this country into extinction in order to pay the way for "the children" and "the poor". These people don't realize that our founding fathers founded a Republic, not a Democracy, and somehow never understood the difference between the two.
Camp 3 is the "conservative" mindset where such people as the co-opted "tea partiers" and the avid Glen Beckers, along with the traditional Bushites and Limbaugh listeners, are lining up to do nothing but insult the Midwest protesters and those who support them, then declare their unbridled support for the Governor of Wisconsin. Their camp seems to knowingly dismiss the most glaring issues behind the "unrest", from the Koch Brothers support to the implied, thinly veiled threat of National Guard use, pointed out at the onset of the protests by even their own neo-con talking heads. They believe their camp is somehow more intelligent, and therefore important (and more powerful), than Camp 2, and they believe any talk of revolution is simply related to the stupidity of it. Somehow, they are incapable of seeing the fascist and socialist ideologies running their own political party of choice, and they, like Camp 2, are impossible to engage in meaningful dialogue because of this.
Camps 2 and 3, in typical American fashion, believe they are the only camps who exist. It's "us versus them" and nothing more. These two camps are also, unsurprisingly, the center of the media circus surrounding the events in the Midwest.
Contrary to the previous three camps, Camp 4 is full of avid conspiracy theorists, mostly those of the more matured generation, in whose circles it's plain as day that "The Powers That Be" are trying to co-opt the "unrest" in the Midwest after successfully doing so in the Middle East and North Africa. They are at times sickeningly cynical and continuously talk of the plan to introduce martial law should any more people pick up signs and take to the streets. It's hard to argue with this camp simply because they're right on basically every single point they make. This camp, however, no matter how much they hate the current status quo and what has become of this country, somehow refuse to even entertain the idea that something good could come from this small but significant event.
The final camp, Camp 5, is composed of the younger "conspiracy theorists". They've read the books, threads and posts from those of Camp 4. They've watched shocking documentaries most of their lives dealing with the corruption and deception at the highest levels of their own government. They see clearly the idiocy and blindness of Camps 2 and 3. They see "the error in the ways" of even Camp 1. But being young and enthusiastic, full of dreams of "something better", Camp 5 is optimistic about a real change and keeps trying to steer the conversation toward the truly relevant topics of today. They are quick to jump all over the asinine rhetoric from Camps 2 and 3, and carefully attempt to debate the defeatism occasionally spouted by those in Camp 4. They support Camp 1's cause while placing it into a larger perspective, weaving a tapestry of corruption and deception that spans well beyond the thinly veiled threat and obvious "private ownership" of the Governor of Wisconsin. Camp 5 is the embodiment of a real revolution taking place in this country. Camp 5 is also the minority camp with the smallest voice.
In the article (also linked above), Giordano Bruno lays out our current situation clearly. Because he did a much better job than I can right now, I'll simply quote him here (emphasis added):
"The fact is, state governments are beyond broke, and eventually, they will have to nix spending and entitlement programs regardless of how anyone is affected, especially in the face of unchecked inflation. State employees and all people dependent on welfare are not necessarily the culprits behind financial clear-cutting either. The argument cannot be allowed to devolve into a mindless cage match over who deserves the money, because, first, there is no money, and second, this distracts from the original cause of the distress; the corporate banking elites who instigated the disaster in the first place. Already, I can see a certain subsection of the populace lashing out wildly at figureheads and opposition parties, just like in Egypt, instead of the corrupt system and the banking moguls who built it.
...
Some may welcome such bedlam as a sign of change. I don’t see it that way. Revolution without direction, without a plan, and without a clear understanding of the source of the problem, is meaningless. We can allow ourselves to be herded by our own rage into even more pronounced tyranny, or we can stay focused, collected, and act with purpose by organizing our communities with the objective of self sufficiency and self protection. We can work with state legislators to bring support to Tenth Amendment issues, giving them the strength to withstand an economic collapse and the ability to turn down DHS or FEMA’s 'help' when the time comes. We can organize intelligently, without centralized control, or we can hand over our destinies to yet another elite group of unaccountable autocrats. As impossible as it might seem, the choice really is up to us. How we act and react in the coming months will mean the difference between a free and prosperous America, or a scorch mark in the annals of history."
Which camp do you find yourself in, honestly? You know where I stand.
Camp 1 is the original protesters. These are the people who took to the streets, etc, early on in the game - the ones who warned of protests before there were protests, then followed through with the protests they had threatened. They don't appear to talk of revolution, nor do they publicly declare support for right or left as part of their protests. Camp 1 took to the streets simply because they were wronged by bad legislation. They don't froth at the mouth spouting rhetoric they first heard on their favorite daytime talk radio show.
Camp 2, however, is composed of those with a liberal, thieving mindset. They believe wholeheartedly that NPR, the Democratic Underground, ObamaNation, etc, are all out for the American people's best interests. It's the camp where nothing but the ideologies of liberlalist, socialist leaders are being used as rallying cries among the people. These people are not actually protesting anything resembling the real issue themselves, but somehow believe they are playing a central role in some great "revolution" by simply frothing at the mouth about how tough teachers have it and how those "republicans" are such bad people. Engaging these people in meaningful dialogue is pointless as they truly believe that our government should spend this country into extinction in order to pay the way for "the children" and "the poor". These people don't realize that our founding fathers founded a Republic, not a Democracy, and somehow never understood the difference between the two.
Camp 3 is the "conservative" mindset where such people as the co-opted "tea partiers" and the avid Glen Beckers, along with the traditional Bushites and Limbaugh listeners, are lining up to do nothing but insult the Midwest protesters and those who support them, then declare their unbridled support for the Governor of Wisconsin. Their camp seems to knowingly dismiss the most glaring issues behind the "unrest", from the Koch Brothers support to the implied, thinly veiled threat of National Guard use, pointed out at the onset of the protests by even their own neo-con talking heads. They believe their camp is somehow more intelligent, and therefore important (and more powerful), than Camp 2, and they believe any talk of revolution is simply related to the stupidity of it. Somehow, they are incapable of seeing the fascist and socialist ideologies running their own political party of choice, and they, like Camp 2, are impossible to engage in meaningful dialogue because of this.
Camps 2 and 3, in typical American fashion, believe they are the only camps who exist. It's "us versus them" and nothing more. These two camps are also, unsurprisingly, the center of the media circus surrounding the events in the Midwest.
Contrary to the previous three camps, Camp 4 is full of avid conspiracy theorists, mostly those of the more matured generation, in whose circles it's plain as day that "The Powers That Be" are trying to co-opt the "unrest" in the Midwest after successfully doing so in the Middle East and North Africa. They are at times sickeningly cynical and continuously talk of the plan to introduce martial law should any more people pick up signs and take to the streets. It's hard to argue with this camp simply because they're right on basically every single point they make. This camp, however, no matter how much they hate the current status quo and what has become of this country, somehow refuse to even entertain the idea that something good could come from this small but significant event.
The final camp, Camp 5, is composed of the younger "conspiracy theorists". They've read the books, threads and posts from those of Camp 4. They've watched shocking documentaries most of their lives dealing with the corruption and deception at the highest levels of their own government. They see clearly the idiocy and blindness of Camps 2 and 3. They see "the error in the ways" of even Camp 1. But being young and enthusiastic, full of dreams of "something better", Camp 5 is optimistic about a real change and keeps trying to steer the conversation toward the truly relevant topics of today. They are quick to jump all over the asinine rhetoric from Camps 2 and 3, and carefully attempt to debate the defeatism occasionally spouted by those in Camp 4. They support Camp 1's cause while placing it into a larger perspective, weaving a tapestry of corruption and deception that spans well beyond the thinly veiled threat and obvious "private ownership" of the Governor of Wisconsin. Camp 5 is the embodiment of a real revolution taking place in this country. Camp 5 is also the minority camp with the smallest voice.
In the article (also linked above), Giordano Bruno lays out our current situation clearly. Because he did a much better job than I can right now, I'll simply quote him here (emphasis added):
"The fact is, state governments are beyond broke, and eventually, they will have to nix spending and entitlement programs regardless of how anyone is affected, especially in the face of unchecked inflation. State employees and all people dependent on welfare are not necessarily the culprits behind financial clear-cutting either. The argument cannot be allowed to devolve into a mindless cage match over who deserves the money, because, first, there is no money, and second, this distracts from the original cause of the distress; the corporate banking elites who instigated the disaster in the first place. Already, I can see a certain subsection of the populace lashing out wildly at figureheads and opposition parties, just like in Egypt, instead of the corrupt system and the banking moguls who built it.
...
Some may welcome such bedlam as a sign of change. I don’t see it that way. Revolution without direction, without a plan, and without a clear understanding of the source of the problem, is meaningless. We can allow ourselves to be herded by our own rage into even more pronounced tyranny, or we can stay focused, collected, and act with purpose by organizing our communities with the objective of self sufficiency and self protection. We can work with state legislators to bring support to Tenth Amendment issues, giving them the strength to withstand an economic collapse and the ability to turn down DHS or FEMA’s 'help' when the time comes. We can organize intelligently, without centralized control, or we can hand over our destinies to yet another elite group of unaccountable autocrats. As impossible as it might seem, the choice really is up to us. How we act and react in the coming months will mean the difference between a free and prosperous America, or a scorch mark in the annals of history."
Which camp do you find yourself in, honestly? You know where I stand.
2.17.2011
Wisconsin Protests and Web Bot "HOLE Incident"
It's been developing for a few days now, but sort of "in the background". Today, however, it's grabbing the top headlines on Drudge. Firstly, let's get an idea of what's going on and how this all started.
The story goes like this: The federal government in the US is broke. Nearly every state government in the US is broke. Wisconsin finds itself at number 28 when ranked against all the other states based on state and local debt in the year 2010, ranked low to high (dollar amounts in billions). The US Debt Clock website shows, as of writing this, current debt per citizen in Wisconsin stands at $7,689.
Could it be worse? Sure could - look at California on that chart...ALL the way down on the bottom with the highest debt figure - $433.5 billion. That's roughly 11 times the amount of state and local debt, for the year 2010, as Wisconsin had. Yet the debt per citizen there is only showing as $9,815 on their State Debt Clock page, which is not significantly higher than Wisconsin's. Why? Simple - California has a much higher population. With a higher population, the debt is sort of "spread thin" amongst the people and each person's slice of the "fiscal irresponsibility pie" is that much smaller. There's a similar situation when you look to Massachusetts, which ranks at number 44 with roughly $98.7 billion of state and local debt, yet due to the lower population shows a whopping debt per citizen of $15,392 on the state's Debt Clock page.
So it's obvious at this point that the state of Wisconsin is broke, even if they're not as bad off as many others. Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker knows this and proposed a bill that would help fill in the $137 million "hole in the state budget" this year and the $3.2 billion "hole" by mid-2013, which sounds like a good idea. Put the fires out before things rage out of control like they have in other states, right? The plan he outlines in the bill would require public employees to pay around 5.5% into their pension plans, a significant increase in Wisconsin but actually about the average nationwide. Also, public employees would have their health insurance premiums increased to about 12%, which is about half the national average. That all sounds pretty damn reasonable - and smart. Yet, we see this:
So why in bloody hell are these people protesting? Are they not willing to help get their own state back on track, reigning in the irresponsible spending practices and criminal underfunding that's been taking place for years?
Now, this is where the Governor of Wisconsin overstepped. His bill aims to remove basically all the public employee rights to collective bargaining. That means unions would lose the right to negotiate on issues like working hours, training, health and safety, or overtime. The bill does allow unions the right to use collective bargaining on matters of wages/salary, but otherwise strips away the power of unions to do much of anything constructive.
That's why people in Wisconsin started protesting. The fact that the Governor then overstepped again, threatening the use of the National Guard to break up the protests, just adds fuel to the fire.
Yeah, now we're starting to see the bigger picture. Basically threatening the use of force to stop peaceful protests over controversial legislation. No wonder this is becoming front page news!
[Edit 2-18: Feel I need to address the issue of whether or not the Governor actually threatened the use of National Guard troops to "quash protesters" - his original statement on last week was ambiguous at best and was styled, in my and many others opinions, to intimate this and he has, in fact, stated even in his clarification that the National Guard troops will be used for any purposes he sees fit. Again, while never explicitly stating that he plans to impose police state measures by rolling out National Guard troops (freshly returned from active battle) as an impromptu police force, this is still a real possibility that the Governor of Wisconsin has previously hinted at.]
Now, on to the seriously freaky web bot connection, which caused me to write this post.
This is from the Shape Of Things To Come report released in January (emphasis added):
on page 3: "The reader needs to be advised that *some* texts within this report will point to specific instances of upcoming violent events without providing additional descriptors of the event, though peripheral elements not germane but pertinent may well be provided. Got that? When you see an obvious 'hole' in the text, there is a good reason for it to be there."
on page 31: "The [destruction of civil life] sub set contains repeated references to [civil unrest] and [riots], as well as [armed insurrection]. This last is cross linked extensively to the TPTW and Markets entities. Within the [destruction of civil life] sub set are the previously described (in past ALTA reports) instances of [mob action] that results in the [burning alive] of [minions] and ['power elites'] and their [families]. The HOLE incident will act as a [spark] to [spreading contagion] {ednote: from the words to-be-used by the political minions} that is indicated to [start a riot] in an [urban area (north of DC)] that will itself [spread like fire]. The data sets are showing a lot of support for the [riots] sub set through Spring and Summer, but the [mother of all riots] does not appear within our data sets until later in HOLE."
and on page 43: "The SpaceGoatFarts entity also has some hints that the aware observer should keep a wary eye out for the appearance of the [planet-terran society] in 2011. This [group of planet-terrans] will be worth watching. The effective temporal markers include the [aftermath] of some [riots (in usofa, east coast, likely Spring)] that will [unleash (big) stink (across the nation}]. Note HOLE"
Welcome to the "Budget Hole" people. Holy freaking crap, it has begun. If this is right, it looks like the National Guard will be used...and the people aren't gonna like that one bit. Time to hunker down with your pie/popcorn and order that shortwave radio you've had on your need-to-get prep list for the last two years.
The story goes like this: The federal government in the US is broke. Nearly every state government in the US is broke. Wisconsin finds itself at number 28 when ranked against all the other states based on state and local debt in the year 2010, ranked low to high (dollar amounts in billions). The US Debt Clock website shows, as of writing this, current debt per citizen in Wisconsin stands at $7,689.
Could it be worse? Sure could - look at California on that chart...ALL the way down on the bottom with the highest debt figure - $433.5 billion. That's roughly 11 times the amount of state and local debt, for the year 2010, as Wisconsin had. Yet the debt per citizen there is only showing as $9,815 on their State Debt Clock page, which is not significantly higher than Wisconsin's. Why? Simple - California has a much higher population. With a higher population, the debt is sort of "spread thin" amongst the people and each person's slice of the "fiscal irresponsibility pie" is that much smaller. There's a similar situation when you look to Massachusetts, which ranks at number 44 with roughly $98.7 billion of state and local debt, yet due to the lower population shows a whopping debt per citizen of $15,392 on the state's Debt Clock page.
So it's obvious at this point that the state of Wisconsin is broke, even if they're not as bad off as many others. Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker knows this and proposed a bill that would help fill in the $137 million "hole in the state budget" this year and the $3.2 billion "hole" by mid-2013, which sounds like a good idea. Put the fires out before things rage out of control like they have in other states, right? The plan he outlines in the bill would require public employees to pay around 5.5% into their pension plans, a significant increase in Wisconsin but actually about the average nationwide. Also, public employees would have their health insurance premiums increased to about 12%, which is about half the national average. That all sounds pretty damn reasonable - and smart. Yet, we see this:
So why in bloody hell are these people protesting? Are they not willing to help get their own state back on track, reigning in the irresponsible spending practices and criminal underfunding that's been taking place for years?
Now, this is where the Governor of Wisconsin overstepped. His bill aims to remove basically all the public employee rights to collective bargaining. That means unions would lose the right to negotiate on issues like working hours, training, health and safety, or overtime. The bill does allow unions the right to use collective bargaining on matters of wages/salary, but otherwise strips away the power of unions to do much of anything constructive.
That's why people in Wisconsin started protesting. The fact that the Governor then overstepped again, threatening the use of the National Guard to break up the protests, just adds fuel to the fire.
Yeah, now we're starting to see the bigger picture. Basically threatening the use of force to stop peaceful protests over controversial legislation. No wonder this is becoming front page news!
[Edit 2-18: Feel I need to address the issue of whether or not the Governor actually threatened the use of National Guard troops to "quash protesters" - his original statement on last week was ambiguous at best and was styled, in my and many others opinions, to intimate this and he has, in fact, stated even in his clarification that the National Guard troops will be used for any purposes he sees fit. Again, while never explicitly stating that he plans to impose police state measures by rolling out National Guard troops (freshly returned from active battle) as an impromptu police force, this is still a real possibility that the Governor of Wisconsin has previously hinted at.]
Now, on to the seriously freaky web bot connection, which caused me to write this post.
This is from the Shape Of Things To Come report released in January (emphasis added):
on page 3: "The reader needs to be advised that *some* texts within this report will point to specific instances of upcoming violent events without providing additional descriptors of the event, though peripheral elements not germane but pertinent may well be provided. Got that? When you see an obvious 'hole' in the text, there is a good reason for it to be there."
on page 31: "The [destruction of civil life] sub set contains repeated references to [civil unrest] and [riots], as well as [armed insurrection]. This last is cross linked extensively to the TPTW and Markets entities. Within the [destruction of civil life] sub set are the previously described (in past ALTA reports) instances of [mob action] that results in the [burning alive] of [minions] and ['power elites'] and their [families]. The HOLE incident will act as a [spark] to [spreading contagion] {ednote: from the words to-be-used by the political minions} that is indicated to [start a riot] in an [urban area (north of DC)] that will itself [spread like fire]. The data sets are showing a lot of support for the [riots] sub set through Spring and Summer, but the [mother of all riots] does not appear within our data sets until later in HOLE."
and on page 43: "The SpaceGoatFarts entity also has some hints that the aware observer should keep a wary eye out for the appearance of the [planet-terran society] in 2011. This [group of planet-terrans] will be worth watching. The effective temporal markers include the [aftermath] of some [riots (in usofa, east coast, likely Spring)] that will [unleash (big) stink (across the nation}]. Note HOLE"
Welcome to the "Budget Hole" people. Holy freaking crap, it has begun. If this is right, it looks like the National Guard will be used...and the people aren't gonna like that one bit. Time to hunker down with your pie/popcorn and order that shortwave radio you've had on your need-to-get prep list for the last two years.
2.16.2011
Fox News Deception - Ron Paul - They've Been Caught Red Handed This Time
I just have to post this one. Wow.. What a bunch of bastards.
Sometimes the deception is really just *that* in your face. Interesting times we live in. It's 5am and I haven't yet slept, so I'll keep it short, but wow...
Sometimes the deception is really just *that* in your face. Interesting times we live in. It's 5am and I haven't yet slept, so I'll keep it short, but wow...
2.15.2011
No Sunnis, no Shiites. We are all Anonymous?
As the global revolution continues to move forward, we in "the west" are finally being forced to face up to the fact that these aren't just "radical Islamic zealots" angry about a "sudden lack of food". They're people fed up with their governments who are putting their foot down as a citizenry, exercising their God given Duty to "throw off" what's not working for their countries and their people. The protests and revolutions taking place in North Africa and the Middle East continue to captivate my attention daily. An interesting thing, however, has happened in the last few days that I absolutely must give some attention to.
Evidently, after US security company, HBGary, made repeated attempts to infiltrate Anonymous, threatening to release the identities of people involved in this so-called "hacktivist" movement, Anonymous hacked back, releasing thousands of private emails from the company's servers. But one thing they freed from the servers was a surprise to all - the notorious Stuxnet computer worm. Now, you might remember that this incredible computer worm was responsible for basically the shutdown of the entire Iranian nuclear program. Russia, who is collaborating with Iran on the construction of a nuclear power plant, even called out NATO, demanding an investigation on this "worm". Their claim? It could have caused a "Chernobyl tragedy"!
Now, it's painfully obvious to anyone who reads up on this thing that it was developed jointly by high-level government agencies, almost certainly including the US and Israel. The New York Times reported on this only weeks ago. It's also painfully obvious that this thing is truly in a class of its own. Never before has such a magnificent "weapon of mass destruction" been created with digital 1s and 0s. And now it's in the hands of "Anonymous".
Now, I'm not gonna say that I like Anonymous. In fact, I'm sure they're a bunch of jerks in real life. What I will say, however, is that this loosely-knit group of "hacktivists" has been doing some serious work on "our behalf". From the Scientology campaigns back in early 2008 to "Operation Tunisia" and their activities involving the Egyptian protests, these people have worked hard, effectively combining the resources of many, to ensure the freedom of information world-wide. That said, they now hold in their hands the most potent and destructive computer worm ever created. Holy crap, huh?
My take is that it's just a continuation of what we see going on in the streets of now Bahrain - a literal putting down of the foot by the people of the world. The world, as a whole, is fed up with totalitarian and tyrannical control by powerful elites and secretive cabals. The world's people clearly see the growing division between themselves and their own happiness. They want change for the better and simply aren't willing to stand by letting their human dignity be trampled by "greedy bastards" any longer. People want to be free. Information wants to be free. And this is what the whole world is fighting for.
From the above linked article, this sentence:
Many in the square waved Bahraini flags and chanted: "No Sunnis, no Shiites. We are all Bahrainis."
Evidently, after US security company, HBGary, made repeated attempts to infiltrate Anonymous, threatening to release the identities of people involved in this so-called "hacktivist" movement, Anonymous hacked back, releasing thousands of private emails from the company's servers. But one thing they freed from the servers was a surprise to all - the notorious Stuxnet computer worm. Now, you might remember that this incredible computer worm was responsible for basically the shutdown of the entire Iranian nuclear program. Russia, who is collaborating with Iran on the construction of a nuclear power plant, even called out NATO, demanding an investigation on this "worm". Their claim? It could have caused a "Chernobyl tragedy"!
Now, it's painfully obvious to anyone who reads up on this thing that it was developed jointly by high-level government agencies, almost certainly including the US and Israel. The New York Times reported on this only weeks ago. It's also painfully obvious that this thing is truly in a class of its own. Never before has such a magnificent "weapon of mass destruction" been created with digital 1s and 0s. And now it's in the hands of "Anonymous".
Now, I'm not gonna say that I like Anonymous. In fact, I'm sure they're a bunch of jerks in real life. What I will say, however, is that this loosely-knit group of "hacktivists" has been doing some serious work on "our behalf". From the Scientology campaigns back in early 2008 to "Operation Tunisia" and their activities involving the Egyptian protests, these people have worked hard, effectively combining the resources of many, to ensure the freedom of information world-wide. That said, they now hold in their hands the most potent and destructive computer worm ever created. Holy crap, huh?
My take is that it's just a continuation of what we see going on in the streets of now Bahrain - a literal putting down of the foot by the people of the world. The world, as a whole, is fed up with totalitarian and tyrannical control by powerful elites and secretive cabals. The world's people clearly see the growing division between themselves and their own happiness. They want change for the better and simply aren't willing to stand by letting their human dignity be trampled by "greedy bastards" any longer. People want to be free. Information wants to be free. And this is what the whole world is fighting for.
From the above linked article, this sentence:
Many in the square waved Bahraini flags and chanted: "No Sunnis, no Shiites. We are all Bahrainis."
2.10.2011
It's All Just Happening So FAST...I Can't Keep Up!
Those of us who attempt to keep up on the crap going down in the world are finding ourselves at a serious disadvantage over the last few months. Between the "revolutions" going on overseas, the global economic crises and the increasingly painful deaths of fiat currencies, the weather anomalies and mass bird and fish kills, and the beginning of what could be one of the most important sessions of the US Congress in the last 60 years, it's all too much to keep track of.
Firstly, this "revolution meme" is certainly catching - Tunisia, Egypt, Jordan, etc, etc...even reports of solidarity protests in China... Thinking about this, spurred on by posts at abovetopsecret.com, I realized that the elitists must have had their hands in this cookie jar for a good long time. The protest and ensuing "revolution" in Tunisia was what we in the US saw as the beginning of all this, but where did that start? Sure, some well educated dude couldn't find work and, in a desperate attempt to survive, attempted to sell fruit on the side of the road...long story short, the police didn't like that and he ended up burning himself alive (self-immolation) over the whole ordeal. The protests and riots ensued shortly thereafter... But why were the people of Tunisia ready to protest in the first place? You see, obviously, the act of self-immolation by one man does not in-and-of-itself begin a revolution - it does, however, act as a rallying cry...a flash-point, if you will.
The simple, obvious answer is WikiLeaks. People were already angry.. People were already struggling to survive and being horrifically oppressed.. But the revelations by the WikiLeaks CableGate releases of the Tunisian government's seemingly endless corruption was the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back. It affirmed all their worst fears and embarrassed the people as a whole - how could they let this happen in their own country? Imagine, if you will, that WikiLeaks had released a diplomatic cable stating that, in fact, Obama was born in Kenya, not Hawaii. Do you not think that American's would take to the streets? Well, wait...maybe America's a bad example. You get my meaning though.
The oblivious puppet Assange was secretly handed the perfect documents to begin an elitist-controlled revolution that would quickly spread throughout North Africa's and the Middle East's resource-rich nations. How convenient for them.
It still didn't fully sink in for me, however, until I bothered to take a closer look at what's going on in Egypt... Today, this article from the "Land Destroyer" blog was syndicated on Infowars.com and outlined some interesting details. It turns out that the power elite have had their man of choice, ElBaradei, campaigning since Feb 2010. ElBaradei, as you know, acted as Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and has been sitting on the Board of Trustees of the US foreign policy think-tank International Crises Group for some time. Interesting enough in and of itself.
He also played an integral role in establishing the National Front for Change (another "change we can believe in", perhaps), which included the Muslim Brotherhood we've heard so much about in the mainstream media. Also included in the list of groups within this "front" is the April 6 group, who have played one of the biggest roles in organizing protests via Facebook and Twitter. Would you believe that they're supported by "Movement.org"? That group is "sponsored" by entities such as MTV, Pepsi and even Google. Yeah - the same Google that's been in the news so often for privacy invasion and other forms of "doing evil". The same MTV that teaches young girls to dress and act like whores. The same Pepsi that is literally stealing water resources in places like the Great Lakes.
So, long story short, that whole thing has been being controlled from behind the scenes by the very same people the protesters think they're fighting against. Great news, isn't it?
Next up, let's take a quick look at the ridiculous, spiralling out of control, global economic meltdown that is taking place. The part of this I want to focus on this time around, of course, ties in closely with the weather anomalies the world has experienced in the past couple years. You see, if you thought the mortgage/foreclosure crises and derivatives bubble stuff was bad, go take a look at what's happening with food now. Over the last few years, the entire world has been dipping into reserves of wheat, and with the weather acting up the way it is, the situation has become even more dire. The massive heat-wave in Russia last summer and the flooding in Australia last month are only the biggest, in your face examples of how much the weather is screwing up our food supplies.
Extreme weather events in China, Russia, Brazil, Argentina, Europe, Canada and the US are quickly hacking away at what we're able to put away as reserves each year, and we're getting close to living hand-to-mouth. Is the extreme weather part of a natural cycle? Is it because of anthropogenic global warming? Is it being caused by "weather wars"? My answer to that is a simple "yes". You name it, it's probably contributing to what's happening. At this point, I wouldn't even deny that inter-dimensional space reptiles have their hand in it. The fact is, shit's getting bad out there, and we're about to feel the effects full-on. Already, corn prices are up some 92% and wheat is up around 80%. This translates to higher prices on a broad range of foods, including meats and dairy, processed foods (which you shouldn't be eating anyway) and even "your daily bread". It will even translate to higher gas prices in many places as GMO corn is used to make that ethanol in your gasoline blends.
Add in to this the facts that pesticides (and cellphones and chemtrails and whatever else you want to name) seem to be killing off our pollinators, the increasingly acidic rain and mineral depletion in the soils are making our crops weaker and more prone to disease and parasite infections, and that increasingly hostile weather conditions, swinging from extreme heat and dry to cool and wet, or any combination thereof, are becoming ever so common, and you have a very precarious future for even those things outside the group of foods we call "staples" (wheat, corn, rice, etc).
Food prices are going up, and it's already happening fast. Here in Florida, the cold snaps in November/December sent produce prices up initially. Just as they started to level, of course, cold snaps in Mexico caused them to go up even higher than before. Green Bell peppers are currently running $1/each ON SALE! This as opposed to the wonderful sale prices you could get even last year, which wasn't much better on the "cold front", at 25 or 50 cents each.
As the prices go up across the board, everyone will be left with less money to spend on other "essentials" like big-screen 3D plasma TVs and box-sets of "Lost". Can you spell "unemployment"? Imagine the job losses we will incur as people tighten their belts, yet again, because they're struggling to put a box or two of mac and cheese on the table every week. The hardest hit in the US? My prediction on that is the so-called "big box stores". Kiss your low-paying stock-boy job goodbye as they downsize again and again over the next 12 months. We may even see some burger-flipping jobs disappear as people find they can no longer afford the "$10 Menu" (yeah, inflation's a bitch, isn't it?).
With all this stuff going on, it's no wonder I find myself overwhelmed. If you're not, you're obviously not paying attention. Keep in mind, I haven't even touched on these mass bird and fish kills that are still ongoing since late December of 2010. Yeah, they're still happening, and world-wide. Some of them are, I'm sure, just that usual background noise from overpopulation of a particular species or other natural environmental causes like red tide or outbreaks of disease. There's too many of them, though, and a good chunk can't be just written off as "normal".
And the Congress...and the Senate...and Ron Paul with his House Subcommittee for Domestic Monetary Policy and Technology...and ObamaCare...and the Patriot Act...and you freaking name it...
My head's spinning again. Let me go focus on something more mundane for a while - then maybe I'll post more later.
Firstly, this "revolution meme" is certainly catching - Tunisia, Egypt, Jordan, etc, etc...even reports of solidarity protests in China... Thinking about this, spurred on by posts at abovetopsecret.com, I realized that the elitists must have had their hands in this cookie jar for a good long time. The protest and ensuing "revolution" in Tunisia was what we in the US saw as the beginning of all this, but where did that start? Sure, some well educated dude couldn't find work and, in a desperate attempt to survive, attempted to sell fruit on the side of the road...long story short, the police didn't like that and he ended up burning himself alive (self-immolation) over the whole ordeal. The protests and riots ensued shortly thereafter... But why were the people of Tunisia ready to protest in the first place? You see, obviously, the act of self-immolation by one man does not in-and-of-itself begin a revolution - it does, however, act as a rallying cry...a flash-point, if you will.
The simple, obvious answer is WikiLeaks. People were already angry.. People were already struggling to survive and being horrifically oppressed.. But the revelations by the WikiLeaks CableGate releases of the Tunisian government's seemingly endless corruption was the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back. It affirmed all their worst fears and embarrassed the people as a whole - how could they let this happen in their own country? Imagine, if you will, that WikiLeaks had released a diplomatic cable stating that, in fact, Obama was born in Kenya, not Hawaii. Do you not think that American's would take to the streets? Well, wait...maybe America's a bad example. You get my meaning though.
The oblivious puppet Assange was secretly handed the perfect documents to begin an elitist-controlled revolution that would quickly spread throughout North Africa's and the Middle East's resource-rich nations. How convenient for them.
It still didn't fully sink in for me, however, until I bothered to take a closer look at what's going on in Egypt... Today, this article from the "Land Destroyer" blog was syndicated on Infowars.com and outlined some interesting details. It turns out that the power elite have had their man of choice, ElBaradei, campaigning since Feb 2010. ElBaradei, as you know, acted as Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and has been sitting on the Board of Trustees of the US foreign policy think-tank International Crises Group for some time. Interesting enough in and of itself.
He also played an integral role in establishing the National Front for Change (another "change we can believe in", perhaps), which included the Muslim Brotherhood we've heard so much about in the mainstream media. Also included in the list of groups within this "front" is the April 6 group, who have played one of the biggest roles in organizing protests via Facebook and Twitter. Would you believe that they're supported by "Movement.org"? That group is "sponsored" by entities such as MTV, Pepsi and even Google. Yeah - the same Google that's been in the news so often for privacy invasion and other forms of "doing evil". The same MTV that teaches young girls to dress and act like whores. The same Pepsi that is literally stealing water resources in places like the Great Lakes.
So, long story short, that whole thing has been being controlled from behind the scenes by the very same people the protesters think they're fighting against. Great news, isn't it?
Next up, let's take a quick look at the ridiculous, spiralling out of control, global economic meltdown that is taking place. The part of this I want to focus on this time around, of course, ties in closely with the weather anomalies the world has experienced in the past couple years. You see, if you thought the mortgage/foreclosure crises and derivatives bubble stuff was bad, go take a look at what's happening with food now. Over the last few years, the entire world has been dipping into reserves of wheat, and with the weather acting up the way it is, the situation has become even more dire. The massive heat-wave in Russia last summer and the flooding in Australia last month are only the biggest, in your face examples of how much the weather is screwing up our food supplies.
Extreme weather events in China, Russia, Brazil, Argentina, Europe, Canada and the US are quickly hacking away at what we're able to put away as reserves each year, and we're getting close to living hand-to-mouth. Is the extreme weather part of a natural cycle? Is it because of anthropogenic global warming? Is it being caused by "weather wars"? My answer to that is a simple "yes". You name it, it's probably contributing to what's happening. At this point, I wouldn't even deny that inter-dimensional space reptiles have their hand in it. The fact is, shit's getting bad out there, and we're about to feel the effects full-on. Already, corn prices are up some 92% and wheat is up around 80%. This translates to higher prices on a broad range of foods, including meats and dairy, processed foods (which you shouldn't be eating anyway) and even "your daily bread". It will even translate to higher gas prices in many places as GMO corn is used to make that ethanol in your gasoline blends.
Add in to this the facts that pesticides (and cellphones and chemtrails and whatever else you want to name) seem to be killing off our pollinators, the increasingly acidic rain and mineral depletion in the soils are making our crops weaker and more prone to disease and parasite infections, and that increasingly hostile weather conditions, swinging from extreme heat and dry to cool and wet, or any combination thereof, are becoming ever so common, and you have a very precarious future for even those things outside the group of foods we call "staples" (wheat, corn, rice, etc).
Food prices are going up, and it's already happening fast. Here in Florida, the cold snaps in November/December sent produce prices up initially. Just as they started to level, of course, cold snaps in Mexico caused them to go up even higher than before. Green Bell peppers are currently running $1/each ON SALE! This as opposed to the wonderful sale prices you could get even last year, which wasn't much better on the "cold front", at 25 or 50 cents each.
As the prices go up across the board, everyone will be left with less money to spend on other "essentials" like big-screen 3D plasma TVs and box-sets of "Lost". Can you spell "unemployment"? Imagine the job losses we will incur as people tighten their belts, yet again, because they're struggling to put a box or two of mac and cheese on the table every week. The hardest hit in the US? My prediction on that is the so-called "big box stores". Kiss your low-paying stock-boy job goodbye as they downsize again and again over the next 12 months. We may even see some burger-flipping jobs disappear as people find they can no longer afford the "$10 Menu" (yeah, inflation's a bitch, isn't it?).
With all this stuff going on, it's no wonder I find myself overwhelmed. If you're not, you're obviously not paying attention. Keep in mind, I haven't even touched on these mass bird and fish kills that are still ongoing since late December of 2010. Yeah, they're still happening, and world-wide. Some of them are, I'm sure, just that usual background noise from overpopulation of a particular species or other natural environmental causes like red tide or outbreaks of disease. There's too many of them, though, and a good chunk can't be just written off as "normal".
And the Congress...and the Senate...and Ron Paul with his House Subcommittee for Domestic Monetary Policy and Technology...and ObamaCare...and the Patriot Act...and you freaking name it...
My head's spinning again. Let me go focus on something more mundane for a while - then maybe I'll post more later.
2.03.2011
When Natural Ain't So Natural - GMO Taking Over
Monsanto, Dow, Bayer, Syngenta, BASF...the list goes on. These companies develop genetically modified crops, such as Monsanto's pervasive line of "Round-Up Ready" crops that includes corn, sugar beets, soybeans, and now even alfalfa. The studies done on these GMOs (Genetically Modified Organisms) should be already on the FRONT of your mind any time you're buying food.
But did you know that so-called "natural food" retailers, like Whole Foods Market, Organic Valley and Stoneyfield Farm, are selling you these GMOs? You see, though products and foods labeled "organic" are not supposed to, and generally don't, have any GMO crop ingredients in them, those labeled "natural" have no such regulation...and according to this article in the Huffington Post, two-thirds of Whole Foods' annual $9 billion in sales is from products contaminated with GMO ingredients.
Repeat: "Natural foods" are contaminated with GMO!
Currently, combined "organic" and "natural" food purchases result in sales of around $80 billion dollars annually, which is approximately 12% of all grocery store sales. Obviously, nobody wants to eat these "frankenfoods"! One manufacturer of GMO crops is even on the record, stating: "If you put a label on genetically engineered food you might as well put a skull and crossbones on it." Now we find out that they've been sneaking this crap it into what many Americans had trusted was safe!
So how much of the food out there is GMO? As of 2010, the reports are that 95% of sugar beets, 86% of corn, and 93% of soybeans, cotton and canola (rapeseed) grown in the US are GMO. Up to 80% of processed foods sold in the US contain GMO ingredients and, with the revelation that even so called "natural foods" are contaminated, that percentage may be about to go way up.
It's time that everyone learn to identify both edible and medicinal plants. Start growing non-hybrid and heirloom vegetables in your back yards. The little bit of money you will save can then be used to buy more honest, organic foods when you visit the supermarket. That's a major win all around, not only helping deprive the big business, unsustainable modern agriculture of your hard earned money, but also ensuring the food you eat is truly safe and helping preserve genetic diversity for future generations.
"Natural" isn't natural anymore, and ignoring this problem isn't going to make it go away.
But did you know that so-called "natural food" retailers, like Whole Foods Market, Organic Valley and Stoneyfield Farm, are selling you these GMOs? You see, though products and foods labeled "organic" are not supposed to, and generally don't, have any GMO crop ingredients in them, those labeled "natural" have no such regulation...and according to this article in the Huffington Post, two-thirds of Whole Foods' annual $9 billion in sales is from products contaminated with GMO ingredients.
Repeat: "Natural foods" are contaminated with GMO!
Currently, combined "organic" and "natural" food purchases result in sales of around $80 billion dollars annually, which is approximately 12% of all grocery store sales. Obviously, nobody wants to eat these "frankenfoods"! One manufacturer of GMO crops is even on the record, stating: "If you put a label on genetically engineered food you might as well put a skull and crossbones on it." Now we find out that they've been sneaking this crap it into what many Americans had trusted was safe!
So how much of the food out there is GMO? As of 2010, the reports are that 95% of sugar beets, 86% of corn, and 93% of soybeans, cotton and canola (rapeseed) grown in the US are GMO. Up to 80% of processed foods sold in the US contain GMO ingredients and, with the revelation that even so called "natural foods" are contaminated, that percentage may be about to go way up.
It's time that everyone learn to identify both edible and medicinal plants. Start growing non-hybrid and heirloom vegetables in your back yards. The little bit of money you will save can then be used to buy more honest, organic foods when you visit the supermarket. That's a major win all around, not only helping deprive the big business, unsustainable modern agriculture of your hard earned money, but also ensuring the food you eat is truly safe and helping preserve genetic diversity for future generations.
"Natural" isn't natural anymore, and ignoring this problem isn't going to make it go away.
2.02.2011
The Pursuit of Happiness
I came across an article this morning about Brazil looking to amend its constitution by guaranteeing the citizen's right to "happiness".
This got me thinking: as the global revolution is taking place, do we Americans even understand what it's all about? Do we understand what's taking place all over the world? Do we get what these people are actually fighting for?
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."
Every American should certainly know this, the second sentence of our Declaration of Independence. The rest of world certainly knows it.
And we should all generally know what it means to have rights to "Life" and "Liberty".
What has me thinking today is this portion about "the pursuit of Happiness". What exactly is the "Happiness" our founding fathers were referring to? It must be pretty important, ranking up there with both "Life" and "Liberty", right? Understanding this right, guaranteed in our Declaration of Independence, might be the key to understanding the global revolution.
Having spent some time studying philosophy, I can tell you that the often overlooked capitalization of the words "Rights", "Life", "Liberty" and "Happiness" in the Declaration of Independence is actually quite important when trying to understand the meaning. You see, when a seemingly arbitrary, normally non-capitalized word is capitalized in a certain context, it signifies that the word is being used as a proper noun, just like a person's name. It has a very defined, exact meaning that is not to be confused with the mundane, dictionary definition of the word. That, in itself, gives us a clue as to what the phrase actually means - the "pursuit of Happiness" spoken of here is the pursuit of a very specific, singular thing, and not the general "happiness" that most of us would ordinarily think.
So, if that's the case, the definition of "Happiness", with a capital "H", must be identified somewhere. The question is "where?".
John Locke, a 17th Century philosopher, had basically outlined the structure of the government which the Declaration of Independence and US Constitution established 100 years or so later. His philosophies can be easily recognized throughout both of these founding documents, and Thomas Jefferson himself stated that he considered Locke as one of the "three greatest men to have ever lived". It's generally accepted that the origin of the second sentence of the Declaration of Independence is Locke's Second Treatise of Civil Government, Chapter 2 where he states (in section 6):
"The state of nature has a law...which obliges every one...that being all equal and independent, no one ought to harm another in his life, health, liberty, or possessions..."
In this statement, however, Locke never mentioned "Happiness". He spoke of life, liberty, health and possessions. Many historians and scholars would have it that, Thomas Jefferson, in a stroke of genius, just decided to reword what Locke had written as he authored the Declaration; that the word "Happiness" is symbolic, and that he actually meant "possessions". The use of "Happiness" as a proper noun, however, tells us this must be wrong.
Looking to Locke's An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, Chapter 21, there is extensive discussion of "happiness", including the clear definition it would need to be used as a proper noun. In section 42, Locke states:
"Happiness and misery are the names of two extremes, the utmost bounds whereof we know not... But of some degrees of both we have very lively impressions; made by several instances of delight and joy on the one side, and torment and sorrow on the other..."
So Locke defined "Happiness", as one "extreme" of which we can only experience in various degrees through impressions of "delight and joy", and contrasts it to "misery" with its impressions of "torment and sorrow". Further, in section 36 of this work, Locke states:
"For, as much as whilst we are under any uneasiness, we cannot apprehend ourselves happy...pain and uneasiness being, by every one, concluded and felt to be inconsistent with happiness...that which of course determines the choice of our will to the next action will always be- the removing of pain, as long as we have any left, as the first and necessary step towards happiness."
Then in section 61:
"But as soon as any new uneasiness comes in, this happiness is disturbed, and we are set afresh on work in the pursuit of happiness."
Clearly, that exact phrase, "pursuit of happiness", is defined here as the act of removing "pain" and "uneasiness" which are contrary and therefore hinder the experience of "happiness", and this is what our Declaration of Independence states is an unalienable Right.
There is no mention of property or "possessions" here, only a very clear definition of "Happiness" being a spectrum of experience we perceive through impressions of "delight and joy", and of its pursuit being the removal of the hindrances to those perceptions.
And this is what the whole damned world is fighting for!
Right now, Tunisians, Egyptians, Yemenis, Jordanians, Algerians and Syrians are all standing up and throwing off the shackles of their repressive regimes. Even in Saudi Arabia, people are taking to the streets in protest of what they feel as a "pain" or "uneasiness". Many are pointing the finger and saying it's about food and health and property, but it's not.
It's about their right to "the pursuit of Happiness", that very same right we Americans declared was given to every man, woman and child by their Creator!
Even in Brazil, a reform in the way the government thinks and operates is underway, and they are looking to add "happiness" to their list of guaranteed rights!
The whole world is actively seeking the American Dream, and the key to the Dream is that one tiny portion of the Declaration of Independence..."the pursuit of Happiness".
The question is, then, when will Americans stand up and fight for their own right to pursue it?
This got me thinking: as the global revolution is taking place, do we Americans even understand what it's all about? Do we understand what's taking place all over the world? Do we get what these people are actually fighting for?
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."
Every American should certainly know this, the second sentence of our Declaration of Independence. The rest of world certainly knows it.
And we should all generally know what it means to have rights to "Life" and "Liberty".
What has me thinking today is this portion about "the pursuit of Happiness". What exactly is the "Happiness" our founding fathers were referring to? It must be pretty important, ranking up there with both "Life" and "Liberty", right? Understanding this right, guaranteed in our Declaration of Independence, might be the key to understanding the global revolution.
Having spent some time studying philosophy, I can tell you that the often overlooked capitalization of the words "Rights", "Life", "Liberty" and "Happiness" in the Declaration of Independence is actually quite important when trying to understand the meaning. You see, when a seemingly arbitrary, normally non-capitalized word is capitalized in a certain context, it signifies that the word is being used as a proper noun, just like a person's name. It has a very defined, exact meaning that is not to be confused with the mundane, dictionary definition of the word. That, in itself, gives us a clue as to what the phrase actually means - the "pursuit of Happiness" spoken of here is the pursuit of a very specific, singular thing, and not the general "happiness" that most of us would ordinarily think.
So, if that's the case, the definition of "Happiness", with a capital "H", must be identified somewhere. The question is "where?".
John Locke, a 17th Century philosopher, had basically outlined the structure of the government which the Declaration of Independence and US Constitution established 100 years or so later. His philosophies can be easily recognized throughout both of these founding documents, and Thomas Jefferson himself stated that he considered Locke as one of the "three greatest men to have ever lived". It's generally accepted that the origin of the second sentence of the Declaration of Independence is Locke's Second Treatise of Civil Government, Chapter 2 where he states (in section 6):
"The state of nature has a law...which obliges every one...that being all equal and independent, no one ought to harm another in his life, health, liberty, or possessions..."
In this statement, however, Locke never mentioned "Happiness". He spoke of life, liberty, health and possessions. Many historians and scholars would have it that, Thomas Jefferson, in a stroke of genius, just decided to reword what Locke had written as he authored the Declaration; that the word "Happiness" is symbolic, and that he actually meant "possessions". The use of "Happiness" as a proper noun, however, tells us this must be wrong.
Looking to Locke's An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, Chapter 21, there is extensive discussion of "happiness", including the clear definition it would need to be used as a proper noun. In section 42, Locke states:
"Happiness and misery are the names of two extremes, the utmost bounds whereof we know not... But of some degrees of both we have very lively impressions; made by several instances of delight and joy on the one side, and torment and sorrow on the other..."
So Locke defined "Happiness", as one "extreme" of which we can only experience in various degrees through impressions of "delight and joy", and contrasts it to "misery" with its impressions of "torment and sorrow". Further, in section 36 of this work, Locke states:
"For, as much as whilst we are under any uneasiness, we cannot apprehend ourselves happy...pain and uneasiness being, by every one, concluded and felt to be inconsistent with happiness...that which of course determines the choice of our will to the next action will always be- the removing of pain, as long as we have any left, as the first and necessary step towards happiness."
Then in section 61:
"But as soon as any new uneasiness comes in, this happiness is disturbed, and we are set afresh on work in the pursuit of happiness."
Clearly, that exact phrase, "pursuit of happiness", is defined here as the act of removing "pain" and "uneasiness" which are contrary and therefore hinder the experience of "happiness", and this is what our Declaration of Independence states is an unalienable Right.
There is no mention of property or "possessions" here, only a very clear definition of "Happiness" being a spectrum of experience we perceive through impressions of "delight and joy", and of its pursuit being the removal of the hindrances to those perceptions.
And this is what the whole damned world is fighting for!
Right now, Tunisians, Egyptians, Yemenis, Jordanians, Algerians and Syrians are all standing up and throwing off the shackles of their repressive regimes. Even in Saudi Arabia, people are taking to the streets in protest of what they feel as a "pain" or "uneasiness". Many are pointing the finger and saying it's about food and health and property, but it's not.
It's about their right to "the pursuit of Happiness", that very same right we Americans declared was given to every man, woman and child by their Creator!
Even in Brazil, a reform in the way the government thinks and operates is underway, and they are looking to add "happiness" to their list of guaranteed rights!
The whole world is actively seeking the American Dream, and the key to the Dream is that one tiny portion of the Declaration of Independence..."the pursuit of Happiness".
The question is, then, when will Americans stand up and fight for their own right to pursue it?
2.01.2011
Hillary and the Ambassadors - Saving Face Pro-actively!
So as not to miss an opportunity to speculate, looks like Hillary called a meeting of basically all the US ambassadors around the world. Now, it doesn't sound like much at first, but this is truly unprecedented - never before have we seen a gathering like this. These "top envoys" of "260 embassies, consulates and other posts" are currently meeting at the State Department.
The mind boggles at the implications. Why exactly are they meeting? Is it just something someone suggested they do, kinda like when unhappy employees suggest interdepartmental meetings "so we can all get on the same page"? Or is this really about something bigger? Obviously, with the global revolution starting to take hold and the threat of future WikiLeaks releases causing a banking meltdown, that's where my mind goes.
A quick look at the upcoming transits does show a powerful Venus/Pluto conjunction on February 9 in Capricorn and the US natal 1st house. As Venus rules money, and Pluto in Capricorn is all about government power structures and big business, you know exactly what I'm thinking - they're finally going to release those damn bank documents!
On the 9th, Jupiter, currently in Aries and the US natal 4th house, will be in a strong square to the US natal Venus, as well as loosely square natal Jupiter, both in Cancer and the 7th house. The Venus/Pluto conjunction will be in strong opposition to the US natal Jupiter (and loosely with the natal Venus). This sets up a strong T-square among these planets.
My quick and dirty interpretation: domestic issues concerning expansionism or inflationary pressure causes a "self vs. other" situation. Yep - gotta be those damn bank documents!
So, all eyes on the week of the 7th!
The mind boggles at the implications. Why exactly are they meeting? Is it just something someone suggested they do, kinda like when unhappy employees suggest interdepartmental meetings "so we can all get on the same page"? Or is this really about something bigger? Obviously, with the global revolution starting to take hold and the threat of future WikiLeaks releases causing a banking meltdown, that's where my mind goes.
A quick look at the upcoming transits does show a powerful Venus/Pluto conjunction on February 9 in Capricorn and the US natal 1st house. As Venus rules money, and Pluto in Capricorn is all about government power structures and big business, you know exactly what I'm thinking - they're finally going to release those damn bank documents!
On the 9th, Jupiter, currently in Aries and the US natal 4th house, will be in a strong square to the US natal Venus, as well as loosely square natal Jupiter, both in Cancer and the 7th house. The Venus/Pluto conjunction will be in strong opposition to the US natal Jupiter (and loosely with the natal Venus). This sets up a strong T-square among these planets.
My quick and dirty interpretation: domestic issues concerning expansionism or inflationary pressure causes a "self vs. other" situation. Yep - gotta be those damn bank documents!
So, all eyes on the week of the 7th!
1.31.2011
Simple Solar Heating for RVs
Having lived full-time in an RV for several years now, my "green" side tends to run wild at times yielding some interesting results. With the economy just totally sucking the way it does, and so many people ending up living in campers "not by choice", some of these quirky projects from my past may be invaluable. This will be the first of a series of posts where I share some of these projects.
For those of you living in a location that receives cold winters, this project might prove invaluable. It saved me hundreds of dollars in heating costs while living in central New Hampshire, and only cost less than $50 to set up!
Firstly, here's an animated gif that demonstrates simple passive solar heating. With just a basic understanding of how this works, you'll probably find yourself coming up with some pretty cool ideas on how to harness the power of the sun. Keep in mind that the amount of heat generated when sunlight hits black collector plates is substantial - up to 800 or even 1200 BTUs per square foot! That easily translated to air temperatures of 50 to 100 degrees warmer coming out of the heater than the air that goes in.
I tried various ideas, from what I called a "solar curtain" hung in my kitchen window to various simple window collectors made from old cardboard boxes spray painted black. They certainly worked, and worked well, but I knew I could do better. Plus, all the projects I had been trying would just recycle the stale indoor air. You see, I smoke cigarettes and absolutely refuse to "smoke outside" in the middle of a New Hampshire winter. I wanted a way to pipe in heated fresh air from outside.
The solution was to set up some solar collectors on the outside of my camper, one on each south-facing window. To ensure the temperature of the air coming in to the camper was good and hot, I used 12V computer fans (hooked into my RV's 12V system of course) to blow the air in through the window when a thermostat registers high enough temperatures.
The "collector plates" were simply thin sheets of wood, painted black and taped to the side of my camper. I used 1x2 lumber to create a simple frame for securing the clear plastic (.7 mil). The cold outside air entered through the bottom of the collector and heated up against the black collector plates. The heated air naturally rose to the top of the collector, where it was then blown inside by a computer fan.
Outside air temperatures were around 30 degrees on the day I took these photos. By 3:30pm, the temperatures inside the collector were over 110 degrees and the temperature of the air blowing into the camper was about 87 degrees.
A cheap programmable thermostat, set to the "cool" mode, monitored the air temperature inside the collector. When the temp was above my setting of 80 degrees, it sent power, as though it were turning on the AC, to the computer fans. When the air inside the collector cooled down, either because the sun was beginning to set or it had gone behind clouds, the thermostat stopped sending power and the fans shut off.
Like I said, this system saved me hundreds of dollars in heating costs over the course of that one winter, and the total cost to set it up was less than $50. There were problems with the system, of course: on windy nights, cold air would often sneak through creating drafts. Overall, though, this system was a huge success.
Watch for my post about a makeshift "sun room" made from plastic and electrical conduit that ended up saving me over a thousand dollars AND provided fresh greens all winter!
For those of you living in a location that receives cold winters, this project might prove invaluable. It saved me hundreds of dollars in heating costs while living in central New Hampshire, and only cost less than $50 to set up!
Firstly, here's an animated gif that demonstrates simple passive solar heating. With just a basic understanding of how this works, you'll probably find yourself coming up with some pretty cool ideas on how to harness the power of the sun. Keep in mind that the amount of heat generated when sunlight hits black collector plates is substantial - up to 800 or even 1200 BTUs per square foot! That easily translated to air temperatures of 50 to 100 degrees warmer coming out of the heater than the air that goes in.
I tried various ideas, from what I called a "solar curtain" hung in my kitchen window to various simple window collectors made from old cardboard boxes spray painted black. They certainly worked, and worked well, but I knew I could do better. Plus, all the projects I had been trying would just recycle the stale indoor air. You see, I smoke cigarettes and absolutely refuse to "smoke outside" in the middle of a New Hampshire winter. I wanted a way to pipe in heated fresh air from outside.
The "collector plates" were simply thin sheets of wood, painted black and taped to the side of my camper. I used 1x2 lumber to create a simple frame for securing the clear plastic (.7 mil). The cold outside air entered through the bottom of the collector and heated up against the black collector plates. The heated air naturally rose to the top of the collector, where it was then blown inside by a computer fan.
Outside air temperatures were around 30 degrees on the day I took these photos. By 3:30pm, the temperatures inside the collector were over 110 degrees and the temperature of the air blowing into the camper was about 87 degrees.
 |  |
| Kitchen window collector Fan is not in operation (note plastic flap) | Bedroom window collector Fan in operation |
 |  |
| Thermostat in operation At 80* and above, the thermostat sends 12V power to the fans | Air temperatures in operation Numbers top to bottom: temp of air blowing in, temp inside the collector and humidity |
A cheap programmable thermostat, set to the "cool" mode, monitored the air temperature inside the collector. When the temp was above my setting of 80 degrees, it sent power, as though it were turning on the AC, to the computer fans. When the air inside the collector cooled down, either because the sun was beginning to set or it had gone behind clouds, the thermostat stopped sending power and the fans shut off.
Like I said, this system saved me hundreds of dollars in heating costs over the course of that one winter, and the total cost to set it up was less than $50. There were problems with the system, of course: on windy nights, cold air would often sneak through creating drafts. Overall, though, this system was a huge success.
Watch for my post about a makeshift "sun room" made from plastic and electrical conduit that ended up saving me over a thousand dollars AND provided fresh greens all winter!
1.29.2011
Those Damn Web Bots...Again and Again...
Thought I'd put a little bit up on the progress of the web bot predictions and how things have come to play out since the last update I posted, Latest Updates from Web Bots and Assange's Plan B. In that post I noted firstly the imminent "dam" near-disaster, related to it "nearly collapsing" or "scooting off its base", and being caught in the nick of time by "sharp eyes". As we know, just days later, 4,500 people were evacuated as water began seeping under the large dirt levy that held back the massive flood waters. Not quite a dam, per say, but it might as well have been.
Moving forward, I hadn't actually posted anything about the update Clif posted on January 4th about [logical frank] and the [testing] of [the Irish] [face]. In this update, stressing was done about the importance of the temporal marker nature of the "wild colleen" meme and the appearance of the "logical Frank" meme, along with the little red book. On this "logical Frank", Clif writes:
He goes on to write that the linguistics specifically point to the period as being seen, from a future perspective looking back, as "monumental", though through our eyes as it unfolds as "epic".
The real key to all of this becomes "the Irish" being somehow "tested". Specifically, the "face" of "the Irish". This should take shape as we approach summer and be apparent around midsummer and heading out toward this fall, but I think we might get a serious taste of this in the next few weeks as things continue unfolding in this "global revolution" already well underway. For those of you living under a rock - yes, UNDERWAY. UNDERWAY, UNDERWAY, and UNDERWAY.
Of course, this started with protests in Tunisia on January 6th and 7th that led to the total revolt and ousting of government by the 14th.
Clif goes on to state that a woman will be the center of this "Irish face". Go figure. As I looked over the current US Saturn return, I picked up on a possible woman (signified by Venus with Neptune conjuncting the US natal Moon) being at the center of some controversy, and thus coming into the spotlight, occurring toward the end of March. I can't help but think this may be the time period where the final "wild Colleen" herself, acting as the "face" of "the Irish", comes into the spotlight. I mean, honestly, with astrology we see markers...get a general idea of things...and the general idea is that some form of political dissent will be brought forth over human rights issues, and these are tied inextricably with the "melting pot" and personal freedom loving natures of that US natal Moon. This is a unique marker in the progress of the US Saturn return and seems to point to a significant shifting on what we Americans think about over the next 7 to 14 years. If I'm right, the first signs of this would show up around February 14th in what could become called the "Valentine's Day Protests", as the Sun, Mercury and Mars transit this point.
This Saturn return is about a national face lift here in the US, but it has significant international ramifications as it's painfully clear that the spirit of the US is no longer confined to our tiny quadrant of the world. The "American Dream" has spread throughout the world and, in a very real sense, the fate of the world is directly tied to challenges we face in the US. Will we all come together in a great global protest against un-American ideals, or will we, the American's, take a back seat and let the rest of the world achieve what we once upon a time achieved, letting our own domestic situation degrade into what they face today? I suppose we'll find out soon.
Moving forward, I hadn't actually posted anything about the update Clif posted on January 4th about [logical frank] and the [testing] of [the Irish] [face]. In this update, stressing was done about the importance of the temporal marker nature of the "wild colleen" meme and the appearance of the "logical Frank" meme, along with the little red book. On this "logical Frank", Clif writes:
the [logical Frank] would have a [direct] and [leading] role relative to the [great global awakening] a2bka (also to be known as) from the point of view of the ThePowersThatWere, the 'great revolution'...It is the [great global awakening] that will define the underlying emotional 'tone' of this year, 2011. From our work, the data seems to be forecasting 2011 as a year of some significance, that is to say, a year of recognized, and fundamental, change.
He goes on to write that the linguistics specifically point to the period as being seen, from a future perspective looking back, as "monumental", though through our eyes as it unfolds as "epic".
The real key to all of this becomes "the Irish" being somehow "tested". Specifically, the "face" of "the Irish". This should take shape as we approach summer and be apparent around midsummer and heading out toward this fall, but I think we might get a serious taste of this in the next few weeks as things continue unfolding in this "global revolution" already well underway. For those of you living under a rock - yes, UNDERWAY. UNDERWAY, UNDERWAY, and UNDERWAY.
Of course, this started with protests in Tunisia on January 6th and 7th that led to the total revolt and ousting of government by the 14th.
Clif goes on to state that a woman will be the center of this "Irish face". Go figure. As I looked over the current US Saturn return, I picked up on a possible woman (signified by Venus with Neptune conjuncting the US natal Moon) being at the center of some controversy, and thus coming into the spotlight, occurring toward the end of March. I can't help but think this may be the time period where the final "wild Colleen" herself, acting as the "face" of "the Irish", comes into the spotlight. I mean, honestly, with astrology we see markers...get a general idea of things...and the general idea is that some form of political dissent will be brought forth over human rights issues, and these are tied inextricably with the "melting pot" and personal freedom loving natures of that US natal Moon. This is a unique marker in the progress of the US Saturn return and seems to point to a significant shifting on what we Americans think about over the next 7 to 14 years. If I'm right, the first signs of this would show up around February 14th in what could become called the "Valentine's Day Protests", as the Sun, Mercury and Mars transit this point.
This Saturn return is about a national face lift here in the US, but it has significant international ramifications as it's painfully clear that the spirit of the US is no longer confined to our tiny quadrant of the world. The "American Dream" has spread throughout the world and, in a very real sense, the fate of the world is directly tied to challenges we face in the US. Will we all come together in a great global protest against un-American ideals, or will we, the American's, take a back seat and let the rest of the world achieve what we once upon a time achieved, letting our own domestic situation degrade into what they face today? I suppose we'll find out soon.
1.28.2011
Mike Ruppert Says We're In It
Here we go - Mike Ruppert is now telling us that we're in it - that this is, in fact, the beginning of the systemic collapse he's been calling for. One thing that comes to mind is the "mokers", as in "run amok", that the web bots have been pointing to...it certainly fits considering so many people are actually burning themselves alive in protest.
YouTube Link
YouTube Link
1.26.2011
The 8th US Saturn Return - Part 3
As we found in the study of previous Saturn returns (The 8th US Saturn Return - Part 1 and Part 2), every 28-30 years, the US is challenged by the transit Saturn over the US natal position. During each past occurance, problems with the structure of government were pushed into the public spotlight and the future course of the nation was decided by a single generation. The US was, in a sense, challenged to "grow up" and take on greater responsibilities through drastic reform in government structures. Often, there was also a cosmic call for humility.
The current Saturn return is likely no different, and the fate of the US again hangs in the balance. Today, we are in the midst of what may become known as the worst depression in US history, with prolonged and record levels of unemployment, blatant fraud and corruption running rampant throughout the highest levels of our economy, and sweeping policy changes, such as health care, being made (and possibly undone) in a mere matter of months. The US is entrenched in what has been dubbed a "global war on terrorism" at the same time as the nation has become intensely divided amongst itself over a veritable laundry list of political, social and economic issues. We are bombarded daily with headlines that scream at us the extreme importance of making the right choices today, and the dire consequences that await our nation if we don't.
In the conclusion to this extended three part posting, I will take a closer look into the current Saturn return. I'll begin by first analyzing the global and generational forces, namely those of Pluto, Neptune and Uranus, that give us clues to the forms of challenge the US currently faces. This will establish a sort of framework that was put forward during the initial transit of the Saturn return on December 3, 2010. I will then take a look at the more "personal" aspects of this return, taking into account other planetary transits, and the various aspects to the US natal chart, at the subsequent transit points of the Saturn return. This should give us the detail we need to "flesh out" the framework established.
In January of 2008, Pluto began it's 18 year long transit through the sign of Capricorn, which will culminate in 2022 with the first Pluto return to be experienced by the US. This sign placement has, as it did last between 1762 and 1777, turned the global focus toward revolutionary transformations in both government and "big business". The flavor of this transit has an organizational quality, lending to the structural, Saturnian nature of Capricorn, where new organizations are brought forth from individual desires for transformation.
Currently, Pluto is transiting the US natal 1st house, placing its influence on matters of personality. In fact, the nature of 1st house transits on the US chart could be said to define the "face" of the nation, both domestically and internationally. The 1st house acts as a dividing line between "self" and "other", represented in the opposing 1st and 7th houses. Activation of the 1st house by any planetary transits tend to focus a spotlight on this dividing line. In 2000, when Pluto entered the 1st house in Jupiter ruled Sagittarius, issues of personal freedoms and of philosophical or ideological conflicts, all Sagittarian issues, were dragged into this spotlight. The US quickly found itself at war with opposing ideologies all over the world through the expansive "War on Terror". Since entering Capricorn, however, this "expansive" nature of the war has been under constant public attack. A more conservative, Saturnian desire to define and restrict the line between "self" and "other" has taken the spotlight. Focus has turned toward the individual's place in the world, and toward the governmental structures that directly represent him. In a sense, the John Q. Public is being compelled to literally transform the "face" of the nation into a more accurate representation of himself.
Looking to Neptune, and the role it plays in defining the "American Dream" (see Part 2 for more on this), we find it conjunct the US natal Moon placement in Aquarius and the 3rd house. The US natal Moon here has often been thought to represent the "melting pot" mentality of the public, the high ideal of "equal rights", as well as the "Don't Tread on Me" attitude that the US has always held in high regard. Neptune in this place, however, is said to create a fog that causes confusion, and potentially delusion, surrounding the functioning of a natal planet. Neptune first moved into Aquarius in 1998 while in the US natal 2nd house, and it transited into the 3rd house, making its current conjunction with the US natal Moon, back in the early summer of 2008. This was just as the presidential election campaigns were reaching their fever-pitch. Neptune's transit here had led to a sense of confused devotional fanatiscism surrounding the campaigns, especially that of Obama who was heralded on more than one occassion as a messiah and was subsequently awarded a Nobel Peace Prize before he had even completed a year in office. Obvious, too, was the effect it has had on the campaigning of Sarah Palin and the continued frenzied support of Ron Paul.
As Neptune transits the rebellious sign of Aquarius and the 3rd house of mind, a push for more open and high-minded ways of thinking has, in fact, become important to the individual. The American Dream today is to actively stand up and fight for the highest ideals, including personal freedoms and the rights of man himself, rather than to stand by while a greedy and powerful elite strip these freedoms away. This placement of Neptune in the early 3rd house, however, is also a harbinger of lost direction and mistranslations. Neptune confounds the sense of logic while in the 3rd house, causing rational decision making to become difficult. With Aquarius considered the sign of the masses, this confusion becomes most apparant when looking at large groups of people.
A more intuitive approach to thinking is required under this placement, as Neptune is capable of revealing hidden truths while in this house. It can be expected, however, that neither will the books balance nor the truth be spoken with any sort of elloquence. Poetry, art and music become more effective means of communicating with this placement, and deep meditation or occultic research will prove fruitful. Public speeches and the figures of accounting will suffer. George W. Bush, with his natal Neptune placement in the 3rd house, shows us how difficult it can be to say what you mean under this influence with his countless blunders ("Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we.").
Uranus, the planet of revolution itself, also is seen transiting late in the 3rd house, near the cusp of Pisces and Aries. It was last in Pisces during the Saturn return of the 1920s, which manifested as a sort of "drunken revolution". Since it entered Pisces in early 2003, it has called for a return to a conservative balance in all things, and to avoid the decadence of extremes that forever challenge planetary placements in Pisces. Just as it did then, it shows we are in a time of fiscal extremism where the money supply has been increased beyond all reason. The threat of the wrong decisions with this placement are clear, as 7 years after the Saturn return of 1922 and 1923, with Uranus transiting early in Aries, the US found itself experiencing the Great Depression.
So our framework is established, as Pluto tells of a time where the symbolic face of the nation is being transformed through radical adjustment of governmental structure and big business, and Neptune of a time where the American Dream itself has become an irrational, confused frenzy of devotional fanatiscism, personal freedoms and high ideals. Uranus tells us that the time of Piscean extremes and the "too much is never enough" mentality are nearing an end, that we may be about to experience an Aries induced financial hangover.
As we look to some of the aspects of these generational influences, we do find a spectacular opposition from Pluto to the natal US Jupiter and Venus conjunction at the first transit of this Saturn return. These planets, often considered the Greater and Lesser Benefics, respectively, play an integral role in international relations by their placement in the 7th house. Specifically, these planets lend a pleasantness to international affairs, and help ensure the US is held in high regard by our closest allies. With Pluto making an opposition to them, however, the very nature of these alliances is being pushed to transform, and the "self versus other" paradigm is again brought to mind.
The 7th house, however, defines all close relationships, both "good" ones and "bad". This opposition, then, also marks relations with US enemies. The placement of Jupiter conjunct with Venus has given the US an appearance of almost mystical strength to such "enemies" throughout much of American history, but this opposition is highlighting every weakness of the US on the world stage.
We also find a sextile from Uranus in Pisces to the natal Pluto position in Capricorn and the 2nd house. In this relationship, an easy exchange of energies between the revolutionary nature of the transiting Uranus and the transformational nature of the natal Pluto is being manifest through the push we see for revolution in our monetary policy. Debt has been called front-and-center, as it becomes the biggest hurdle to American progress. The US public has found itself shackled with credit card and mortgage debts that it simply can't pay, and big business is drowning in their pools of "troubled assets". Debt relief is on the ticket and Uranus is daring us to go for the ride.
Jupiter, itself loosely conjunct with transiting Uranus, is seen in a loose opposition to the natal placement of Neptune. This is marking a time when the American Dream is itself seemingly opposed to our own philosophical ideals and direction of growth. This can also be seen manifest in the financial troubles afflicting the country. Americans have found themselves unable to save, barely making it paycheck to paycheck, when they know that's exactly what they should be doing.
With Venus and the Moon transiting the 11th house in Scorpio, we glean an important element of how the return initially manifests itself. Specifically, we see a feminine energy, likely a woman, brought into the spotlight in the international affairs of the 11th house. This relates to secrets, which is the domain of Scorpio. The Sun is also seen conjuncting the natal ascendant, a time of world attention being focused, for better or worse, on the personality of the US itself.
Interestingly, on November 29th, just 5 days before the first transit of Saturn to its exact natal degree, WikiLeaks released the first group of US diplomatic cables. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was seen frantically traveling the world trying to minimize damage to international relations leading up to the release of what was subsequently dubbed "Cablegate". Since this time, of course, the US government has been publicly pursuing various ways in which to charge Julian Assange of WikiLeaks for espionage.
Also of note is the sextile aspect of transiting Mars in Sagittarius and the 1st house to the US natal Moon. This speaks clearly of anger relating to human rights, and matches nicely to that caused by the increased security at airports nationwide during the latter half of November. This reached it's climax just before the first transit of the current Saturn return, marking it as another key event in deciphering the root challenges facing the nation.
On March 22nd, the US will experience the second, retrograde transit of Saturn over the natal point. At this time, we find the Moon again transiting the 11th house and Scorpio, bringing a woman into the spotlight on international affairs, though it appears she's in effect "distancing" herself from domestic issues, signified by a striking lack of accompanying aspects during the hours of closest conjunction.
Venus, this time, is seen conjunct the US natal Moon, along with transiting Neptune, showing some form of confusion being brought to light surrounding an issue connected with immigration or humanitarian aid. This could signify Obama, as well, with his election under this placement and the continuing debate over his official birth certificate. Also likely here is a public outburst of political dissent, organized by a woman of some prominence, over a personal rights issue.
Mars is in a strong opposition to the natal Neptune placement, and is loosely squaring its natal position in Gemini and the 7th house. This, I hate to say, is a very warlike aspect, showing outward hostilities against the US and the "American Dream". Though war is unlikely, rhetoric and posturing is to be expected with this placement, and issues relating to oil (Pisces) will be likely to make the headlines on a daily basis.
Jupiter is seen loosely opposing the natal (and transiting) Saturn placement, and squaring the US natal Sun, as the transiting Sun conjuncts with Uranus and the IC in the first degrees of Aries. This portends an especially heated time domestically, when national security is on a literal knife's edge. It's likely that we'll see a man come into the public eye at this time who is vehemently indicting the US on the world stage, through the exposure of some form of corruption in the highest levels of government or big business. This, in turn, causes public outcry. Protests and demonstrations, domestically and internationally, are very likely. Another possibility is that this man is actually being tried in the court system by the US government on charges that are contrary to the public opinion, thus sparking the protests and public outcry.
Synthesizing these aspects and placements with the framework we established earlier shows us that late March and early April will most assuredly become the pivotal point in this Saturn return. Protests, political dissent, posturing and rhetoric will be grabbing headlines. The US will be domestically, and maybe also internationally, challenged to take a conservative, face-saving approach. It will be called out to rectify political and financial excesses of the last 7 years as the confusion that has surrounded issues of individual human rights and immigration, and even delusional political divisions, will begin to be lifted. The exposure of corruption, human rights violations and what look to be "decidedly un-American practices" by government or big business, through trials or public hearings, will cause public outrage, civil unrest and protests.
With Uranus entering the first degree of Aries, and conjunct the IC, the threat of a sudden and violent uprooting of domestic life and culture in the US, through natural or unnatural disasters, and possibly a complete collapse of the financial system, is a looming threat throughout both the spring and summer. It also shows us that the only good solution to the challenges of this return are in reforms that bring us back to our roots, as represented by the IC. Truly conservative, constitutionalist or libertarian policies will be debated on the floor of Congress and in the Senate for the first time in a more than century, almost certainly with support from the majority of Americans.
On August 28th, the third and final transit of the Saturn return will likely take place without much fanfare. At this point, Neptune is in retrograde, moving back into a tight conjunction with the US natal Moon placement, and thus bringing confusion back to the masses until late spring of 2012. With the Jupiter in Taurus and the 5th house, however, a sense of optimism is possible as there appears to be a clear direction established. This placement of Jupiter shows an increase in creative innovation for the nation, and a likely time of material stability, that should also last until late spring of 2012.
The current Saturn return is likely no different, and the fate of the US again hangs in the balance. Today, we are in the midst of what may become known as the worst depression in US history, with prolonged and record levels of unemployment, blatant fraud and corruption running rampant throughout the highest levels of our economy, and sweeping policy changes, such as health care, being made (and possibly undone) in a mere matter of months. The US is entrenched in what has been dubbed a "global war on terrorism" at the same time as the nation has become intensely divided amongst itself over a veritable laundry list of political, social and economic issues. We are bombarded daily with headlines that scream at us the extreme importance of making the right choices today, and the dire consequences that await our nation if we don't.
In the conclusion to this extended three part posting, I will take a closer look into the current Saturn return. I'll begin by first analyzing the global and generational forces, namely those of Pluto, Neptune and Uranus, that give us clues to the forms of challenge the US currently faces. This will establish a sort of framework that was put forward during the initial transit of the Saturn return on December 3, 2010. I will then take a look at the more "personal" aspects of this return, taking into account other planetary transits, and the various aspects to the US natal chart, at the subsequent transit points of the Saturn return. This should give us the detail we need to "flesh out" the framework established.
In January of 2008, Pluto began it's 18 year long transit through the sign of Capricorn, which will culminate in 2022 with the first Pluto return to be experienced by the US. This sign placement has, as it did last between 1762 and 1777, turned the global focus toward revolutionary transformations in both government and "big business". The flavor of this transit has an organizational quality, lending to the structural, Saturnian nature of Capricorn, where new organizations are brought forth from individual desires for transformation.
 |
| December 3, 2010 |
Looking to Neptune, and the role it plays in defining the "American Dream" (see Part 2 for more on this), we find it conjunct the US natal Moon placement in Aquarius and the 3rd house. The US natal Moon here has often been thought to represent the "melting pot" mentality of the public, the high ideal of "equal rights", as well as the "Don't Tread on Me" attitude that the US has always held in high regard. Neptune in this place, however, is said to create a fog that causes confusion, and potentially delusion, surrounding the functioning of a natal planet. Neptune first moved into Aquarius in 1998 while in the US natal 2nd house, and it transited into the 3rd house, making its current conjunction with the US natal Moon, back in the early summer of 2008. This was just as the presidential election campaigns were reaching their fever-pitch. Neptune's transit here had led to a sense of confused devotional fanatiscism surrounding the campaigns, especially that of Obama who was heralded on more than one occassion as a messiah and was subsequently awarded a Nobel Peace Prize before he had even completed a year in office. Obvious, too, was the effect it has had on the campaigning of Sarah Palin and the continued frenzied support of Ron Paul.
As Neptune transits the rebellious sign of Aquarius and the 3rd house of mind, a push for more open and high-minded ways of thinking has, in fact, become important to the individual. The American Dream today is to actively stand up and fight for the highest ideals, including personal freedoms and the rights of man himself, rather than to stand by while a greedy and powerful elite strip these freedoms away. This placement of Neptune in the early 3rd house, however, is also a harbinger of lost direction and mistranslations. Neptune confounds the sense of logic while in the 3rd house, causing rational decision making to become difficult. With Aquarius considered the sign of the masses, this confusion becomes most apparant when looking at large groups of people.
A more intuitive approach to thinking is required under this placement, as Neptune is capable of revealing hidden truths while in this house. It can be expected, however, that neither will the books balance nor the truth be spoken with any sort of elloquence. Poetry, art and music become more effective means of communicating with this placement, and deep meditation or occultic research will prove fruitful. Public speeches and the figures of accounting will suffer. George W. Bush, with his natal Neptune placement in the 3rd house, shows us how difficult it can be to say what you mean under this influence with his countless blunders ("Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we.").
Uranus, the planet of revolution itself, also is seen transiting late in the 3rd house, near the cusp of Pisces and Aries. It was last in Pisces during the Saturn return of the 1920s, which manifested as a sort of "drunken revolution". Since it entered Pisces in early 2003, it has called for a return to a conservative balance in all things, and to avoid the decadence of extremes that forever challenge planetary placements in Pisces. Just as it did then, it shows we are in a time of fiscal extremism where the money supply has been increased beyond all reason. The threat of the wrong decisions with this placement are clear, as 7 years after the Saturn return of 1922 and 1923, with Uranus transiting early in Aries, the US found itself experiencing the Great Depression.
So our framework is established, as Pluto tells of a time where the symbolic face of the nation is being transformed through radical adjustment of governmental structure and big business, and Neptune of a time where the American Dream itself has become an irrational, confused frenzy of devotional fanatiscism, personal freedoms and high ideals. Uranus tells us that the time of Piscean extremes and the "too much is never enough" mentality are nearing an end, that we may be about to experience an Aries induced financial hangover.
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| December 3, 2010 |
The 7th house, however, defines all close relationships, both "good" ones and "bad". This opposition, then, also marks relations with US enemies. The placement of Jupiter conjunct with Venus has given the US an appearance of almost mystical strength to such "enemies" throughout much of American history, but this opposition is highlighting every weakness of the US on the world stage.
We also find a sextile from Uranus in Pisces to the natal Pluto position in Capricorn and the 2nd house. In this relationship, an easy exchange of energies between the revolutionary nature of the transiting Uranus and the transformational nature of the natal Pluto is being manifest through the push we see for revolution in our monetary policy. Debt has been called front-and-center, as it becomes the biggest hurdle to American progress. The US public has found itself shackled with credit card and mortgage debts that it simply can't pay, and big business is drowning in their pools of "troubled assets". Debt relief is on the ticket and Uranus is daring us to go for the ride.
Jupiter, itself loosely conjunct with transiting Uranus, is seen in a loose opposition to the natal placement of Neptune. This is marking a time when the American Dream is itself seemingly opposed to our own philosophical ideals and direction of growth. This can also be seen manifest in the financial troubles afflicting the country. Americans have found themselves unable to save, barely making it paycheck to paycheck, when they know that's exactly what they should be doing.
With Venus and the Moon transiting the 11th house in Scorpio, we glean an important element of how the return initially manifests itself. Specifically, we see a feminine energy, likely a woman, brought into the spotlight in the international affairs of the 11th house. This relates to secrets, which is the domain of Scorpio. The Sun is also seen conjuncting the natal ascendant, a time of world attention being focused, for better or worse, on the personality of the US itself.
Interestingly, on November 29th, just 5 days before the first transit of Saturn to its exact natal degree, WikiLeaks released the first group of US diplomatic cables. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was seen frantically traveling the world trying to minimize damage to international relations leading up to the release of what was subsequently dubbed "Cablegate". Since this time, of course, the US government has been publicly pursuing various ways in which to charge Julian Assange of WikiLeaks for espionage.
Also of note is the sextile aspect of transiting Mars in Sagittarius and the 1st house to the US natal Moon. This speaks clearly of anger relating to human rights, and matches nicely to that caused by the increased security at airports nationwide during the latter half of November. This reached it's climax just before the first transit of the current Saturn return, marking it as another key event in deciphering the root challenges facing the nation.
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| March 22, 2011 |
Venus, this time, is seen conjunct the US natal Moon, along with transiting Neptune, showing some form of confusion being brought to light surrounding an issue connected with immigration or humanitarian aid. This could signify Obama, as well, with his election under this placement and the continuing debate over his official birth certificate. Also likely here is a public outburst of political dissent, organized by a woman of some prominence, over a personal rights issue.
Mars is in a strong opposition to the natal Neptune placement, and is loosely squaring its natal position in Gemini and the 7th house. This, I hate to say, is a very warlike aspect, showing outward hostilities against the US and the "American Dream". Though war is unlikely, rhetoric and posturing is to be expected with this placement, and issues relating to oil (Pisces) will be likely to make the headlines on a daily basis.
Jupiter is seen loosely opposing the natal (and transiting) Saturn placement, and squaring the US natal Sun, as the transiting Sun conjuncts with Uranus and the IC in the first degrees of Aries. This portends an especially heated time domestically, when national security is on a literal knife's edge. It's likely that we'll see a man come into the public eye at this time who is vehemently indicting the US on the world stage, through the exposure of some form of corruption in the highest levels of government or big business. This, in turn, causes public outcry. Protests and demonstrations, domestically and internationally, are very likely. Another possibility is that this man is actually being tried in the court system by the US government on charges that are contrary to the public opinion, thus sparking the protests and public outcry.
Synthesizing these aspects and placements with the framework we established earlier shows us that late March and early April will most assuredly become the pivotal point in this Saturn return. Protests, political dissent, posturing and rhetoric will be grabbing headlines. The US will be domestically, and maybe also internationally, challenged to take a conservative, face-saving approach. It will be called out to rectify political and financial excesses of the last 7 years as the confusion that has surrounded issues of individual human rights and immigration, and even delusional political divisions, will begin to be lifted. The exposure of corruption, human rights violations and what look to be "decidedly un-American practices" by government or big business, through trials or public hearings, will cause public outrage, civil unrest and protests.
With Uranus entering the first degree of Aries, and conjunct the IC, the threat of a sudden and violent uprooting of domestic life and culture in the US, through natural or unnatural disasters, and possibly a complete collapse of the financial system, is a looming threat throughout both the spring and summer. It also shows us that the only good solution to the challenges of this return are in reforms that bring us back to our roots, as represented by the IC. Truly conservative, constitutionalist or libertarian policies will be debated on the floor of Congress and in the Senate for the first time in a more than century, almost certainly with support from the majority of Americans.
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| August 28, 2011 |
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