Astrology of Today’s News

 

Attacks on Hillary Clinton are mounting with Trump finger-pointing at the Clinton Foundation and raising old conspiracy theories about the 1993 death of Vincent Foster, an Arkansas lawyer and Clinton friend, who became Deputy White House counsel to Bill Clinton.  Anti-Clintonites are determined it was  a murder, despite five investigations  categorically saying it was suicide.

Foster had been involved in several controversies, a failed nomination for attorney general and the firing of the travel office staff so business could be steered to the president’s allies. In 1993 he was being treated for depression. In his briefcase there was a torn-up note, which said: “I was not meant for the job or the spotlight of public life in Washington. Here ruining people is considered sport.” The goldfish bowl got too much for him, especially with his family still living in Arkansas to finish the children’s schooling. A focal point Neptune can have a deep inner sense of loneliness, never mind being overwhelmed by Mars Saturn which would tend to attract setbacks and unkind treatment.

[For those like me a touch hazy about Clinton back story detail: The Washington Post on Foster’s death:  goo.gl/8QsLRC.

WP on Foundation history: goo.gl/tdBXz0.

Daily Beast on Clinton Foundation and why the Foundation should be shut:  goo.gl/pEoscQ]

Vincent Foster, 15 Jan 1945, Hope, Arkansas, was a Sun Capricorn trine Jupiter in Virgo; with a difficult Mars Mercury in Capricorn opposition Saturn square Neptune which would suggest an over-worker with a depressive side. On the day he died there was an exact tr Uranus conjunct Neptune in Capricorn exactly opposition tr Mercury in Cancer – which would create a very highly strung and obsessive mood.

His relationship with Hillary, while close in certain respects, though not in others, doesn’t look remotely romantic. There was an enthusiastic composite Mars Jupiter though that was held in check by a square to Saturn – so it would be argumentative and rough-edged at times; with a needs-space Sun opposition Uranus; and an intensely  determined Sun trine Pluto.

There was nothing much affecting the relationship chart when he died (without a birth time). Though her personal chart does register a major shock with the tr Uranus Neptune opposing her Mars/Uranus and tr Saturn opposing her Sun/Uranus – so a tremendous jolt for her. And she had been under great pressure before, highly frustrated and bad-tempered.

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Gaza is on tenterhooks waiting to see whether new hard-line Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman will escalate border tensions. Hamas is blaming recent rocket attacks on Al Quaeda cells in Gaza whom they clearly don’t have control over. Israel has retaliated more robustly than at any time over the past two years, both sides until now having been holding to an uneasy truce.

The Israel/Gaza (9 Nov 1917 9am) relationship chart does indicate a radical shift from early September with tr Uranus square the composite Pluto and conjunct Uranus after that, running on till April 2017.

The Gaza chart itself isn’t under quite the same strain as it was in Dec 2008 when a full-out Israeli assault took place. Then there was Solar Arc Saturn conjunct the Scorpio Sun and tr Pluto conjunct the Gaza Venus North Node. But it does look on edge with the Gaza Jupiter picking up the opposition from tr Saturn Mars, and tr Neptune returning in late September to square the Jupiter for three and a half months. So uncertain, disappointing. If that start time of 9am is accurate the Virgo Moon will get tr Pluto trine through this September, tr Saturn square in October, and tr Neptune in opposition in 2017 – none of which looks like happy news for the Gaza population.

Avigdor Lieberman, a provocative and controversial appointment by Netanyahu, was born in Soviet Russia on 5 June 1958 to a writer father, who’d served in the Red Army and spent years in exile in Siberia under Stalin. He has a Sun Gemini conjunct his ruthless Mars/Pluto midpoint, in a chart riddled with strained quincunxes. There’s a Yod of Pluto sextile Jupiter inconjunct Mars in Pisces; with Saturn inconjunct Mercury in Taurus, as well as being square Mars and trine Pluto – so definitely tough and aggressive. Tr Saturn opposes his Sun this Oct and tr Neptune squares it in 2017 which doesn’t look successful; but he does look revved up this September with tr Pluto conjunct his Mars/Node and in the mood for taking risks in Oct/Nov though they are likely to result in confusion and dashed hopes.

His relationship with Israel looks aggravated in Oct; and very stressed in Nov/Dec; and worse in 2017. Much the same in his dealings with PM Netanyahu with disruption, tension and upheaval in September and on, bad-tempered in October; and sagging badly in 2017.

Netanyahu, 21 Oct 1949 9.30am, now has tr Saturn sinking below his Ascendant, which is usually a less successful time for several years, with misjudgements more frequent. He looks stressed this month till early September and again mid Oct to end of Nov with tr Pluto trine his Saturn and square his Neptune, so discouraged and confused; he’s also feeling less popular with the tr Neptune square tr Saturn hitting on his Venus and Sun/Jupiter on and off at the moment and into 2017. 2017 will be challenging emotionally and in terms of his political standing with tr Pluto square his 11rth house Moon.

The Israel chart, while not facing catastrophe, looks very uncertain over the coming year with the Solar Arc Moon coming to conjunct the 12^th house Neptune – undercurrents of an unhappy population. With Solar Arc Mars square the 10^th house Moon in less than a year’s time which is a shock of some sort, creating an angry response. With tr Uranus moving to cross the Descendant into the 7^th from early this September, which points to rifts with neighbours and relationships with close supporters for several years to come.

 

Dramatising a life that was stranger than fiction seems to have worked for the movie on Florence Foster Jenkins, starring Meryl Streep and Hugh Grant, on which Rotten Tomatoes has poured accolades.

A prodigiously bad vocalist known as the ‘diva of din’ and “the worst goddamn singer in the world”, “she had and was blissfully unaware of, the worst set of pipes in the world of music … Be afraid, be very afraid”.

Born 19 July 1868, she was a New York socialite and enthusiastic patron of the arts who gave private recitals to sycophantic friends and admirers and made her public debut finally in 1944 aged 76 at Carnegie Hall, which met with excoriating reviews. She had a heart attack days later and died a month after.

She contracted syphilis from her first husband, left him and hooked up with her manager/partner actor St Clair Bayfield, the grandchild (illegitimate) of an English earl, a founder member of Equity, who managed her ‘career’ for 36 years, mainly by never telling her the truth about how bad she was.

She was a New Moon in Cancer conjunct Venus Mercury with Uranus also in Cancer; her Sun (Moon) were trine an obsessive Saturn in Scorpio; and her Uranus Mercury Venus were square a head-in-the-clouds Neptune Jupiter in Aries. Certainly very self-protective with so much Cancer and very Neptunian, as well as hugely determined with her Mars/Pluto midpoint in aspect to her Saturn, Jupiter and Uranus.

Her Mercury aspected her Mars/Saturn midpoint which might give a clue to her fractured vocal chords (or ear) as well as being conjunct Uranus and square Jupiter Neptune – so what she lacked in talent she made up for in delusional confidence.

St Clair Bayfield, 2 Aug 1875, was a quirky Sun Uranus in Leo; with his Venus and Mercury in Cancer conjunct her Venus Mercury New Moon; and his Leo Moon perhaps conjunct her North Node. Though his Saturn in Aquarius opposed her North Node and his Pluto squared it, which might be a clue to his determined efforts to nurture a talent that ran so much against the grain of public taste.

He also had a Yod of Pluto sextile Mercury Venus inconjunct Mars, which found its direction when he met Florence in 1909 as tr Saturn was trine his focal point Mars; and both tr Pluto and tr Uranus were conjunct legs of the Yod in their Solar Arc positions. He’d finally landed the role of his life.

Their relationship chart may have had a composite New Moon – a perfectly complementary pair, more whole when together. Plus never-say-die composite Mars trine Mercury Venus, sextile Pluto; a chained-together Saturn trine Pluto; and an idealistic and confident Saturn Jupiter. A folie a deux that made it into history.

 

Harold Henthorn, dubbed the black widower, is now serving a life sentence for pushing his second wife off a cliff, having set her up with a hefty life insurance policy made out to him. When the FBI investigated they discovered his first wife had also died in mysterious circumstances out in the wild with only him present and again he got a substantial inheritance. When he was finally nabbed, he’d already set lady number three up with a life policy on which he’d forged her signature.

He was born 14 November 1955 and is a Sun Saturn Moon in Scorpio square Jupiter Pluto in Leo – so certainly determined and an odd mix of depressed and over-confident. What seems telling is that both wives died 12 years into the marriage which suggests a repeating pattern. Often childhood trauma gets lived out on the same timeline (not that that is any excuse at all) and can be seen from Progressions. In his case his Progressed Mars had moved to conjunct his natal Neptune exactly when he was 12 years old, sextiling his Jupiter Pluto. I’ve no idea what happened but would be interesting to know.

He married Toni, his second wife, a successful opthalmologist, on 30 Sept 2000 when there was a Saturn opposition Pluto square Mars in place, which was a hint of the very controlling and ultimately murderous marriage that followed.

Toni was born 10 Jan 1962 and was a Sun Venus Mars in Capricorn; with Mars Venus trine Pluto, sextile Neptune – her family describe as not having great success in picking suitable boyfriends and her Mars Venus Pluto Neptune might have had something to do with that.

Their relationship chart had a composite Sun Saturn Venus conjunction with Venus Saturn trine Pluto; and Pluto square Mars – certainly dominating, scary from Mars Pluto, cold from Saturn and the addition of Pluto can turn that perverse.

When his first wife died on 6 May 1995, crushed by a collapsed car, tr Pluto was conjunct his Solar Arc Mars; and His Solar Arc Neptune Uranus conjunction was straddling a square to his Neptune.

When Toni was killed on 29 Sept 2012, his Jupiter Pluto had moved by Solar Arc within a degree of the conjunction to his Neptune; with tr Saturn conjunct his Neptune. On both occasions tr Mars was in hard aspect to his Sun Saturn, which is a minor influence, but clearly was sparked up when his months of planning came to a tragic conclusion.

His natal Neptune (conjunct Mars) does seem key though would need a birth time to see quite how it fitted into his killer con-man mentality.

 

Stephen Bannon, the aggressive roustabout brought in as the new CEO of Trump’s campaign was born 27 Nov 1953 in Norfolk, Virginia and has been a naval officer, investment banker (Goldman Sachs), minor Hollywood player, and political impresario. He described himself last year as coming from “a blue-collar, Irish Catholic, pro-Kennedy, pro-union family of Democrats.” He’s CEO of Breitbart News, the crusading right-wing populist website which has supported Trump to the hilt and is ‘a haven for people who think Fox News is too polite and restrained.’ He’s virulently anti-establishment and set out last year to undermine Jeb Bush and was behind the damaging Clinton Cash expose.

A mile-a-minute talker who thrums with energy, he’s a Sun Sagittarius; with Jupiter in Gemini trine Neptune Mars in Libra, sextile Pluto (Moon) in Leo – keen on publicity-generating businesses, pro-active, controlling, flamboyant. His Pluto is square Venus (Mercury) in Scorpio so he can turn on the charm when needed. His Uranus in Cancer opposes his North Node squaring onto Neptune Mars – which will certainly give him a vision which he’s fanatical about as well as huge amounts of energy and aggression. Not for the faint hearted.  It does suggest Trump intends to ‘double down on the unabashed and unpolished populism’ of his early campaign.

There’s as much good as tricky in his interface with Trump. Bannon’s Jupiter is conjunct Trump’s Sun; and his Mars conjunct Trump’s Jupiter – so a good deal of morale boosting going on, though it could go over the score and lead to overly confident decisions. On the downside Bannon’s Uranus is conjunct Trump’s Saturn Venus which hints at differing objectives with tension resulting. Worse, Bannon’s powerfully aspected Pluto is conjunct Trump’s Mars and Ascendant, so Bannon will put his forceful personality behind dominating Trump which isn’t likely to go down well.

Their relationship chart has a workmanlike composite Sun Saturn Mercury conjunction. Though that is also conjunct the composite Mars, which looks very rough edged and argumentative. Plus a composite Jupiter Pluto which will start well, with each egging the other on, but can switch to a definite struggle for the upper hand. Neither is a personality who likes being outshone. Tr Saturn is in a discouraging square to the composite Mercury in October and square the Sun Saturn into early November. Plus there’s tr Pluto square the composite Neptune now till early Sept and again mid October across the election which is confused.

Bannon’s relationship with the new campaign manager Kellyanne Conway has the same mix of friendly and not-so-friendly crossovers with a composite Sun Venus; but also an irritable, argumentative Saturn square Mars which is certainly under strain through September.

Bannon’s personal chart throws up a mix of great and not-so-great transits ahead. In general he’s in a highly frustrating couple of years with tr Pluto square his Mars, but that’s not exact again until December. He looks upbeat at the moment with tr Uranus square his Jupiter/Pluto midpoint; marginally relieved in September with tr Uranus sextile his Jupiter, and exuberantly confident with tr Pluto trine his Sun/Jupiter though also under strain and confused with tr Pluto hitting on his Sun/Pluto and Sun/Neptune. Tr Uranus squares his Uranus (and Neptune Mars Node T square) through October which may put him onto a different track, and will bring sudden decisions or changed circumstances.

Although Trump started with his new team last week on an apology, I’d imagine Bannon will propel him towards upping his personal attacks on Hillary. Bannon’s Saturn is conjunct Hillary’s Scorpio Sun which certainly fits with him exposing her shadow. Their relationship chart has a power-struggling Sun square Pluto; and tr Pluto is trine the composite Mars now and in October and November; with tr Saturn square the composite Jupiter Mars in Oct/Nov – so it could get very nasty up to and after the election.

 

What’s fun about the Olympics (apart from the Brits doing so astonishingly well much to our surprise, thanks to former PM, Sir John Major, who pushed for funding) is that niche sports get exposure.

Taekwondo, which seems at core to be kick boxing, is a Korean martial art with elements of karate, which depends on speed and agility. Size matters less than speed, which is just as well for Jade Jones, yesterday’s gold medal winner, who is only 5ft 1 (155 cms).

Born 21 March 1993 in Rhyl, Wales, she got into scrapes as a child – not surprisingly since she’s an Aries Sun with Venus in Aries opposition Jupiter square Mars in mid Cancer opposition Neptune Uranus in Capricorn – which will give her a whole bundle of explosive energy.

What is intriguing is her accentuated mid Cancer Mars, which one of the early proponents of taekwondo, Haeng Ung Lee, also had. His Mars in Cancer was trine Saturn, and on the focal point of Uranus trine Neptune; with Sun Pluto conjunct in Cancer as well.

Jhoon Goo Rhee, 7 Jan 1932, another expert, also had a heavily emphasised Cardinal Mars in Capricorn, conjunct Saturn Sun and opposition Pluto, as well as being square Uranus.

Jean Claude van Damme, the martial movie star, 18 Oct 1960, also has his Mars just before mid Cancer in opposition to Saturn; in a mini-Grand Trine to Neptune sextile Pluto.

An afflicted Mars, especially in excitable Cancer,  clearly works well if you find the right sport.

The media have got all revved up about 23 March birthday for several top UK sportsmen – Sir Steve Redgrave, Sir Chris Hoy, Jason Kenny and Mo Farah, as well as the first four-minute miler Roger Bannister. All have an early Aries Sun, so not an astonishment they are all fast off the mark.

 

Ryan Lochte, the talented US swimmer has had the misfortune to be competing during Michael Phelps’ unassailable years, but has still garnered a more than respectable six Olympic Golds and 48 from other championships. All tarnished in a night of youthful idiocy (except he’s 32) when a drunken incident with three other swimmers turned into a robbery allegation, which tale cctv promptly demolished, indicating they had vandalised a petrol station. The Rio police were quite rightly outraged at the insinuation that it was crime-ridden Rio at fault. His sponsorships and prancing on reality TV are likely to come to a sudden halt, though he’s still sticking to his story. (Has since issued a statement saying he should have been more “candid, careful and responsible” which is a weaselly kind of apology, saying he was waiting until all the swimmers were out of Brazil before saying anything.)

Born 3 Aug 1984, he’s a Sun Leo square Saturn (Moon) in Scorpio and trine Uranus. Leo hates to be exposed and a Scorpio Moon doubly so. His Venus in flamboyant Leo is in a seductive trine to Neptune, sextile Pluto, so he likes to charm and schmooze. Though with his Venus square Mars in Scorpio, won’t be over sensitive to others.

His Uranus, Solar Arc Saturn, Solar Arc Sun and a couple of midpoints are picking up hard aspects from the panicky, neurotic, undermining tr Neptune square tr Saturn, amplified and aggravated by tr Mars conjunct tr Saturn, at the moment and for the next few weeks, no doubt as the repercussions filter through. He’s also got his Solar Arc Neptune square his Pluto this year which tends to be fairly devastating.

Jimmy Feigen, another Gold winning swimmer from this year, has agreed to pay nearly $11,000 to a Brazilian charity over his involvement in the incident. The United States Olympic Committee has since apologised to Brazil.

Feigen, 26 Sept 1989, Hilo, Hawaii, has a feisty Sun Mars in Libra on the point of a chaotic T square to Uranus Saturn Neptune opposition Jupiter – definitely excitable, impulsive, with a short fuse. He’s also got a seductive Venus Pluto in Scorpio.

Like Lochte, it’s the tr Saturn square tr Neptune which has caught him out as it hard aspects five of his midpoints now and for the rest of the year.

Boys will be boys, but it was the cover-up that done the damage. If they’d paid for the breakages at the time and kept their mouths shut they might have got away with it.

 

Billionaire George Soros, one of Hillary Clinton’s major donors and a supporter of liberal causes, became known as the man who ‘broke the Bank of England’ after his bets against the pound were instrumental in ejecting it from the Exchange Rate Mechanism in the 1990s and made him $1 billion.

A leak of documents from his philanthropic network has sparked a fairly muted row in the media about:- 1) his support for the Palestininians to challenge “Israel’s racist and anti-democratic policies in the international arena”; 2) his interference in East European country elections; 3) giving financial help which supported groups that fuelled the 2014 protests in Ferguson, Missouri after a young black man was shot by a white policeman; 4) him benefitting from Clinton’s push for the Panama Free Trade Agreement, which opened the country up as a tax haven; 5) giving former Vice President Al Gore’s environmental group millions of dollars to create a “political space for aggressive U.S. action” on global warming. He’s also had a business relationship with Donald Trump lending him money for hotel construction.

He was born in Budapest, Hungary on 12 Aug 1930, and has the super-confident Jupiter Pluto conjunction in Cancer; with Jupiter opposition Saturn square Venus on one side and square Uranus on the other – so part of that innovative, utterly-determined, bubbling-with-initiative Depression generation. His Leo Sun is trine Uranus in Aries, sextiling onto a focal point Mars in Gemini.

His Leo Sun is conjunct Hillary’s Mars Pluto Saturn, so not the easiest of relationships for close co-operation. Though if her birth time of 8.01am is accurate then his Jupiter falls in her 8^th house of joint finances which will no doubt be an attraction. His Neptune is conjunct her MC, so something unclear about his influence on her career, slippery, maybe scandal-prone.

Their relationship chart again has a Neptunian flavour with high-finance Jupiter Neptune conjunct the composite Sun trine Uranus, sextiling onto a pro-active Mars. Though there’s also an argumentative Mars square Mercury; and an emotionally cool Venus Saturn conjunction. Definitely money-oriented.

The relationship looks tense and stressed from Dec 2016 and through 2017 with tr Pluto opposition Mars and square Mercury; with tr Uranus opposition the composite Venus at the moment and again early in 2017. But they’ll definitely be on a roll together by 2018 with tr Pluto trine the composite Jupiter and Uranus. Though with a hint of disappointment following that. High financial hopes which peter out.

 

Lee Stocker, was a pioneer and trail-blazer with a powerfully determined chart. Born in London on 31 January 1943, he had an Aquarius Sun in an Air Grand Trine to Uranus Saturn in Gemini trine Neptune, formed into perhaps two Kites; one Sun opposition Pluto and the other Uranus Saturn perhaps opposition Moon. So he had talent, influence (Pluto) and struck a chord in the public imagination (Moon).

He also had a Yod of Uranus Saturn sextile Pluto inconjunct Mars – which tends in early life to mis-direct energy, until a new life direction is found which uses all of Mars’ courage, vigour and decisiveness. Plus he had his North Lode in Leo which gives leadership ability.

None of which was obvious when he trained as an accountant and started a small electrical business. Aged 40, he was bored and chucked it all in. At that point he was in his midlife crisis with tr Uranus (and Jupiter) opposition his Uranus Saturn, shaking his Grand Trine – this is when old, unfulfilled ambitions become much more pressing. Tr Jupiter was conjunct his Node, giving him a nudge about developing his potential; and the tr Saturn Pluto conjunction was moving to trigger his Yod, sextile his Mars and conjunct his Solar Arc Neptune in the years following.

His turning point came when he found an injured hedgehog that vets were unwilling to treat. It sparked his childhood interest in wildlife and he went on to found the St Tiggywinkles Hospital which has grown to the size of a small NHS medical facility, the largest such in Europe. It cares for 1500 inpatient animals – deer, badgers, foxes, squirrels, toads, multifarious birds. They are treated, sometimes with keyhole surgery in operating theatres, using many techniques developed by him through trial and error over the years.

He was awarded an MBE for his work and became an honorary member of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons; and his last project, nearing completion, is a new college to teach vets about British wildlife. He died recently and his son remains as CEO.

He followed his dream and turned it into a national treasure.