Protests against the heavily disputed presidential election results in Zimbabwe led to troops opening fire on the streets of Harare with three dead. The party of Emmerson Mnanagwa, a former-enforcer for Robert Mugabe, is deemed to have achieved a two thirds majority (later reduced to 50.8%, just over the threshold to avoid a run off). EU observers allowed in for the first time say they observed several problems, including media bias, voter intimidation and mistrust in the electoral commission, adding that there was an “improved political climate, but un-level playing field and lack of trust”.

If and it’s a big if, Mnanagwa turns out to be better than Mugabe there will be a long haul back to a stable economy. The country has slid sharply backwards in the recent decades with malnutrition and diseases rife.

The Zim chart has Pluto opposition an Aries Sun, under pressure from tr Pluto squares until the mid 2020s, finishing up with tr Pluto square the midheaven. Later this autumn till next spring tr Uranus will also conjunct the Sun and oppose the midheaven, so the unrest will run on. Tr Neptune will move to oppose the 8^th house (business finances) Saturn in 2021/2022 which won’t be good news. Only once Pluto moves into Aquarius in 2024/2025 and onwards is there likely to be a major uptick. There will be changes, perhaps rebellions in 2020/21 when tr Pluto sextiles the 10^th house Uranus

Mnanagwa, 15 September 1946, has his Sun conjunct the Zim Saturn so he will be concerned about international investment; and his Jupiter Mars in Libra connects with the Zim Pluto, MC and Sun which could breathe new life and inspiration into the country – or give free rein to his opportunistic impulses, depending on which way it swings.

He’s not much loved, but isn’t as off-the-wall as Mugabe was; and he might just push through some much-needed reforms with a composite Sun trine Neptune, sextile Uranus in the relationship chart. Which if he wants outside investors in, will require a modicum of transparency and democracy and a nod to human rights.

Family embarrassment continues to escalate for poor Meghan with her father talking constantly to the US media about being rejected. The DM speculates the Queen has stepped in to quell the unwanted publicity though quite what she can do isn’t obvious. She will no doubt be displeased at the mishandling of the affair from square one, which possibly wouldn’t have happened if the older courtiers had still been around. Harry should have met him in person, more than once; he should have been brought over and bought off if necessary to keep him quiet. There’s no way of knowing yet what the whole back story is and it’s odd he lives in rundown Mexico but still it did look like an accident waiting to happen.

Thomas Markle was born 18 July 1944 in Los Angeles,  was a television lighting director, winner of several awards. He won $750,000 in a California lottery in 1990, but spent it and filed for bankruptcy in 2016 over a debt of $30,000. He’s been married three times.

His Cancer Sun is conjunct the Fixed star Procyon which can rise to heights and then fall. He’s got Jupiter in flamboyant Leo in an adventurous conjunction to Mars and a Venus Pluto conjunction in Leo. He shares that Venus Pluto conjunction with Sarah Ferguson, who shares his lack of sense about money or discretion and the tendency of hanging on emotionally.

It is a controlling relationship with Meghan since she has Pluto in the 4^th so she’d find him quite scary when she was growing up. His Sun is conjunct her Ascendant which suggests a strong though competitive link; and his Venus Pluto is conjunct her Mercury Sun, so he will want to manipulate her.

Their relationship chart also has a competitive edge with a composite Sun Mars Mercury, a chilly, emotionally blocked Venus Saturn; and a composite Mars square Neptune  = when one succeeds the other feels diminished.

Their connection looks if anything bumpier in 2019/2020; and undermined this year and next.

HM Queen looks frustrated and irritated with Prince Harry especially this September/October; and her relationship with Meghan is also gritty and exasperated through till early 2019.

There is that odd composite Moon square Saturn Pluto in Meghan and Harry’s relationship chart, which suggests bleak, destructive and unkind family relationships – which I had rather ascribed to the Royals. But it clearly works on both sides. Their composite Moon is being seriously jangled this December and January 2019 with tr Uranus square; and under discouraging challenges in 2020 to 2024.

Bob Woodward, reckoned the best investigative reporter in the USA, has his take on the Trump presidency out in September in a book called simply ‘Fear.’ He has written books on three past presidents all with their cooperation which was not forthcoming this time round. But he appears to have persuaded insiders to talk in private. One former official said: ‘It’s gonna be killer. Everyone talked with Woodward.’ Former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said: “He has an extraordinary ability to get otherwise responsible adults to spill [their] guts to him…his ability to get people to talk about stuff they shouldn’t be talking about is just extraordinary and may be unique.”

The book title came from a conversation with Trump during the 2016 campaign when he said: ‘Real power means you can get what you want without having to exert violence. Real power is Fear.’

Woodward was born 26 March 1936 6.35pm Geneva, Illinois, the son of a judge, served in the navy and then went into journalism, hitting the bullseye with his expose of Watergate, along with fellow reporter Carl Bernstein, which brought Richard Nixon down. Since then he’s written 18 non-fiction books, 12 of them best-sellers, and has remained at the top of his game being part of the Pulitzer prize winning Washington Post team not just for Watergate but also 9/11. He’s been married three times.

He has a 7^th house Aries Sun and Mercury in late Pisces opposition Neptune on his Ascendant – perhaps why he’s able to get underneath interviewees’ defences to winkle out the truth.  He’s got a courageous and ruthlessly determined Mars in Aquarius in the spotlight 5^th opposition Pluto square Venus in Taurus in the 8^th. His Venus in the 8^th will also give him the ability to plug into people at a deep level. He has a talented Half Grand Sextile off the Mars opposition Pluto, sextile Sun and Saturn (Uranus) in Gemini. With Uranus trine Neptune sextile Pluto. His crusading Sagittarius Moon is in the journalistic 3^rd; with a successful Jupiter in his 10^th. He has a subtly powerful and very influential chart with a leadership North Node in Leo.

His Sun falls in Trump’s secretive 8^th house; with his Mars opposing Trump’s Pluto for a definite clash. And Woodward’s innovative Saturn Uranus falls in Trump’s 10^th, which has the capacity to affect the reputation and status of both for good or for ill.

Their relationship chart has an argumentative and competitive composite Sun Mercury opposition Mars; with the Sun in a power-struggling square to Pluto; a suspicious/paranoid Saturn square Neptune being triggered now; and Uranus hitting both the composite Venus and Moon, so not a chummy friendship.

Trump is continuing his summer of bad-temper and high angst with tr Uranus still in square to his Mercury/Mars and Venus/Pluto up to publication date. Immediately after tr Uranus returns to square his Saturn/Pluto – self-destructive energy, egotistical, violent.

The strain on that man’s heart must be extraordinary from rolling, screeching tantrums. What he ought to do is maintain a discreet silence and let it blow over but on past form when he’s let fly a twitter storm at James Comey and Michael Wolff’s respective books, they shot to the top of the best seller lists.

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Alan Alda, the multi-awarded and much-loved Hawkeye Pierce in Mash has announced he has Parkinson’s Disease. He said he was diagnosed three years ago and has been living a full and energetic life since then. As well as acting and writing during a long career, he has also been involved in programmes about scientific and technological advances.

Born 28 January 1936 5.07 am New York, he had an unsettled childhood following his vaudeville and burlesque-theatre father’s acting career, contracted polio at one point and said his mother suffered from paranoid schizophrenia. He’s been married over sixty years with three children.

He has a 2nd house Sun in Aquarius (scientific) square a 4th house Uranus (constant upheavals in childhood). His 3^rd house Aries Moon is sextile his Sun and in an out-of-element trine to Pluto and ditto square to Venus. He has spoken of how much he resented/hated his mother’s condition which is reflected in his Moon = Mars/Pluto = Saturn/Pluto.

For all that he’s always given the impression of being amiable and laid back, due to a focal point Jupiter in Sagittarius in his 12^th square a showbiz Neptune opposition Mars Saturn in Pisces. He didn’t have an easy start in life but seems to have risen above it all and made a good life for himself.

The title of his book came from his grief at a pet dog dying so his father had it stuffed which horrified him even more.  His motto – face reality and move on.

Is this the end of the road for the euro? That’s the question asked by one of Germany’s leading economists who serves as an adviser to the government. Hans-Werner Sinn writes: ‘It is hard to see a clear path forward. Some argue for still more debt socialisation and risk sharing at the European level. Others warn that this would push Europe into an even deeper quagmire of financial irresponsibility. …. The euro’s third decade will decide its fate.’ He comments that sociologist Ralf Dahrendorf was right to conclude: “The currency union is a grave error, a quixotic, reckless and misguided goal, that will not unite but break up Europe.”

At present Portugal, Spain and Greece are all governed by radical socialists who have abandoned the “austerity policy”; and Italy intends to increase the country’s debt substantially to pay for tax cuts and a guaranteed-income scheme. All of these four countries’ manufacturing sectors are still way below 2007 levels of competitiveness and their youth unemployment is shockingly high.

The euro was launched as an accounting currency on 1 January 1999 and as a cash currency on 1 January 2002, assuming both 12 am. Both charts indicate a Saturnine period in late 2021/2022. Which doesn’t mean an end of times but it does suggest there will be a harsh dose of reality.

The 1999 chart has a T Square of Mars opposition Saturn square a financial Venus which has been under pressure since 2017 and worsening in 2021 to 2023 as tr Pluto is conjunct the Venus and square Saturn. The Solar Arc Mars squares Uranus in early 2021 for a mighty crash of sorts and high insecurity; and the Solar Arc MC is square Saturn in late 2021/early 2022.

The 2002 chart has a fractious Mutable T Square of Pluto opposition Saturn square Mars, which has been muddling through heavy doses of Neptune since 2015, worsening drastically this year and next as tr Neptune is conjunct the Mars and square Pluto. With the Solar Arc Saturn conjunct the midheaven in early 2022.

Germany’s Target 2 surplus with the European Central Bank is about to tip 1 trillion euros – in Sinn’s words it is “unsecured credit against the euro system, which cannot be called in and which debtor countries pay no interest on.” The prospect of the possibility of it going up in smoke is not surprisingly causing deep unrest in Germany .

Paul Manafort’s first trial starts today in which he is accused of filing false tax returns; four counts of failure to report foreign bank accounts; nine counts of bank fraud or bank fraud conspiracy. Court papers allege that he “generated tens of millions of dollars in income” from his work in Ukraine and “engaged in a scheme to hide income from United States authorities”. He faces a second trial in September on charges related to his lobbying work in Ukraine; plus an allegation of witness tampering.

If found guilty he faces decades in prison though it would only take one juror to find him not guilty for the case to fall. And he could be pardoned if it all goes down.

He was Trump’s campaign manager for five months and although the charges were raised at the behest of Mueller, it has nothing to do with Russian collusion. For a decade prior Manafort and Michael Cohen did business together.

Manafort, 1 April 1949 has a competitive and pro-active Sun, Mars, Venus, Mercury in Aries with his Sun Mars in a determined and controlling trine to Pluto and opposition Neptune – so soaring ambition; and a Yod of Uranus sextile Saturn inconjunct Jupiter in Capricorn. Certainly money-minded with Jupiter in Capricorn and that Yod can be undone by over-confidence.

He’s got tr Saturn in discouraging squares to his Aries planets and his Neptune through till after the New Year; with a major-setback Progressed Mars square his Saturn, around now and trailing on for maybe another year.  He will get a lucky break from tr Uranus square his Jupiter in December and January 2019 though with so much self-aggrandisement wrapped up in that apex Jupiter, it could backfire to send him completely off track. Transits to his midpoints are jangled this year; uncertain and neurotic next; and worse in 2020.

Manafort’s Aries planets fall in Trump’s 8^th suggesting hidden financial dealings and a deep connection; though M’s Uranus is conjunct Trump’s Sun and his Saturn is conjunct Trump’s Ascendant – so he’ll have the tendency to throw Trump off track and damp his image.

Their relationship chart has a chained-together-with- superglue composite Sun square Saturn Pluto, not necessarily bosom-buddies but an entanglement that it’ll be very difficult to unpick. Their connection looks to be sagging badly from late March 2019 till early 202o with tr Neptune square the composite Mars; and worsening thereafter.

The ever-young Kate Bush is sixty today, a birthday she shares with novelist Emily Bronte (200 years ago) who inspired her first hit ‘Wuthering Heights’ which shot her to prominence as a 19 year old. A singer-songwriter, musician, dancer and record producer her music is eclectic, experimental, idiosyncratic and theatrical. Over the years she has released 25 top singles – The Man with the Child in his Eyes, Babooshka, Don’t Give up –  and ten studio albums. Reclusive and enigmatic she never sold out to the commercial market and still became a significant influence for many who followed her unique and dramatic musical style.

Born 30 July 1958, she is, surprisingly, a Sun Leo conjunct a maverick Uranus squaring onto a steady Mars in Taurus opposition Neptune perhaps square an Aquarius Moon. Her Sun must be in one of the hidden houses. Her Mars does trine Pluto and Mercury in Virgo which will give her an intensity and may contribute to her reserved approach to public display. Her Venus in home-loving and creative Cancer is trine her Neptune and sextile Pluto Mercury and Mars so she has passion and flair. For sure her Neptune is powerfully aspected.

Doug Ford, brother of the disgraced Rob Ford (erstwhile Mayor of Toronto), is taking a slash-and-burn approach to his first month as Ontario premier with seemingly few checks on his power.

Born 20 November 1964, he’s a wilfully unyielding Sun Scorpio opposition Jupiter square Saturn in Aquarius, who won’t willingly share the driving seat with anyone.  Has extraordinary endurance and a ruthless streak. As if that wasn’t enough he’s got Pluto Uranus on the point of a Mutable T Square to Mercury opposition North Node –  giving him a high-wire temperament, overly excitable and erratic, contemptuous, as well as drawn to tear down anything which doesn’t accord with his ideas – a wrecker. Plus his Mars is also conjunct Uranus Pluto square a Gemini Moon, so he’ll be explosive and inclined to let fly when anyone stands up to him. And he has a cool, ideologically-oriented Air Grand Trine of Saturn, Venus, North Node. What an unattractive mix.

His Term chart, 29 June 2018 around noon Toronto looks volatile with a perverse and uncompromising Mars in Aquarius in the grandstanding 5^th opposition North Node Mercury square Uranus in the 8^th and Jupiter in Scorpio in the 2nd square Venus – looks extravagant, indulgent, reckless. There’s a discouraging Sun opposition a 4^th house Saturn for an unhappy populace, with voters uptight and emotional from a Moon Pluto conjunction, possibly at all the showboating and ego on display.

If noon is accurate then tr Neptune will square the midheaven in 2020/21 which is undermining. At the same time Solar Arc Saturn will oppose the Sun, which might just bring down the curtain. Even before then  public angst will be growing with tr Pluto conjunct the Moon in 2019/2020.

Tr Pluto will trine his Jupiter in 2018 to late 2019 so he’ll power ahead nonetheless initially.

His brother Rob who died from Cancer in 2016, 28 May 1969, was a Sun Gemini opposition Mars, with a megaton Jupiter Uranus Pluto in Virgo – so quite a volcano himself.

Mike Pence is under the forensic microscope and scalpel in a forthcoming book “The Shadow President: The Truth About Mike Pence” out late August. Having reviewed an early copy the NY Times calls him ‘self-infatuated, a bigot, a liar and cruel.’ Daily Kos adds their take with ‘zealot, dominionist, theocrat – front man for a long line of evangelical wingnuts who want to take over America.’

Seen as an ineffectual congressman, he cozyed up to the Koch brothers, Betsy DeVos and other rich Republican donors; “ordered up a collection of custom-embroidered clothes —decorated with his name and the words Governor of Indiana”; looked likely to lose a re-election but was saved from ignominy by Trump’s VP offer. Disregards science in his onetime insistence that smoking doesn’t cause cancer and a belief that climate change warnings were “a secret effort to increase government control over people’s lives.”

As governor, he refused to pardon a black man who had spent almost a decade in prison for a crime that he clearly hadn’t committed. He also ignored a crisis in which people in a poor, largely black Indiana city were exposed to dangerously high levels of lead. And called the unhinged former Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio a “tireless champion” of the “rule of law, ” after Arpaio’s contempt-of-court conviction for ignoring a federal judge’s order to stop using illegal tactics to torment immigrants. He’s fiercely opposed to abortion (could warrant the death penalty), pro gay conversion therapy, anti same-sex marriage.

The author Michael D’Anionio said “He is absolutely certain that his moral view should govern public policy.”

Pence is taking the line of least resistance in swampy conditions till late 2019 with tr Neptune square his Gemini Sun; with a disaster or two this year mid July to late August; and November to mid December as tr Pluto squares his Mars/Saturn midpoint so the book will do damage.

He does have Solar Arc Sun conjunct his Uranus, exact sometime in 2019 which suggests a major turnaround with unexpected events – and Uranus being tricky it can go either way, either a breakthrough changing his life out of all recognition or a shock that knocks him off track.

What is worrisome (partisan thought) is that tr Pluto will sextile his Jupiter in 2020/2021, exact at the next Inauguration, which is usually an indicator of confidence and success. Though tr Pluto squares his Saturn/Uranus at the same time which is a considerable struggle against enormous odds, often limits freedom and can be high-risk; and he has tr Saturn also square his Mars for a setback on January 20 2021 as well. Plus he has a disappointing Pluto square to a Neptune midpoint over the election.

Pence’s wife, Karen, will be going into overdrive through 2019/2020 with some minor success and a good deal of aggravation with tr Pluto sextile her Sun/Jupiter and trine her Mars in Taurus; with two discouraging Solar Arcs of Saturn square her Sun this year and her Venus in 2020; plus a devastating, disorienting Solar Arc Pluto conjunct Neptune in a few months’ time. She’s the heavyweight in the family with a Yod of Saturn in self-righteous Sagittarius sextile a Libra North Node inconjunct Mars in Taurus with her Sun, Venus, Jupiter and Neptune in Scorpio. Their relationship chart has a controlling composite Sun Pluto – and an emotionally ratchety and a-not-altogether-kind composite Mars opposition Saturn square Venus. It’s a very one-sided partnership.

Pence’s relationship chart with the USA is a good deal more volatile and disruptive than Trump’s with a composite Uranus, Mars, Venus square Pluto – and is under a Saturninian cloud in 2019. Trump’s has a locked-together with gritted-teeth Sun, Pluto, Saturn.

Be careful what you wish for. It could get worse. Or as the NYT has it – from kleptocracy to theocracy.