Dear Friend and Reader:

Last week's solar eclipse in Capricorn conjunct Venus is showing some ramifications in the corporate/government realm covered by that sign. Thursday the Supreme Court issued a decision in the case Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. The 150-page decision, we're being told, grants the rights of individuals to corporations, originating in the matter of whether companies can pour money, unfettered, into propaganda designed to sway an election. Previously, this was subject to campaign laws that kept such electioneering a few feet back from the election itself.

Personally, I cannot think of a more significant issue for the Supreme Court to rule on, in our era of unmitigated corporate power. Here, we have one of the first landmarks in the Pluto in Capricorn era, a time when we know that the structure of society will change in many ways.

The court held yesterday that corporations have the free speech rights of people. Yet if anything, corporations are superhumans, subject to no responsibilities of citizenship that would balance freedom on the scale that they typically exercise it.

They do not have a natural lifespan, and can in effect live forever. They cannot be incarcerated, and holding them civilly liable for crimes or abuses of their rights verges on impossible (case in point, Bhopal). Any punishment is meaningless, as most in the position to commit atrocities have so much money that even a heavy a fine comes out of the petty cash fund. They can be as big as the state of Israel (or bigger), have an army and exist on five continents at a time. They have no lawful interest except for profit. They can employ a thousand attorneys. Their shareholders can come from many different countries. Their own power and structure shields the individuals involved from most forms of prosecution; it is rare that corporate officers are held accountable for the crimes committed by their companies.

This is an easy distinction, to see the difference between human rights and corporate rights. While many think there is a precedent for this, the original decision supposedly giving corporations the rights of people was so flawed that the issue is right in Wikipedia where school kids can read about it on their iPhones. That famous case, Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad, never took up the constitutional issue. Many in the legal community are fully aware of this issue, to the extent that there is a law center devoted to dealing with it.

Most people do not understand that ‘corporatism' is the true definition of fascism; that is, the merging corporate interests and entities with the state itself. This is the thing to beware of. What we have just witnessed is an example of the state granting greater rights to the corporations who are its creatures than to the natural sovereign citizens of the land -- in this case, the power to influence elections to high office. In effect, the government has privatized elections and has sold out its own power: a typical move, consistent with the central bank existing as a private entity as well.

I would say that Thursday's decision in Citizens United is an example of unequal protection under the law. Paraphrasing Carl Sagan, those who enjoy extraordinary rights must be held to extraordinary responsibilities. The problem in our moment of civilization is precisely that this alien race of entities thinks it has no responsibilities at all, in any meaningful sense of the concept.

I'll be back with a more detailed analysis of the chart and the issues in a coming edition.

Yours & truly,

Updates daily at Planet Waves and Cosmic Confidential Diary.




By Judith Gayle | Political Waves

Jupiter went into Pisces this week, and if you've felt the news hit your heart like unwelcome aftershocks I wouldn't be surprised. We were caught between hope and despair as we watched Haitians rescued, a week trapped beneath rubble, while others that might have been saved by sanitation or antibiotics perish. We've stood by helplessly as the Democratic Senate super-majority collapsed. We've been bitterly disappointed as the Right-leaning U.S. Supreme Court backtracked on new sentencing for Mumia Abu-Jamal. Californians are being evacuated as the sky drops buckets of unaccustomed rain, and in beleaguered Virginia, a man with a rifle killed eight and forced down a police helicopter before being captured. Not all of us appear entirely sane. Total eclipse of the heart? Or grist for the mill of the Gods?

Politics is personal. It's also local. What we saw in Massachusetts -- Ted Kennedy's iconic Senate seat, dedicated to progressive concerns for almost 47 years, going to a Cosmo centerfold and Tea Bagger -- is local politics gone viral and hard-headed. My own brain is about to explode from the buzz-saw clamor of Republicans chirping the good news that the nation is headed back into their cold embrace, as gleeful as locusts rubbing their legs together, ready to descend. Nonsense. The echo chamber of political thought in these last days is about as relevant as re-runs of SpongeBob SquarePants.

Regressive politics won't work this time, if it ever did; I doubt regressiveness has ever achieved anything other than to delay the inevitable. We can't go backwards and hope to address what's ahead of us. Bill Moyers, politico for LBJ before he moved to journalism, has told us that Republicans consider government a “perversion;” the entirety of their policy is obstruction to governance, and that's not what we need now. As old timer Sam Rayburn, a Democrat from Texas and longtime speaker of the House of Representatives, said, "A jackass can kick down a barn but it takes a carpenter to build one."

Weekly Horoscope for Friday, January 22, 2010, #802 - BY ERIC FRANCIS

Aries Confidential	Imagine a guardian angel has come into your life, whose only role is to reassure you that the fear you were feeling so recently is simply not necessary. We know that, of course; but tell it to the fear. Jupiter in Pisces is serving you as a kind of psychic cushion; another voice that is available to answer distress, anxiety or any form of psychic disturbance. Jupiter is pointing to something that was always there, in a slightly less tangible form, and this can help you tune into this moment as an emotional tipping point: toward pleasure, toward a richer sense of imagination, and with some greater possibilities. The experiences you desire are not merely in your dreams. Yet all of them depend on some form of cooperation, which will be easier to connect with as you let anxiety melt out of your psyche.
Taurus Confidential	You've been exploring your long-term goals quite nearly forever, and one particular dream is closer than you think. Look for it in the form of a tangible opportunity or direct recognition of some kind. I'm not sure what keeps people from thinking that they can do something meaningful to them and to the world; so few people try that there is plenty of room. And whatever you have to offer looks like something real and necessary. I suggest you address what looks like a mix of identity crisis and a tendency toward panic attacks, because these things are only wasting your energy and reinforcing a false idea. What would be the opposite of this? Get out of your head: let the vision come to you rather than you going to it. Feel the quickening of energy. When you take action, memorize what it's like to ignore fear.
Gemini Confidential	Mercury has stationed direct at the same time as a solar eclipse; that was a week ago, and if you look at the events of these past seven days, you will get an assessment of your commitments, and the commitments of others toward you. Or is it expectations? You need to figure it out. It seems that many of your business and sexual interactions have the fingerprints of guilt and obligation on them, and it's long overdue for you to have had enough of this. I was going to say 'sick of this' and you may well be: if anything is ailing you, investigate whether it's your sense of feeling trapped in promises that you have no idea why you made them. Remember that about 90% of this is strictly a phenomenon of your mind; literally a hang-up that you don't need and will only be stuck with if you want it.
Cancer Confidential	It's time to get back into art. It's time to travel. The two may be related. I know money may be tight, but that never stopped anyone from traveling or making art, if they really wanted to. A change of scenery would make it easier for you to see the many sources of support, psychic and material, that you have available. Part of how you gain access to them is through the only thing there actually is on the planet, relationships. Everything in your charts at the moment suggests that you push the limits on cooperation, on community, and on connecting to the incredible bounty of energy that is humanity. You must provide one thing: the crystal of intention. The seed idea. The organizing principle. Clarity of purpose. Whatever you want to call it.
Leo Confidential	Mars retrograde in your sign is the last holdout of this winter's incredibly complex astrology. Now that so much crazymaking is out of the way, including Mercury retrograde and two eclipses, you have some perspective on what sources of distress are internal and what is coming from your environment. This in turn can inform you how much your own sense of self, and your sense of direction, shapes everything you experience. It's easy to deny this when the planet is going mad and even the tectonic plates of the Earth are feeling the astrology. Mars retrograde is designed to pull you deeper into yourself than you have ever been, and while you're there, I suggest you stay on the lookout for something about yourself that you never knew. The people who love you are aware of this quality in you; and you are aware of it in them. Next stop: authentic self-awareness. Clue: it's easy.
Virgo Confidential	So you've seen the pitfalls of trying to emphasize maturity over enjoying your life. There is only so far that theory can go, and coincidentally, it's the one they kind of bashed into you as a child. You can now connect with that child and (with the wisdom of an adult) give him or her some of what she needs and wants. Most of this is where you allow your mind to go, and in a word, that direction is curiosity. I believe that curiosity has the highest value of any human thought, because it leads the way to so much: to love, to creative flow, to passion and to taking chances that we often think the better of. The simple desire to know and to understand is the thing your kid in there wants the most out of life, and you have an open enough mind to encourage this hunger and thirst for awareness.
Libra Confidential	With the Sun and Venus crossing the most dynamic angle of your chart -- that would be Aquarius and the 5th solar house -- you are on a quest for adventure. That's good timing, though you need to be cautious about potential conflict over the next couple of weeks. I don't suggest you walk on eggshells; rather that you pay attention for anyone who might not actually be a friend. You don't need to be suspicious; a friend is what a friend does. Someone who is persistently insensitive is not a friend; someone who is not supportive of your desires is not a friend. That's really all you need to know. Enjoyment of life does not depend on cooperation of others but it can definitely he hindered by the lack of cooperation. The most helpful thing you can do is to stay on friendly terms with yourself.
Scorpio Confidential	How many people are out there working to protect the world from the one inevitability of existence -- the future? Most of the political battles and nearly all of the personal struggles of our lives involve the one simple fact that time moves on and existence changes. To create any illusion to the contrary requires a lot of effort, and that shows up as most of the madness that we witness. At the moment, you are negotiating with the future regarding the work that you do. You seem to have a notion that the answer can be found in the past, in the form of something that you left behind, or neglected to account for when you made the choices that have brought you to where you are today. Perhaps, though I suggest you look in the past for the sources of resistance, not for inspiration. The inspiration is here and now.
Sagittarius Confidential	Make sure that you connect every idea you have with some tangible way to improve your life. Let this be the deciding factor about whether a concept has any value at all. Does this sound totally selfish or like perfect common sense? I suggest you stay out of the realm of abstraction and stay directly in the realm of self-care. Self-care includes creating a healthier environment (and by that I mean healthy on every level, from the music to the food to the kitty litter); and that touches everyone who happens to wander into your life, or who you currently live with. This is the one missing improvement after many (very many) concepts you've had to make your life a better place. Simply: making your life a better place (for you).
Capricorn Confidential	After an earthquake there are aftershocks, and we've had a series of quakes associated with an eclipse in your birth sign. The ground will be settling for a while, and it may take some time to see where you stand with yourself; however, unlike a physical quake, in the world, psychic shakeups are usually helpful, and they don't do any serious damage. Keep your perspective: you've been prodded to take a step in your life, which means waking up and noticing that the things that mattered to you so much yesterday may not matter to you so much today. New things certainly do: you have some fresh priorities, and I suggest you keep them at the top of your to-do list rather than anywhere else. The word is value. Remember what you value, all the time.
Aquarius Confidential	Venus has arrived in your sign: the world needs this, and you are her first beneficiary. Venus in Aquarius does something helpful, which is put a little organization around the feminine principle. Far from being ruled by 'male' aggression, I believe the world is currently mostly ruled by toxic feminine energy that manifests as emotional manipulation (such as television advertising), fear, psychic chaos, obsession with glamour and superstition. Were the world really ruled by male energy we would all be out there fighting the good fight, and if by toxic male energy, openly crusading for evil; but we keep it quiet. Venus in Aquarius bestows some logic and a conceptual framework around so much unbridled emotion. For you, it offers the touch of receptive sensitivity in the midst of your restless drive for reason, and for reasons.
Pisces Confidential	Jupiter in Pisces: that is good news. And when was the last time you heard me say that? I hope it was more recently than 12 years ago, the last time Jupiter was in our sign. Let the psychic pressure begin to ease off and feel your ears equalize with a little pop. Take note of all the dry spots in your world, whatever they might be. Make a list, long or short, of everything in your world that needs water, be it metaphorical or actual H2O. Notice what you need more of, and what needs improvement in your life, and be real about this assessment. Then set your intentions on having those things happen. Don't worry about how; your job is to align your energy with your intention, desire or need, and the job of the universe is to answer.