AstroChatter Radio is Right On! May 26, 2009
Posted by Monica in California, Gay/Lesbian.Tags: AstroChatter Radio, astrology, BlogTalkRadio, California, Proposition 8, Sonia Sotomayor
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I joined Pamela Cucinell for her AstroChatter Radio show today at noon ET, and accurately predicted that the California Supreme Court would uphold Proposition 8, which bans gay marriage. The decision was handed down about an hour after we ended the “broadcast” on BlogTalkRadio.
What was the thinking behind the analysis? Transiting Saturn (restriction) is hanging around California’s Virgo Sun, which promised a conservative decision by the court, despite a broad opposition from transiting Uranus (surprise, revolution).
Lest I sound too chipper about getting it right, let me reiterate that I’m a big proponent of equal rights for gays and lesbians, and this issue isn’t going away anytime soon.
During today’s show, Pamela also analyzed the chart of U.S. Supreme Court Justice nominee Sonia Sotomayor, and we took calls, including one from our old friend ColoradoDeb. You can listen to this week’s broadcast here.
California Voters Just Say No May 20, 2009
Posted by Monica in California.Tags: budget deficit, California, earthquakes, Saturn station
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As predicted by Astrology Mundo, California voters were not in the mood to close the state’s massive budget deficit yesterday. Of six propositions on the special election ballot on May 19, just one was approved: Proposition 1F, which prohibits salary hikes for state politicians during deficit years.
The rejection was to be expected, as Saturn, the planet of restriction, just stationed quite close to the Sun in California’s state incorporation chart. Saturn is opposing erratic Uranus in the sky, and we’ve seen a couple of small earthquakes in Los Angeles over the past few days.
Crunch Time in California May 11, 2009
Posted by Monica in California.Tags: astrology, California, earthquakes, May 19 special election, Proposition 13, Proposition 8, referendums, Saturn station
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I haven’t been living in California long enough to figure out the complicated referendum process that allows the state’s citizens to vote directly on propositions.
In November, Proposition 8 was in the headlines, as California residents overturned gay marriage. But most of the referendums facing California voters have to do with budgetary matters, not lifestyle issues.
My observation is that the referendum process, laudable though it appears to be, leads to some contradictory situations. Most people my age remember Howard Jarvis and Proposition 13, which dramatically cut property taxes in the Golden State, in 1978.
But after cutting property taxes, California’s idealistic residents have over the years approved a raft of propositions that require increased spending. I’ll name a few later, but you get the gist. Maybe SFMike at Civic Center will weigh in with a comment on California’s system of direct democracy.
From what I gather, several of the six propositions on the ballot for the May 19 special election are designed to help the Golden State avert budgetary disaster.
Well, if you’re using astrology as a guide, don’t count on it. Here’s why: The Saturn station of May 17, at 14 degrees of Virgo, is just two degrees away from the 16-degree Virgo Sun in the California incorporation chart.
Saturn close to the Sun suggests deprivation, hardship, and cutbacks for the state. A small earthquake or two is also possible, since the Saturn station broadly opposes Uranus. However, I don’t think this is the “big one.”
For good California earthquake stuff, please go to Out the Comet’s you-know-what. Comet lives in California and has done some amazing analysis on the history of the state’s major quakes.
The Fragile State of the Union April 17, 2009
Posted by Monica in California, Pluto in Capricorn, Saturn oppose Uranus.Tags: anti-taxation tea parties, astrology, California, Mars/Uranus conjunction, Pluto in Capricorn, Saturn/Uranus opposition, Texas
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Anti-taxation tea parties, Texas governor Rick Perry making noises about succession: This week’s Mars/Uranus conjunction in Pisces, broadly opposing Saturn, coincided with signs of fissure in our great union.
With three planets in Sag, I’m a big picture person and I’m sometimes too impatient to do my homework, in this case, plotting all the aspects formed by transits to the U.S. chart. I like to shoot from the hip. Here’s my take on the situation:
Last year, when the race for the Presidency came down to Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama, I decided that if a Republican won, the electorate would zig left, and that if a Democrat prevailed, the voters would zag right. Why? The prevailing Saturn (conservative)/Uranus (revolutionary) opposition must make itself felt.
Of course, this is an incredibly simplistic view because the lines between right and left and Republicans and Democrats have been blurred over the years. For instance, in California, where I’m living right now, anti-tax forces were out in full force at tea parties, but they were protesting the policies of a Republican governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has instituted a slew of new levies to try and address a huge state budget deficit.
In terms of the succession talk, we’ve heard it before from former Republican vice-presidential Sarah Palin, who addressed a meeting of the Alaska Independence Party.
In fact, one of the most widely read stories in The Wall Street Journal at the end of 2008 quoted a Russian analyst who predicted the U.S. would break up into six countries.
Is the end of the U.S. really a possibility? I don’t think so, but we’re in for some interesting times as transiting Pluto in Capricorn opposes the Cancer stellium in the U.S. independence chart.
FYI, in case you don’t know, the last time Pluto was in Capricorn was when we made our break from Great Britain. Tea parties are definitely back in fashion.
Seven Things to Love About Southern California February 26, 2009
Posted by Monica in California, Pluto in Capricorn.Tags: asparagus, Pluto in Capricorn, Robin Hood, Southern California
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1. The weather forecast is delivered by a psychic. (I kid you not. I heard it this morning on the radio. Her verdict: More cold winters for SoCal, but summers will remain hot and dry. Sounds like Pluto in Capricorn to me.)
2. The lead story on the radio news is that Russell Crowe has been cast as either Robin Hood or the Sheriff of Nottingham in a remake of Robin Hood. (There was some debate about this and the early-morning deejays were actually consulting the film database IMDb.)
3. The low-carb burger at Carl’s Jr. (Wrapped in lettuce instead of a bun.)
4. Asparagus for $1.99 $1.49 a pound!
5. Taking a break from your work to go soak in the hot tub for 15 minutes.
6. Driving 85 miles per hour on “the 10″ with the Eagles’ Boys Of Summer blaring on the radio and having cop cars speed by as you look up at snow-covered mountains. (Yes, I know it’s the last days of peak oil, but you can’t blame me for enjoying them!)
7. Desert wildflowers in Joshua Tree National Park. (Priceless, to quote the MasterCard commercial.)
Shake, Rattle, and Roll January 11, 2009
Posted by Monica in California, Environment, Weather.3 comments
I’m playing catchup today. I haven’t had time until now to report that I lived through my first California earthquake, on Thursday, Jan. 8. It was a mild temblor — only 4.5 on the Richter scale — but it was relatively close, in nearby San Bernadino. (Yes, that’s temblor. For years, I thought it was “tremblor” too.)
Residents of California and Nevada no doubt already know about this nifty earthquake Web site, but I’m linking to it here nonetheless. Also, here’s what the blog LA Observed had to say about the quake.
I say that I lived through my first Golden State quake because there have been a couple on the East Coast that I’ve felt in the past 30 years. This one was a lot more fun than those, which were jolts.
This one was a mild rattling that lasted about a minute. Kind of a like an amusement park ride that you didn’t have to pay for. Lest anyone think I’m making light of the destructive force of quakes, fear not.
I wanted to point out that Michael WolfStar has got a provocative item on earthquakes in his column this week at StarIQ. If you’re a West Coast resident, you might want to mark Jan. 25 on your calendar. That’s my husband’s birthday and also the day of a solar eclipse that WolfStar thinks could be the trigger for a major quake.
Book Soup for the Soul January 4, 2009
Posted by Monica in Books, California.add a comment
I haven’t spent that much time in LA, but whenever I’ve been there in the last two decades I’ve always ended up at Book Soup, an independent bookstore on Sunset Strip. It was my hangout of sorts when I traveled on business to a city where I knew almost no one.
That’s why I was sad to read of founder Glenn Goldman’s passing, one day after he announced he would sell. Here’s the Los Angeles Times obit on Goldman.
‘Tis the Season for Snow Globe Tossing December 22, 2008
Posted by Monica in California, Holidays.add a comment
Did you know that a snow globe can be used as a weapon?
Here’s a story from The Press-Enterprise of Riverside, Calif., that demonstrates how shaky household finances and the holiday season can be a dangerous combination.
Remember, folks, snow globes don’t kill people. People kill people!
California is Ready for Its Close-Up December 22, 2008
Posted by Monica in California, Saturn oppose Uranus.add a comment
Interesting story on the wires this morning about the clout of California politicians in the new Obama Administration. Right now, the Golden State is experiencing Saturn on its Virgo Sun, which is being opposed by Uranus in Pisces.
Saturn is leading to the severe budget deficit here, while Uranus, which brings fame and fortune, is creating the buzz about California’s politicos. You can see the California chart here.
Gay Rights: A Setback in California November 5, 2008
Posted by Monica in California, Gay/Lesbian, Saturn oppose Uranus.Tags: California, earthquakes, Proposition 8 approved, Saturn/Uranus opposition, setback for gay rights
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Well, the votes have finally been tallied and California’s Proposition 8, a citizens’ referendum banning gay marriage, has been approved.
This is bad news indeed. As readers of this blog may know, I’m not gay, but I believe lesbians and gays deserve the same rights as other Americans. I view their struggle for respect and recognition in our society in the same light that I viewed the civil rights movement of the 1960s.
Why the sudden reversal in California, where 18,000 same-sex marriages already have taken place, and where back in May, the California Supreme Court overturned a previous voter-approved ban on gay marriage?
The opposition of Saturn in Virgo and Uranus in Pisces, which was exact yesterday, was tied to the Virgo Sun of the California statehood chart.
On a geographic level, the Saturn/Uranus opposition could also stir up wildfire activity and trigger earthquakes in California. There have been quite a few minor ones in the state lately, as this map shows.
I’m not making any predictions because I don’t have the quantitative chops to do the work required for earthquake forecasting. (In my next life, I’ll go to MIT or Berkeley.) Having said that, I don’t like the early morning of Nov. 9 in Southern California for a variety of reasons. Just be alert, O.K.?
With Saturn on California’s Sun right now, voters are feeling conservative and the state faces a $7 billion budget shortfall. I wouldn’t be surprised if there isn’t some class antagonism being reflected in the approval of Proposition 8, in addition to far-right religious fervor.
Gays and lesbians are prominent in California’s prosperous entertainment and technology industries, perhaps leading some voters to conclude that all gays are “rich,” a stereotype long associated with Jews because of their success in the creative, legal, and financial professions.
Of course, with Pluto in class-conscious Virgo, I tend to see things through the prism of class. I think gay rights organizations need to broaden their ranks and incorporate lower-middle class voters and Hispanics in their struggle if they are to prevail in the Golden State.
As gays know, there is tremendous resistance against homosexuals, particularly men, within the Latin culture, which celebrates machismo.
Evidently African-Americans, who know what it’s like to face prejudice, were big supporters of Proposal 8, with an overwhelming majority of California’s black voters favoring the discriminatory measure. There’s irony for you!
I don’t know enough about the referendum process in California to know what happens when voters approve a ban that was previously overturned by the State Supreme Court. Can it face legal appeal? SFMike at Civic Center, I’m depending on you to educate me.
Speaking of SFMike, I was just reading his coverage of the election and I was struck by his observation that the Mormons, who have been victims of discrimination because of their belief in polygamy, spent big bucks to get the anti-gay marriage vote out in California.
I still think the better off folks are financially, the more tolerant that they tend to be of lifestyles that differ from their own. When people are struggling to fill their gas tanks, pay their toxic mortgages, and make the minimum credit-card payment on time so their interest rate doesn’t get jacked up to 30%, they are in a bind.
When your mobility is limited, then you want to make sure everybody else is toeing the line and following the rules you believe in, regardless of what “good book” you found them in, whether it be the Talmud, the Bible, or the Koran. Anyway, that’s the way I see it. I’m not saying I believe religion is the opiate of the masses, but I do think money and class figure into this equation.
We shall overcome
We shall overcome
We shall overcome some day
