Mark Zuckerburg has been firmly defending his position at Facebook after another series of scandals, as befits a Sun and Venus in Taurus with four planets in Scorpio. He’s not a man for turning, despite stock being down 40% since a July high. On top of earlier fake news, election meddling and privacy concerns, a Times investigation has suggested the company had attempted to ignore and conceal Russian interference on its platform and had hired a PR firm to dig up dirt on its competitors.

Believe it or not, he was born with his Mars in Scorpio retrograde – 14 May 1984 Boston, MA, maybe 14.39 hrs (astrotheme). And his Mars goes direct by progression sometime within the next 18 months. This usually brings a crucial turning point with a huge outflow of energy. Though it will almost immediately run into a conjunction with his natal Saturn for a considerable setback. He looks deflated exactly now, with a few swampy Neptune transits continuing on from this year and escalating in 2019. But should get his act back together into 2020/2021 with tr Pluto trine his Sun and sextile his Jupiter/Node midpoint.

That’s when the Facebook IPO chart, 18 May 2012 11.31 am New York is roaring ahead with tr Pluto trine its Jupiter and it’ll stay on a high till 2024. But there will be a hiatus before then as it pushes against headwinds and lurches at times in 2019/2020.

Sheryl Sandberg, the COO, 28 August 1969, has been getting the brunt of the criticism since all of the transgressions happened on her watch. She’s a Sun Virgo trine Saturn in Taurus with an adventurous and lucky Jupiter Uranus Mercury in Libra. She’s not doing well in 2019/2020 with tr Pluto opposition her Jupiter/Saturn midpoint which can accompany a job loss. Though she should care given what she’s got in her bank account.

Robert De Niro is divorcing his wife Grace Hightower after 20 years, though they split briefly in the early days of the marriage and came back together.

He was born 17 August 1943 at 3 am in New York to painter parents, with his father leaving when he was two, announcing he was gay. He moved between both parents and grandparents when he was a child and started acting young.

He’s a Sun Leo square a determined Mars in Taurus; with a powerfully confident Pluto Jupiter in Leo in his 2^nd along with his Sun – so fairly focussed on money. His Pisces Moon squares both Uranus and a 12^th house Saturn, reflecting his erratic childhood. Saturn in the 12^th often refers to lack of a good male model and that added to Neptune in his 4^th would give him problems in committing to a settled domestic life.

At the moment he has tr Pluto moving through his 7^th which often puts strain on relationships; plus tr Neptune squared his Sun/Moon midpoint a few years back, so dissatisfaction will have been building. Exactly now his Progressed Moon is opposition his Uranus for a separation announcement.

Grace, 7 April 1955, is an Aries Sun square an adventurous and lucky Jupiter Uranus in Cancer and in a determined trine to Pluto. Their Fire signs are a good match; and her Venus in Pisces is conjunct his Moon which also chimes. Her Jupiter Uranus falls in his 1^st so her bounce and exuberance would lift him up. But like him she has Mars in stubborn Taurus and hers opposes Saturn in Scorpio which would double up on the unyieldingness. Her Pluto is conjunct his Sun which would give an intense bond initially but may have become overly restrictive.

Their relationship chart has an affectionate composite Sun Venus aspect; and a passionate Venus trine Pluto, sextile Neptune. Lots of positives, some negatives  – Hollywood isn’t a place with much marital sticking power.

The life sentence in the UAE for spying on behalf of the UK government handed out to Durham University student Matthew Hedges came as an unpleasant shock. And is all the more peculiar given the close ties between the UK and UAE (United Arab Emirates), both economically and militarily.

He spent five months in solitary confinement during the first six weeks of which he was interrogated without a lawyer or consular access and signed a document in Arabic which has described as a confession, despite neither speaking nor writing Arabic. Middle Eastern justice systems are back in the dark ages and should give people serious thought before they jaunt off for exotic holidays and/or fun work experience.

The UAE, a former UK protectorate home to around 100,000 Britons, is the UK’s largest export market in the Middle East. And the UAE is a major investor in the British economy and London with many of its leaders being Sandhurst trained.

Jeremy Hunt, the Foreign Secretary, issued a blunt statement saying it “is not what we expect from a friend and trusted partner of the United Kingdom and runs contrary to earlier assurances”.

The UAE was formed 2 December 1971. The relationship chart with the UK looks stressed over the next few weeks into early 2019 with tr Saturn square the composite Jupiter Uranus and Mars, putting a damper on good feelings and raising aggravation; and will limp on through 2019/2020. There must be a leverage behind this – perhaps Saudi pressure in a sulk over UK criticism of the Khashoggi murder?  Though Hedges was detained way before. Who knows?  It will no doubt emerge at some point.

The UAE is not looking too chipper and hasn’t been for a while with tr Neptune squaring its Sun Jupiter in Sagittarius square Mars in Pisces, running on till late 2019.

Jeremy Hunt (thank heavens it isn’t still Boris as FCO chef) looks undermined and less than pleased with the UAE until the New Year.

Add on: More is emerging about possible reasons behind Hedges’ conviction. He may have been naïve in exploring security issues for his doctoral thesis, however openly, in a country which has become, like others in the region, increasingly averse to any questioning by outsiders.

The Emirati crown prince Prince Mohammed, known as MbZ, the defacto ruler, 11 March 1961, it is thought has a ‘scratchy’ relationship with the present British government, despite being trained at the UK Sandhurst Military Academy. He has acted as a mentor for Saudi’s Mohammed bin Salman. Donald Trump’s explicit statement that ME allies would no longer hear US officials complaining about human rights, governance or corruption has been warmly received. And equally Emirati and Saudi leaders have bristled at allies, like Theresa May, who have not followed Trump’s lead.

MbZ is a Pisces sextile Jupiter Saturn in Capricorn; with his Mars in Cancer square Theresa May’s Sun. Their relationship chart has a cold composite Sun Saturn being rattled till early March 2019; and a mutually unsupportive, volatile and uncompromising (on both sides) composite Mars opposition Neptune square Uranus.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/nov/23/hedges-case-a-sign-of-uae-kickback-against-western-criticism

Businessman Carlos Ghosn, who rose to super-hero status as head honcho of Renault, Nissan and Mitsubishi, appears to have stumbled from his elevated pedestal charged with false accounting and under reporting his earnings and now detained in Japan.  He turned Renault’s fortunes round as ‘le cost killer’; and rescued Nissan from near bankruptcy as ‘Mr Fix It.’

Born 12 March 1954 in Brazil, he’s Lebanese-Brazilian-French, multi-lingual and from an entrepreneurial family. He has a Pisces Sun on the focal point of a Mutable T Square to a risk-taking, adventurous (and opportunistic) Mars in Sagittarius opposition Jupiter. Such a Sun can have a good deal to offer but is often arrogant, know-it-all and headstrong, and is very driven.

He has a strong get-it-together 5^th harmonic; and a rise-and-fall 10H. His leaving-a-legacy-for-history 17H is also marked so he’s not all bad.

Tr Neptune is proving his downfall now as it forms a panicky-failure square to his Mars in 2018/19 and then bursting his happiness bubble and denting his confidence square to his Jupiter in 2019 as well as making an undermining conjunction to his Sun – and all that trails into 2020. Tr Pluto is also opposing his Uranus exactly now for the final time for a major upheaval; as well as hard-aspecting his trapped and enraged Mars/Pluto midpoint.

He’ll probably bounce back by 2021 as his Solar Arc Jupiter is conjunct his Pluto; though he’ll be muddled at the same time with tr Pluto square his Neptune. At that level, handling and generating multi-billions, they all get tinged with megalomania and think themselves untouchable.

Please add below. Older posts under News on top bar.

A speed read round the rest of the Brexiteer gang of five in the Cabinet.

Penny Mordaunt, 4 March 1973, a Sun Pisces square Saturn and square Neptune, sextile Mars – on a losing streak and very off balance till the New Year. A major turnaround into 2019 and she will pick up steam and enthusiasm from April 2019 till late 2020, which is when Boris looks to be marginally revitalised as well.

Liam Fox, 22 September 1961, a Sun Virgo trine Jupiter Saturn in Capricorn – nothing going right now and jammed up and aggravated through 2019/2020.

Chris Grayling, 1 April 1962, an Aries Sun sextile Saturn, with Mars in Pisces opposition Pluto – devastated till New Year and beyond with tr Neptune conjunct his Mars till late 2019

The People’s Vote was launched on 15 April 2018 in London mid afternoon. This gives a hugely determined and hugely frustrated Mars Pluto. With Mars conjunct Saturn and sitting exactly on the Saturn/Pluto midpoint which can be self-destructive or feel cruelly treated. With Pluto square Sun, Moon, Uranus – which is rebellious, but hemmed in.

There’s a highly persuasive Jupiter opposition Venus, sextile Pluto, trine Neptune – so the enthusiasm will be there but maybe not enough to push through to a satisfactory finish.

If it holds together, there’ll be even more aggro in 2021/22.

The USA’s First Pluto Return will happen on the next President’s watch (2022/23). While there may be symbolic events which carry the significance of the epochal shift in the power balance of the country’s style of government and status that comes with Pluto’s return to its natal position, it is often only with the perspective of hindsight that a clear pattern can be seen.

Some hints can be seen in the examples in the post below (November 18^th). For England the humiliation of Suez in 1956 and loss of empire; and previous occurrences also came with failure in one area followed later by successful development in a different direction; as well as the gradual shift towards more democratic government from the 13^th century onwards. The deaths of Napoleon, Stalin and Franco were also clear Pluto Return markers in the old France, Russia and Spain charts of a break with one style of government.

The 2021 USA Inauguration chart itself is stark enough with a 12^th house explosive Mars Uranus in Taurus exactly square the USA 1776 leadership North Node in Leo; and square Saturn, Sun, Jupiter on the day. With a control-freak, autocratic Pluto on the midheaven. Throughout 2020 tr Pluto will be in a bitterly stubborn opposition to the USA 1776 Mercury from early in 2020, exact over January 2021 and running on till late 2021. The latter tends to bring hostile, fanatical debates and can feel like a collective nervous breakdown.

So it’s not just a Pluto Return for the USA, but Pluto battering on Mercury as well which rules the rational and mental functions.

Inauguration charts set the tone for the Presidency. Abraham Lincoln’s First Term through the civil war had a brutal Mars Pluto trine Saturn. His Second Term, which saw his assassination had Uranus Mars conjunct with Mars square the Sun – sudden acts of violence. Garfield and McKinley who were also assassinated also had Jupiter Saturn conjunctions over their start; with both having stressed Uranus and Mars in Aquarius.  Ronald Reagan’s First Term during which he was shot had Jupiter Saturn conjunct and Mars in Aquarius trine Saturn Jupiter and Pluto. Oddly enough JFK’s Inauguration although it had a Jupiter Saturn conjunction didn’t have an afflicted Mars, though it did have a Yod apex Uranus, which can be divisive and disruptive.  GW Bush’s First Term in 2001 had an exceptionally afflicted Mars opposition Saturn square Uranus and a Jupiter Saturn conjunction. But the violence of this was obviously soaked up by 9/11 and the subsequent Afghanistan/Iraq wars.

Bill Clinton’s 2^nd Term, during which he was impeached but found innocent, was very tough with a Half Grand Sextile from Mars opposition Saturn, sextile Pluto and Uranus.

On impeachments: Andrew Johnson in 1868 – tr Neptune was square the USA 1776 Sun. Richard Nixon’s resignation to avoid impeachment had tr Uranus square the USA 1776 Mercury and tr Saturn conjunct the Cancer Sun. Bill Clinton’s attempted impeachment came when tr Saturn was square the USA Mercury opposition Pluto.  All three had Jupiter in Pisces then, which recurs in the first half of 2022.

On the USA First President chart, 30 April 1789 12.45pm New York, all the three above impeachments  are clearly highlighted in transits. When Bill Clinton’s near miss happened tr Uranus was in hard aspect to the Taurus Sun and that is back round even more strongly as tr Uranus conjuncts the Sun in 2020 and early 2021. Though that may just be coincidence since previous tr Uranus hard aspects didn’t seem to have a cataclysmic effect. Tr Pluto is also squaring the First President Neptune in 2019/2020 which indicates devastating confusion; with the trigger-point 8th house Mars which was keyed up for Andrew Johnson’s impeachment and Nixon’s resignation,  also being hammered in the third week of January 2019, and again in September 2019.

The USA Constitution chart, 17 September 1787 11.29 am Philadelphia, does show signs of major challenges coming up. Tr Pluto will trine the Sun in 2020/2021; and there looks to be a major upheaval around 2022/23 with the Solar Arc Uranus opposition the Sun and tr Pluto opposition the Uranus. Tr Pluto was conjunct the Constitution Uranus in 1936/37 –

Andre writes: ‘There was a major constitutional event in the US in 1937. The Supreme Court had been blocking many of FDR’s initiatives under the New Deal which had been meant to fight the Great Depression in his first term. The President was re-elected in 1936 with what was known as the Court-packing plan, by which he threatened to pass a law (he controlled both houses of Congress) to add seats to the highest court and force early retirement of the sitting judges. They backed down in 1937 with a famous footnote where they basically raised the white flag and overturned a long line of previous cases to finally allow such measures as Medicare. This is known in law schools as «the switch in time that saved nine». It was in effect a bloodless constitutional revolution.’

Apologies for the amount of astro-info above but I was trying to clear my thinking about the likely outcomes. Definitely a defining and possibly violent moment in the country’s destiny with a constitutional battle and long term ramifications is the best I can do in the meantime.

The leaked CIA conclusion that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MbS) ordered the assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul last month has caught Trump in a double-bind given his and Jared’s bro-romance with MbS. It was promptly downplayed by the State Department which suggests that Gina Haspel (CIA) and Mike Pompeo (State) aren’t quite on the same page, assuming she knew about the leak. It certainly contradicts the Saudi government’s claims that MbS was not involved in the killing.

Gina Haspel, born delightfully on the same day as Theresa May, 1 October 1956, certainly does not get on with Pompeo. Their relationship chart has a volatile composite Mars opposition Uranus square Mercury Sun Venus.

And she’s no better with Trump since her Pluto is conjunct Trump’s Mars and Ascendant with her Saturn in Scorpio on his IC is in square – which looks like trouble in waiting.

It also gives the Saudis a headache since removing MbS from his chief-of-everything role would look like a failure of judgement by his father King Salman. His elevation to Crown Prince on 21 June 2017, announced at 6.19am in Riyadh, has tr Saturn square the midheaven exactly now for a considerable setback; and will jitter and jangle through the next few months with tr Saturn opposition Mars in December and then square Jupiter in January and finally conjunct the Descendant by February and Pluto in March 2019 which sounds like restrictions coming firmly down on him. This chart has a ruthless Mars opposition Pluto and more pointedly a Jupiterian Yod inconjunct Neptune sextile Venus, which can be self-defeating through wild over-confidence. So January 15^th to 23^rd might be a time to watch when tr Saturn puts the brakes on his recklessness.

MbS’s relationship with Trump is sagging badly through this month and December with tr Neptune square the composite Jupiter; as it is thrown off course at the same time by tr Uranus square the composite Venus Mercury, repeating in February; and worse squaring the composite Sun in March for further ruptures. With discouraging pressures continuing through 2019/2020.

Andrea Leadsom is one of the gang of five Cabinet Brexiteers insisting that the Brexit deal must be renegotiated despite Barnier and Merkel saying it can’t be. They have (according to the Daily Mail) given her two weeks to fix it or they resign.

Born 13 May 1963 in Aylesbury, England, she worked in the banks and investment companies before becoming an MP, though there were questions about whether her experience was strictly in the financial sphere. She became Economic Secretary to the Treasury and City Minister in 2014. According to the Financial Times, her period as City Minister was seen by departmental officials as “a disaster”, “the worst minister we ever had. … She found it difficult to understand issues or take decisions. She was monomaniacal, seeing the EU as the source of every problem.” She stood for the Tory leadership when Cameron resigned but withdrew when support wasn’t there for her.

She has a ferociously determined chart, hard-edged and aggravated/ing, with a Taurus Sun and Mercury in a Fixed Grand Cross opposition Neptune square Mars in Leo opposition Saturn in Scorpio, so unyielding to the nth degree. She also has a Yod of Pluto sextile Neptune inconjunct Jupiter in pro-active Aries – such a Jupiterian Yod can have an effect on mass consciousness but can also be undone by its own grandiosity.

She’s not looking cheerful at the moment with setbacks immediately now; and an enthusiasm-denting tr Saturn square her apex Jupiter in early December. January/February will be fairly catastrophic for her with the risk of a job loss in February. She has a minor lift in March, but it’s all slipping and sliding thereafter into 2020 when she gets her Solar Arc Neptune square her apex Jupiter, which might burst her bubble for good career-wise.

Theresa May’s implacable Pluto and Venus both in Leo, clash mightily with Leadsom’s Fixed Grand Cross; May’s Mars opposes Leadsom’s Pluto. And May’s Sun opposes Leadsom’s Jupiter – so sparking off Leadsom’s desire for supremacy.

Their relationship chart has a bitter power-struggling and active-dislike composite Mars square Pluto; an a chained-together-and-resenting-it Saturn trine Pluto, sextiling a suspicious Neptune. Not a dream pairing.