Harry S Truman took over as US president when Franklin D Roosevelt died in office in 1945. He authorized the first and only use of nuclear weapons in war, implemented the Marshall Plan to rebuild the economy of Western Europe, established the Truman Doctrine and NATO, engaged in an internationalist foreign policy and … Read more
Victory in Europe Day yesterday brought back a flood of wartime memories from the older generation with stalwart words of hope from the Queen. Unconditional surrender in Europe was signed on 8 May 1945 at 9.20pm in Berlin when Jupiter in Virgo was conjunct the Midheaven and trine a Taurus Sun; and there was a … Read more
Pluto is the god of the underworld, wealth and criminality, a cleaner-outer of sewers and harbinger of slow, grinding transformation, symbolised by the phoenix who only arises after all is reduced to ashes. Slowly nearing the end of fifteen years in Capricorn, it will dip a toe into Aquarius in late March 2023 and … Read more
Vietnam with a population of 96 million has, so far, managed to crush the coronavirus with no deaths recorded, having taken early measures to stop flights, lockdown the population, set up military-style quarantine camps and it has the highest test-per-confirmed-case ratio of any country in the world. There are concerns about a second virus … Read more
Australia is gradually lifting restrictions with virus cases dwindling and to date only 97 deaths recorded. Economic measures taken so far are, like everywhere else, historically large in scope to support the workforce; and there are worries ahead about the essential trading relationship with China as well as the negative impact for an export-heavy … Read more
Karl Marx, described as one of the most influential figures in human history, both lauded and criticised, was born on 5 May 1818 2am in Trier, Germany into a middle class, non-religious, liberally inclined Jewish family. Marx’s political writings forced him into exile in London as a stateless person, where, in collaboration with Friederich … Read more
A German court has set a bomb under the EU legal order by questioning the European Central Bank’s 2015 programme to buy sovereign bonds. The judges gave German institutions three months’ notice after which if the ECB has not complied with their doctrine, the Bundesbank and other German entities are banned from participating in the … Read more
50 years ago what were regarded as state sanctioned killings of four students at Kent State University rattled the USA right up to the White House. The students were protesting Nixon’s surreptitious expansion of the Vietnam War into Cambodia and Laos and there had been damage to property by fringe activists in the days before. … Read more
New Zealand will keep a closed border policy for a considerable period ahead according to PM Jacinda Ardern. This will hit the tourism industry as well as trade with China – both of which are essential to the economy. The NZ finance minister warned last month that the country is facing an economic shock … Read more
Trump’s never-ending supply of ‘Comical Ali’ press spokespersons has thrown up another doozy in “I will never lie to you” Kayleigh McEnany. She does appear marginally more experienced with a background in CNN and Fox than previous incumbents of the post – Kellyanne Conway, Sean Spicer, Sarah Sanders – but her support of the anti-Obama … Read more