International Archives - Page 8 of 10 - Alex's Asteroid Astrology

February 3rd, 2020 at 07:59am by Alex Miller

The Coronavirus Outbreak

On January 7, 2020, the Chinese government announced that it had isolated the cause of a new strain of flu-like contagion, which it named the novel (“new”) coronavirus. Part of a large class of viruses which include the common cold, MERS and SARS, the new disease had already claimed at least one life, in late December 2019, before it was identified. To date at least 259 people have succumbed to the virus, which has now spread to more than a dozen countries, with upwards of 12,000 known to be infected. Over 60 million people have been put on lock-down in China, and international researchers are racing to develop a vaccine before the contagion becomes a worldwide pandemic. The US government announced that as of February 2^nd, all foreign nationals who had visited China in the past 14 days would be barred from entering the country, and all Americans returning from China would be placed in quarantine.

January 6th, 2020 at 10:45am by Alex Miller

A Death in Baghdad: Soleimani’s Assassination

If you recall, it was an assassination that began World War I. Is history about to repeat itself, in the death of Iranian General Qasem Soleimani, killed by a US drone as his convoy exited Baghdad International Airport on 3 January 2020? Soleimani was head of Iran’s elite Quds force, a division of its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, primarily involved with extraterritorial military and clandestine operations. Soleimani had coordinated with proxy and client terrorist groups in anti-US actions outside Iran, across the Mid-East, had pioneered the IED attacks, and was responsible, directly or indirectly, for the deaths of countless Americans and local civilians.

November 26th, 2019 at 08:38am by Alex Miller

Bibi’s Swindle Return

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu was indicted on charges of corruption on November 21^st, just as asteroid Swindle returned to its natal degree of 26 Virgo. The embattled Netanyahu has been fighting for his political life for months, with two inconclusive general elections in April and September 2019 showing no clear victor, and neither Bibi nor his chief rival, Benny Gantz, able to form a collation government, leaving Israel essentially leaderless. Head of the center-right Likud Party, Netanyahu has been PM since 2009, following an earlier stint in the late ‘90s, but has been under investigation for corruption for almost three years, before Israel’s Attorney General filed charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust. Netanyahu, a staunch Trump ally, has characterized the indictment as a “witch hunt” and attempted coup (gee, I wonder where he got that idea from?).

August 22nd, 2019 at 09:47am by Alex Miller

Trumplet, Prince of Greenland

“To buy or not to buy, that is the question.” US President Donald Trump faced this apparent dilemma this week, as he floated a desire to purchase the island of Greenland from the Danes. The bizarre notion may have been prompted by the ghost of Hamlet’s father, rattling around the West Wing while on vacation from Elsinore, but initially it yielded mocking commentary from around the globe. Until Greenlanders rebuffed Trump, and the Danish Prime Minister called the idea “absurd.” Then The Donald went into full assault mode, calling the PM “nasty” and cancelling a state visit to Denmark, a NATO ally, planned for early September.

July 23rd, 2019 at 11:38am by Alex Miller

Boris Johnson, Britain’s New PM

At 12:05 PM BST on July 23^rd, 2019, in London, England, it was announced that former UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson had been elected Leader of the Conservative Party, currently in power in Britain. Although the formality of outgoing PM Theresa May’s resignation to the Queen, and Her Majesty’s formal invitation to Johnson to form a government, will not occur until the following day, the vote effectively makes Boris Johnson the next Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

A former journalist, Member of Parliament, Mayor of London and Foreign Secretary, the blonde, mop-headed Johnson has often been compared to Donald Trump, predominantly for their trademark bluster and the incendiary nature of their statements, as well as a similarly anti-immigrant, isolationist, transactional political opportunist bent. A leader in the pro-Brexit movement, Johnson has vowed to fully sever ties with the European Union by the current October 31^st deadline, come what may.

May 27th, 2019 at 08:04am by Alex Miller

Cruel Britannia: Theresa May’s PMexit

On May 24^th, 2019, UK PM Theresa May made a tearful departure from the political scene, as she announced her resignation in the wake of the collapse of the disastrous Brexit negotiations to withdraw Britain from the EU. The move was not unexpected, as May had intimated as much, should the third vote on a dissolution proposal fail in Parliament, which it did in late March. At that time the European Union gave Britain a further seven months to craft a deal suitable to all parties, but having failed at each successive attempt over the prior three years, May felt new leadership was required to resolve the impasse.