Jared Kushner ‘s woes and the Saudi alliance

    

 

More complications for Jared Kushner, now minus his security clearance. To add to his stupendous property debt problem, there are questions over half billion dollar loans obtained in 2017; and now allegations that he leaked classified info to Saudi Crown Prince Bin Salman (MBS) about Saudi leaders disloyal to him, just before he imprisoned 200 high-flyers in the Riyadh Ritz Hotel. All hotly denied from the Kushner end.

But there’s no doubt that Kushner and MbS became tight, with Trump/Kushner supporting the blockade of Qatar against the advice of the Pentagon which oversees a large US military base there. Trump’s obsession with overturning-all-things Obama is focussed on unstitching the Iran deal, which gets MbS firmly on his side, since he’s jockeying to become the supreme power in the Middle East. The enemy of my enemy may be my friend today but in the Middle East’s shifting sands alliances rarely  stay the same for long.

The Kushner/MbS relationship chart has an ‘adventurous’ composite Jupiter Uranus conjunction; plus a competitive Sun Mars. It looks de-stabilised in April, more so in June. Though that may well be Kushner shuffling back to NY.

The Trump/MbS relationship chart looks equally in for a few surprises from late April, peaking in May with tr Uranus square the composite Mercury, Venus, Sun; with some nerve-stretching moments from now onwards through April and later into 2019.

Kushner is facing a run of highly insecure, panicky, loss-making and downright catastrophic influences, especially late April and May. And those will run and run till late 2019, along with tr Pluto conjunct his Capricorn Sun.

Kushner does have a notable 10th Harmonic which is the self-defeating one.

Ronny L Jackson – Trump’s cabinet of chums

    

 

Ronny L Jackson, Trump’s personal physician who gave his health a hyperbolic and sycophantic all-clear has been nominated to head the Department of Veterans Affairs. Schulkin just departed did appear to have blotted his copybook with expenditure on personal trips on tax payers’ dimes, though in the context of what else is going around it hardly seemed a hanging offence; but was otherwise well regarded. Schulkin’s view is he was stitched up to make way for a more pliable CEO who would OK Trump’s plans for privatisation, which would suit the Koch Bros who are pushing hard to move veterans’ healthcare towards the private market.

Jackson appears to have no managerial experience and has been added to the growing list of Trump’s crony appointments (if he is cleared). His golf caddy ended up an assistant in the WH; Hope Hicks was PR for Ivanka’s fashion line; his personal pilot was put on the shortlist to head the F.A.A. Neurosurgeon Ben Carson was put in charge of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, despite having no experience in housing policy. Betsy DeVos is in charge of the Department of Education, despite ‘her apparent unfamiliarity with actual schools.’ Politician Rick Perry was put in as head of the Department of Energy, which Perry wanted to eliminate until he learned what the agency does.

Jackson who had served as personal physician under GWB and Obama, was born 4 May 1967 and is a Sun Taurus trine Uranus Pluto in Virgo; with a Pisces Moon probably opposing and square Venus in Gemini – all charm on the surface, quite chaotic underneath. He may have a Water Grand Trine of Jupiter trine Neptune trine Moon which is certainly healing, though not always realistic.

Jackson’s Venus is conjunct Trump’s Sun which will make for an emollient interface and Jackson’s Mars is conjunct Trump’s Jupiter for joint enthusiasm; though J’s Uranus Pluto square will make Trump feel unsettled.

The Department of Veteran Affairs, 21 July 1930, a sprawling and complex entity which has a long record of chaotic management, looks to be in a state of more upheaval with tr Uranus moving to square the Cancer Sun in this April, returning on and off into 2019; and is hitting an especially low point in 2020 with Solar Arc Mars conjunct Neptune.

Malala – determined to make a difference

    

 

Malala Yousafzai has returned to her hometown in Pakistan for the first time since she was shot there by the Taliban in 2012 for campaigning for female education. She sustained life-threatening injuries and had part of her skull removed to relieve swelling on her brain, but recovered and is now reading Politics, Philosophy and Economics at Oxford University. She is continuing to campaign, for which she won a joint Nobel Peace prize and plans to return to Pakistan permanently once she has completed her degree, though she remains a polarising figure there, with critics saying she is shaming the country and following what they see as a Western agenda.

[?? Educating girls is sinful? It’s one of the problems of a globalised world that you realise how retarded in their development several regions are – by several hundred years.]

 

Born 12 July 1997 at 8.30am? Mingaora, Pakistan, she has a friendly 11th house Sun Cancer sextile North Node in Virgo on the foot of a Yod inconjunct Jupiter in humanitarian Aquarius. Such a focal point Jupiter gives her the ability to shift social attitudes on a grand scale. She’s also got planets in all four Cardinal signs, giving her initiative in quantity – a forced-to-be-self-reliant Saturn in Aries in a self-disciplined opposition to Moon Mars in Libra square her Sun, with Neptune in late Capricorn. And planets in all three inspirational Fire signs.

Her ‘obsessive dream’ 11th Harmonic is strong; as is her get-it-together 5H. Strongest of all is her leaving-a-legacy-for-history 17th Harmonic which gives hope she will make a difference.  She’s in a tough year with tr Pluto opposition her Sun and square her Saturn. But she may well come into her own with the shift into Aquarius of Saturn Jupiter in the early 2020s and then Pluto from 2024 which will connect with her Uranus and then Jupiter in Aquarius.

Her Midheaven, on this birth time, is conjunct Algol, of which Diana Rosenberg says: “You will not be able to ignore suffering and horror, or brush it aside… The Algol placement on a chart insists upon a confrontation and assimilation of these harsh aspects of human experience in this lifetime.….Algol, like other stars, confers tasks upon us which, if comprehended and accepted, offer great rewards of power and creativity.’ Her MC is conjunct the Pakistan Taurus North Node so her direction in life is intimately tied up with Pakistan’s development (if it wants to develop). And her Sun is conjunct the Pakistan 10th house Moon; with her weighted Jupiter opposition the Pakistan Leo Sun – so she is very hooked into her home country.

Gaza – ‘a moral calamity’ for Israel

    

 

12 Palestinians have been killed and dozens wounded as 30,000 gather on the Gaza-Israel Border for peaceful demonstrations for the ‘March of Return’ running for six weeks. May marks the 70th anniversary of the founding Israel and what the Palestinians call ‘Nakba Day’ – the day of catastrophe, when three quarters of a million Palestinians were expelled and forced to flee their homes, becoming lifetime refugees. 250,000 of those uprooted flooded into Gaza.

Haaretz, the liberal Israeli newspaper, describes Gaza as the largest open-air prison in the world and ‘a moral calamity for Israel.’ Even military leader Moshe Dayan in the 1950s understood what they had done: “What we can say against their terrible hatred of us? For eight years, they have sat in the refugee camps of Gaza, and have watched how, before their very eyes, we have turned their lands and villages, where they and their forefathers dwelled, into our home.”  Jean-Paul Sartre visiting in the 1960s was appalled by the refugee camps. He told an Israeli politician that “they   will be a heavy burden on Israel’s future.”

The sense in Israel is that this is what the leaders have always most feared: ‘The marching of uprooted Palestinian refugees on Israel.’ Although intended to be peaceful, the risk of escalation is high; and  Trump’s crass decision to declare Jerusalem capital of Israel has only exacerbated an impossible situation where the Palestinians have nothing to lose.

https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-gaza-s-refugees-have-always-haunted-israel-now-they-re-on-the-march-1.5958265

The Israel chart does look on high alert with tr Uranus moving to trine the Mars in Leo from April 12th till late month and returning into early 2019. Uranus Mars is explosive, overly-excitable with rash decisions likely. The Solar Arc Saturn is also conjunct the Israel Ascendant bringing a sombre mood and with Solar Arc Pluto following so there will be a bleak obstinacy prevailing in the years after.  Tr Uranus opposing the Mars/Jupiter midpoint until mid April will bring hasty decisions, maybe not wise ones; with pushy confidence in June though confusions and uncertainty after that.

The Gaza, 9 November 1917 9am, chart, looks enlivened by the idea of the demonstrations, though also uncertain and fearful, with setbacks in April; shocks in July and disappointments. The next three years look, even in their terms very tough, with tr Pluto square the Saturn/Node in 2019/2020 and opposing Saturn/Pluto in 2020/2021.

The relationship chart with Israel gets a severe jolt from late April, worsening mid May and those influences return into early 2019.

Israel has walked itself up a cul-de-sac from which there is no exit. Most Israelis you talk to think there is no solution to the problem. And the Palestinians will continue to pay the price.

Julian Assange – Saturn boxing him in

 

 

Julian Assange has had his life’s blood cut off with Ecuador blocking his internet connection at its London embassy where he has been holed up in cramped accommodation since 2012. He recently put posts out questioning accusations that Moscow was responsible for the poisoning of a Russian ex-spy and his daughter which broke an agreement that he would not interfere in other countries’ affairs. The Swedish authorities have dropped their investigation into sexual assault allegations, but he still faces charges in the UK for bail-jumping and fears he’ll be extradited to the US over WikiLeaks.

Tr Saturn is moving to square his Uranus from April 2nd, returning in December at which point it opposes his Cancer Sun. And tr Saturn is also moving through his low-profile First Quadrant, which can sometimes bring up unresolved psychological issues as well as not supporting earlier successes. Tr Uranus is also about to move into his 6th house of health, which could exacerbate the strain he is under. He’ll have a couple of confident months in September/October and some lift in 2019 but his way ahead is a winding road; with major aggravations in 2021.

From a previous January post:

Julian Assange has moved from being Ecuador’s shining badge of honour in the fight for freedom to being ‘more than a nuisance’ and an ‘inherited problem’ by the new President. An attempt to get him diplomatic immunity as an Ecuador representative failed and they are now actively seeking a way of getting him out of the tiny London Embassy – with only one bathroom and murmurs that he doesn’t wash too often.

Tr Saturn is sliding down his 1st house and quadrant, pulling him away from his glory days. Tr Saturn is also aiming to make a jolting square to his Uranus in April and December and thence to oppose his Cancer Sun before the New Year. He will be on edge and more discouraged than before.

Though with a lucky break coming late March for two weeks lifting his hopes and flashes of his old bullish self-confidence through the autumn.

Relocating his chart to Ecuador does put the MC in early Capricorn so it will catch the tr Saturn conjunction, perhaps bringing a series of reality-checks through this year.

London was always going to be his nightmare location since it puts his Pluto on his IC, with his Sun in the hidden 12th; and his infuriated and trapped Mars in the 8th. If and when he gets out, if free he certainly won’t be returning with any glee.

Sean Penn – ‘cloaked in crazy’

  

 

Actor and activist Sean Penn has been getting excruciatingly bad reviews for his novel Bob Honey Who Just Do Stuff, a dystopian thriller about a hitman, featuring a Trumpian President. The NY Times described it as “a riddle wrapped in an enigma and cloaked in crazy.” And the Guardian said – ‘repellent on one level, but stupid on so many others. Penn doesn’t just swing and miss with his ambitious vocabulary; he swings and cracks a hole in reality as we know it.’

Penn has had an award-winning career, though nothing too recent and his present film, Mel Gibson’s The Professor and the Madman is mired in legal trouble and may never see the light of day. In it he plays a doctor who contributed over 10,000 entries to the Oxford English Dictionary in 1857, when he was a convict at an asylum for the criminally insane. Maybe explains the word salad in his novel.

Born 17 August 1960 3.17 pm Burbank, California, he does have a strongly communicative 9th house with his Leo Sun conjunct revolutionary Uranus there, as well as opinionated Pluto conjunct Venus in Virgo.  His Mercury in Leo hovers on the cusp from the 8th in a muddled square to Neptune, sextile Mars in outspoken Gemini and an awkward inconjunct to Saturn. His Cancer Moon is trine Neptune and opposition Saturn; with Saturn trine his Venus Pluto – so a mixed emotional life, married at one point to Madonna, and an on/off several times match with Robin Wright.

He’s not in at his most successful with tr Saturn moving below his Ascendant through his 1st quadrant for some years to come.  His Solar Arc Mars is square his Neptune at the moment, indicative of plans not working out and usually an ego-dent. And he’s heading for his Second Saturn Return early in 2019 which is usually a sobering reality-check about what comes next. He’ll recover some of his old mojo in 2019/2020. But it’ll be a while before he gets back to his old form.

Vladimir Putin – into the breach without his spies

    

 

Vladimir Putin facing the dismantling of much of his intelligence network abroad will be sworn in for his 4th Term on May 7, usually around noon. It is not as successful as his previous 2012 term which had Jupiter Sun in the 10th and looks fractious and downbeat with a 10th house Sun trine both Saturn and Pluto in the 5th house of speculation and entertainment; with an explosive Mars Pluto square Mercury Uranus. It won’t be without significant crises and high-risk situations, especially in 2021/22. The Sun does oppose a 4th house Jupiter which points to a settled domestic mood. Neptune in the 7th is slippery where neighbours and agreements are concerned, though also indecisive. That’s all depending on a noon swearing in time.

His own personal chart (birth time unverified) has the panicky-failure Solar Arc Neptune opposition Mars still in effect, though fading. Tr Pluto is square his Neptune now till late 2019, which is uncertain, confusing, devastating; with an intense, mental-strain tr Pluto square Mercury in 2019/2020. He’ll be bullish at points this year with tr Pluto trine his Jupiter though lacklustre at others with Neptune around.  His midpoints point to major aggravations and frustrations in 2019/2020/2021; with an accident-prone, disastrous setback Solar Arc Saturn conjunct his Mars in 2021.

His relationship chart with Russia 1917 does hint at quite a turnaround in late April/early May, November and February 2019 with tr Uranus square the composite Pluto and opposition the composite Mars Pluto – which looks exceptionally fraught and risky.

 

Roseanne – portraying a split USA

   

 

Roseanne has re-launched, the sit com about a working class white family from suburban Illinois, which catapulted Roseanne Barr and John Goodman to fame in the late 1980s/1990s.  To add to the family’s dysfunction this time round is a political divide with Roseanne a Trump supporter (as Barr is in real life) and her sister wearing T shirts sporting ‘Nasty Woman’. In a way it’s an admirable attempt to reflect the reality of the toxic arguments in many American families.

Roseanne Barr, born 3 November 1952 1.21 pm Salt Lake City, Utah, is a confident, opinionated 9th house Sun Scorpio opposition Jupiter in indulgent Taurus. That opposition sits in a Mystic Rectangle to a volatile and angry Mars in Capricorn opposition Uranus which squares onto a cae-be-neurotic Saturn Neptune in Libra.  She has a fierce Pluto in her 7th and a complicated emotional life to go along with it; with Pluto opposition an Aquarius Node square Jupiter – so not short of pushy confidence. Her restless Gemini Moon opposes her Mercury but is otherwise unaspected.

She has talked of having mental problems in the past and being on heavy psychotropic medication; and undergoing considerable plastic surgery.

Tr Jupiter is aiming to cross her midheaven and 10th house later this year which is generally successful.  But it looks like a rough, tough ride ahead with tr Pluto opposing her Uranus this year and squaring her Saturn in 2018/19; then squaring her Neptune in 2019/2020. All of which looks fairly devastating and confusing. Plus a run of disappointing Neptune transits to several of her midpoints in 2018 to 2020. Plus a shocking, jolting Solar Arc Sun opposition her Uranus, exact in 20 months’ time.

Boris Johnson & Michael Gove – glum tweedledums

    

 

Heat is being turned on Boris Johnson and Michael Gove, Leave campaign leaders, about whether they knew additional funds were going via a subsidiary youth group BeLeave to a Canadian offshoot of Cambridge Analytica – which would have run them over the legal funding limit. Guido Fawkes says Remain was doing much the same in terms of spending so it may all fizzle out.

Or not, as the case may be. Both have the blocked tr Pluto hitting on their Mars/Pluto midpoint in 2018/19. And both look panicked and logjammed at the moment and seriously unnerved in April. Boris with tr Neptune square his Sun/Mars midpoint and Gove with tr Neptune square his Jupiter/Saturn. Both these influences tend to bring disappointments and losses. With worse to follow in June. When Boris is in a state of nervous tension with crisis around with tr Uranus conjunct his Sun/Saturn midpoint; and tr Neptune in the deceptive, relationship-denting square to his Mars/Node. July to mid December sees him afflicted by aggravating, trapped Pluto hard aspects to two Mars midpoints. Some of those influences run through 2019, though he’ll have one Jupiter around to boost his morale.

Gove in June will be assaulted by tr Uranus in an accident-prone square to his Mars/Saturn midpoint; with more angst and hair-tearing in 2019.

Not happy Easter bunnies at all in the immediate future.