Julie Burchill, the media commentator known for her outrageous, often offensive and contentious opinions, has stirred up another hornets’ nest. She has had her book ‘Welcome to the Woke Trials: How #Identity killed progressive politics’ due out in March, dropped by publishers Little, Brown after a row with Muslim journalist Ash Sarkar. She was accused of ‘crossing a line’ by posting ‘Islamophobic’ comments on Twitter.  Burchill had tweeted that Sarkar’s worship of the Prophet Mohammed was the ‘worship of a paedophile’, referring to the 7th Century leader’s marriage to his third wife Aisha when she was around 10. 

  Born 3 July 1059 Bristol, England, Burchill is a Sun Cancer opposition Saturn, sextile Pluto and trine – so an odd mix of under-confident and utterly unyielding. What causes the problems is her Mercury, Uranus, Mars spread out through Leo which will make her attention-grabbing, explosive, uncompromising; and with her Mars squaring Jupiter she’ll be a risk-taker and impulsive.  She’s not a happy camper from later this month to late January with a major disruption from tr Uranus square her Sun/Pluto midpoint; followed by a disastrous two years of scary, risky tr Pluto square her Mars/Saturn midpoint.

  It may or may not blow up into a “Satanic Verses” Rushdie standoff but even if it doesn’t will provoke similar arguments.  

In 1988 author Salman Rushdie had to go into hiding with heavy security after death threats were made against him for a novel that Westerners would not have raised an eyebrow over. Joan Bakewell remarked at the time it was a problem for a basically tolerant country when it takes in intolerant elements – it doesn’t know what to do with them. The UK has no interdict against blasphemy, while Islam does. And it’s why the rigorously secular French made such a stand over Charlie Hebdo, ditto the Danes over the Muhmmad cartoons.

  There was an excellent book years back by, I think a Norwegian journalist, about the position of modern women in Islamic countries which certainly included detail about Muhammad’s complicated marital history. She was not popular but whether she spent the rest of her life in hiding I don’t know.

  Ash Sarkar is a left-wing journalist and political activist, 17 April 1992, and has an Aries with a super-determined Pluto trine Mars, sextiling onto a highly strung Uranus Neptune in Capricorn. She enjoys jousting with Burchill in a fight for the upper hand and last word with both their respective Jupiters and Pluto colliding. And Sarkar’s Pluto squares Burchill’s Mars for a hostile clash.  

  In some ways it’s a spat in a teacup. But it also highlights an unresolved and unresolvable problem about respect for other cultures/religions when they don’t offer respect for the mores of the country they choose to live in.

Shia Laboeuf, the American actor, performance artist and filmmaker with a track record of misdemeanours from disorderly conduct to public intoxication has been accused by the musician FKA twigs of sexual battery, assault and infliction of emotional distress during their year long liaison. He has not denied the allegations and said in response: “I have been abusive to myself and everyone around me for years. I have a history of hurting the people closest to me. I’m ashamed of that history and am sorry to those I hurt.”

  He was born 11 June 1986 12.14 am Los Angeles, with a former dancer turned jewellery designer mother and an ex-Vietnam veteran father who suffered from PTSD and was an alcoholic. He has said he had a ‘hippy lifestyle” childhood and despite problems and poverty was happy and he loved both parents, whom he supports today.

  He has a 4^th house Gemini Sun opposition a wayward Uranus in the 10^th which squares onto Jupiter in Pisces – he won’t be short of confidence but will lack common sense with such an emphasised Jupiter. It can describe an irresponsible wanderer who expects results with no effort though, it can, if sorted out ultimately produce an enlightened spokesperson. His Mars in Capricorn opposes Venus in Cancer and a Leo Moon. Venus Mars in hard aspect tends to be insensitive to partner’s needs. His 6^th house Leo Moon squares an 8^th house Pluto, so he’ll be emotionally intense, possessive, and certainly shouldn’t over-drink since his health won’t cope with too much abuse. His Moon also trines Saturn in Sagittarius. He’s clearly ambivalent about his mother who brought him up after his parents divorced – Moon in aspect to Venus and Mars and Pluto and Saturn is quite bubbling cauldron of attachment, anger, fear and guilt.

 FKA twigs (what gives with these weird names?), 16 January 1988, England, was a seriously bad match for him. Her Capricorn Sun is conjunct his Mars and her Mars in Sagittarius is conjunct his Saturn; her Sagittarius Moon conjunct his Uranus and her disruptive Uranus Saturn in Sagittarius falls in his 10^th square his Jupiter and opposition his Sun.  Apart from her Venus in Pisces trine his Pluto there’s not much of a connection.

  Though the relationship chart does have a positive composite Sun Jupiter conjunction, and a passionate Venus opposition Pluto – which won’t make up for the effects of an explosive Uranus Mars conjunction.  On balance more minuses than pluses.

  He needs to get his act together. He does have his Solar Arc Uranus conjunct his Mars this year for a wake-up call. And his North Node opposition Pluto square Moon will have moved by Solar Arc to have the Moon square his Saturn in 18 months’ time which will be another sharp reality check.

   Pic: John Blauld.

John Le Carre, best known for his Cold War spy fiction which he raised to a literary art – The Spy Who Came in from the Cold; Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy; The Night Manager, The Perfect Gardener – has died aged 89.

  Born David Cornwell on 19 October 1931, he had an extraordinary childhood with his mother bolting when he was six leaving his brother and himself with their father, Ronnie Cornwell, described as “ a charming, colourful, larger-than-life confidence trickster, a fantasist and a womaniser, briefly imprisoned in several parts of the world, who left a trail of unpaid debts, false names, bogus letterheads, perplexed women, unsuccessful racehorses, luxurious motor cars and dubious financial schemes.” The two boys had to share his lies: “To run the household with no money required a lot of serious lying to the local garage man, the local butcher, the local everybody.”

  Ronnie used them to get himself out of trouble. David and his older brother, Tony, developed skills in observation and reading between the lines, targeted at their father. In turn Ronnie kept his boys under constant surveillance, listening to their phone calls, searching their rooms, opening their mail. Life with Ronnie was an apprenticeship in espionage.

  In later years having served in MI5 (counter intelligence) and MI6, Le Carre speculated that ‘the habit of keeping secrets about his father had accustomed him to the blanket of protection which membership of a secret community confers, and that working in a confidential capacity for the government offered a combination of propriety and subversion to match his curious upbringing.’

  He only met his mother once after her departure when he was 21 but the rift was never healed. His father despite his appalling behaviour held a place in his affections till the end, despite latterly trying to tap into his son’s royalties.

  Le Carre was a Sun Mercury in Libra with the signature tough-as-nails Great Depression aspects of Pluto opposition Saturn square Uranus tied into his Sun; with his Pluto in a dourly determined trine to Mars in Scorpio; and his Jupiter in an adventurous square to Mars and trine to Uranus. His Moon was in Aquarius almost certainly square Venus in Scorpio and maybe opposition Jupiter in Leo – which is odd with an estranged mother, though houses might be more descriptive if the birth time was known.  But his father was the overwhelming influence in his life, tying him in with a controlling Sun square Pluto and Saturn, despite his wayward Uranian lifestyle.

  A genealogy website has his father’s birthdate as 4 November 1905 which looks feasible, giving Ronnie a Scorpio Sun conjunct Le Carre’s Venus and Ronnie’s Venus in Libra widely conjunct Le Carre’s Sun which suggests an affectionate bond. Though the conflicting cross overs between each’s Mars to the other’s Saturn hint at the other more aggravating side of their chemistry.

 Their relationship chart had the classic paranoid signature of Saturn opposition Neptune square Sun, so it would veer between an illusory connection and discouragement; with an affectionate Sun Venus; and a super-confident, struggle for the upper hand Sun trine Jupiter Pluto. Quite a mix.

  Le Carre was an acute observer of the political and wider social scene, with a cynical distrust of authority figures and government and a nuanced, at times jaundiced, view of the split between the good guys and the bad guys. His spies weren’t heroic James Bonds in Armani suits. One of his characters remarks ‘“Spies? They’re a squalid procession of vain fools, sadists and drunkards, people who play cowboys and Indians to brighten their rotten lives.” 

  The British scene will be poorer for his passing.  He had a prominent though strained writer’s 21^st harmonic; a super-obsessive 11H; a victim/healer 12H and a notable leaving-a-legacy-for-history 17H.

“With your feet on the ground you’re a bird in flight with your fist holding tight to the string of your kite.”

The deed is done, the die is cast – more or less, maybe. As the Boris tribe skip merrily on humming ‘practically perfect in every way’ it is tempting to believe past fears have been misplaced. Evidently he thinks the imposition of tariffs will prove to be like the millennium bug: feared by Cassandras as Armageddon, but ultimately passing off with little fuss. Dread warnings about the car industry will prove overblown, sterling depreciation will help offset tariffs for exporters, and importers will source more ingredients and components from the UK. He genuinely believes that with a bit of pluck, a fair wind and the advantage of language, a great legal system and convenient global time zone, the UK will find a way to prosper in partnership with some of the fastest-growing parts of the global economy. (BBC)

  A jaundiced detractor might point to his natal Jupiter opposition Neptune. Sakoian & Acker remark of this placing: lack of practicality not favourable for business or financial involvements, unrealistic blind spot, makes promises can’t fulfil, unreliable, has an ego-centred notion of being a special messenger from on high.

  Returning to the UK 1801 chart to ponder on whether fears have been overblown, what is significant – apart from the financial roller coaster and collisions for several years ahead of transiting and Solar Arc Uranus moving through the UK’s financial 8^th house across (Solar Arc for longer) see post below 11^th December – is another aspect.

   The Solar Arc Pluto is moving to square the UK Midheaven in late 2021 and the UK Sun in late 2022, which suggests a major blockage and need to rebuild after old structures collapse. This repeats a similar Solar Arc Pluto conjunct the UK Midheaven and opposition the Sun in 1925/26. At that point there was a General Strike in solidarity with coal miners whose livelihoods were badly affected after World War 1. It wasn’t a history changing moment though it has become culturally symbolic of downtrodden workers, who went on to suffer worse through the 1930s.

  The previous time of Solar Arc Pluto, this time in Aries, square the UK MC and Sun was in 1836/7 when there was increasing hardship from the curbing of Poor Relief. Chartism which fought for workers’ rights got under way.

  It does suggest a mutinous under-class rising up in resentment.

  The right-wing media have been hurling brickbats at Angela Merkel, whom they blame for EU intransigence and failure of any deal, though her relationship chart with Boris isn’t remotely as troublesome as his with Macron.  Her Venus in Virgo certainly doesn’t appreciate his disorganized and aggressive Mutable T Square of Mars, Saturn, Uranus, Pluto but that apart, she’s so so about him.  Though no doubt her strait-laced temperament doesn’t take to his cavalier approach to the truth or indeed to fidelity.  Their relationship chart does have a composite Sagittarius Moon which is catching the Solar Eclipse tomorrow. And her own chart has Mars in late Sagittarius which will be making her unusually argumentative and up for a fight.

   The UK chart has the tr Jupiter Saturn in Aquarius moving through the 5^th house in 2021, which will impact on speculation, entertainment, children and the nation’s ability to shine. Jupiter will boost confidence and help to keep the population smiling. Saturn will, au naturellement, do the opposite so hard work will be needed at times to keep morale high. There will be financial discouragements from tr Saturn square the 8^th house Mars; and in 2022 conjunct the 5^th house Venus and 2^nd house Neptune. But a light at the end of the tunnel – from June 2023 for a year Jupiter moves through the financial 8^th which should bring some better financial news.

  It won’t be a complete meltdown catastrophe and all countries will have a post-Covid economic hangover so it won’t be an end-to-the-world-as-we-have-known-it. The UK has survived epic political failures before – Suez and Iraq amongst them. Though both of these irrevocably tainted the respective Prime Ministers of the day. Whether Brexit will be worth the pain for the least-well-able-to-cope sections of the community in the next few years is another question.

  Another non-astro thought. Early on after the Brexit vote Yanis Varoufakis, former Minister of Finance, who lived through the humiliation of Greece at the hands of the EU, advised that negotiating with the EU was a waste of time since they wouldn’t budge and it would only end in tears. Had the May/Johnson governments heeded they might well have been better prepared. Adam Marshall, DG of the British Chamber of Commerce said today: “It is hard to believe that we still have to ask ministers for clarity on the nuts and bolts of trade – things like rules of origin, customs software, tariff codes and much more besides – just a fortnight before the end of the transition period. Ultimately, businesses can and will adapt to the UK’s new trade reality. Yet they are not miracle workers or mind-readers.”

 What was it Boris said just two years back? – “F*** business” when advised that industry heads were concerned about a hard Brexit. Who does he think employs people?

For an aide-memoire of Trump’s star-crossed path of the moment, here’s a rerun of an earlier post. The Total Solar Eclipse in Sagittarius tomorrow, the day of the Electoral College is conjunct Trump’s Moon and opposition his Sun.  It is also opposition the USA Mars in Gemini so will bring a combative mood with arguments flaring and compromise won’t be the mood of the country.   

  Where Trump is concerned, an Eclipse conjunct his Moon will test the foundations on which his life has been built with his public image coming under scrutiny. If he’s not standing on solid ground and is hanging on to old habit patterns it could all crumble to dust. An Eclipse opposition his Sun indicates a major turning point and crisis, which will force him to face that he is not always right. If he fights the need for change it will leave him kicking and screaming.    

  Trump’s chart detail: Tr Pluto from November 20^th till December 26^th will oppose his Mars/Node for trapped and enraging setbacks, with the discouraging uphill-slog of tr Pluto opposing his Saturn at the same time. Then 26 December to 27 January he has more tantrum-inducing aggravations from tr Pluto opposition his Sun/Mars midpoint; his poisonous-rhetoric and lying Mercury/Pluto; and his wounded Venus/Saturn midpoint. He’ll be like a cornered cobra.  His Solar Arc Saturn will also within weeks be on the degree of the conjunction to his 2^nd house Neptune, a harbinger of the financial meltdown to come later in 2021.

  Joe Biden, birth time being accurate, loses one of his two panicked Neptune transits to separate Mars midpoints after November 20^th.  The other trails on until 26^th January. He’ll experience an upheaval from tr Uranus square his Pluto from 18^th November to 19 December which can go either way – as with Netanyahu into power – or it will bring a rocky ride.  He looks marginally upbeat with tr Pluto trine his Mercury/Jupiter midpoint November 20^th to December 26^th. And very definitely looking enthusiastic and confident from January 26^th to late February with tr Pluto opposition his Jupiter; and that successful phase rolls on through till August with tr Pluto trine his Sun/Jupiter and Venus/Jupiter, plus tr Uranus square his Jupiter/Node across mid year and on. Whatever happens he looks in better spirits in 2021/22 with the exception of an insecure tr Uranus opposition his Mars late May on and off for a year.

This Solar Eclipse is in a Saros Series that Bernadette Brady says has a strong emotional intensity and acute frustration, a sense of fatedness and not being in control. Avoid rash action until it settles down.

  December does look extremely fraught and bad-tempered in general for everyone with the final Mars in Aries square Pluto running to the 23^rd, which won’t be fun. Mars moves out of its long stint in Aries where it has been causing havoc for some months on January 6^th. But just to be un-useful it moves into Taurus and immediately rattles up Mercury in Aquarius, squares Saturn and is conjunct Uranus so January won’t be a peaceful month.

The USA chart and Eclipses: The Lunar Eclipse on 30 November at 8 degrees Gemini Moon/Sagittarius Sun will collide with the USA’s Uranus in Gemini which may spring a few surprises, spark off a few rebellions and wild claims. Mishandled Uranus on an Eclipse can limit freedom, though there is the potential for taking a new road. That Lunar Eclipse in addition to having the see-saw Full Moon also has a Uranus opposition Uranus and a frustrated Mars square Pluto – so the divisiveness of recent times won’t have settled much.

   Apart from the Eclipses the USA chart also has a blocked tr Saturn conjunct Pluto November 14^th to 26^th which will be discouraging. Tr Uranus square the Leo Node 21 December to 8 February 2021, which may be more significant than it sounds since the US ‘leadership’ Leo Node does get rattled easily, viz tr Neptune in opposition for 9/11.

  There’s also a return of the toxic-rhetoric and hostile-debate tr Pluto opposition the USA Mercury 26 December to 27 January 2021 (repeating later in the year).

Will Trump refuse to leave the White House? Given his past record anything is possible,

Trump and Failure: Past experience of how Trump faces losing battles are scary and instructive. Chicago Trump Hotel ran into huge debts in 2008, which for most would have meant ruin. But he counter-sued the lender Deutsche Bank for “predatory lending practices” and sought $3 billion in damages. He was then forgiven $270 million worth of debt.

 In 1973 he slammed back at the US government over its charges that Trump’s rental properties had racial discriminatory practices and counter-sued them for $100 million. Two years later it was settled in private with an agreement that the Trump properties change their practices.

He follows Roy Cohn, his early mentor’s diktat – Attack, Don’t Settle, Never Apologize.

In the unlikely event of him fleeing abroad or more likely starting up financial/business connections abroad his astro-cartography indicates:

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil has his Sun Midheaven line directly through it – President Bolsonaro might come in handy.

Otherwise the Middle East is reasonably good with Jupiter in his 10th there and much secret goings on from the 8th with Pluto, Venus, Saturn there. More the Gulf States than Saudi Arabia. But his super success Jupiter Midheaven line goes through Kazakhstan (Prince Andrew’s chums) and Uzbekistan.

Trump won’t be too cosy with Mohamed bin Salman of Saudi in 2021 and even Jared is facing a few hiccups there after mid year.

See post November 1 2020.

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The Brexit lies are coming into sharp focus – the “oven-ready” EU trade deal; the “absolutely zero” chances of no deal; and the “totally and utterly absurd” prospect of EU tariffs on British goods – as the possibility of a UK/EU détente appears to be receding straight off the edge of a cliff.

  It hasn’t been lost on EU leaders that Boris made his name and reputation in his early journalistic days in Brussels telling whoppers on an industrial scale in bashing EU institutions. No doubt bored with the minutiae he discovered that punting colourful and most often false stories produced an amazing effect on the Tory Party. He said later “it gave me this rather weird sense of power.“ He likened it to “chucking rocks over the garden wall” with the sound of broken glass echoing back from an enlivened English right wing.  

  His Mars square Pluto just revelled in the destruction and allowed him to give full vent to the volcanic reservoir of anger and hatred instilled in him by his childhood that needed an outlet. Quite by chance he tripped into Europe as a target, but frankly it could have been anything. It gave him a vehicle to propel him to prominence and he continued the same tactic shamelessly in the Brexit campaign. The arguments he and others churned out leant heavily on much that had nothing to do with the EU – hospital waiting lists, the dearth of decent jobs, racist tales about foreigners getting free cash, poverty – and rabble-roused the disenfranchised by suggesting leaving the EU would solve all their problems.  

  Boris is in the line of fire from the Solar Eclipse on December 14^th rattling in opposition to his Gemini planets. Like Trump he’s learning with his Gemini Sun in opposition to the Eclipse that he’s not always right, and needs to shake himself into taking a new approach. In opposition to his Venus he’ll feel unloved; and will need to find the tolerance of other viewpoints to be able to compromise. In opposition to his Mercury, he’ll be running around trying to sort out things that have gone off track, getting embroiled in communication muddles, and finding negotiations run into resistance. Again the motto is step back and rethink.

  His Term chart, 13 December 2019, has its Sagittarius Sun conjunct this Total Solar Eclipse which hints at a major crisis, which will leave the collective government kicking and screaming about what’s being done to it. Irrevocable choices are at hand and there’ll be no going back.  The Eclipse effect usually lasts for several months,

  This particular Eclipse is in a Saros series that produces a strongly emotional mood. There is a sense of fatedness and individuals feel they are caught up in situations or relationships beyond their control. This will bring acute frustrations and the advice is to avoid rash actions. It was around before in 2002, 1984, 1966, 1948, 1930, 1912.

   The Boris Term chart in addition has a catastrophic and disastrous tr Neptune square the Mars/Pluto midpoint till late January 2021 with an undermining tr Neptune square the Sun picking up a few weeks later and staying around into 2022. The cabinet won’t be bouncing around raising champagne glasses.

  Boris’s personal chart has the Solar Arc Uranus about to conjunct his Moon within weeks which will bring an emotional or maybe financial shock; and his Solar Arc Midheaven conjunct his Uranus (birth time dependent for exact timing) still has to show its colours for a radical change of career direction.

  When the UK joined the EEC on 1 January 1973 tr Pluto was conjunct the UK Libra Ascendant with Solar Arc Neptune just over the cusp into the 8^th house of business finances; the Solar Arc Pluto was conjunct the legislature 11^th house Saturn; and the Solar Arc Moon conjunct the IC and Sun. It suggested a revisioning of image, a shift in trading with some trepidation, and challenges for parliament.

  This time round the Solar Arc Pluto is conjunct the Ascendant with the Solar Arc Uranus on the cusp and moving into the financial 8^th house; and the Solar Arc North Node conjunct the financial 2^nd house Neptune. There are certain similarities – at least in terms of identity (Ascendant) and financial viability in co-operative commerce (8^th house).

   The die is cast, the deed is done and what comes next will have to be coped with. Though the 2021 economically challenging tr Saturn square tr Uranus colliding with the UK’s 8^th house Mars is not reassuring. All countries will have a troubled period trying to recover from Covid damage, but the UK will have it worse with a double hit from Brexit on top. Tr Uranus will stay in the UK 8^th house until 2027 for a roller-coaster phase of financial ups and downs, made worse by tr Uranus in hard aspect to all four UK Fixed, mainly financial planets – Mars in the 8^th plus Venus in the 5^th, Neptune in the 2^nd and Saturn in the 11^th until 2025. It’ll be a rocky ride.

  Final astro-thought – for now – a commentator remarked on Brexit “Setting up sovereignty as the issue and interpreting the result of the referendum as a mandate for no interference is not the way the world works — unless you want to be North Korea.” It fits into the raging power issues in Boris’s chart and several others in that camp; and indeed reeks of those who are still wallowing in nostalgia for a superpower UK/England that has crumbled into dust long since.  

Barbara Windsor, the bubbly blonde star of nine Carry On films and latterly EastEnders, has died aged 83 of Alzheimer’s for which she campaigned in recent years.

  She was born 6 August 1937 7.35pm (rectified) in the east end of London with a street-seller/barrow boy father and a dressmaker mother who pushed her towards an acting career after she returned from war-time evacuation. She first appeared on stage at 13, was educated at a dance and drama school and joined the Joan Littlewood Theatre Workshop after she left.

   Her private life was every bit as dramatic though darker than her roles. Her first husband Ronnie Knight, was part of the London east end criminal aristocracy, a nightclub owner and a fugitive in Spain, eventually convicted for handling stolen money after a £6 million armed robbery. Before meeting him, she’d had affairs with both the notorious and violent, organised crime lord Kray twins. She went on to marry another twice, had five abortions and said she wasn’t maternal so never wanted children.

  Her chart was anything but frothy and frivolous with a fairly brutal and super ambitious Mars in Scorpio in the 10^th trine Pluto in the 7^th trine Saturn in forced-to-be-self-reliant Aries. With her Pluto in the 7th she would be attracted to controlling, intense and ruthless partners. But her Pluto opposed Jupiter on her Ascendant so she would exude enthusiasm and optimism. She also had a practical and grounded Earth Grand Trine of Jupiter trine Uranus trine an 8^th house super-star Neptune.

  Her entertaining, sparkly Leo New Moon in the 7^th square Uranus added to the contradictions of her personality . She was a free spirit and dependent, rebellious and possessive, earthy and ethereal.

Joe Biden’s honeymoon period is over before he sets foot in the White House, with a spotlight being shone on his son Hunter Biden’s finances, with a tax investigation under way and hints of a probe into possible money laundering and foreign ties. Joe’s brother James is also involved in a hospital business which is under criminal investigation.  There is no suggestion that Joe Biden is implicated but the issues could be a constant distraction through his presidency until resolved.

  The previous October 30 2020 post below has the detail but it would certainly explain the fraught influences on the Joe/Hunter relationship chart, picking up from late January 2021 and running for two years. Tr Pluto will conjunct the composite Mars, which will make both feel trapped and angry as well as frustrated in the extreme. Tr Neptune is also square the composite Mercury in February and again late year into early 2022, for miscommunications and evasions. And Hunter is none too popular with Jill Biden either.

  Hunter’s chart indicates that late 2021 into and across 2022 is his nadir with jolts, high-tension, shocks and a sense of panicky failure.

  It’s not that previous presidents haven’t had their family embarassments to contend with – Bill Clinton, Jimmy Carter, George Bush etc. Even our Maggie Thatcher’s son Mark. But on top of the pyramids of problems an incoming president has to face and this one in particular, it will be one straw too many. And it will stick Joe Biden between a rock and a hard place since he’ll no doubt wish to reassert the Justice Department and AG’s independence from the White House to wipe out the damage caused by Trump and William Barr’s finagling.

Post October 30 2020.

Joe Biden’s errant son Hunter continues to be the focus of right-wing attacks with a dodgy New York Post piece, disclaimed even by its own reporters – and complaints that the media are avoiding covering the story of an alleged laptop containing incriminating files for partisan reasons. A recent Republican Senate report found that his lucrative work at a Ukrainian energy firm while his father was vice-president was “problematic” and “awkward”, but found no evidence that US foreign policy was influenced. The BBC comments: “It does however detail the breadth of his connections to questionable foreign interests and business leaders in Ukraine and China – creating “criminal financial, counterintelligence and extortion concerns”. It suggests Joe Biden’s son was profiting from his family name – a potential conflict of interest that is unsavoury but not unusual in Washington’s corridors of power.”

  Hunter has a known history of drink and drug abuse.

  Born 4 February 1970, he is a charming Sun Venus in Aquarius, with an up and down Jupiter in Scorpio opposition Saturn in Taurus; and a volatile and reckless Mars in Aries opposition Uranus. He was injured when two years old along with his brother Beau in a car crash which killed his mother and sister. In the aftermath Joe Biden, then a young Senator, travelled home daily ninety minutes each way from Washington to ensure he was there for them.

   Despite a recent gushing WPost piece about Joe’s unconditional love for his son, it is not that easy a relationship. Hunter’s Neptune is conjunct Joe’s Sun, Venus so his father will find him elusive, evasive and slippery – perhaps the drug problem also fits here. Hunter’s Saturn is conjunct Joe’s Taurus Moon for a defensive barrier. More troublesome Hunter’s Pluto sits in Joe’s 10^th which does give him a capacity for damaging Joe’s reputation and /or involving him in political and profession intrigues. Hunter’s Uranus is also in Joe’s 10^th which could be destabilizing.

  Their relationship chart does have an affectionate and close composite Sun Venus trine Pluto and Jupiter. But there’s also a hard-edged and aggravated composite Mars trine Saturn and a Neptune square Mars, both of which suggest differing agendas and lack of mutual support on one side or the other.

   What will be interesting to watch out for, astrologically speaking, is tr Pluto conjunct the composite Mars from late January 2021 onwards for two years. In the event of Biden winning, junior may well find himself hemmed in and fuming about it. If Joe loses then Hunter might get part of the blame. But one way or another it won’t all be sunshine and roses for two years ahead.

Kay Burley, a front-line Sky presenter, born a week after Coronation Street, celebrated her birthday at a restaurant a week early and ran into a furore about breaking covid restrictions. She now appears to be off air until January, she says on vacation, though other party attendees have also been taken off their normal slots.

 Born 17 December 1960, no birth time, she’s a New Moon Sagittarius with her Sun trine Uranus (which rules television) and her Moon Mercury in an intense square to Pluto. Her Pluto is in a confident trine to Jupiter in Capricorn, which in turn is conjunct Saturn in a hard-edged opposition to Mars. She’s known for being outspoken and a tough interviewer.

   Her Sun is conjunct this month’s Sagittarius Solar Arc throwing up a crisis, which may run on through 2021 with the Eclipses continuing in Gemini and Sagittarius until late year.

  She’ll have as many ups as she has downs in 2021 with two Jupiter midpoints bringing her luck and success; and two Mars midpoints bringing major aggravations. Her Mercury/Pluto midpoint is also active in 2021/22 so she’ll be in argumentative mood.