National Archives - Page 31 of 44 - Alex's Asteroid Astrology

December 22nd, 2018 at 08:39am by Alex Miller

Merry Christmas, Donald!

On the Twelfth Day of Christmas, the POTUS gave to me: one ousted White House Chief of Staff; an ill-advised Syrian pullout; one retiring Defense Secretary; a dissolved Trump charity; one sentenced former “fixer”; Trade Wars with China; a deferred sentence for a former National Security Adviser; five DOJ investigations into his conduct; four dictator cronies; three tanking stock markets; two departing Cabinet Secretaries; and a partial governmental shutdown in a pear tree.

One might think, with asteroid Santa coming to its station on Christmas Day, conjoined Donald Trump’s natal Ascendant, that the holiday haul for the 45^th President might be pretty good. But apparently, Santa only has coal left in his magic sack.

November 26th, 2018 at 01:33pm by Alex Miller

AAA Profile: Nancy Pelosi, The Once and Future Speaker

When the 116^th Congress convenes on January 3^rd, 2019, it’s likely to have a most remarkable woman at its head. If chosen Speaker by the incoming Democratic majority in US the House of Representatives, it won’t be Nancy Pelosi’s first crack at wielding the gavel. The California-based Representative made history in 2007 when she became the first female Speaker of the House, a post she held until the 2010 electoral rout against the Affordable Care Act, spearheaded by the Tea Party, tossed Democrats out of power for 8 years. But progressives and Pelosi are back, and 2018’s Blue Wave has once again turned the tide in DC.

November 15th, 2018 at 03:23pm by Alex Miller

Troemper Squared Mars: Campaign Fights, Political Plights & Veteran Slights

If you thought things could only get better in the Trump administration, that we’d reached the nadir, think again. An ongoing, protracted square from asteroid Troemper, our celestial referent for the President, to angry, quarrelsome Mars seems to be eliciting even worse behaviors than we’ve already become accustomed to.

Mars’ recent slowdown to its station in late August is the culprit here, allowing the normally slower-moving Troemper to catch it up and perform a pernicious, petty, provocative pas de deux as summer stretched into autumn. Coming to within ten degrees of each other as of August 20^th, the two have been resonant within five degrees since September 1^st, a state of affairs which endures through the end of November (they continue within ten degrees until the Winter Solstice on December 21).

November 10th, 2018 at 08:21am by Alex Miller

Sessions Sacked

On Wednesday, November 7^th, 2018, while the Midterm Election votes were still being counted, Donald Trump saw the fulfillment of a years-long dream: the forced resignation of Attorney General Jefferson Beauregard Sessions. (And don’t think the timing on that isn’t significant; Trump wanted something controversial to distract from the Democratic victory the day before, and Sessions fit the bill perfectly.)

Yes, Sessions was the first sitting US Senator to openly endorse Trump’s Presidential campaign in 2016; yes, he was Trump’s handpicked choice for the post he now leaves; yes, he was perhaps the most effective of Trump’s Cabinet officials in enacting the administration’s ultra-conservative agenda.

But Sessions’ fatal flaw was a teeny modicum of ethical behavior, when he recused himself from the Justice Department’s investigation into Russian collusion with the Trump campaign. This he was required to do, having been a major campaign surrogate for Trump, and he only did it after lying to Congress during his AG confirmation hearings about his own interactions with Russian agents.

November 8th, 2018 at 08:49am by Alex Miller

Midterm Elections 2018: Post Mortem

Well, it’s finally over. Mostly. As of this writing (Wednesday morning, November 7, though a protracted Verizon service outage may delay posting), the results appear to be a mixed bag. The Democrats have retaken the House of Representatives, but the Republicans have expanded their Senate majority. Barring a few key races (Arizona, Florida and Montana Senate races still too close to call, a Mississippi Senate race requiring a run-off, and a likely legal challenge in Georgia’s gubernatorial election), the broad outlines are clear.

October 30th, 2018 at 08:49am by Alex Miller

Slaughter in the Synagogue

Shortly after Shabbat services began at the Tree of Life Synagogue in the Squirrel Hill section of Pittsburgh, PA on Saturday, October 27, 2018, a lone gunman entered and began shooting up the congregation with a semi-automatic AR-15 rifle and two Glock hand guns. He left 11 dead and another six wounded, including several police officers who responded to the 911 calls. The suspect, Robert Bowers, was apprehended after being shot by police and remains in the hospital, though he faces arraignment on 29 Federal charges on the Monday. Bowers had a history of anti-Semitic posts on social media sites, and told arresting officers that he “just wanted to kill Jews”, whom he accused of bringing terrorists into the US to destroy the country.

The rampage is the most deadly act of anti-Semitism in US history, and the 294^th mass shooting in the country this year. Obviously, we’ve been down this road many times before; it is wide and commodious, and there appears to be no turning.