corporate personhood

basic violation of our "un-alienable rights"

creativity

the number is zero

the eternal now

CommonDreams.org
Published on Monday, September 28, 2009 by CommonDreams.org
Time for Citizens to Convene

by Ralph Nader

Just when many conditions seemed ripe for a progressive political movement, the likelihood is fading fast. Concentrated corporate power over our political economy and its control over peoples lives knows few boundaries.

As Republican investor advocate leader Robert Monks puts it: “The United States is a corporatist state. This means that individuals are largely excluded both in the political and corporate spheres.”

Since Wall Street’s self-inflicted multi-trillion dollar collapse last year, the corporate supremacists have shown no remorse. They have become more aggressive: they are blocking regulatory reforms; pouring campaign donations into the governing Democrats’ coffers; and, shamelessly demanding more bailouts, subsidies and tax reductions. They also continue to block avenues for judicial justice by aggrieved people, whether they be the wrongfully injured, defrauded consumers and investors, or jettisoned workers and bilked pensioners.

The problem: large corporations have too many structural powers over the citizenry. These “artificial persons” have acquired the constitutional rights originally given in 1787 only to “natural persons.” In fact, corporations have enormously greater privileges and immunities than the people themselves because of their global control over politicians, capital, labor and technology.

Normal sanctions do not adequately deter multinational companies that can obscure their culpability, escape jurisdictions or create their own parents (holding companies) and endless progeny (subsidiaries) to evade or avoid accountability.

Even the most ardent progressives in Congress, and the most organized progressive groups, cannot begin to deal with such gigantic mismatches.

Decades ago, there was more debate about the need for different “rules of conduct,” to use conservative Frederick A. Hayek’s phrase, between corporations and human beings. Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis warned about corporations becoming “Frankensteins.” Presidents Teddy Roosevelt and William Howard Taft wanted to replace the permissive state chartering laws with tough federal chartering laws for large corporations.

For two generations the ever-expanding superior status of corporations has gone undiscussed in political realms. During that time, corporations and their attorneys rode roughshod over the “we the people” preamble of the Constitution. Our charter of government never mentions the word “corporation.”

Unabated, the corporate crime wave continues. The corporate welfare kings get fatter, the power disparity expands between corporations and shrinking unions, and the pull-down pressures, created by the corporate shipment of jobs and industries to repressive regimes abroad, further corrodes American work opportunities. More of government, including military functions, is being corporatized despite recurring reports of rising waste, fraud and abuse.

The federal government’s budget for auditors, investigators, inspectors and prosecutors is laughable, given the scale of looting: the defrauding of medicare; abuses of Pentagon contracts; the taking of minerals on the public lands; and the giveaways of government research and development to favored companies.

Corporate profits keep going up, except for bailout periods, while most Americans’ standards of living decline. Our country, so full of unapplied solutions, is grid locked—stuck in traffic. Record levels of poverty, unemployment, home foreclosures, consumer debt and bankruptcies, and people lacking health insurance persist, yet corporate political power has not waned. A bad sign. Indeed, it has increased, notwithstanding large majorities of Americans decrying too much corporate control over their lives. The leave-it-to-the market ideology of Big Business, and its claims of patriotism, have lost credibility in this globalized era. Yet, the myth lives on even as socialism routinely saves big capitalism from its own greed.

What can active progressives do? In Congress, amongst the Republicans and corporate Democrats, the small progressive caucus of 83 members generates little political impact. Ironically, many of those progressive legislators are busy dialing for the same commercial campaign dollars.

Outside Congress, progressive groups have been on the defensive for so many years that they have few offensive political strategies. The two parties are in the narrowest channels of self-perpetuation. They gerrymander their opponents into one-party districts and together produce a matrix of obstacles to keep competition from third parties at bay.

Both parties give preferential access to the hordes of drug, coal, banking and other industry lobbyists, who are allowed de facto to choose many of the nominees that lead the government’s departments, such as the Defense and Treasury Departments.

Enough abuses have been documented. Enough power has been concentrated to shred our democratic processes and institutions. It is time to decisively shift power from the few to the many. Democratic power is the essence of progressive political philosophy, and the precondition for the emergence of a just society nourished by higher public expectations.

How to begin? Progressives—elected, civic, labor and funders—need to come together in a national convention to aggregate the existing forces for change. Such a gathering could create a clear-eyed vision of the common good to shatter debilitating public cynicism and passivity.

In attendance must be a broad range of energetic community organizers, thinkers, the seriously generous progressive mega-rich and the heroic dynamos who have risen from their suffering to act on behalf of “liberty and justice for all.”

There is ample historic precedent for the galvanizing effect of founding social justice conventions. This proposed convocation needs to take civic and political action to unprecedented levels, powerfully fueled by committed resources and strategies to build enduring democratic institutions.

Unused knowledge, and many working models of community economics, environmental advances and educational quality exist to further the larger progressive dynamic.

Lincoln once observed the crucial importance of “public sentiment” for moving a society forward. That “public sentiment” is here, deep, widespread and ready for clearly explained “redirections.”

If a mantra is needed in the convention hall, let the eternal words of the Roman, Marcus Cicero, be emblazoned for all to see: “Freedom is participation in power.” For this aspiration places responsibility where it must always reside: on the shoulders, in the minds, and in the hearts of an empowered American people.

……………..

Ralph Nader is a consumer advocate, lawyer, and author. His most recent book – and first novel -  is, Only The Super Wealthy Can Save Us. His most recent work of non-fiction is The Seventeen Traditions.

The War on Drugs in 100 Seconds (MPP-TV) vs Terrence Mckenna – The purpose of psychedelics
http://www.mediawars.com/war.php?warid=H3zzf5kL2m

Had to share this one that popped up recently. Negotiate for whichever you enjoy/feel more drawn towards/ or whatever you like.

care about health care?

“The current health care debate in Congress has nothing to do with death panels or public options or socialized medicine. The real debate, the only one that counts, is how much money our blood-sucking insurance, pharmaceutical and for-profit health services are going to be able to siphon off from new health care legislation. The proposed plans rattling around Congress all ensure that the profits for these corporations will increase and the misery for ordinary Americans will be compounded. The corporate state, enabled by both Democrats and Republicans, is yet again cannibalizing the Treasury. It is yet again pushing Americans, especially the poor and the working class, into levels of despair and rage that will continue to fuel the violent, proto-fascist movements leaping up around the edges of American society. And the traditional watchdogs—those in public office, the press and citizens groups—are as useless as the perfumed fops of another era who busied their days with court intrigue at Versailles. Canada never looked so good.

The Democrats are collaborating with lobbyists for the insurance industry, the pharmaceutical industry and for-profit health care providers to craft the current health care reform legislation. “Corporate and industry players are inside the tent this time,” says David Merritt, project director at Newt Gingrich’s Center for Health Transformation, “so there is a vacuum on the outside.” And these lobbyists have already killed a viable public option and made sure nothing in the bills will impede their growing profits and capacity for abuse.

“It will basically be a government law that says you have to buy their defective product,” says Dr. David Himmelstein, a professor at Harvard Medical School and a founder of Physicians for a National Health Plan. “Next the government will tell us a Pinto in every garage, a lead-coated toy to every child and melamine-laced puppy chow for every dog.”

[....]

Obama and the congressional leadership have shut out advocates of single-payer. The press, including papers such as The New York Times, treats single-payer as a fringe movement. The television networks rarely mention it. And yet between 45 and 60 percent of doctors favor single-payer. Between 40 and 62 percent of the American people, including 80 percent of registered Democrats, want universal, single-payer not-for-profit health care for all Americans. The ability of the corporations to discredit and silence voices that represent at least half of the population is another sad testament to the power of our corporate state.

“We are considering a variety of striking efforts for early in the fall,” Dr. Himmelstein said, “including protests outside state capitals by doctors around the country, video links of conferences in 70 or 80 cities around the country, with protests and potential doctors chaining themselves to the fence of the White House.”

Make sure you join them”

—— full article here

hijacking is awesome. the lobby power is sooooo strong on this one. we need to have a voice. dollars make sense, but people lead movements.

Democracy Unlimited

these peeps are doing some cool stuff up here in Humboldt and elsewhere. glad to get to learn from them in my upcoming internship.

Resist the dominant program

mexico legalizes it ~ish

“Mexico decriminalized small amounts of marijuana, cocaine and heroin [LSD too] on Friday — a move that prosecutors say makes sense even in the midst of the government’s grueling battle against drug traffickers. Prosecutors said the new law sets clear limits that keep Mexico’s corruption-prone police from shaking down casual users and offers addicts free treatment to keep growing domestic drug use in check…….”

—-

full story

Hypervigilance is an enhanced state of sensory sensitivity accompanied by an exaggerated intensity of behaviors whose purpose is to detect threats. Hypervigilance is also accompanied by a state of increased anxiety which can cause exhaustion. Other symptoms include: abnormally increased arousal, a high responsiveness to stimuli and a constant scanning of the environment for threats. Hypervigilance is a symptom of posttraumatic stress disorder, among other things.

El Persguido

As official videographer for the U.S. government, Kurt Sonnenfeld was detailed to Ground Zero on September 11, 2001, where he spent one month filming 29 tapes: “What I saw at certain moments and in certain places … is very disturbing!” He never handed them over to the authorities and has been persecuted ever since. Kurt Sonnenfeld lives in exile in Argentina, where he wrote “El Perseguido” (the persecuted). His recently-published book tells the story of his unending nightmare and drives another nail into the coffin of the government’s account of the 9/11 events. Below is an exclusive interview by The Voltaire Network.

http://www.voltairenet.org/article160636.html

U.S. Asks Twitter to Stay Online During Iran Protests

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/17/world/middleeast/17media.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=twitter%20iran&st=cse

Peruvian Indigenous Rights Under Threat….again – via Avaaz:

The Peruvian government has pushed through legislation that could allow extractive and large-scale farming companies to rapidly destroy their Amazon rainforest.

Indigenous peoples have peacefully protested for two months demanding their lawful say in decrees that will contribute to the devastation of the Amazon’s ecology and peoples, and be disastrous for the global climate. But last weekend President Garcia responded: sending in special forces to suppress protests in violent clashes, and labelling the protesters as terrorists.

These indigenous groups are on the frontline of the struggle to protect our earth — Let’s stand with them and call on President Alan Garcia (who is widely known to be sensitive to his international reputation) to immediately stop the violence and open up dialogue. Click below to sign the urgent global petition and a prominent and well-respected Latin-American politician will deliver it to the government on our behalf.

http://www.avaaz.org/en/peru_stop_violence

More than 70 per cent of the Peruvian Amazon is now up for grabs. Giant oil and gas companies, like the Anglo-French Perenco and the North Americans ConocoPhillips and Talisman Energy, have already pledged multi-billionaire investments in the region. These extractive industries have a very poor record of bringing benefits to local people and preserving the environment in developing countries – which is why indigenous groups are asking for internationally-recognized rights to consultation on the new laws.

For decades the world and indigenous peoples have watched as extractive industries devastated the rainforest that is home to some and a vital treasure to us all (some climate scientists call the Amazon the “lungs of the planet” – breathing in the carbon emissions that cause global warming and producing oxygen).

The protests in Peru are the biggest yet and the most desperate, we can’t afford to let them fail. Sign the petition, and encourage your friends and family to join us, so we can help bring justice to the indigenous peoples of Peru and prevent further acts of violence from all parties.

http://www.avaaz.org/en/peru_stop_violence

In solidarity,

Luis, Paula, Alice, Ricken, Graziela, Ben, Brett, Iain, Pascal, Raj, Taren and the entire Avaaz team.

Sources:

# Civilians and police killed: Human rights lawyers accuse the government of a cover-up, BBC, 10 June:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8092453.stm

# Civil Society Condemns Massacre of Indigenous People in Peru, 8 June:
http://www.globalwitness.org/media_library_detail.php/765/en/global_witness_condems_violence_in_peru

# On Peru’s rift over economic policy and the controversial free trade agreement with the US , Reuters, 9 June:
http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSN09374943

# Research Article: Oil and Gas Projects in the Western Amazon: Threats to Wilderness, Biodiversity, and Indigenous Peoples, M. Finer et al:
http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi/10.1371/journal.pone.0002932

# Oil companies ‘should withdraw’ as Peru ‘faces its Tiananmen’, Survival International, 8 June:
http://www.survival-international.org/news/4640

# Peru’s Amazon oil deals denounced, BBC News, 3 February:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6326741.stm

Shredsomething

Yo I made something like this for my friend’s who played a show for Barack Obama and printed out $.50cent 11×17 copies…asked for donations.

One lady dropped me a $20…the others a $5 here and there.

If you want to make copies yourself and sell them over the next few days or just give them out to your friends feel free….Creative Commons Licensed (unofficial).  Be well.

Link to Photoshop file, here.  Any Kinko’s or Print Place should be able to use this.

At .50 cents/piece…sell 100…mount them on matboard? sell for $10!? WoW

8 years later

this is just too clever and correct….. anyone remember these adds from years ago?

howard zinn

“I may not answer the questions that either the moderator or you want to hear, but I’m going to talk straight to the American people and let them know my track record also.”

 

 

 

Check out this website

email from Ver DarLuz

I met this guy Ver DarLuz at Dreamtime this summer. He did a few workshops on astrology there and he was a very awesome dude. He has done tons of workshops at Burning Man as well. He sends out emails every so often talking about his workshops in denver, current astrological happenings, etc.  I got this one this morning. Pretty looooong, but interesting…. Give it a read, no matter how you feel about astrology. It’s a little hard to understand, for me, but I’m trying nevertheless. I understand that a lot of people feel like astrology is complete bull, but it is interesting to see how things in our current situation coincide with the stars/planets/moon…

Friends, this is the first installment of a few articles on the elections which will be appearing as we move further towards this fateful day and our future as a nation.  I am in gratitude to those who have appeared at my recent lectures in Denver, which i hope to post video of soon. In the following article I describe the current events regarding the bailout and McCain’s desire to postpone the debates.  Then, I have attached a very lengthy astrological description of Sarah Palin’s relationships to the U.S. Chart, and the chart of the Election and Inauguration Day.  I hope you will all take the time to read both sections.  I have done my best to translate the astrological lingo into more palatable terms.  Please feel free to pass this on to as many people as you like.  And I do not want anyone to feel disempowered with the information presented below.  As i will make clear in a future article, I am thoroughly convinced that this election will be more about the power of prayer and meditation, than any action at a voting booth.  

 In peace, light, and service,

   VerDarLuz

The Astrology of Postponement: The Debate and the Election Itself.

    FEAR.  love.  fear.  LOVE.  We are shifitng vibrationally.  Love and Fear are choices and forces weaving a powerful story during this political campaign and the American destiny.

        For those who are not accustomed to the woes of Mercury Retrograde, check out this one effect now: a $75 billion Bill for American taxpayers to bailout the Corporatocracy, the bankers who make people pay fat loans, the guys who like to charge “interest” and then run the U.S. economy into the sinkhole.

    In two days, Mercury will retrograde back onto the U.S. Saturn in Libra.  Saturn is exalted in Libra because true governance and righteous leadership (Saturn) should be about equal rights and ‘justice for all’ (Libra).  As Mercury retrogrades back over this Saturn, every american citizen will be able to ‘re’-consider and ‘re’-flect on the illusion of trust in the American financial system.  Never has the sordid link between the government and corporations been so transparent.  They have no chance to hide anymore.

    During the last Mercury Retrograde in June, I reported on the secret Bilderberg group meetings in West Virginia.  The Bilderberg group consists of Corporate and government heads from around the world, who come together each year to make powerful decisions regarding everything from war to oil prices to presidencies, all of which affect each of us.

    The next Mercury Retrograde will be in the sign of Aquarius and will take place on Inauguration Day, more on this powerful day in my next article.

    Bilderberg Group meetings, Corporate Bailouts, Inauguration Day – all taking place under the mischief-maker, Mercury, moving backwards, the worst times of the year to begin any serious undertakings, especially related to commerce, trade, travel, and communications, and especially to pass bills and sign away billions of dollars on dotted lines.  Consistently, a contractual deal occurring under Mercury retrograde will flop or one party will get seriously screwed.  The need for our alternative, local, sustainable economies persists and becomes more obvious…

October Surprise – Postponing the Elections

    In my recent lecture in Denver on the Astrology of the Elections, i was asked about the ill-fated, but dependable October surprise – a tactical maneuver by either party to influence and sway voters a particular way by unleashing some damaging information about the other candidate, trying to gain more votes for their respective side.

    Welcome to October, a week early.   The Republicans are scared and those hidden forces who rule them are even more afraid.  In a convenient strategy, the major bankers are in need of a massive bailout, where the government will actually own part of the banks.

    Bush’s announcement of the severity of the economic situation preceded, within a day, McCain’s announcement that he will postpone Friday’s debates and even his campaign until this economic situation is resolved.  Remember that a few weeks ago, this same man said, “The fundamentals of the economy are strong.”  Hmmm.

    Various authors at Alex Jones’ infowars.com call this bailout an act of financial terrorism against the American people.  Writer Paul Joseph Watson noted that this maneuver is called “the ’shock doctrine,’ the accelerated passage of what is essentially dictatorial legislation without proper scrutiny by means of exploiting a temporary state of fear.”

    It is a well-known fact that in times of war or serious turmoil, it is almost impossible for the American people to change guard.  The U.S. Sun and Venus and Jupiter are all conjunct in the sign of security-conscious Cancer.  (The term ‘Homeland Security” derives directly from these planetary placements).  Hence, a serious economic crisis threatening the homes, pensions, and financial portfolios of the majority of American citizens could make many Americans willing to postpone the election process.  It undoubtedly conjures the Saturnian fear-vibration.

    By calling for a suspension of the debates, it appears as if John McCain is appealing to Americans’ concern over the economy.  Yet Obama has made it very clear in his speech Wednesday Sept. 24th, that presidents must be able to handle multiple tasks at once and that it is important, now more than ever, for the American people to hear just where these candidates stand on these issues.

Weirder and Wilder – the Saturn -Uranus Opposition.

    As we’ve seen this year, this is the most unprecedented election in the history of the U.S.  From female and minority candidates, to wild, last-minute tactics, to football stadium size conventions, expecting the unexpected has been an absolute understatement.   This is the nature of the accelerating approach of the Saturn-Uranus opposition, exact on Election Day.  It will continue to approach Hyperreal status the closer we get to the day of the elections.  This same opposition occurred in 1965, with the radical movements for equal rights for minorities and women as complete paradigm shifts in the social and governmental matrices took place.  As Richard Tarnas points out in his brilliant study of history thru planetary relationship, Cosmos and Psyche, the Saturn-Uranus cycle manifests as “the two archetypal principles combine and interpenetrate in contradictory ways: repressive revolution, erratically unpredictable authority, and so forth, as evident during the Terror in revolutionary France and the Cultural Revolution in communist China.  Especially frequent with this cycle were crises and the sudden collapse of structures, crashes, and accidents, grim awakenings, and sudden breakdowns, whether political, economic, or psychological.” 

        Part of the strategy of the Saturnian forces in a time of crisis, where they may lose their governing authority, is to use radical, shocking, inventive, and extreme Uranian means to maintain those very same Saturnian forces.  Advertising which appeals to the rebellious, extreme natures of adolescents is a prime example of how Saturn tries to contain the freedom-impulse of Uranus.  Or, in 1988, as Saturn and Uranus conjoined in Sagittarius, George Bush Sr.’s statement of ‘A New World Order.” – a succinct description of a ‘new’ (Uranian) version of authority (Saturn). 

    The whole Obama campaign has been filled with the Uranian vibration, since Uranus is the modern ruler of Aquarius, Obama’s rising sign, Jupiter sign, and karmic traces through his South Node.  Remember the call for text-messaging support during the convention and the massive appeals to younger and disenfranchised voters – Uranus rules technology, the youth, and the will of the People, not the establishment.   And now the Saturn forces try to suspend the Obama momentum for change – remember the Promethean/Uranian impulse to awaken and enlighten moves at an electrifying pace.  Saturn forces will do all they can to impede this process.

     Over the last few weeks, Obama has been increasing his lead as people become more concerned with the economy.  And then, suddenly, the need for a massive bailout that could postpone not only the debates, but the elections themselves, appears.  It’s not as if this has not been happening for years now, and escalating each month, but it is conveniently timed for the Republicans and Saturnian forces so fearful of change to stop the Obama Uranian momentum.  It’s actually quite similar to how the Republican strategists called in Sarah Palin as a running mate to quench the intense, fiery optimism of the Democratic National Convention.  Needing a star and a controversy to compete with Obama’s popularity, the Saturnian forces pulled a ‘maverick’ Uranian move and implemented the hired gun of Sarah Palin to distract people further from the real issues and to try to gain female votes, an attempt to cause derision between male and female, black and white, etc… There is no gray area for Saturn.  “You’re either with us, or you’re against us.”  This is a far different cry than the Uranian/Aquarian plea for hope and vision.  We will examine this next article by studying Obama’s karmic links with Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy Jr.

V.P. Potency – An astrological breakdown of Sarah Palin

The U.S. Chart

    Sarah Palin has an almost surreal destiny with the chart of the U.S.  Her synastry is incredible, beginning with the Sun/Mars/Saturn stellium in Aquarius, vitalizing, activating, antagonizing, and authoritiatively pressurizing the soul of the American people, represented by the U.S. Moon, as well as the asteroid Pallas Athena.  Interestingly, there is also a linguistic resonance between Palin and the warrior -competitor-strategist goddess Pallas Athena.  From sport-hunting to rapping about being state point guard, this woman likes to compete.  Remember that the great capital of Athens was named after Pallas (roman) Athena (greek) and in her shadow form, Pallas can be devoid of emotions as she strategizes the best way to achive victory.

    On a more karmic level, Palin’s early degrees Merucry and Moon in Aquiarus conjunct the U.S. Pluto and the U.S. South Node.  The Mercury and Moon with Pluto contact signify deeper layers of hidden agendas at play and possible secret, powerful societies (Pluto) bringing to prominence Palin’s ability to use media to communicate (mercury) her version of universal, humanitarian, maternal family values (Moon).  With the connection to the U.S. South Node, she has been deeply connected to U.S. history before, probably as another powerful woman, perhaps having to do with equal rights for women because of Aquarius.  It would be rather ironic if she became the first female president and overturned Roe vs. Wade, ending a woman’s right to choose.   

    Nodal contacts in synastry are literally written in the stars, they’re like soul contracts.  Not only does Palin contact the karmic trace of the U.S., but her own North Node, where her soul is seeking to go, is within 3 degrees of the U.S. Sun in Cancer!!, and also conjunt the U.S. Jupiter and Venus.  All of these U.S. planets greatly enhance her ability to activate her North Node in the sign of the Mother.  Remember, that as nurturing as Cancer can be, it can also play its shadow as the most manipulative, overbearing, attached sign in the zodiac.  Look at the U.S. history, digging our paws into every nation on the planet as if we own the roof of the earth and can tell all its children what they should do.   Sarah Palin’s chart fits right in to this formula.

    As amazing as all this is, we cannot forget that throughout 2009, on inauguration day, Neptune is exactly conjunct Palin’s Sun/Mars/Saturn and the U.S. Moon/Pallas Athene.   Either this will be the complete dissolving of her Solar recognition, Mars ambition, and Saturn power, or, and what i feel more likely, a kind of dreamy, hypnotic fantasy begins for this woman and for this entire country as Neptune transits her Aquarian stellium as well as the U.S. Moon.    Exact in May, and playing in orb throughout the year,  Jupiter conjoins that Neptune in Aquarius, enlarging the mass hypnosis effect.  Although there may be a vast feeling of hope permeating the American people, it will likely be a huge smokescreen, a fog of deception and false promise happening at many levels.  This portends more issues with clean water, bank bailouts, and oil coverups (Neptune rules oil and the oceans).  And Palin can’t stop talking about untapped oil reserves in Alaska and throughout the U.S.

Election Day

    At the moment of her acceptance of running mate, Saturn was within one degree of Palin’s  Uranus in the first house, giving structure to her individuality, now providing a platform in which to express her first house image.  Recently, this woman has been all over the news and been parodied on Saturday Night Live and Youtube like crazy.  Saturn is exactly on her Pluto – this only occurs once in 28 years.  The Saturn/Pluto combination always puts one in to contact with underworldly people of hidden power and wealth (pluto) and places one in in a struggle for dominance.

    Sarah Palin has a resonant aspect with her own Sun/Mars conjunction in Aquarius squaring the Election day conjunction.  When the polls are closing, the Moon in the sky will exactly return to Palin’s Moon and conjunct her Mercury.  This is highly fortuitious for this woman’s fate, as the Moon rulers her North Node in Cancer, and Mercury rules her 11th house of success through the collective.   Also that evening, Venus conjoins Palin’s Ceres at 21 degrees of Sagitarrius in the fifth house of gambling and luck.   Ceres was the Great Mother, the grain goddess of abundance and bounty.  Since Palin’s Ceres sits in the U.S. first house, Venus transiting this point could effectively make Palin appear (first house) as the ‘Mother’ of a nation.

Inauguration Day and 2009

        But the real juice of Palin’s chart refers to the Inauguration chart and her grand Stellium in Aquarius.  A Grand Stellium is when 5 or more planets occupy a sign or house, and Palin has Mercury and Moon conjunct in Aquarius in the 6th house, plus the Sun/Mars/Saturn at 22, 23, 25 Aquarius in the 7th house.  As many of you know, the inauguration takes place January 20th, which means that many planets will be moving through the sign of Aquarius at that time, thereby triggering Palin’s massive stellium.

    The Sun, Mercury, Jupiter, and the North Node will all be on Sarah Palin’s Moon and Mercury.  Palin’s Moon and Mercury represent her feelings of home, nourishment, safety and how she communicates, the transiting Sun will radiate these areas and bring them recognition, Mercury will bring media and a lot of news around these areas, the North Node signifies a point of destiny for these planets.  But the core transit of 2009 for Sarah Palin is big benefic Jupiter exponentially expanding and uplifiting her 5 Planet stellium in Aquarius.  And the opportunities will emerge from the people around her (7th house) brought on by her new daily work in the White House (6th house).

A Vedic Perspective

    Vedic astrologer Joni Patry points out that “Her dasha sequence is Maha dasha Jupiter and Venus bhukti. Both planets are conjunct  in Pisces. This combo is amazing since Venus is exalted in Pisces and Jupiter in its own sign of rulership. One thing for sure whether or not she wins the race this is a great time for recognition and power. Venus does rule the 10th house from the Moon so this is very     auspicious bhukti. Most interesting about her chart is she has the Kala Sarpa yoga, and it is occurring currently in the heavens. People who have this yoga have a life which entails radical fate and karma for good or bad.”   

    We mentioned earlier the exact conjunctions of Saturn to her natal Uranus and Pluto on the day of her Vice-Presidency announcement.  On that very day, the Kala Sarpa began.  It ended on September 12th.  In between this period, both Hurricanes Gustav and Ike occurred, as well as the rise of Sarah Palin and the Republicans.  As many Vedic astrologers attest, the Kala Sarpa time period can create much fated intensity in the world, setting off a critical time period in our lives.  Kala Sarpa means Time Serpent and indeed it seems that the Serpent’s destiny has slithered Palin into the politcal limelight.

2010 – 12

    A rather frightening scene appears in 2010.  The Summer of 2010 has already become much anticipated by astrologers as the most volatile, extreme season we’ve seen since the 60’s.  This is because of the T-square between Saturn, Pluto, and Uranus.  Recalling much of the revolutionary, radical energies of the 60’s, an incredible need for change on every level  (especially in the realm of energy and resource usage), with the simultaneous increase in military technology and aggression, the transit of Uranus in Aries sq. Pluto in Capricorn will be exact 6 times between the approaching years of pandemonium between 2010 and 2016.  But what makes that Summer of 2010 particularly intense, is the addition of the Saturnian status quo governmental structures at war with the people (Uranus) in a volatile, urgent need to transform (Pluto), all expanded, heightened, and increased with the addition of Jupiter.  The Jupiter and Uranus conjunction will be exactly conjunct Sarah Palin’s Venus in Aries in the Eighth house.  This transit will occur at the 0 degrees Aries point, an astrologically intense point which can bring fame to one who possesses it, because 0 degrees of Aries is the beginning of Spring and the beginning of the year.  Its sabian symbol is “A woman rising out of the ocean.”  Lynda Hill describes its shadow as follows: “Using Masculine power to overshadow the emotions or to entertain fear.  Refusing to move into a new state of being becuase one is held back by fears and old life patterns.  Falling back into previous, unsatisfactory conditions.  People dragging others backwards…”

    Venus in Aries is the Amazon warrior, the independent, fierce feminine.  Venus in the 8th house has no fear of violence, and is a goddess of the deep, dark, and occult, compulsively obsessed with large amounts of money and other people’s resources. With her Venus transited by Progressed Mars, shifting out of 30 years in peaceful Pisces into the first degree of War-General Aries, and crazy madman Jupiter/Uranus, the free radical, uncertain, shocking, extreme combo, the phrase “Get the f*** out of my way, don’t tell me what to do” may be a big understatement.  

    These 2010-2011 transits not only demonstrate the possible violent fear-state that could arise with her position of power, but they could also very much signal a possible ascent to the Presidency because of the leadership connotations of Aries being transited by the unforeseen circumstances of Uranus on that Venus and Progressed Mars.   It’s very hard to imagine this woman going away in the next four years with these transits.  Jupiter does not keep you hidden in any way.  You keep growing.  And by the way, 2010 is her Jupiter return, amping up her personal fortune as well as any indulgent or extreme tendencies.

Relocation over Washington D.C.

     First of all, the karmic points of destiny, the Moon’s nodes, blanket the D.C. area in both her Geodetic and Astrocartography lines.  In the Geodetic map, Palin’s North Node is on the IC, which can present the people around one as a kind of surrogate family.  Her North Node “Local Space Line” is very close to D.C., and signifies destiny playing a very strong role, as if meeting people one has known before.  (Remember our comment about Palin’s karmic, past-life connection to U.S. politics.  One can reap the rewards of past life actions or suffer karmic retriubution.  The nodes always signify a loss of something and a grasping towards, a relentless seeking.  In Palin’s case, that seeking or that loss will be profound, destructive, and massive, because of the parans (latitudinal crossing of planets) she has between Pluto and the Nodes and between Jupiter and the Nodes.  With the Jupiter, Pluto and Mercury influences here, there will be a lot of soapbox preaching, and much benefit from others who are in greater power than her or who have religious influence.   

    She has an astrocartography line of Ceres, the mother Goddess in a wide conjunction to the IC, the home or root of the chart, bringing a sense of abundance and belonging to her home.Palin’s closest planetary line to D.C. is an exact paran (latitude crossing) of the planet Pluto and the asteroid Pallas Athena.  Remember the reference to the Warrior-Competitor-Creative-Strategist Goddess before and couple that with the Plutonian urge to destroy, rebirth, transform, possess, and obsess.

    The name Sarah, means “princess” and the Welsh name Palin means “to serve”.  Interestingly, in her Geodetic chart, Palin has Jupiter on the Ascendant, a line which can make one appear as royalty, where people will roll out the red carpet for the Queen.  She also has the asteroid Vesta, associated with devotion and service, in a wide conjunction to her career angle of the Midheaven. Undoubtedly, even linguistically, Sarah Palin is intricately woven into the fabric of Washington D.C. and the fate of this nation as a whole.   

To be continued….

Your celestial servant,

  VerDarLuz

 

economists say no to “bail-out”

this letter was sent by the top college proffesors in economics from our country to members of our government and includes nobel laureates. the bail-out not only is un-sound, but also leaves open many holes for a quick transition to fascism.

‘conspiracy nuts’ can always have their say, but when their candor is the same as ‘normies’ we are in trouble….

“To the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate:

 
As economists, we want to express to Congress our great concern for the plan proposed by Treasury Secretary Paulson to deal with the financial crisis. We are well aware of the difficulty of the current financial situation and we agree with the need for bold action to ensure that the financial system continues to function. We see three fatal pitfalls in the currently proposed plan:
 
1) Its fairness. The plan is a subsidy to investors at taxpayers’ expense. Investors who took risks to earn profits must also bear the losses.  Not every business failure carries systemic risk. The government can ensure a well-functioning financial industry, able to make new loans to creditworthy borrowers, without bailing out particular investors and institutions whose choices proved unwise.
 
2) Its ambiguity. Neither the mission of the new agency nor its oversight are clear. If  taxpayers are to buy illiquid and opaque assets from troubled sellers, the terms, occasions, and methods of such purchases must be crystal clear ahead of time and carefully monitored afterwards.
 
3) Its long-term effects.  If the plan is enacted, its effects will be with us for a generation. For all their recent troubles, America’s dynamic and innovative private capital markets have brought the nation unparalleled prosperity.  Fundamentally weakening those markets in order to calm short-run disruptions is desperately short-sighted. 
 
For these reasons we ask Congress not to rush, to hold appropriate hearings, and to carefully consider the right course of action, and to wisely determine the future of the financial industry and the U.S. economy for years to come.  ”

 

for a full list of the hundreds of signatures check here.

as i read on current: “when a salesman is really pushy about ‘rushing’ something through, that is when you need to walk away.”

politics as a measuring stick…

this is from a post by dr. deepak chopra on the nomination of sarah palin posted via boulder-based elephant journal:

 

“Sometimes politics has the uncanny effect of mirroring the national psyche even when nobody intended to do that. This is perfectly illustrated by the rousing effect that Gov. Sarah Palin had on the Republican convention in Minneapolis this week. On the surface, she outdoes former Vice President Dan Quayle as an unlikely choice, given her negligent parochial expertise in the complex affairs of governing. Her state of Alaska has less than 700,000 residents, which reduces the job of governor to the scale of running one-tenth of New York City. By comparison, Rudy Giuliani is a towering international figure. Palin’s pluck has been admired, and her forthrightness, but her real appeal goes deeper.
        
She is the reverse of Barack Obama, in essence his shadow, deriding his idealism and exhorting people to obey their worst impulses. In psychological terms the shadow is that part of the psyche that hides out of sight, countering our aspirations, virtue, and vision with qualities we are ashamed to face: anger, fear, revenge, violence, selfishness, and suspicion of “the other.” For millions of Americans, Obama triggers those feelings, but they don’t want to express them. He is calling for us to reach for our higher selves, and frankly, that stirs up hidden reactions of an unsavory kind. (Just to be perfectly clear, I am not making a verbal play out of the fact that Sen. Obama is black. The shadow is a metaphor widely in use before his arrival on the scene.)
        
I recognize that psychological analysis of politics is usually not welcome by the public, but I believe such a perspective can be helpful here to understand Palin’s message. In her acceptance speech Gov. Palin sent a rousing call to those who want to celebrate their resistance to change and a higher vision.
        
Look at what she stands for:
        
~ Small town values — a denial of America’s global role, a return to petty, small-minded parochialism.
        
~ Ignorance of world affairs — a repudiation of the need to repair America’s image abroad.
        
~ Family values — a code for walling out anybody who makes a claim for social justice. Such strangers, being outside the family, don’t need to be heeded.
        
~ Rigid stands on guns and abortion — a scornful repudiation that these issues can be negotiated with those who disagree.
        
~ Patriotism — the usual fallback in a failed war.
        
~ “Reform” — an italicized term, since in addition to cleaning out corruption and excessive spending, one also throws out anyone who doesn’t fit your ideology.
        
~ Palin reinforces the overall message of the reactionary right, which has been in play since 1980, that social justice is liberal-radical, that minorities and immigrants, being different from “us” pure American types, can be ignored, that progressivism takes too much effort and globalism is a foreign threat. The radical right marches under the banners of “I’m all right, Jack,” and “Why change? Everything’s OK as it is.” The irony, of course, is that Gov. Palin is a woman and a reactionary at the same time. She can add mom to apple pie on her resume, while blithely reversing forty years of feminist progress. The irony is superficial; there are millions of women who stand on the side of conservatism, however obviously they are voting against their own good. The Republicans have won multiple national elections by raising shadow issues based on fear, rejection, hostility to change, and narrow-mindedness.
        
Obama’s call for higher ideals in politics can’t be seen in a vacuum. The shadow is real; it was bound to respond. Not just conservatives possess a shadow — we all do. So what comes next is a contest between the two forces of progress and inertia. Will the shadow win again, or has its furtive appeal become exhausted? No one can predict. The best thing about Gov. Palin is that she brought this conflict to light, which makes the upcoming debate honest. It would be a shame to elect another Reagan, whose smiling persona was a stalking horse for the reactionary forces that have brought us to the demoralized state we are in. We deserve to see what we are getting, without disguise.”