Tag archive: Nemesis

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Trumping Death

Given Trump’s disdain for science, fact and expertise, coupled with a complete inability to take direction or follow sage advice and a propensity for reckless action, it was perhaps inevitable that he and the coronavirus would become personally acquainted at some point, sooner rather than later.  So Trump’s 12:45 AM EDT Tweet on October 2, 2020 confirming that both he and Melania had been exposed and tested positive, was hardly a shock, but it was a thunderous admission regardless.  With Trump’s age and corpulence, he was a prime candidate for a serious, if not deadly, COVID-19 infection, and with his re-elect pending just a month away, his turbulent campaign was thrown into a tailspin, while a shattered nation waited with bated breath for the outcome.

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Aster-Obit: Alex Trebek

On Sunday, 8 November 2020, gameshow fans the world over were saddened to hear of the death of Alex Trebek, host of “Jeopardy!”, after an 18-month battle with pancreatic cancer.  Described as “the thinking man’s game show”, “Jeopardy!” inverted the traditional format by providing the answers to trivia questions, requiring contestants to phrase their replies in the form of a question.

The third longest-running gameshow on TV (after “The Price Is Right” and “Wheel of Fortune”), “Jeopardy!” has had several daytime and evening incarnations, but Alex Trebek has helmed the show for 37 years, since its latest version premiered in 1984.  Its iconic final round theme is one of the most-recognized musical selections in the world, and the series has spawned several foreign-language versions in 32 countries including Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, Sweden, Russia, Denmark, Japan, Spain, Australia, Turkey and Israel.  Trebek continued working throughout his cancer treatment, until the bitter end, appearing in the studio to film episodes just 11 days before his passing. 

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Aster-Obit: Ruth Bader Ginsburg

“My most fervent wish is that I will not be replaced until a new president is installed.”

–Ruth Bader Ginsburg

 

On September 18th, 2020, the US political world was shaken to its foundations by the death of the Notorious R.B.G., Ruth Bader Ginsburg, an associate Justice of the US Supreme Court and liberal icon for almost thirty years.  Ginsburg succumbed to complications arising from metastasized pancreatic cancer, after struggling with the disease in one form or another for over twenty years.  Ginsburg’s death, coming so close to a US presidential election, completely upends the calculus, energizing both sides, as conservatives scramble to replace her before they may lose control of the White House and Senate, and progressives cry “Foul!” in the face of clear double standards regarding the rules for filling such vacancies.

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Sally Sashays Ashore

Moving at barely a walking pace of 3 mph, Hurricane Sally made landfall near Gulf Shores, Alabama as a Category Two storm at 4:45 AM CDT on September 16, 2020.  The storm promises to be one of the worst water-dumpers ever, with historic levels of rainfall expected and major flooding likely.  Up to 30” of rain is predicted in some locations, a devastating amount of precip as Sally slogs her soggy way across the south-east.

 

Astrologically, too, Sally promises to be a major event, fitting the pattern of her PNA (Personal-Named Asteroid) in major aspect to the Sun.  In this instance, we have asteroid Salli, an alternate spelling, which at 29 Sagittarius is squared the Sun, coming in just under the wire of 24 Virgo, at 23 Virgo 59 for her landfall.  A broad T-Square is created by Neptune, planetary ruler of floods, opposed the Sun from 19 Pisces, where it is accompanied by asteroid Achilles at 23 Pisces, a symbol of vulnerability, and asteroid Heracles at 25 Pisces, a symbol of strength and power.  In this case, vulnerability (Achilles) from water (Neptune), via a storm that already exceeded expectations for its strength (Heracles) at landfall.

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Of Hearts and High Water

For those of you who may not have heard, my heart has been out of rhythm (again) and my basement was flooded by Isaias a few weeks ago.  While unrelated, I do like the alliteration of the title, so here goes!

 

My heart issues began with birth, when Kevin Mark Miller incarnated in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania at 1:37 PM EDT on July 27, 1960.  (That’s my legal name still, and I use asteroid Kevin when tracking physical issues, as I do my self-chosen moniker of Alex and its variations, though we don’t like or use the K-word except for official business).  I was underweight as an infant and small child (a defect I have more than made up for subsequently, I assure you!), due to having been born with a hole in a ventricle of my heart.

 

If I’d had an astrologer then (well, one using asteroids, anyway), she would have been able to warn me that, with asteroid Kevin at 0 Leo conjoined the Sun at 4 Leo, and exactly opposed asteroid Valentine (symbolizing hearts) at 0 Aquarius, cardiac problems could be an issue.  Open heart surgery at age three in 1963, a time when this was still new territory, effectively solved that congenital problem, and I was untroubled by heart concerns for 40-plus years.

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A Tale of Two Nominations

Now that the Democratic and Republican conventions are safely behind us, and their nominees are official, we can take a look at the acceptance charts for those nominations, as a preview of what to expect for the campaign and the upcoming election in November.

 

Joe Biden confirmed his Party’s nomination by uttering “with great honor and humility, I accept this nomination,” at 10:49 PM EDT on August 20th, 2020, from a largely empty school gymnasium in Wilmington, Delaware, with himself, his running mate, the spectators and crew observing current CDC guidelines on mask-wearing and social distancing.

 

Donald Trump’s statement that “with a heart full of gratitude and boundless optimism, I profoundly [?  did he mean “proudly”?] accept this nomination” occurred on August 27th at 10:28 PM EDT, in front of a crowd of 1500 people, largely without masks, packed check-by-jowl on the White House lawn. 

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