Marjorie

Cybersecurity firm Crowdstrike says a “defect” in one of its software updates hit Windows operating systems, causing major IT outages across the world with flights cancelled and banking, healthcare and shops affected. 9bn was wiped off the firm with CEO George Kurtz, losing nearly £250million of his personal fortune.

Many thanks to Hugh for tech background:

“I spent 30 plus years in the IT world before retiring in 2023. Most of my colleagues would tell you that an event like today has been coming for a long time. Ostensibly the issue is the release by Crowdstrike of an update to its network security products but the real issue was the way it impacted the Microsoft Windows operating system causing it to abort with a Blue Screen of Death. Without going into technicalities it once again highlighted the fact that Windows is at core not a particularly well designed product. It was originally developed as an operating system to be run by a single user on a single computer. Over time it has metamorphosed  into an enterprise wide product running on a variety of hardware platforms. At heart, however, it still has many of the weaknesses that were present when it was first built. The biggest of these flaws was the fact it allowed third party software providers to modify parts of the core operating system. This meant it was always likely to fail badly if there was a fault in these products. This is essentially what happened today. A properly designed operating system would have recognised the fact the CrowdStrike software update had failed, flagged the error but would have still started. What has caused todays issue is that thousands of desktops, servers and other devices in many businesses have collapsed in a heap and refused to restart. Moreover, the problem has been compounded that most of them are protected by BitLocker disk encryption so they can’t be easily restarted in a safe mode so a fix can be applied without a recovery key being entered. In some cases these are stored on other Windows  Servers which are themselves down because of the Crowdstrike issue.

In Astrological terms today’s issues started at about 05.00 UTC with the Moon at 28 Sagittarius squaring Neptune at 29 Pisces. Mercury at 23 Leo was square Uranus at 26 Taurus. Mars was opposite the Crowdstrike 2011 Pluto Saturn midpoint at 29 Scorpio and squared the natal Mars at 28 Leo. Pluto at 0 Aquarius squared the Crowdstrike Pluto/Mars midpoint at 1 Scorpio. As the day progressed the Moon moved over the Crowdstrike 2011 Pluto at 5 Capricorn.”

Crowdstrike was incorporated 7 November 2011 which gives a Scorpio Sun with Uranus at 1 degree Aries, the latter having a disruptive tr Pluto sextile to the Uranus. And more significantly Mars in Leo opposition Neptune which is catching the tailend of the transiting Mars (Uranus Algol) square and the Solar Arc Sun also square – which would flare up into a massive publicity event (Mars Neptune involving panic (Mars Neptune) and aggravation (Mars.)  The revolutionary Uranus square Pluto in early Capricorn will be undermined as tr Neptune Saturn move into early Aries circa 2026/27.

 The Crowdstrike IPO, 12 June 2019, launched on an aggravated Mars North Node in Cancer opposition Saturn Pluto  which has moved by Solar Arc with the SA Mars now exactly opposing the Pluto as it hits the buffers.

  Microsoft, 20 November 1985, has its Scorpio Sun exactly square the Crowdstrike Mars opposition Neptune, so it is also catching the tr Mars (Uranus Algol) square and that will ramp up next year as tr Uranus gets to the exact opposition to the Microsoft Sun.  There is also a pressured SA Pluto conjunct the Microsoft Mercury exactly now – with a huge upheaval approaching as the SA Pluto is conjunct the Uranus by 2027. By 2028 there is a collision-type experience from SA Mars conjunct the Sun which will bring a setback and then forced change.

 Additional thoughts from today’s papers: Electric vehicles are packed with much software that it is not clear whether they would still run if all the central cloud systems were down. Soon we will soon be relying entirely on the National Grid for all our heating and transportation, as well as keeping the lights switched on and that is vulnerable to computer glitches. Will the wind turbines and solar farms that Ed Miliband is busily building still operate if there is a systems failure in the background? Your guess is as good as mine, but probably no-one has bothered to ask. The new range of digital phones won’t work when the web or the electricity goes down, unlike the old copper wire systems.

Having lived in rural France where the electricity grid is erratic and unstable, keeling over at the first lightning strike, the only sensible system is at least one wood burner, cooking with butane/propane and a copious supply of large candles.  Going all electric is a total horror if there is a several day outage. The eco-nuts may appreciate living in tents but the rest of us would prefer to have belt-and-braces back-up schemes.

Bob Newhart, the American comedian, who won fame through deadpan monologues that reflected wry bewilderment at everyday aspects of 20th-century life, has died. One award described him as “a person whose gentle satire and wry and irreverent wit waft a breath of fresh and bracing air through the stale and stuffy electronic corridors”.

 Born 5 September 1929 9.10am Oak Park, Illinois, he started as an accountant who turned to stand-up and became a hit with best-selling albums like The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart, which topped the US album charts for 14 weeks in 1960; as well as tv shows with multiple Grammys, other awards and an Emmy for his role in The Big Bang Theory.

   He had a Virgo Sun on the cusp of the 12^th with an influential/controlling Pluto in conjunct his Cancer Midheaven. What probably drove his quirky take on life was Mercury, Mars, Moon in Libra opposition Uranus and trine Jupiter. Although he appeared mild-mannered his Mars Moon opposition Uranus would be sparky and at times short tempered.

   What intrigues me is that he has Chiron closely conjunct his Taurus North Node in the 8^th which is deep and would have made him all too aware of the destructiveness inherent in daily living no matter how mundane it seemed on the surface.  

  His wife of six decades, mother of his four children, Ginnie, 9 December 1940, tapped into his 8^th house with her Saturn Jupiter in Taurus on the cusp of his 8^th close to his North Node Chiron and her Mars Venus in Scorpio in opposition. It would not always be an easy bond but she clearly spoke to his deeper needs. In an interview he said: “The marriages of comedians, no matter how stormy, seem to last a long time, and I attribute it to laughter.” And with a composite Uranus opposition Sun Mars square Pluto in their relationship chart it would get heated at times.

Some examples of his wit to raise a smile:

“The driving instructor bends over backwards to make every allowance for his student: “You want to start the car? You turned on the lights. The controls all look alike, don’t they? All right, let’s pull out into traffic. What’s the first thing we are going to do before we pull out into traffic? I mean besides praying, let’s say. No, what I had in mind was checking the rearview mirror. DON’T PULL OUT! Haha! Please don’t cry. I’m sorry, but there was this bus . . .”

Another from “The Driving Instructor”: “How do you do, you are Mrs Webb, is that right? Oh, I see you’ve had one lesson already. Who was the instructor on that, Mrs Webb? Mr Adams. I’m sorry, here it is: Mr Adams. Just let me read ahead to kind of familiarise myself with the case. How fast were you going when Mr Adams jumped from the car? 75! And where was that? In your driveway! How far had Mr Adams got in the lesson? Backing out, I see, you were backing out at 75 and that’s when he jumped.”

 He even had historical telephone conversations the best known being between Sir Walter Raleigh and the non-comprehending head of the West India Company in England on the subject of Raleigh’s new discovery, tobacco:

“You can chew it! …

Or put it in a pipe! …

Or you can shred it up …

And put it in a piece of paper. Ha! Ha! Ha! …

And roll it up… Ha! Ha! Ha! …

Don’t tell me, Walt, don’t tell me. Ha! Ha! Ha! … You stick it in your ear, right? Ha! Ha! Ha! …

Oh! Between your lips! …

Then what do you do, Walt? Ha! Ha! Ha! …

You set fire to it! Ha! Ha! Ha! …”

  He had a talented array of harmonic charts, ranging from the build-a-successful-life 5H; seeking-and-searching 7H; giving and finding pleasure 9H; victim/healer 12H; and global influencer 22H.

‘Unfit to fulfil her duties’ is the damning judgement of the Justice Secretary on Helen Pitcher, the head of the Criminal Cases Review Commission, which has been found in an independent barrister’s report to be ‘a broken safety net’, guilty of serious failings. Pitcher has astonishingly said she  believes she is the “best person for the job” and will not step down from her role.

  What is fascinating (enraging) is how similar her chart is to Paula Vennells, former Post office head, who oversaw the Horizon debacle.

Background: Last year Andrew Malkinson was released after 17 years in prison, his sentence quashed, for a 2003 rape he did not commit.  There was no DNA linking him to the crime and he was convicted on contested eyewitness accounts, even though he did not resemble a description of the suspect or bear a deep facial scratch injury that the victim had inflicted on her attacker. Three years after he was jailed, forensic scientists, using new DNA techniques, found key evidence from an intimate part of the victim’s clothing that pointed to a different unknown man. The damning report concludes he could have been freed five years after receiving a life sentence for a 2003 rape. The CRCC dismissed further pleas for help and considered turning him down a third time in 2022. (See post 28 July 2023.)

Helen Pitcher, born 16 March 1958 (birth date from Company Check from her appointment to a series of limited companies all named ‘Boardroom Excellence’.) Beyond parody.

  She is a Sun Pisces square a serious and can-be-self-righteous Saturn in Sagittarius. With a yod of Mars in final degree Capricorn sextile Sun and inconjunct the apex planet Pluto, giving her issues about the handling of power. Her Mars is also square Jupiter Neptune North Node in Scorpio which in turn is square Uranus – and the downside of that is opportunistic, can-be-stubborn even when faced with incontrovertible evidence, over-hopeful, scandal-prone due to bad judgement. [There will be better ways of using those energies but on the face of it none of them seems obvious here.)

 Her focal point Pluto is being opposed by her Solar Arc Saturn now blocking her progress; and tr Pluto is in a trapped conjunction to her Mars from September to late November this year. Plus tr Pluto is square her North Node through this year – so it looks like the end of this particular road for her.

 The CCRC, 31 March 1997, has its Solar Arc Sun Saturn exactly square its Uranus at the moment for an almighty shunt – and its final degree Neptune in Capricorn is also under a devastating assault from tr Pluto to the end of the year.

What is  of note are the similarities between Helen Pitcher to Paula Vennells, 21 February 1959, Post Office chair from 2012 to 2019, which saw the continuing prosecution of innocent subpostmasters. Vennells is also a Sun Pisces with her Sun opposition Pluto square Mars opposition Jupiter. So a similar Pisces Sun connection to the do-or-die-determined and can-be-ruthless Mars and Pluto. Vennells had her CBE revoked but that apart from a barrage of criticism has not suffered financial or legal penalties. If Pitcher is dragged away from her position with the CRCC it is unlikely she will face repercussions either.

 Andrew Malkinson on the other hand despite being due compensation is still living hand to mouth, surviving on food banks, while the mills of state grind very slow.

  I would hold all senior employees of state responsible for such miscarriages of justice criminally responsible.

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Ukraine’s agony drags on with the additional concern about Trump getting elected, blocking US aid and cosying up to Putin. The one chink of sunshine on the Ukraine 24 August 1991 2.31pm chart is tr Uranus square the Jupiter running through this November but disappearing before the month’s end and returning in April 2025. This should bring a sigh of relief and some reduction of tension.  And there should be more good news and lucky breaks from early 2025 on and off till late 2026.  There will also be more calamities around June 2025, and on into 2026 so it won’t all be positive.

  The relationship charts between Ukraine and Russia December 1991 looks discouraging right through 2025 with some chinks of improvement in 2026. Ukraine with Russia 1917 which is inherently aggravated at any time is gridlocked this year with tr Saturn opposition the Pluto Mars conjunction and undergoing a massive upheaval with tr Pluto conjunct the composite Uranus and square Venus until late this year.  

 Trump’s astrocartography puts his Mars close to the Midheaven located to Kiev; and for J.D. Vance it puts his Mars in vengeful Scorpio on his Ascendant – so for both it is an area which arouses their anger. (Though VP’s don’t matter when it comes to foreign policy decisions.)

 There is not much to be gleaned from the Ukraine Invasion chart itself though tr Saturn will conjunct the Jupiter across the election and throughout November which should dent Russia’s confidence as aggressor (if it follows the WW11 example.)

 President Zelensky, 25 January 1978 2pm Krivoj Rog, Ukraine is labouring under a trapped, frustrating tr Pluto opposition his Mars which picks up late November running to late December this year so he will be on tenterhooks. Plus he has a disappointing tr Neptune square his Jupiter mid October to early February 2025; and another blocked, high-risk tr Pluto square his Sun/Mars from late January 2025 on and off till late 2026.

 He must be utterly exhausted and there is no saying he will last the course as president. His Term of Office chart shows some lucky breaks and light relief from mid 2025 but major setbacks in 2026 which may be more political than military – or could be both.

ADD ON: Trump and Zelensky are not a good match to understate it by a mile with Z’s Saturn in Leo conjunct DT’s Mars and Ascendant which indicates an irritable and discouraging chemistry. Z’s Pluto is also conjunct DT’s Jupiter for a tussle over who gets the last word. Z’s Sun Venus in Aquarius opposes DT’s controlling Pluto  for another power struggle. DT’s Sun is conjunct Z’s Ascendant which can be competitive.

  Their relationship chart has a serious-dislike composite Mars Saturn North Node conjunction which is trine Sun Mercury and square Neptune  = seriously one sided with elements of cruelty or unkindness and/or trickery about it. This December looks blocked between them with tr Saturn opposition the composite Pluto but that is not an indicator of anything much – relationship charts continue even when there is no real-life connection ongoing.  

The lid has come off complaints about certain former Strictly Come Dancing professionals apparently bullying their celebrity partners in training for the television show. Contractual confidentiality agreements have evidently made it difficult to speak out before now. Strictly Come Dancing is a hugely successful asset and the format has been exported to 60 different countries.

 Strictly launched on 15 May 2004 probably at 6.15 pm giving it an intense and earthy 8^th house Taurus Sun, widely square an imaginative Neptune and inconjunct Pluto. Plus a passionate Venus opposition Pluto. Where the problem comes from is possibly an overly disciplinarian Mars Saturn conjunction in Cancer trine a Uranus opposition Jupiter – a mix of adventurous and hard.  An Aries Moon in the workaholic (and illness-prone) 6^th house is trine Pluto and square Saturn so not exactly nurturing. The 4^th house Neptune on the focal point of a yod inconjunct Jupiter sextile Saturn may hint at an internal blindness/evasion about what was actually going on.  Emphasise the dream and ignore the pain – which was always the reality of the ballet dance world.

  There is now talk of chaperones being put into training sessions or even the show ending though the BBC is usually remarkably resilient in the face of criticism having its Sun and two other planets in Scorpio trine Pluto and Mars in stubborn Aquarius.  

 The Strictly chart does have tr Uranus conjunct the Taurus Sun as these complaints broke into a full blown scandal and that influence repeats on and off into spring 2025. Changes will be made.

 The relationship chart between Strictly and the BBC is having a rocky ride which started in May this year and jangles and jolts its way right through till spring 2025 with tr Uranus square the composite Sun and Saturn. But equally there is a hint of more success and positive change from tr Pluto trine the composite Pluto and Jupiter running on for a few years yet.

Bullying is not great but I can’t help feeling the furore is a touch overblown.

There is an inspiring tale of Mary Anning born into poverty in 1799, under-educated in the way of the time and ignored because of the prejudice against women, who left her mark as a fossil collector and palaeontologist. Earlier this year the Royal Mail issued a set of four stamps celebrating her discoveries and in 2021, the Royal Mint issued commemorative coins in recognition of her as ‘one of Britain’s greatest fossil hunters’. The coins have images of Temnodontosaurus, Plesiosaurus and Dimorphodon, which she discovered.

 She was born on 21 May 1799 in Lyme Regis, Dorset and her cabinet-maker father used to supplement his income by selling Jurassic marine fossils he found in the cliffs along the English Channel. She was the first to correctly identify an ichthyosaur skeleton when she was twelve years old. She was largely ignored by the scientific community of the day with a few exceptions who helped her work to become known; and she had little money throughout her life.

   She was one of ten children named after a sister who had died in a fire just before her birth. Only three of the children survived to adulthood. On 19 August 1800, when she was 15 months old, an event occurred that became part of local lore. She was being held by a neighbour under an elm tree when lightning struck, killing all standing below it apart from the infant who was revived in a bath of hot water. Her family said she had been a sickly baby before the event, but afterwards seemed to blossom. The community would attribute her curiosity, intelligence and lively personality to the incident.

  She did have a confident, determined and lucky chart with a Sun Jupiter in Gemini square Pluto, a passionately enthusiastic Venus Mars conjunct in Cancer; with Mercury in earthy Taurus conjunct the North Node in an inquiring trine to Uranus and opposition Neptune. Out of unlikely beginnings, she made a considerable mark.

  When the lightning struck in 1800 a transiting accident-prone Mars square Saturn was tugging on her Mercury and more usefully tr Jupiter was exactly conjunct her Saturn in Cancer allowing her to escape alive.

 She died before she was fifty of cancer but she had packed in remarkable achievements before then.

 Her get-it-together 5^th harmonic was well aspected and utterly determined. As was her leaving-a-legacy 17H and her global influencer 22H. Her ‘victim/healer’ 12H was also notable.

In picking J.D. Vance as VP Trump is doubling down on Maga – the nearest thing he could find to a ‘mini-me.’ Vance is a  deep sceptic of Nato, a critic of globalization, a believer in the existence of the deep state, which he wants to dismantle, opposes providing US military aid to Ukraine, is a fan of Hungary’s Viktor Orbán and a darling of that transatlantic far-right circuit. He has put his energy behind selling the Heritage Foundation-organised Project 2025.

 Commentators reckon that opting for Vance is a sign that Trump is feeling ‘very bullish’ and not concerned about appealing to wavering suburban female Republicans who worry about the anti-abortion GOP lobby.

 One remarked: “It is not hard to depict Vance as a rank opportunist who saw obeisance to Trump as the only path forward in today’s Republican party. There are also Vance’s close ties to Silicon Valley money. His 2022 Ohio Senate campaign was largely funded by Peter Thiel, the west coast venture capitalist and early Trump adopter. Vance’s selection was greeted enthusiastically by Elon Musk, a friend of Thiel, who only endorsed Trump two days earlier following his near miss in Pennsylvania.”

Vance was born 2 August 1984 at 8.11 am (according to astrologer Steve Stuckey who called the county office of vital records to find the data and get the time. He has ordered the birth data and it will then appear on Astrodatabank.)  

  This gives him a late Leo Ascendant with a 12^th house Sun Leo in an exact square to a determined and obsessive Saturn in Scorpio in his 3^rd house. He also has intense Pluto in his 3^rd which will make him stubborn, dogmatic and inclined to overstate his opinions. He has a 1^st house Mercury in Virgo on the focal point of a Mutable T square to Uranus in his 4^th opposition a 10^th house North Node which will make him scattered, at times disorganized and can lead to changeable views  and may have led to his flip flopping over Trump-first against, then not.

 His Venus in Leo is trine Neptune in final degree Sagittarius and sextile Pluto – so he will be able to turn on the charm when required. His Venus is also square a determined Mars in Scorpio on his IC hinting at a less than sensitive temperament and one who can bear grudges.  His childhood home looks troubled with an argumentative Mars and changeable Uranus there.

 A Libra Moon in the 2^nd makes him money conscious and fairly snobbish, liking elegant people and manners. Jupiter in his 5^th – confident in performing, though Jupiter conjunct Neptune can be scandal prone or at least overly optimistic. A substantially lower hemisphere chart suggests a subjective approach, a more inward, private personality, so not standard for a public career.

 Trump’s Mars in on his Ascendant so Vance will feel DT’s flamboyant showmanship will boost his image, though it will also resonate with his heated childhood since DT’s Mars squares his 4^th house Mars in Scorpio. DT’s Pluto is conjunct his Sun giving no doubt as to who is in the driving seat with Vance well under his thumb; though Vance’s Saturn may prove a stumbling block since he may bite his tongue but doesn’t get pushed around easily. DT’s 2^nd house profligate Jupiter is conjunct Vance’s 2^nd house Moon so money will be an attraction for Vance.

 Their relationship chart has an argumentative and competitive composite Sun square Mars; with the Sun trine an over hopeful (not always straightforward?) Neptune, Moon, Jupiter conjunction. Plus a high-tension, locked-together composite Uranus, Saturn, Pluto conjunction. Presidents often don’t get on with VPs but Trump in particular will get rattled by anyone who looks like competition.  The composite Moon Jupiter sits on the IC on the cusp of the 4^th so there will be a degree of comfort between them in private.

  Tr Uranus will oppose the composite Jupiter late October to late November – which could be lucky and a relief, but since Jupiter is tied into Neptune, it could also bring high hopes tumbling down. Tr Uranus is then conjunct their composite Midheaven late December to mid March 2025 which could change the trajectory of their partnership – but Uranus being the wild card it is, there’s no saying whether that leads towards the White House or not. Tr Saturn is also opposing the composite Uranus, Saturn, Pluto late October into December and on till February 2025 which will be pressured and challenging.

  The birth time gives Vance, like Trump, transiting Jupiter moving across his 10^th house now till mid 2025 which is usually successful or at least high profile.  Tr Uranus is square his Venus late December to mid March 2025 which could be an emotionally exciting- or upsetting – phase. Plus tr Pluto sextile his upbeat Jupiter/Pluto midpoint through January across the Inauguration but that is mild; and alongside it runs tr Pluto trine his Sun/Mars, Venus/Saturn and Mars/Uranus midpoints which are equally mild and not exactly encouraging -though it would be a pressured time if they won.

  None of which is decisive.

  His wife Usha Vance, 6 January 1986, San Diego, is an ambitious Sun Venus in Capricorn with Neptune Mercury also in Capricorn and a super-determined Mars Pluto in Scorpio.  She looks over hopeful through September to mid October with tr Neptune in hard aspect to two Jupiter midpoints which usually ends in disappointment. But she looks upbeat through January across the Inauguration with tr Pluto conjunct her sociable Venus/Jupiter midpoint – and even more so in February/March onwards with tr Pluto conjunct her Sun/Jupiter midpoint – so something is going right.

  On a quick flip round Trump cheerleaders at the GOP Convention –

Mike Johnson looks upbeat and confident in November and successful as well as relieved late December to mid March 2025.

Ron Desantis – upbeat and confident through January 2025 though oddly aggravated and stuck at the same time.

Marco Rubio panicked up to late November and under huge pressure in January 2025.

Tiffany Trump – frustrated, blocked late November to end December, high tension across late December to mid March. Her husband Michael Boulos – nerve wracked late November to late December and not hopeful. But confident and winning through January 2025.

Donald Trump Jnr and Lara Trump have confidently upbeat transits to a Jupiter midpoint late this December to mid March 2025. Though Eric Trump and Barron are showing extreme frustration and disappointment.

Ivanka, Jared and Melania you can read either way – since they could be as relieved by a loss as a gain.

Jared is certainly stuck and frustrated till late November and undermined before then.

Ivanka is panicked at the moment and not winning with a series of tricky transits to midpoints right through to the Inauguration and beyond.

Melania, looks into calamity country late December to mid March 2025 and seriously stuck before then. Bouncing more enthusiastically from March 2025 onwards – maybe she is free!

  All a muddle of yays and nays.

On Trump shooting – he is playing up the angle that God intervened to save him which will  prompt evangelical Americans to feel duty bound to heed the Almighty’s election call. It also pumps up his narcissistic belief that he is ‘The Chosen One’ who has been given a shield of immortality by the gods. But as Greek mythology was always quick to point out – hubris is the deadliest of sins. At some point the jealous gods will cut the mere human down to size. ‘Memento mori’ (= remember you will die) murmured in the ear of rulers was not a threat but a reminder that they were human.

  Other stray astro-thoughts as I contemplate a chance that Trump might see the benefit of tr Jupiter through his 10^th to win. Maybe, might, on its own not a slamdunk. His Trump Media & Technology company, owners of Truth Social has been given a boost by recent events. But looking to future years Truth Social, 21 February 2022, is in dire trouble, certainly by 2026, and not looking great in 2025. Devin Nunes, the CEO, is bullishly confident but again running into terminal collapse territory  in 2026/27.

 The Heritage Foundation, 16 February 1973, promoter of Project 25, looks over hopeful this year with SA Neptune conjunct the Jupiter; and into disaster territory by 2026/27 with a blocked SA Pluto square Sun; and tr Saturn Neptune opposition its Pluto and square its Mars.

 Kevin Roberts, president of the Heritage Foundation, started his term of office on 1 December 2021 – which looks unpopular September to late November this year, though with an upbeat few weeks as well through November, (and April 2025) with tr Uranus square the Jupiter; but that apart is mired in devastating confusion late November to late December this year – and facing colossal setbacks into 2025/26.

 Wiki has a few thoughts on Russian finance for Trump Media.

  I am trying not to be too definitive since the astrology as per usual is mixed. But if Trump did win, his cohorts are running into cataclysmic decline in the years following.

Shannen Doherty, a child star who became tabloid fodder with her wild-child behaviour, peaked in the 1990s teen drama Beverly Hills, 90210 but struggled in a rag-bag career later. She contracted breast cancer in 2015 which she handled with her customary bravado, working to publicise cancer awareness, but it spread to her brain and bones and she died two days back.

 She was born 12 April 1971 4.16 pm Memphis, Tennessee with a beautician mother who pushed her into auditions aged 10. Beverly Hills, 90210 which made her name was a photogenic after-school soap but the conformist teens on screen were a gulf away from the troubled reality offscreen with stories of Doherty’s bad cheques, nightclub altercations and open enmity on set. She left midway through the decade-long series, and was later sentenced to anger-management counselling after throwing a beer bottle at the windscreen of a motorist with whom she had rowed; and published a self-help book Badass: A Hard-Earned Guide to Living Life with Style and (the Right) Attitude.

 She married George Hamilton’s son Ashley at the height of her 90210 fame, when she was 22 and he was 18, which lasted only five months. There was a subsequent engagement to the cosmetics heir Dean Factor (who filed a restraining order against his fiancée in May 1993). A second marriage, to the professional poker player Rick Salomon, who would later achieve notoriety for a sex tape with Paris Hilton, was annulled after nine months. She married a photographer in 2011 and announced their divorce last year.

 What a life.

  She had an Aries Sun on the cusp of her 8^th house square Mars in Capricorn in her 4^th with her Mars square a 1^st house rebellious Uranus – volatile, overly impulsive, act first and think second, anger issues and relationship problems – 7/8^th house Sun and 4^th house Mars. She also had an intense Scorpio Moon opposition Saturn in Taurus tied into a Half grand Sextile with Moon sextile Mars and trine Venus in Pisces. Her Saturn was also in a stubborn and gritty trine to Pluto on her Ascendant.

  Her Earth Grand Trine of Saturn trine Mars trine a Virgo Ascendant (and Pluto) formed into a Kite by Saturn opposition Moon makes her emotionally trenchant and wilfully stubborn Moon in Scorpio her driving planet. That plus her tinderbox Mars all added up to her badasss temperament.

  Her looking-for-a-cause Aquarius North Node finally found its calling in her campaigning for cancer patients in the latter years of her life.

Hugely complicated and talented chart but she never quite got it together.

‘A plague on all their houses’ appears to be the apolitical approach of young Kenyans, eloquent and educated, who are staging demonstrations against corruption, injustice and inequality in a self-serving political class whom they are denouncing across the board. The GenZ movement as they are known who claim no political or tribal allegiance and organize their protests through social media platforms have been compared to the Arab Spring uprisings. In the face of a deteriorating economic situation, they have been expressing their discontent at the lavish lifestyles enjoyed by politicians funded by the taxes of the citizens.

  Kenya gained independence on 12 December 1964 at 12 am in the midst of the tumultuous Uranus Pluto Mars conjunction square a Sagittarius Sun – so it is fitting that a young reformist, revolutionary movement has finally decided to stand up and rock the boat as tr Saturn opposes the three Virgo planets and squares the Sun this year. The next several years look challenging and fraught as the disruptive Uranus Pluto Mars moves by Solar Arc to cross the Jupiter in Taurus opposition Venus Neptune in Scorpio (= acquisitive, financially deceptive, money-grubbing). The freedom fighters cross swords with the corrupt.

 The present president William Ruto, 21 December 1966, who has been accused in the past of a series of land grabbing manoeuvres (and is an evangelical Christian) is not looking overly happy. Tr Neptune and Scheat are square his final degree Sagittarius Sun this year and next; with tr Saturn following suit in opposing his Uranus Pluto, reaching his Second Saturn return and squaring his Sun all next year.

  It is reckoned that Generation Z is currently the largest in Africa making up 31.20%. Millennials represent 20.49%. Both generations make up 51.69%.

  Hopes for the future and a hint that across the globe there are signs of dissatisfaction with governing classes of all stripes. At least in Kenya the young are standing up to have an effect – where are Gen Z in USA and UK?

GenZ are reckoned to be late 1990s to 2010 – which covers the Pluto in Sagittarius phase of 1995 to 2008.