Atropos Archives - Page 5 of 27 - Alex's Asteroid Astrology

January 2nd, 2025 at 02:58pm by Alex Miller

Aster-Obit: Jimmy Carter

On Sunday, 29 December 2024, former US president Jimmy Carter passed away peacefully at his home in Plains, Georgia; at age 100, he was the longest-lived chief executive in US history. Carter had been in hospice care for nearly two years, since February of 2023, and had lost his wife of 77 years, Rosalynn, that November. He also enjoyed the longest post-presidency, which was viewed, rightly or wrongly, as considerably more successful than his administration, with the Carter Center promoting democracy, advancing human rights and assisting disease eradication globally. Jimmy and Rosalynn also partnered with Habitat for Humanity in an annual home-building blitz, which the Carters joined personally.

December 30th, 2024 at 09:26am by Alex Miller

2024’s Skipped Stories: Lost in Transmission

Inevitably, it happens. Stories, small and large, are encountered, researched and prepped, and then something – a “bigger” event or a life circumstance – intervenes, and the story never sees the light of day. Until now. Join AAA for a wrap-up of some of those missed stories, as we close out the old year and ring in the new!

December 23rd, 2024 at 07:57am by Alex Miller

Death at Abundant Life

On Monday, 16 December 2024, shooting suspect Natalie “Samantha” Rupnow, 15, discharged a 9mm handgun in a study hall at the Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, Wisconsin, killing two and wounding six others, before turning the gun on herself. The incident, sadly, is hardly isolated, but it is unusual. The vast number of mass shootings are perpetrated by males, using assault-style rifles; women constitute only 5% of mass shooters, and with both victims also female, this becomes an “all-female” cast of characters.

October 28th, 2024 at 09:43am by Alex Miller

Halloween Horror: The Candy Man Murder Turns Fifty

It was half a century ago, on 31 October 1974, that eight-year-old Timothy O’Bryan died in agony after eating a Halloween treat laced with cyanide. The family and friends had been trick-or-treating in Pasadena, Texas, when they came across a house which did not respond to their knocks. Thinking no one was home, the group proceeded down the street, but Timothy’s father Ronald hung back awhile. In a couple minutes he rejoined the group, offering five 21” Pixy Stix to his son, daughter, and three other children, claiming that his repeated knocking had finally elicited an answer, and these were the treats he was given.

October 3rd, 2024 at 09:55am by Alex Miller

Death in Triplicate

The recent pairing of Jupiter, the planet ruling fame and celebrity, and asteroid Requiem 2254, named for the funeral mass for the dead, has yielded a fresh crop of autumnal celebrity deaths, much in the way Jupiter’s earlier conjunction with asteroid Lachesis 120, named for the mythic Greek Fate who determines the span of life, depopulated the planet of famous names in mid-summer. Among the recently departed: Dame Maggie Smith, celebrated British actress best known for her work in the Harry Potter movies and PBS’ “Downton Abbey;” Kris Kristofferson, American singer, songwriter and actor; and Pete Rose, American professional baseball player and gambling afficionado.

September 30th, 2024 at 10:29am by Alex Miller

Hurricane Helene

Atlantic storms with PNAs (Personal-Named Asteroids) equating to their designated names, which find these connected to the Sun when they make landfall, often prove to be among the worst, most powerful and destructive hurricanes on record, not to mention the most expensive. Such was the case with Hurricane Irma, which made landfall in Florida on 10 September 2017, with the Sun conjunct asteroid Irma (estimated cost $65 billion); and Hurricane Maria, which made landfall in Puerto Rico ten days later, with asteroid Maria exactly squared the Sun (estimated cost $115 billion). And such is the case now, with Hurricane Helene striking Florida’s Big Bend region as a Category 4 hurricane, the largest ever to hit the region, on September 26^th, under a precise conjunction of the Sun with asteroid Helena (with an early estimate of the storm’s damage at $95-110 billion).