Advertisement for Grief

Is there some mischief planned for during the 10/4 national communications test — or is the drill itself the issue?

Dear Friend and Reader:

First, let’s start with an idea from media studies: In the current digital environment, everything is equally true and/or false. In terms of allegedly meaningful perception, the distinction is gone.

The scenario often goes a little like this: “If I believe something, it’s true. If you believe something, that is merely your opinion.”

At the same time, anything can be faked — except for what you think is real. Therefore, in the everyday sense, truth or falsity is a difference without a distinction. What is true is often tossed off as something inconvenient, and this is then “supported” with “proof.” Does that make the actual truth less true?

I used to be offended by this issue; it is offensive to reason, and made-up facts do not actually support opinions. However, consider that in our time, an idea (any idea) is either “in play,” or it is not. Either way, it is still active and alive in consciousness.

Whether anyone thinks something is false or true, the Dharma remains unchanged. Believing lies, or making them up, causes problems for us — not for the Dharma.

If you’re lost in the wilderness and you are fortunate enough to have a compass, you’re free to smash it with a rock. North is still north.

We get the choice to act in accord with the Dharma, or not. That is free will. You are entitled to sleep through your whole life if you want. To live in denial is your divine right. We are here, in part, to figure that out.

Introducing the 10/4 Incident

Real or not? Case in point: Oct. 4, 2023. There are rumors widely circulating that there is going to be some dreadful event that day. One thing about 10/4 is that it’s catchy. It’s how cops, fireguys, CB radio buffs and others say “message received,” “affirmative,” or “roger.”

Ten-four, good buddy! Roger, Roger!

It’s not exactly “Hang up and dial 9/11.”

I’ve been hearing about proposed End of it All days since the first time I checked my email back in 1996. AOL chirped, “You’ve Got Post!” (I wrote the horoscope for the British edition). My nascent inbox contained four spam emails for porno, two offers for Russian brides, one from my dad, a note from my editor with a question about Aries, and three warnings for The End.

Never once has one of them come to pass (except for Natasha Filatova, whom I secretly married in 1997; her father was in Russian Telecom, which is how I pay for Planet Waves, and why I have my own satellite).

The End of the World is part of the American social fabric, back to the days of the first Puritan refugees arriving here. They wanted to be in the New World for the Big Day when Jesus came to get them.

Today, this seems to be inherent in politics (many Dems and Pubs alike are Dominionist holy rollers) and it’s also the current standard editorial business model — The Armageddon Desk — from The New York Times to Fox News to the cheesiest blogs. Everything these days is all about The End. An ordinary snow storm is the Snowpocalypse.

I was making fun of this back in 1998, with my article Thinking of You on Judgment Day. That idea originated from my plan for a spoof product line of greeting cards. They would be semi-transparent with rays of light shining through the clouds, and contain best wishes for meeting your maker.

Drills and Reality Tend to Overlap

Here is the part that’s sort of real: On Oct. 4, FEMA (the Federal Emergency Mismanagement Agency) and the FCC are planning to test a system that would announce a national emergency on phones, TVs and radios all at once, all across our great nation. This would be a simultaneous feargasm.

And next week, we shall practice. The reason that day is getting so much attention as the date of something potentially real is that bad things tend to happen during drills.

The two most noteworthy were a drill involving four hijacked airplanes on Sept. 11, 2001, sponsored by the U.S. Space Command and NORAD (the North American Aerospace Defense Command, also called USNORTHCOM); and a drill involving the four same train stations on the London Underground (the Tube, its subway system) where actual bombs went off on July 7, 2005 (the 7/7 incident).

These are verifiable facts, not rumors or conspiracy theories. It was so serious that on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, controllers at NORAD were confused about which part of the events of 9/11 were the drill, and which were reality. So began the digital age.

They were expecting a practice run, and the very same thing as was being rehearsed — multiple hijacked airliners — was happening in reality. Once on The Simpsons, Homer manages to create a real nuclear meltdown during a competency test in a control room simulator. It was just like that.

This overlap has occurred often enough that when an event happens and I’m assessing whether or not it was a false flag, my first question is, “Was there a drill that day?” Of course, if there was, it’s said to be a bizarre coincidence. (The drill for Sandy Hook was the day before.)

No Action is Required by the Public. Just Hit Your Vape.

On Weds., Oct. 4 at 2:20 pm ET, your phone will make a really weird sound you’ve never heard, and send a message something like, “THIS IS A TEST of the National Wireless Emergency Alert System. No action is needed.”

In case you missed the official memo, here it is, on FEMA letterhead that I did not make up myself.

Then, next, your phone will play a few somber organ chords in D minor, the saddest key of all, and flash: “This is only a test. Had this been an actual emergency, you might not be reading this message.”

Haha, just kidding about that part. But — for real, and I mean it this time — your device will then switch over to the previously unknown federal Emergency Predictive Sports Channel (EPSC) and proactively inform the nation, “The Houston Astros Will Win the World Series Next Month” — just 15 minutes before NASA finally admits the lunar landings were a hoax (at a press conference in Houston).

Then a Bud Light ad will lock up your phone, and not go away until you purchase a six-pack and scan the QR code on your receipt. Plus the Astros will actually win! And Buzz Aldrin will be like, “Yeah, we were just kidding about the moon. But it’s not my fault that I lied to you previously. I was MK-Ultra’ed.”

I have a question for my congressman: If the federal government is shut down, will the drill still happen?

This is Officially Sanctioned State Terrorism

One may think it’s practical common sense to test out a system like this. That, in turn, is based on the idea that the government is here to help us and protect us and that such a system would serve a useful purpose.

I propose that this “drill” is government-sponsored terrorism. It’s not the 12 o’clock whistle. We live under a governmental system called disaster capitalism. Every damned thing is an dire emergency. The sirens blare through the streets. I miss the Good Humor truck with its bells ringing.

This phone notification system has probably been tested so many times that they know exactly how it’s going to respond. It’s not necessary for the government to send a shock through the entire American public — most of whom will not be expecting it. Remember: it does not matter whether it’s a “drill,” or something “real.” In digital consciousness, which is like being high on acid, they amount to the same thing.

There are other ways to do a mass experiment with phones. For example, I bet the government has a million taxpayer-sponsored cell phones for its employees, handled by the same networks we use. Why not send the message to those phones, shock them as part of their job, and leave the rest of us alone?

If you want to test TVs, send out a picture of Felix the Cat. About six people will get the joke.

This is not so much a test or a drill as it is an advertisement for grief. It’s cruel and unnecessary, and will turn our phones into a potential death alarm.

Waiting for the Other Shoe to Drop

People are so stressed out right now they can barely stand it, most of them quietly, waiting for the other shoe to drop: the next “pandemic,” the day they cannot buy food, their money to be disappeared from the bank, the internet to go out, to be evicted, to have a heart attack from the “covid” shots they got three years ago, or the one they got three days ago, and any diversity of events.

The collective fear level is off the meter right now. Nobody needs to do anything else to stoke it; society is quietly on the verge of panic (not so quietly where you can hear gunfire). Many people are just barely making it through the day, and feel they have nothing left to live for. Others are not making it through the day.

Meanwhile, I ask: what kind of emergency could possibly affect the entire country — all at once?

Why would every phone, TV and radio need to be signaled with the same message at the same time? And can this wonderful system be hacked?

What could people possibly be told to do, in the event of an emergency? Socially distance? Put on a mask? Hide under their school desk? Head for the nearest abandoned cement mine? A Russian nuclear strike could reach the United States in 10 minutes. What are you supposed to do? Call for an Uber?

October 4 is Saint Francis Day

Whenever I hear Oct. 4, I think of St. Francis, whose feast day it is. I always put a picture of him preaching to the birds on the cover of Planet Waves (and more lately, to social media — this tradition predates Facebook). Here it is above, if you want to post it to your social accounts.

The former Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone (c. 1181 – Oct. 3, 1226) was no ordinary saint. “To his contemporaries,” one art historian wrote, “Francis of Assisi appeared to be a second Christ, but one whose presence was much more glowing and immediate than the ascended son of God. Such was his reputation that the visits he paid to places were commemorated in paintings.”

He was not from the desert; he was from Italy. He was born rich, and gave up his wealth. He actually followed the teachings of Jesus. He expeienced God through nature. Born duing the crusades, he renounced war, and held only truth to be holy.

Is the New World Order going to mar St. Francis Day?

Astrologically, it’s an interesting moment. I already had a chart cast for that day, as there is an aspect relevant enough for its very own horoscope: the standout aspect is Mars in Libra opposite Eris in Aries, with the lunar nodes involved. I’ve put the chart below this article (and a few birds). I discussed the personal inflections of the Mars-Eris aspect pattern in a podcast distributed Wednesday morning.

We’re Being Trained to Expect Violence and Disaster

Mars-Eris is a reminder that our sense of self and of our relationships are getting lost, or is it shredded, in the identity chaos of digital life. It’s also a reminder that too many people are using violence and aggression as cheap forms of therapy, as a way to “self actualize.” We are constantly expecting violence, whether physical or psychic.

When we tune the chart up for the stated time of the drill, something interesting emerges: Ceres, the planet associated with loss and sadness, shows up in Scorpio, at the very top of the chart, in the house of government (it’s that little purple question mark to the top left).

In my read, the whole point of this exercise is to stoke sadness, a sense of loss, and negative expectation. The government is reminding us that the lives we once knew are over. There is no freedom when a society is always in a state of shock and crisis.

You might think of this event as another emotional tax being extracted from us; that’s exactly what it will be. Energy vampires, hard at work. They want their garmonbozia.

So yeah, mischief is afoot.

I give a detailed reading of the chart in the STARCAST above. The October monthly horoscope is sent separately. Planet Waves FM is off this week though I will have astrology updates via STARCAST. Watch this space.

With love,

The chart above is for the drill, at the stated time of 2:20 pm EDT. There is an outstanding pattern involving several asteroids — Icarus (peak experiences) and Arachne (webs and conspiracies) along with Mercury (ideas, communications) and slow-mover Borasisi (which is about belief, and lies becoming truth).

Below is the chart for Mars opposite Eris, the astronomical event. In this chart, you can see Mars opposite Eris more clearly: Mars in Libra is rising (on the left horizon) along with the South Node; and Eris in Aries is setting (on the right horizon), along with the North Node and Chiron.

Mars opposite Eris happens every two years (in our epoch, always with Mars in Libra and Eris i Aries), though this one is unusual in that the lunar nodes are involved. The last time that happened was in 2014. Anybody remember what happened that year? I’ve just scanned through the past 20 years or so — they tell an interesting story, which continues today.