Asteroid Astrology: Headlines

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A Tale of Two Nominations

Now that the Democratic and Republican conventions are safely behind us, and their nominees are official, we can take a look at the acceptance charts for those nominations, as a preview of what to expect for the campaign and the upcoming election in November.

 

Joe Biden confirmed his Party’s nomination by uttering “with great honor and humility, I accept this nomination,” at 10:49 PM EDT on August 20th, 2020, from a largely empty school gymnasium in Wilmington, Delaware, with himself, his running mate, the spectators and crew observing current CDC guidelines on mask-wearing and social distancing.

 

Donald Trump’s statement that “with a heart full of gratitude and boundless optimism, I profoundly [?  did he mean “proudly”?] accept this nomination” occurred on August 27th at 10:28 PM EDT, in front of a crowd of 1500 people, largely without masks, packed check-by-jowl on the White House lawn. 

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The Wrath of Laura

[Cover Image:  Laura was so massive, she filled virtually the entire Gulf of Mexico adjacent to the US]

The first major-impact storm (at least from the US perspective) of the 2020 hurricane season is Hurricane Laura, which made landfall in Cameron, Louisiana at 1 AM CDT on Thursday, August 27th.  Hitting as a Category Four storm, the strongest ever to make landfall on the Louisiana coast, Laura maintained her momentum until well inland, only dropping to a Category Two stage more than fifty miles from shore.

 

From the release of the World Meteorological Organization’s 2020 hurricane name list, Laura betrayed all the hallmarks of becoming a serious storm, from a celestial perspective.  First, she had an exact asteroid match for her name, like 2018’s hurricane Florence, scourge of the Carolinas; or Maria before her, which devastated Puerto Rico in 2017; and Irma before that, inundating Naples, Florida earlier that year.  And also like these three, Laura would have a period of time during hurricane season when her PNA (Personal-Named Asteroid) would be interacting with the transit Sun.  Asteroids Florence and Irma had been conjunct the Sun when they wreaked their havoc, and asteroid Maria had been squared.  For asteroid Laura, that time was now, in opposition.

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Harris Wins Veepstakes

On Tuesday 11 August 2020, presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden made his long-awaited choice for running mate in the 2020 election:  US Senator and former nomination contender Kamala Harris (D-CA).  I suggested Harris as a running mate for Biden in my January 2019 profile on her when she announced her candidacy for president, based not so much on astrological analysis as a gut feeling that this would make a winning team.

 

Harris’ chart shows a clear professional drive for the White House, and the connections between her and Biden suggest she’ll be an asset on the campaign trail, and a worthy successor when the time comes, should they win in November.

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Aster-Obit: John Lewis

On July 17, 2020 US Representative John Lewis (D-GA), known as “the conscience of the Congress”, passed away at the age of 80.  A former associate of Martin Luther King Jr, Lewis was an influential civil rights leader and had served his district as representative for more than thirty years.  Lewis, one of the organizers of the 1963 March on Washington and the last surviving speaker at that rally, was a leader of the Selma to Montgomery marches in 1965, which protested suppression of black voting rights, when he was viciously beaten by Alabama State Troopers at the crossing of the Edmund Pettus Bridge.  Members of this same organization now saluted his remains when Lewis’ casket was conveyed across that bridge one final time, as part of a protracted funeral process.

 

The five-day official commemoration of Lewis’ death focused on Alabama, where he was born; Georgia, where he represented the state’s 5th district; and Washington DC, where he had served in the House, highlighted in a funeral and lying-in-state at the Capitol Rotunda, first African American to be given that honor.

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A Rolling Stone Serves No Time

We last checked in with Trump crony and political adviser Roger Stone eighteen months ago, in January 2019, just after his home was raided by FBI agents, and Stone arrested on seven federal counts of obstruction, making false statements and witness tampering.  It’s been a long road for Stone, who was convicted on all counts in November 2019, then sentenced to forty months in prison on February 20, 2020, after William Barr’s Justice Department attempted to intervene and lighten his prison term, prompted by tweets from the President characterizing his friend’s treatment as “horrible and very unfair” and a “miscarriage of justice”.

 

Stone’s incarceration was due to start July 14, but was superseded when Donald Trump commuted his sentence on Friday, 10 July 2020.  Short of a pardon, the commutation means that Roger Stone, for now, remains a convicted felon, but will never serve a day in prison for his crimes.

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Catching Up with COVID-19

Late June 2020 saw a resurgence of coronavirus cases across the US, predominantly in states which reopened too quickly, or too recklessly, and where social distancing guidelines had not been strictly adhered to.  Too early to be considered the vaunted “second wave” of the pandemic, this surge is still part of the initial infectious outbreak.  As of June 26, conditions were so bad in Harris County, Texas, home of Houston, that Judge Lina Hidalgo, the county’s Chief Executive, raised the threat level locally to red once more, issuing a second “stay-at-home” order when Texas Medical Center reported 100% of its ICU beds were filled.  Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed an executive order banning elective surgery in the county and three others most at risk.

 

According to NBC News figures, Texas has seen an 83% increase in COVID-19 cases since the prior week.  Other emerging hot spots include Georgia (71% increase), Arizona (61%), Oklahoma (50%) and California (35%).  With total reported US infections now exceeding 2.5 million, and more than 127,000 deaths, the US remains the world leader in coronavirus cases, almost six months after the virus was first identified.  At less than 5% of the world population, the US accounts for roughly a quarter of its infections and fatalities, largely due to delayed and inadequate response by its government.  There is still no national program for testing, contact tracing or quarantine, and the same week alarms were sounding on COVID’s resurgence, the Trump administration announced it was pulling funding for testing in key hot spots.

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