Alex's Asteroid Astrology |

June 6th, 2025 at 08:17am by Alex Miller

Aster-Obit: Loretta Swit

On 30 May 2025, American actress Loretta Swift passed away at her home in New York City, at the age of 87. Best remembered for her performance as Major Margaret “Hot Lips” Houlihan in the smash 1970s TV hit series M*A*S*H, Swit effortlessly grew that character from one-dimensional, strait-laced, traditionalist army nurse having an extramarital affair with an inept doctor, to a married, then divorced, fully emancipated modern woman. The metamorphosis was stunning to behold, and Swit’s character became an icon of feminism for the time. Swit won two Emmy Awards for her portrayal, appearing in all but 11 of the series’ 256 episodes, only one of two actors to appear through the run of the show, from pilot to finale (the other being Alan Alda, Captain Hawkeye Pierce).

May 30th, 2025 at 08:25am by Alex Miller

A Decade of The Donald

Hard to believe, but on June 16^th, it will be ten years since Donald J. Trump rolled down that golden escalator in Trump Tower to announce his candidacy for US president, setting in motion a disruption in our political life as a nation the likes of which we’ve never seen before (to use one of Trump’s favorite catch phrases). As always, the moment encapsulates the future, crystalizing latent potential into manifestation.

May 21st, 2025 at 02:45pm by Alex Miller

The Kilmar Abrego Garcia Case

By now, most Americans have heard of the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran who was illegally deported from the United States on March 15, 2025, in what the Trump administration initially admitted was “an administrative error.” He was imprisoned without trial in the Salvadoran maximum security Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT), despite never having been charged with nor convicted of a crime in either country, under an agreement to imprison U.S. deportees there, in exchange for payment. The administration quickly withdrew its mea culpa, defending Abrego Garcia’s deportation, and publicly accusing him of being a member of the MS-13 gang, a U.S.-designated terrorist organization. The accusation was based on a bail determination made during a 2019 immigration court proceeding, contested by Abrego Garcia.

May 11th, 2025 at 09:26am by Alex Miller

Holy Smoke! An American Pope!

They said it couldn’t be done, but on May 8^th, 2025, a conclave of 133 Catholic Cardinals, largest in history, elected an American as Pope! 80% of those qualified to vote (only Cardinals under age 80 were eligible) had been elevated by Pope Francis, including the Vatican sweepstakes winner, Cardinal Robert Prevost. The conclave was also the most international in composition, with roughly two-thirds drawn from nations outside Europe, and 71 countries represented in total.

May 6th, 2025 at 03:31pm by Alex Miller

Aussies & Canucks Go to the Polls

Late April and early May 2025 witnessed two vital democracies elect new governments, in the teeth of a tense Mars/Pluto opposition, as Canadians and Australians lined up to cast ballots for the candidates of their choice. Both countries saw foundering incumbents, once thought to be sure losers, given new life and rescued from defeat to retain power. This was, at least in part, aided and abetted by a series of poorly chosen acts and statements from US President Donald Trump, whose trade war tariffs and belligerent rhetoric aimed at these erstwhile allies tarred his fellow conservatives with a brush so toxic that voters fled into the arms of their progressive rivals. Donald Trump, Making Democracy Great Again – everywhere but in America.

April 28th, 2025 at 10:40am by Alex Miller

Garden Glimpses: Spring 2025 – Better Late Than Never

It was a long time coming, but Spring finally got here. And by and large, it did not disappoint. True, some of the plantings were inexplicably reduced in size over last year, but many flourished, and new plantings in the west bed did very well. A climatic push-me/pull-you combination of short bursts of extreme heat and long spells of below-average temps contrived to bring things on quickly, then preserve them longer than normal.