National Archives - Page 27 of 48 - Alex's Asteroid Astrology

April 10th, 2020 at 07:44am by Alex Miller

Coronavirus Case Notes: Boris & Bernie

Holy Week 2020 saw two major reversals for political figures on both sides of the pond, one medical, one political, both with COVID-19 connections. On Palm Sunday, 5 April, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was hospitalized in ICU with coronavirus complications and given oxygen. The 55-year-old PM had been diagnosed positive for the virus ten days previously, and his condition had deteriorated to the point where the medical support at No. 10 Downing Street was insufficient to his need, and he was admitted to St. Thomas Hospital, London.

On Wednesday April 8, US Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders withdrew from the race; the indefatigable Vermont Senator’s campaign, bloodied but unbowed in Super Tuesday primary contests, had finally succumbed to COVID-19’s isolationist tendencies. Unable to hold mass rallies or campaign effectively given coronavirus social distancing requirements, with most remaining primary elections postponed to the summer due to the virus’ impact, Sanders finally threw in the towel on his presidential aspirations.

April 7th, 2020 at 10:58am by Alex Miller

Michael Atkinson Fired

Late on April 3, 2020 US President Donald Trump did a little spring cleaning, throwing out some trash he’d been wanting to get rid of for some time. The offending object was Justice Department Inspector General of the Intelligence Community Michael Atkinson, the man whose judicious handling of the Ukraine whistleblower report eventually led to the President’s impeachment. Trump made no bones about his reason for relieving Atkinson of his position, citing the decision to pass the complaint on to Congress as the grounds for removal. With The Donald, everything is either confession or projection.

March 5th, 2020 at 08:09am by Alex Miller

Super Tuesday Post Mortem

At long last, some sanity! Joe Biden’s virtual sweep of the Super Tuesday primary contests on March 3^rd was stunning to behold, coming from so far behind, and left most political pundits scratching their heads in wonder, scrambling for an explanation. But not here at AAA – we foresaw the likelihood of a Biden nomination last November, when that startling “victory stellium” appeared on the Ascendant of his Solar Return, portending a successful year. We’re not exactly tripping over Accurate Prediction Trophies here, so you’ll forgive me if I crow a bit, like Maurice the rooster.

February 22nd, 2020 at 09:42am by Alex Miller

DNI DOA: Trump’s War on Intel

On Thursday, February 20^th, Donald Trump ejected acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire from his post, replacing him with partisan hack Richard Grenell. The position was created in the wake of the 9-11 attacks to coordinate the output of 17 intelligence agencies and provide useful, integrated information to the President and Congress, relating to national security. All Executive Branch employees serve at the pleasure of the President, and Trump was well within his rights to make this change. The question is: why now?

February 19th, 2020 at 08:07am by Alex Miller

AAA Profile: Michael Bloomberg

Roiling the race for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination of late is former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the ninth-richest man in the US. Bloomberg’s political consistency has been his inconsistency: a registered Democrat until 2001, he became a Republican to run for mayor, then during his second term dumped that Party affiliation while he successfully prosecuted the case for ending New York’s mayoral term limits, winning a third term in 2009 as an Independent. In 2018 he once again registered as a Democrat, before announcing his entry into the 2020 presidential race on November 24, 2019.

February 7th, 2020 at 10:31am by Alex Miller

Of Verdicts, Voting & Verbiage

It’s been quite a week! The impeachment “trial” verdict, the Iowa caucus, and the State of the Union (SOTU) speech. By rights, we ought to take them in order, but as of this writing (2/6/20), the debacle that was the Iowa caucus is still not quite over, despite starting on Monday, so we’ll save that for last, in hopes we might get complete clarity by deadline. And we’ll begin with the President’s speech to the nation before the joint session of Congress at 9 PM on Tuesday, February 4^th.