Three of Ukraine’s naval vessels were seized by Russia for sailing in Crimea waters in the first Ukraine’s parliament is to decide whether to bring in martial law, after Sunday’s capture of three of its naval vessels and 23 crew members by Russia while sailing in Crimea waters. This is the first display … Read more
Bernardo Bertolucci, the acclaimed Italian film director and screenwriter, has died. His stunning The Last Emperor won all nine Oscars in which it was nominated; The Sheltering Sky was also rapturously received. Less so his earlier controversial erotic Last Tango in Paris with Brando, though after the initial furore it became a classic – … Read more
Actress Olivia Coleman, who is playing a middle-aged Queen Elizabeth 11 in The Crown Season 3 & 4, has built up a sterling career. She started in comedy and moved on to prestigious and highly acclaimed TV series like crime drama Broadchurch and Le Carre’s The Night Manager with nominations and awards raining … Read more
Oh hallelujah. John Chau who was killed by tribal people on a remote protected Andaman Island in the Bay of Bengal, was described as a Christian martyr on the Covenant Journey website to which he belonged. He was described as a missionary who wanted to bring Jesus to the islanders, who have a … Read more
The French are working up a head of steam doing what they do best – demonstrating against the government. The ‘Yellow Vest’ barricades at toll-booths, roundabouts and fuel depots at have been ongoing for a week or so, with two people accidentally killed and more than 530 injured, 17 seriously. It was … Read more
Mark Zuckerburg has been firmly defending his position at Facebook after another series of scandals, as befits a Sun and Venus in Taurus with four planets in Scorpio. He’s not a man for turning, despite stock being down 40% since a July high. On top of earlier fake news, election meddling and privacy … Read more
Robert De Niro is divorcing his wife Grace Hightower after 20 years, though they split briefly in the early days of the marriage and came back together. He was born 17 August 1943 at 3 am in New York to painter parents, with his father leaving when he was two, announcing he was … Read more
The USA’s First Pluto Return will happen on the next President’s watch (2022/23). While there may be symbolic events which carry the significance of the epochal shift in the power balance of the country’s style of government and status that comes with Pluto’s return to its natal position, it is often only with … Read more
Andrea Leadsom is one of the gang of five Cabinet Brexiteers insisting that the Brexit deal must be renegotiated despite Barnier and Merkel saying it can’t be. They have (according to the Daily Mail) given her two weeks to fix it or they resign. Born 13 May 1963 in Aylesbury, England, she worked … Read more
‘Politics is not the art of the possible. It’s the art of choosing between the disastrous and the unpalatable.’ John Kenneth Galbraith. A few more random and rambled thoughts on Brexit sparked off by this morning’s papers. Background first, then the astrology. ‘The mass hysteria that now grips our political class, with die-hard … Read more