Donald Trump will hold a two day summit with Chinese premier Xi Jinping on April 6/7 at Mar-a-Lago his summer palace, just as Mars in Taurus is exactly in a challenging, disagreeable trine to Pluto and tr Uranus makes a bad-tempered, uncompromising and unpredictable square to the composite Mars on their relationship chart. Trump … Read more
‘The fringe moves further into the mainstream’ is a comment about the present political situation in India, but could equally be applied to a variety of countries – so must be something in the zeitgeist. Narendra Modi, the Indian PM, has appointed firebrand Yogi Adityanath as chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, a fifth … Read more
Francis Ford Coppola’s 1972 movie The Godfather, starring Marlon Brando and Al Pacino, was for a time the highest-grossing film ever, and is regarded as one of the greatest films in world cinema, ranked just below Citizen Kane in top US movies. Principal photography started on 23 March 1971 and it premiered on 14 … Read more
Khalid Masood has been named as the man responsible for the Westminster attacks yesterday. British-born on 25 December 1964 in Kent, he had a string of previous convictions for assaults, including GBH (grievous bodily harm), possession of offensive weapons and public order offences; and had a peripheral association with a terrorist incident some … Read more
An attack on Westminster, London this afternoon, described as probably terrorist, has left five dead and 40 injured, some catastrophically, as a car ploughed into pedestrians on Westminster Bridge and the driver then knifed an unarmed policeman on security guard to death outside the House of Commons and Lords and was himself then shot. The … Read more
A coward, criminal and murdering terrorist or an inspiring peace-maker? Opinions are sharply divided, as former Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland Martin McGuinness dies suddenly, between those whose families were on the receiving end of IRA violence and those who applauded his dramatic changeover to politician and negotiator for the Good Friday … Read more
Vera Lynn, the ‘forces sweetheart’ was one of the mainstays of British morale at home and amongst troops abroad during world war 11. Her ‘We’ll Meet Again’ issued in 1939 became a hit, as did ‘The White Cliffs of Dover’ and ‘There’ll always be an England.’ She travelled extensively at some risk to … Read more
A formal letter informing the EU of the UK’s intention to leave will be delivered in Brussels on March 29th. There’ll be no formal time of the pigeon or chopper leaving London (perhaps sent by diplomatic bag the night before) although Theresa May will make an announcement in the House. There’s a sparsely … Read more
President Andrew Jackson (1829 Presidency) is evidently the one whom Donald Trump would most like to emulate. Jackson sought to advance the rights of the “common man” against what he saw as a “corrupt aristocracy” and to preserve the Union. Though the ‘common man’ clearly didn’t include slaves or Native American Indians. He was … Read more
There’s been an outpouring of adulation as the venerable Chuck Berry dies. ‘He was one of the undisputed, all-time greats of rock and roll, a founding father of the music that shook and shaped the world. He was rock’s first great songwriter and first guitar hero. His influence on Elvis Presley, The Beatles and … Read more