Algeria largely missed the Arab Spring, partly because they’d already had their uprising two decades before which was a searing experience. Although an Islamic country, the government, under a lifetime president, has a policy of keeping the radical elements at bay. There is close military co-operation with Russia who supplies arms and equipment, so it is regarded by the USA with some suspicion.

A recent spoof piece allegedly by Le Pen suggested building a wall round France and getting Algeria to pay for it was exposed as a joke; but there is anxiety in France about Algerian immigrants, second and third generation, who remember the brutal suppression by the French in the Franco-Algerian War fifty years ago which left a million dead and many tortured. Those living in France now face marginalisation and high unemployment and some have turned to terrorism.

Algeria gained independence on 3 July 1962 at 10.38am Algiers.

In 2017 tr Neptune will conjunct the 7^th house Jupiter bringing financial woes, loss of confidence. 2018 will be unsettled with tr Uranus square the Moon and trine Uranus, so the population will be more likely to demonstrate and voice their disapproval.

Relations with the USA are on a downhill slide in 2017 with high tension and a turnaround of diplomatic policy. It’s just possible that Algeria comes into Trump’s eyeline since his even-more-control-freaky-than-usual Pluto MC line runs through the country. Certainly relations with France look stressed in 2017; and highly discouraging in 2018/19. But the riskiest time for the country looks like 2021/2022 when tr Pluto is trine their Mars in Taurus.

Actor Harrison Ford nearly landed on a Boeing 737 passenger plane when he brought his own solo-piloted craft into a California airport and mistook the taxiway for the runway. He crashed a vintage plane in 2015 into a golf course; and was seriously injured in a Star Wars set accident the year before. And there have been several accidents before that, including the car crash when young which scarred his face.

Born 13 July 1942 11.41 am Chicago, Illinois, he has lucky Jupiter conjunct his midheaven and a Cancer New Moon also in the 10^th, so certainly designed for a high profile career.

He doesn’t have a specially accident-prone chart except in recent times as his Solar Arc Saturn made the conjunction to his Mars over the 2014 accident; and Solar Arc Uranus will conjunct his Mars in three years’ time – hopefully he’ll have given up or been forced to before that hits.

At the moment he’s also got tr Uranus square his Sun and Moon, which can be jolting and maybe that’s why his concentration slipped.

The ‘hot felon’ whose perp-walk pic won him a modelling contract during his time in prison for illegal gun possession and street gang crimes has hit the New York Fashion Week catwalk. He had already done a nine year stretch for felony grand theft. Heavily tattooed with chiselled cheekbones and steely blue eyes, his ‘rough trade’ background is clearly doing him no harm amongst the fashion glitterati.

Born 7 Feb 1984 in Stockton, California, Jeremy Meeks has a chart that certainly has the potential to go bad with the tough, vengeful Mars Saturn in Scorpio square an Aquarius Sun. With four planets in Capricorn including Jupiter, he’ll be attracted to and lucky with money. His Solar Arc Uranus is conjunct his Venus in Capricorn at the moment; and his Solar Arc Venus is just over the conjunction to his Sun – so the Venusian world of luxury and indulgence will be focusing his attention.

He’s married with three children and says he’s found God and turned his life around, which, if true, is a happy story of redemption from someone who looked to have a really tough start in life.

Ex-Goldman Sachser Steven Mnuchin has been confirmed as Treasury Secretary after facing withering criticism over his former bank’s treatment of foreclosure victims in his hearing. During his time there, he worked in the mortgage department, dealing with products such as collateralised debt obligations and credit default swaps, which arguably played a major part in the 2008 financial crisis.  Elizabeth Warren called him “the Forrest Gump of the financial crisis”. “He managed to participate in all the worst practices on Wall Street,” she said. “He spent two decades at Goldman Sachs helping the bank peddle the same kind of mortgage products that blew up the economy and sucked down billions in taxpayer bailout money before he moved on to run a bank that was infamous for aggressively foreclosing on families.” In 2009, he became chairman of a troubled housing lender, IndyMac, renamed OneWest. Two California housing watchdogs filed a federal complaint against the company, accusing it of violating the Fair Housing Act by discriminating against blacks, Hispanics and Asians.

He has no government experience; and neither does National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn, also former Goldman Sachs. Mnuchin also finances movies – The Devil Wears Prada, the X-Men franchise and Avatar.

Born 21 Dec 1962, New York, he’s a last degree Sun Sagittarius trine Mars in Leo and Uranus in early Virgo; with Pluto Uranus opposition Jupiter in Pisces – a risk-taker, impulsive, outspoken, overly confident. His relationship chart with Trump is high-pressure, stressed and could easily end in a catastrophic fall out. There’s a high-octane Mars Pluto conjunction, which could all too easily turn into bitter hostility. It is sextile Neptune and inconjunct the composite Sun – so a composite Yod of an extraordinarily powerful variety, which could certainly be used for crisis-management and pushing through bold schemes against heavy resistance. But it has all the seeds of destruction wrapped in it, either of the relationship (ultimately most likely) or in the joint projects on which they embark.

There is a sugary sweet composite Sun opposition Venus square Jupiter as well, so initially good feelings, but once they get scraped away with tr Saturn square the composite Sun and conjunct Jupiter from later this month effectively right through till November, the underlying bruising ego-clashes will show through. Tr Uranus will also oppose the composite Neptune and square Uranus late April/May and again late in the year, so it’s going to be a very rocky ride. Trump has given him four months to come up with a plan for deregulating Wall Street, tax reforms etc.

Every criticism Trump threw at Hillary Clinton – untrustworthy where national security was concerned, in bed with the swamp alligators – is unbelievably a thousand times truer of him. Conducting a high-alert security crisis in a Florida dining room with guests present, as if it were a piece of street theatre is beyond parody.

Notable Royal events in the UK have occurred close to eclipses in the 20^th Century, though sporadically.

Edward V11 died and George V acceded to the throne the days before a Solar Eclipse; and the Royal Family’s name was changed from Saxe-Coburg-Gotha to Windsor two days before another Solar eclipse in 1917.

Edward V11 abdicated in December 1936 three days before a Solar Eclipse in the 11 North series which oversaw (though not exactly) the death of Queen Victoria in 1901.

His successor King George V1 died and Queen Elizabeth acceded five days after a Lunar Eclipse in 1952; and she was crowned in 1953 five weeks before a Solar Eclipse which was conjunct the UK’s 10^th house Cancer Moon. There was an 18 North Solar Eclipse in late July 1925 when HM Queen would have been conceived; and that repeating series oversaw the death of her uncle Lord Louis Mountbatten who was killed by the IRA five days before another such in 1979. One series later in 1997 Princess Diana was killed in Paris, two days before the 18 North Solar Eclipse.

Both Prince Charles’ weddings occurred near or on Solar Eclipses. To Diana in 1981 two days before; and to Camilla on the exact day.

Prince William was born on a Solar Eclipse in 1982 and Kate Middleton on a Lunar Eclipse six months earlier.

So there’s a fair sprinkling of connections to Eclipses though not a hugely regular pattern.  The North Node ties individuals into the zeitgeist so in many ways it isn’t surprising. Though it doesn’t always make for an easy life.

Stephen Miller, one of Donald Trump’s closest advisers, responsible along with Stephen Bannon for the immigration ban, was born on 23 August 1985 in Santa Monica, California. At high school he railed against multi-culturalism and Spanish-language announcements and urged violent responses to Islamic terrorism. And has spoken out against equal pay for women. He worked for Tea Party founder Michele Bachmann and then Jeff Sessions.

He’s a Sun Virgo trine Neptune, sextile Pluto – so has that Neptune Pluto hint of megalomania and definitely likes to be in control. His Mars Mercury in Leo are in a hard-edged, unsentimental square to Saturn in Scorpio and an excitable trine to Uranus. His Jupiter in Aquarius is opposition Mercury and square Pluto making him pushily confident.

His Sun is conjunct Trump’s Ascendant so he’ll warm to the President’s bombast and flamboyance and be less manipulative of Trump than Bannon. Like Trump he has Venus in Cancer and a Sagittarius Moon, so they will resonate together.

What’s interesting is that Bannon’s Pluto is conjunct Miller’s Sun, so that is definitely a dominating relationship. And their relationship chart has an overly confident composite Sun opposition Jupiter and a risk-taking (unrealistic) composite Jupiter inconjunct Mars. They’ll egg each into reckless schemes.

Miller’s relationship chart with Trump is complicated – friendly at one level with a composite Sun Venus Mercury; though destined to live through times of great upheaval and change with a composite Uranus Pluto Saturn; with the potential for disappointment with Sun Venus trine Neptune and Mars square Neptune. There will be an edgy, insecure, marginally explosive mood between them from late this month through most of March with tr Uranus trine the composite Mars; a seismic upheaval from late April through till early June with tr Uranus square the composite Venus, Mercury and Sun. With confidence between them sinking fast mid April to mid May as tr Neptune squares the composite Jupiter. And if Miller survives on the inside circle that long, definite blocks from July to October with tr Saturn square the composite Saturn Pluto.

Miller’s relationship with Bannon is also at Defcon1 from mid July to December 2017 with tr Pluto trine the composite Mars, square the Sun and Jupiter. Either they’ll be trying to outdo each other or more likely together hatching up yet more hare-brained schemes.

It’s like watching a car crash in real time – Trump’s administration, I mean, or for what passes as one.

Eike Batista, a Brazilian businessman (oil, gas, energy and mining) is now languishing in a maximum security prison in his home country under investigation for money laundering, having seen his net worth plummet from $30 billion to negative since 2012.

Born 3 November 1956 he has Sun, Moon, Neptune and Mercury all in Scorpio as well as his North Node, so determined, intense; even more so with Saturn in Sagittarius square Pluto; with an innovative Saturn trine Uranus, which is in a fanatical square to Neptune. He doesn’t look as if he’d be good at taking advice. Plus he has Mars in Pisces opposition Jupiter, which is a gamblers/chancer’s aspect, prone to over reaching.

His 9^th Harmonic connects his Sun to Neptune and Pluto, giving him a yearning for stratospheric wealth and power. But his ‘wheel-of-fortune’ 10^th Harmonic which brings the seeds of both rise and fall, is also marked.

The Scorpio North Node is also interesting since it often points to a life lesson about letting go money and possessions and learning the hard way to understand what truly has value.

Brazil, itself has been going through a tumultuous time politically and economically having seen the previous president Rousseff impeached, the present one also surrounded by scandal and something like 60% of the 594 members of Brazil’s Congress are facing or under investigation for “serious charges like bribery, electoral fraud, illegal deforestation, kidnapping and homicide, according to Transparency Brazil, a corruption-monitoring group.” (NY Times.)

It is the world’s fourth-largest democracy and was thought to be the shining hope of South America economically until it started to crack. There is some hope that it will weather the present storms financially.

The Brazil, 7 Sept 1822 4.30pm Piranga chart isn’t looking too upbeat for several years with an undermining tr Neptune opposition the Virgo Sun this year; a stuck Solar Arc Sun conjunct Pluto in 2017/17; and then a running series of shocks and insecurity in 2018/19.

The Brazil 15 Nov 1889 chart equally has a running series of edgy, jolting Solar Arc had aspects to Saturn, Neptune, and Pluto till 2021. So it may be a while before it recovers full forward drive.

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Actor, comedian Alec Baldwin has had a new lease of life with his impersonations of Trump on Saturday Night Live, which has seen ratings soar. A photograph of his impersonation even made it to the front page of a South American newspaper who mistook him for the president.

Baldwin, born 3 April 1958, is an upfront Sun Aries sextile Mars in Aquarius, with his Mars opposition Trump’s Pluto so a hostile clash; and Baldwin’s Uranus conjunct Trump’s Pluto, threatening to destabilise his power. Baldwin’s Saturn in Sagittarius is conjunct Trump’s Moon opposition his Sun so he’ll dent El Presidente’s self-esteem. A mighty match.

Their relationship chart has a fearsome composite Sun opposition Mars square Pluto which makes for implacable enmity; and a differing-agendas composite Saturn square Uranus. Tr Pluto makes an aggravated and vengeful sextile to the composite Mars in 2017/18; as well as making a devastating and confusing square to the composite Neptune.

Baldwin’s Pluto is conjunct Trump’s Ascendant so he’ll have the power to dent Trump’s image.

Melissa McCarthy has morphed beautifully into Sean Spicer, the hapless and overly controlled Trump press spokesman. Their composite chart has a tied-together and resenting-it composite Saturn trine Pluto; and an undermining Saturn opposition Neptune.

Rosie O’Donnell is pitching hard to do the Stephen Bannon take-off, which with a composite Mars Saturn conjunction and Mars trine Pluto in their relationship chart – could ruffle a few feathers. Her Mars in Pisces opposition Pluto squares Bannon’s Sagittarius Sun, so almost as bad as the Baldwin/Trump cross overs.

One odd consequence of Trump’s election is that various newspapers and news magazines have seen their circulation rise sharply.

Fifty Shades Darker, the sequel to Fifty Shades of Grey has hit the cinema screens to escoriatingly bad reviews. EL James, the author, has sold 100 million copies of her ‘mummy porn’ books worldwide and evidently insisted on full script, cast and direction control of this movie, unlike the last, with predictable results which fulfilled the studios’ worst fears. Dominatrix in life as well on the badly written page. [A creative writing tutor described her novels as being written for people who didn’t read books.]

Born 7 March 1963, she is a Sun Jupiter in Pisces with her Sun opposition controlling Pluto, trine Neptune. Lucky, confident, intense, a dreamer. She also has Venus in Aquarius opposition Mars in Leo – so somewhat unbalanced between love and lust. Her Mercury in Aquarius opposes outspoken Uranus. Her Leo Moon may oppose Saturn and square Neptune – emotionally rather battened down though creative as well as neurotic. Certainly she wants to be grand with Mars Moon in Leo. It’s a see saw chart with four oppositions so she’ll be constantly looking for answers outside herself in her relationships.

When the first volume of Fifty Shades hit the best sellers lists in 2011 her Solar Arc Mars was opposing her Jupiter with Solar Arc Venus conjunct her Jupiter following along behind.

She’s not so upbeat at the moment with tr Saturn square her Jupiter through this year; and tr Neptune opposition her Pluto, square her Sun/Pluto this year and conjunct her Sun in 2018, so undermined. 2019 looks blocked and frustrated with her Solar Arc Pluto square her Mars.