By Judith Gayle | Political Waves
”The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who already have much; it is whether we do enough for those who have too little.”
–Franklin D. Roosevelt
News junkies couldn’t get their fix this week, as everything was slowed to a crawl by weather emergencies and stunningly frigid temperatures. That should have been a warning bell on climate change but wasn’t, at least among those who refuse sound science (which is itself a warning bell on the pitiful state of our educational system). Scandalmongers, on the other hand, warmed their blood at the bonfires created by three big sociopolitical explosions.
The first was a baffling display of narcissism as Dennis Rodman, bowing deeply, sang a soul-full Happy Birthday to his BFF, North Korea’s L’il Kim. This followed a drunken rant in response to press criticisms that included disparaging remarks about American citizen Kenneth Bae, currently being held prisoner in a North Korean gulag. It appears Dennis hasn’t just got ongoing substance abuse issues, he’s also fully immersed in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea Kool Aid, which prompted the distressed sister of the prisoner to suggest that if he wasn’t going to help, he should keep his mouth shut. For his part, Dennis appears to think of himself as a “basketball diplomat,” despite being alone in that assessment. Diplomats are a bit less admiring of leaders that lop off the heads of their former mistress and can easily be believed to have fed their close relatives to hungry dogs.
The next bombshell grabbing attention was a collection of quotes from an emerging book by newly retired defense secretary Robert Gates, seemingly over-eager for a moment of candor after a lifetime of meekly pushing the company line. Having served under several presidents — not all of whom got rave reviews, by the way — Gates took particular exception with the sitting Prez, “shocked” at his lack of trust in the Pentagon or his military advisers, and his refusal to “own” either the Iraq or Afghanistan war. Cherry picking the sound bites, news agencies speculated ad nauseum about how much this information hurt Obama’s credibility, apparently clueless that any progressive within earshot was smiling and nodding, holding out a thumbs up.
The one person who might have been wounded in the crossfire was the Veep, Joe Biden, of whom Gates was particularly critical, saying he’d gotten foreign policy and security issues wrong for four decades. As Joe will probably throw his hat into the ring in 2016, this was unwelcome commentary, but Biden was soundly defended by many on the left, including the White House. Those still wondering if safety and patriotism can be found in the barrel of a gun would do well to remember that Gates is both Republican and hawk.
The week ended with the mushroom cloud hovering over Chris Christie in New Jersey, covered nicely in Friday’s subscriber edition. Huffington gave it three full days of headlines, replete with buzzwords like “capos” and “Sopranos,” and speculated if and/or when the Governor knew about the election retaliation that brought bridge traffic to a crawl. To dot that i and cross the t, here’s Jersey native Jon Stewart weighing in on the controversy, and — at least until the next shoe drops — putting a period on the page.
Pretty amazing what we consider a scandal these days, isn’t it? Foolish statements, childlike behavior and political posturing? The real scandals — assaults to civil rights and justice, banking and lobbying fraud, ongoing environmental degradation and the like — don’t get the spotlight saved for the silliest, most insulting or downright salacious. Is this what happens when news becomes infotainment? It has to have some glitz and glamour to grab our attention?
And evidently these things have to go down easily, without effort. It takes too much time to stay informed and sort out facts vs. the fiction of scandals covered by slick salesmen waving ideological flags, obscuring the core issues and making cause harder to suss out. Meanwhile, truly dangerous attitudes, which should be considered scandalous by a civilized nation, all too often find sufficient cover from the fringe element to label as “normal” what most certainly is not.
Take, for instance, our current reluctance to extend federal unemployment insurance to the million plus standing at the very edge of disaster. To my mind, THAT is scandalous behavior from a nation that still qualifies as a superpower, one that is currently celebrating its financial “recovery.” Still, it can come as no surprise given our tendency, over the last few decades, to surrender the moral high ground in favor of commerce, capitalism and elitist greed. We’ve stood by helplessly as a cloud of misinformation and fear-mongering established a national policy of austerity that continues to limit our ability to reclaim a stable working class economy or offer relief to our poverty stricken brothers and sisters.
Me, I think many of us STILL can’t quite get an emotional handle on this level of nihilistic brutality, even as we watch it change our social landscape. A lot of us are becoming painfully aware of how personal this issue is. Urging the Congress toward an extension of benefits this week, Obama said, “I just want everybody to understand – this is not an abstraction. These are not statistics. These are your neighbors, your friends, your family members. It could at some point be any of us.”
Turning a blind eye and deaf ear, the minority party has little response to such a plea. But let’s be clear: there is nothing “normal” about this kind of cruel abandonment of our citizens or the refusal of policies that would turn around our listless economy.
Ironically, pushing austerity measures past the point of good sense or public approval comes at a time when the Center for Responsive Politics has reported that for the first time since ethics laws required financial disclosure of congressional members, more than half of seated legislators have been identified as millionaires. The harsh truth is, they couldn’t have gotten elected without money and position. Here in local politics, rule of thumb states that it takes “a million to run and more to win.” I was recently urged to run for office and I laughed and laughed. The difference between the working class and the ruling class can best be illustrated by bank balance. The working class is hungry in this country; the ruling class, never.
Such an attitude can be considered, in a word — as offered by Noam Chomsky — “savagery.” In a recent interview at Huffy, Chomsky ” … said that the congressional controversy over extending unemployment benefits is evidence that American politics has descended into madness. The refusal to provide very minimal living standards to people who are caught in this monstrosity — that’s just pure savagery, there’s no other word for it.”
Not only is austerity a heartless and selfish practice, but it’s mindlessly unaware, uncaring of the human desperation it’s creating. And although we’re seeing some idealistic folks begin to step up now, the old guard in leadership is routinely unimpressed by the suffering of their fellow citizens. Rather than allowing their own well-positioned financial situation to free them from the mundane constraints of acquiring “more” — free them to serve the public good — the congressional mainstream continues to consider those in poverty, the working poor and the struggling middle class the equivalent of deadbeats and loafers.
Worse, they won’t shut up about it. With off-the-scale arrogance, Rand Paul wants to teach the unemployed the “joy of work,” while Georgia Rep (and Senatorial candidate) Jack Kingston wants poor kids receiving subsidized school lunches to trade out janitorial chores to “instill a strong work ethic” in them (and single them out among their peers).
Despite the fact that there’s a minimum of three people applying for every job opening in America, the minority party continues to punish those fallen on hard times by belittling their character, offering them little or no assistance, and agreeing to toss a bone only if sufficient cuts to other vital programs are enacted. Further discussion of renewing the federal unemployment legislation passed through the Senate early in the week depends on the Dems’ willingness to offer up more crippling sequestration to cover costs, and there is surely no guarantee that upper-house agreements will convince a stonewalling lower house to take up the cause.
Economist Bob Reich recently blogged about the Pub determination to kill off decent wages, eliminate safety nets and isolate the poor, all to the benefit of the top one percent. Where, he asked, are the Dems in all this? Why aren’t they speaking up? A good many of us — including, I think, the 86 percent of American’s who believe government should continue to fight poverty — have taken note of the political ennui, including Chomsky:
Chomsky told HuffPost that corporate interests dominate the policy agenda of the Democratic Party, and cited conservative scholar Norm Ornstein’s observation that the Republican Party has “drifted off the spectrum” and no longer functions as a serious parliamentary entity.
“It used to be said years ago that the United States is a one-party state — the business party — with two factions, Democrats and Republicans,” Chomsky said. “That’s no longer true. It’s still a one-party state — the business party — but now it has only one faction. And it’s not Democrats, it’s moderate Republicans. The so-called New Democrats, who are the dominant force in the Democratic Party, are pretty much what used to be moderate Republicans a couple of decades ago. And the rest of the Republican Party has just drifted off the spectrum.”
Those of us on the progressive side of the political wheel need to make that evident to anyone willing to listen. Most people are aware, as Chomsky points out, of the Pubs falling off the edge of political sanity, and the nonsense about “equivalency” between the two parties’ outer edges has begun to fade, but the average citizen doesn’t understand how far the scale has tipped on the left. Education is the first order of business as we go about our day, dedicating ourselves to finding opportunities to communicate and educate.
We obviously can’t leave truth-telling to the politicians. The weight of poverty economics is on our side, as austerity touches everyone on some level. Although I rather doubt it, perhaps those with so much haven’t fully considered what they are creating with such wretched policy. This week I went out to the shed to get the weeks’ portion of meat from my little freezer and found it looted. Folks traditionally live close to the bone around here, but times are indeed tough when someone plunders as modest a household as my own.
When people are homeless and hungry, they do things they would not normally do, and it ain’t pretty. When jobs are scarce and help is hard to find, there aren’t as many options as there used to be. This isn’t the time to fold our hands on our laps and let things slip by, this is the time to speak out, loud and clear. This is a moment to come together to not only take care of one another, but to renew our dedication to LBJ’s War on Poverty, 50 years and counting.
In the United States of America — held hostage by tight-fisted, mean-spirited political morass and the unfettered greed of a savage new Gilded Age — the real scandal of our times is that we’ve come to this.
I am sorry to hear about the looting you have suffered, Judith.
This week has been quite a revealing week politically speaking. The Robert Gates affair is much ado about nothing because Robert Gates is no better than the rest of the Beltway Insiders. Even with the purest of convictions, one can only do so much if the rest of the immediate group has a wrongheaded vision of things. Joe Biden does not deserve to be supported because he’s deeply deluded, he’s an adamant believer in the failed wars of the past, present and future, and he is the architect of the failed war on drugs. At the end of the day, Robert Gates and Joe Biden simply represent what is considered to be “conventional wisdom” in DC.
I am really glad that Chris Christie got nailed though. Non-political traffic is already difficult, and I was already unhappy that Chris Christie makes people pay $25 in application fees if they want a state government job in New Jersey. So I am glad that he was revealed to be a bully.
And then, the chemical spill in West Virginia revealed a lot about the tragic state of West Virginia, and how a coal economy ruins the community, including its access to water, health and ultimately life.
This passage is necessary to make people realize that more ideologies need to be thrown into the trashbin of history. Any ideology that fails to recognize fundamental realities about people and nature is doomed to fail and will devolve into cruelty, period. Fascism, the Nazi ideology, and communism have already made that list, and I expect the austerity ideology, and perhaps even capitalism (especially the unregulated kind, the regulated kind could work, but corporations may end up pushing back towards unregulated capitalism if they refuse to see the benefits of regulations) may end up there.
I am actually pretty happy about this week because it confirmed some of my gut feelings about people (Chris Christie) and places (West Virginia).
Judith, with your passion to improve the well-being of Americans, I think you could run for office. The challenge though is to have enough Mars to be the anti-bully. When the world of politics consists of bullies like Chris Christie, anti-bullies are necessary. Meek people who are pushovers may have good ideas, but lack the strength to deal with the opposition. Also, karma/social capital could be a way of getting into office instead of relying on huge financial contributions.
Who knows? Maybe people will dump the Tea Party in the 2014 elections, maybe the political situation will improve when Saturn heads into Capricorn in 2018, or even when Pluto goes into Aquarius in 2024 (I’m already seeing a candidate for governor from the Pluto in Libra generation who is much better than the two other Pluto in Virgo candidates in the MD Dem primaries).
Already, I feel like it’s easier to be a Tunisian-American woman now that Pluto in Sagittarius has passed. So who knows what may happen after Pluto in Capricorn is finished.
It is true though that I am not sure how things will be in the Democratic party, the Republican Party’s descent into madness is not the only concern. In the Democratic Party, there is tension between the progressive wing, and the 1970 Republican wing. Either the 1970 Republicans are pushed to form their own party after the Tea Party is reduced into insignificance, or the progressives will have to go to a left-wing third party like the Green Party, or the Justice Party, or the Socialist Party or make another left-wing party.
In Seattle, a socialist managed to be elected into the city council. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/16/socialist-kshama-sawant-seattle_n_4287516.html So there is hope. Of all the ideologies out there, socialism (especially the Scandinavian kind) is the most sensible one thus far, but even that requires a balancing act.
Be, dear, you said a great big mouthful when you directed my attention to 20+ Aquarius, saying:
“It seems that the U.S. progressed Mercury will station direct in 3 to 4 years at 20+ Aquarius, which is the degree it has occupied for several years now. Interestingly, this degree falls in the U.S. Sibly chart’s 2nd house of values, so the country has been in a period of re-evaluating its values; thinking about it and talking about it.”
and
“The transiting south node will reach 20 Aquarius by November 2017 and south nodes symbolizing releases might signal a release of outmoded thinking (stationing direct U.S. prog. Mercury at 20 Aquarius conjunct trans. south node) for government in the U.S.”
Here’s what Rudhyar has to say about 21 Aq, the Sabian Symbol for which is
“A Disappointed and Disillusioned Woman Courageously Faces a Seemingly Empty Life,” denoting “… the capacity to meet emotionally upsetting experiences in human relationships with strength of character and personal integrity.”
“The man who manages vast and complex business enterprises most often reaches power and achieves success because of his ability to deal with crises and temporary reverses of fortune. At the emotional level we now see a “woman” confronted with sharp disappointment and forced to face the vanishing of cherished illusions, presumably in terms of a close personal relationship. She has to learn to manage such crises, which are really tests of inner strength and perhaps compassion. We all have within ourselves the power to learn through emotional crises. But like any other faculty it needs development.”
Rudhyar concludes that it urges us to develop RESILIENCE under adversity.
That says a great deal about both our current national mentality [Mercury] and what, once thoroughly chewed, can be “released” as that degree conjuncts the South Node in years ahead.
I do so LOVE the Sabians — like tarot, they draw the full picture and that one is a doozy.
It speaks to the illusions that we’re being forced to give up, the depression and feelings of emptiness so many of us report as we let go of what was without a clear picture of what will be. It points us to our Goddess energy, to a period of self-development that eventually becomes maturity, and to tests of our “inner strength and compassion,” along with the growth of character and compassion.
Couldn’t have spent 2500 words saying it better! This is also potent illustration that these things move in cycles, bringing EXACTLY what we need to goad us into growth, to build a new iteration of ourselves and push evoltuion forward.
And it’s comforting to remind ourselves that growth spurts and challenges are hardly random, but, as Rudhyar points out, a process in logical sequence. The Aquarian cycle refers to
” … a society demonstrates its ability to expand significantly as it leaves a permanent social, religious and cultural impress upon a foreign land.”
And, asking the question regarding the process, “Is it worth the struggle?” Rudhyar answers affirmatively, saying,
“The level of human consciousness has been raised through the expansion of viewpoints and interest. A circulation of values is produced which is gradually building “the Universal Community of Man” (in the words of Thomas Jefferson.)”
A Divine thought, me ‘thinks.
Back on the topic of poverty, please DO everyone check out Maria Shriver’s newly released report on the War on Poverty, particularly as regards women at this link:
http://shriverreport.org/special-report/a-womans-nation-pushes-back-from-the-brink/
She was briefly on Sunday Pundit TV, and we’ll be hearing more about this in the week ahead — it deserves a GOOD HARD LOOK by all of us, aligning completely with that 20+ Aquarian Sabian Symbol that defines our mental calesthentics today.
Thanks Patty and Len, be as well, for your empathy about the looting. It was an odd feeling to discover everything gone, blinking like I couldn’t believe my eyes. Crimes of theft and whatnot have increased around here in the last few years, a no-brainer in this kind of economy and I’ll admit I was distressed when I discovered so much missing since I’d counted on it — BUT — somehow food falls into a different category in my mind. That’s not something you can sell for drugs, for instance (the usual rationale.) Stealing food feels like it’s prompted by necessity. So I hope it blessed whomever took it, even though their Karma is their own.
I plan to move the freezer closer to the back porch, that way the dogs will raise holy hell if there are any “nocturnal visits.” I will gladly share what I have but … I dunno, call me old fashioned … you have to ask first.
Update. . most of last year trans. Pluto was conjunct the U.S. progressed Eris and Toro (U.S. Sibly version) at about 10 degrees of Capricorn. You know, Toro the “bull”ier, can ride rough-shod over others but is capable of hard work too. Eris seems to love it when heads are butting one another but she serves a purpose. I guess. Anyway, we all remember Pluto’s 3rd and 4th square with Uranus in 2013 and I’m thinking it helps to know why Pluto was so intransigent last year. Maybe less bullheaded for square #5 in April at 13 degrees Cap-Aries, however Jupiter at 13 Cancer conjunct U.S. Sibly Sun and Mars at 14 Libra conjunct U.S. Saturn doesn’t promise a picnic in the park. Thank goddess for transiting Venus conjunct transiting Chiron (15 Pisces) who will mitigate (trine U.S. Sun and tran. Jupiter) somewhat. More importantly, Venus will (with Chiron) square her position at the time of her occultation of the Sun (in Gemini) in 2012. Will we be walking the talk of love or just pretending (Venus conj. Chiron conj. Borasisi)? Practice makes perfect.
be
Much has been written about what the U.S. Sibly Mars having turned retrograde a few years ago will mean to the country, but I’ve seen no such speculation regarding the progressed retrograde U.S. Sibly Mercury. It seems that the U.S. progressed Mercury will station direct in 3 to 4 years at 20+ Aquarius, which is the degree it has occupied for several years now. Interestingly, this degree falls in the U.S. Sibly chart’s 2nd house of values, so the country has been in a period of re-evaluating its values; thinking about it and talking about it.
20 Aquarius aspects both ends of the opposition between natal Juno (champion of equality but viciously revengeful) and natal Chiron (teacher, healer but unable to heal own wound) in the U.S. chart, as a trine to Juno (20+ Libra) and a sextile to Chiron (20+ Aries). Perhaps by then, in 2017-18, we the people will have discussed and thought through our situation(s) enough to move forward.
Aries is a take-action sign and transiting Uranus will be conjunct U.S. natal Chiron and stationing direct in December 2016. At that time trans. Uranus will be opposite trans. Jupiter at 20 Libra who will be conjunct the U.S. natal Juno. Uranus (breakthrough) and Jupiter (expanded) will be aided by transiting Saturn (government) at 20+ Sagittarius (trine Uranus and sextile Jupiter) in December 2016 and perhaps this will be reflected in the outcome of the elections. The transiting south node will reach 20 Aquarius by November 2017 and south nodes symbolizing releases might signal a release of outmoded thinking (stationing direct U.S. prog. Mercury at 20 Aquarius conjunct trans. south node) for government in the U.S. Nothing lasts forever. Thanks for turning me on to Mercury Jude!
be
Thank you, Jude, for being the voice of conscience, compassion, and astute sanity. May further harm pass you by. Long may you continue to hold forth for values that sustain us all.
I am so sorry you were looted too Jude. I don’t know what to make of people who think it is ok to walk up to an old man or woman and smack them in the head for fun. The murder rate around here has climbed astronomically from home break-ins, with the home owners being the victims. Our representative took the podium in congress to commend the local firefighters and police for a job well done during the recent freeze, but I get the feeling she is helpless to come up with anything that might actually do some good since her vote and voice are drowned out. I can’t figure why they all think they have to wait for the next election to start taking a little critical action.
“We’ve come to this” is indeed a sorry state, and let me say right off that I’m so sorry for your experience of being looted Jude. You have done an admirable job of summarizing our state of affairs but all of us who shake our heads in dis-belief at the sorry state of affairs are too close to the problems to observe them with rationality. Savagery is a perfect description of the behavior you write about – a basic instinct usually observed in one who is desperate; cornered and fighting for survival.
Many of your words and phrases today shine the light on Mercury and his sign of Gemini as tools for finding answers as to how we came to this state of affairs . “Foolish statements”, “childlike behavior”, “political posturing”, “slick salesmen”, “misinformation” (cloud of), “brothers, sisters, neighbors, family members” are all examples of what Mercury, Gemini and the 3rd house symbolize. This opens a lot of doors such as. . what’s happening in the U.S. Sibly 3rd house these days and who rules it? What do the transits of Mercury tell us is another door inviting exploration, or how is the sign of Gemini impacted in the U.S. chart (or in general) provides still another door. Would it help to understand the human nature of our times as to how we got here? The savagery will (and has already) filtered down to the desperate poor when neighbor steals from neighbor. It is fear of the unknown (un-understood) as well as fear of retribution for selfishness and uncaring that brings out the beastliness of the savage animal.
A relatively short connection of dots could shed some light on why we are where we are by observing the latest New Moon symbolism and today’s conjunction of Venus to Sun. On January 1 the New Moon was conjunct Pluto (digging up the beast) and Mercury in Capricorn, triggering the generational square of Pluto and Uranus whose cycle had its beginning decades ago. The Sun-Moon-Pluto-Mercury conjunction in Capricorn was also squared by Mars in Libra who opposed Uranus in Aries. Mercury at 12 Cap 50 opposed Jupiter at 16 Cancer 03 within a 4 degree orb, so we had 7 of the 10 major planets in a locked-up-no-holds-barred pattern that began decades ago. It’s the kind of thing that brings out the animal in all of us. It’s also affecting the U.S. via the Sibly chart’s square between Sun and Saturn.
Back in May 2013, the Taurus Solar eclipse found Pluto in the same degree he was in at the New Moon on January 1, 2014, “driving” some point home this month. In May 2013 Pluto opposed Ceres at 12+ Cancer and they both squared Uranus in Aries, forming a T-square with an “open leg” in Libra. Then, on January 1, 2014, Mars filled that open leg of the May eclipse T-square, effectively connecting us to May 2013 by blocking the escape route of the (2013) solar eclipse T-square energy. We know how Mars can manifest, even in Libra, when cornered. Especially by giants like Pluto, Uranus and Jupiter. It can get ugly. Somewhere, someone’s chart has something at mid-Libra who has some ‘splaining to do.
Last year’s solar eclipse in May 2013 is also tied to the solar eclipse in May 2012 at 0+ Gemini by virtue of 2013’s eclipse Venus being at 0+ Gemini. Today, Venus at 21+ Capricorn conjuncts the Sun and trines May 2012’s (Gemini) eclipse Mercury (22+ Taurus) who was conjunct Sedna (22+ Taurus) back then. The 2012 Mercury and Sedna also make a conjunction with the 2013 solar eclipse (Sun/Moon/Pallas-Athene at 19+ Taurus) and Sedna (23+ Taurus). This is about more than just dead fish in the sea, although that’s a big part of the problems we face and disagree about. The point is that Mercury connects the 2012 eclipse to the 2013 eclipse and he connects the 2012 eclipse to today’s Venus-Sun conjunction. He (with the aid of Sedna) is the middleman connecting today and May 2013’s eclipse and between the 2013 eclipse and the 2012 eclipse. Venus “attracts” us to the Gemini/Mercury factor in both eclipses, but that’s another story.
Look at Mercury in the 2013 (Taurus) solar eclipse chart. At 17+ Taurus he is conjunct the south node symbolizing patterns followed in the past that are now ready to be released. In the 2012 (Gemini) eclipse it was Ceres at 16+ Taurus (where the 2013 eclipse south node just was) and now today Ceres is traveling in a conjunction with Vesta (dedication and invested in) in Libra (a Venus-ruled sign), opposite newly direct (and powerful because of that) discordant Eris in Aries. Ceres knew something (was feeding someone) back in 2012 and now she’s pushing her agenda. But it’s the 2012 eclipse’s Mercury and Sedna (and also Jupiter) in Taurus that support (trine) today’s Venus and Sun new cycle (starting in Capricorn) in their square with Vesta and Ceres and Eris. It is 2013’s eclipse Mercury (17 Taurus conj. south node) awakening the awareness that Ceres (being fed) pointed out in 2012. Both eclipses reveal paths that lead to situations we face today.
Mercury, as Len pointed out recently, is not encumbered by feelings; he is neither all good or all bad. He can obscure core issues and he can expose us to truths. It is up to us to determine – from the data he provides – how to utilize information. Gemini doesn’t “go deep” but covers a lot of near-surface ground. Third houses in charts provide a multitude of platforms where energies can reach out; neighborhoods and communities, family members, grade schools, transportation vehicles, telephones; all have proven their ability to spread the word with ease. Today the U.S. Gemini Mars is the focal point of a yod between the transiting Venus-conjunct-Sun sextile Saturn. U.S. Mars is being forced to adjust in some way. A little Venus love and money, Sun consciousness, and Saturn practicality (or restraint) are pushing, through partnership (U.S. 7th house Mars), for some, perhaps somewhat superficial, but data-backed balancing of good and evil. Some of that data will be about dead fish, hungry kids, misuse of power.
The U.S. Sibly 3rd house holds natal Moon, Pallas-Athene, Ceres, Nessus, Child and Sedna. Transiting Chiron and Neptune influence the 3rd house platforms and the presentations made from them. They bring pain and healing, deception and salvation into the mix of information. We must not only find the dots and connect them but we must determine from which end of the spectrum we are viewing and/or presenting the data and ask: can we rise above the good-bad polarity in order to benefit everyone?
Aquarius on the U.S. Sibly 3rd house cusp means that Saturn (on one level) and Uranus (on another level) rule it. Both transiting planets aspect Pluto now. Both natal Uranus and Saturn are being aspected by transits these days and both have embedded directives. Natal Uranus is squared by trans. Chiron (and later Neptune) and natal Saturn is opposed by trans. Uranus and squared by trans. Jupiter and Pluto, and he was also recently conjoined by trans. Mars who squares trans. Jupiter and Pluto. We can see this played out in 3rd house matters (bridges, transportation, communication, deception), aided and abetted by confusion (Neptune) and suffering (Chiron). Nobody thinks our problems (national, local and personal) can be solved quickly or easily, but astrology can be an aid, much like a scratch sheet aids the race-track devotee, with understanding on how we’ve come to this. The more we know and understand, the sooner we can tame (and heal) the beast.
be