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"The natal chart is like a seed and progressions are the unfolding in time of that into the plant it is to become. Transits, are like a daily weather report. In political astrology, these three factors have to be taken into account!" 
Alice O. Howell
Comments, questions, suggestions? Let us know what you think. Email wolfstar@neptunecafe.com
Recent NewsScope columns

Jan 2, 2012 -  Obama-Clinton in 2012?, Iran's Revolutionary Guard, Maryl Streep as the Iron Lady

Jan. 9, 2012 - Rick Sant-orum, Eris and the job market, Stephen Hawking's State of the Universe

Jan. 16, 2012 - Corporations are people, Americans Elect hold online nomination, the glamorous Marlene Dietrich

Jan. 23, 2012 - Gingrich wins in SC, the Costa Concordia disaster, Eris and Madonna: Chaos as art

Jan. 30, 2012 - Gingrich's 12th house Mars, top five astro-events for february, and the journey of OR-7

February 6, 2012 - Pluto stimulates the U.S. economy, Israel tempts fate, a UFO in the Baltic Sea

Feb.13, 2012 - Santorum and Super Tuesday, Whitney Houston slips away, Linsanity spreading
Reader feedback

re: who will win - Your insights into the upcoming election+Mercury Rx were insightful. I didn't think of that. But, I feel Obama will win handily because America wants its first black president to have a 2nd term. He will be forgiven much.

re: who will win -  I think that we must also remember that Obama's secret strength is his ability to beat the odds (Jupiter conjunct Saturn in 12th house), and thereby best his opposition (Saturn inconjunct Uranus, and trine Mars in 7th house).  Ever see videos of Obama shooting swish hoops, one after another, from way back around mid-court?  First African American President in our history, in a country with the ruling class (ruling dynasty?) being of all northern European extraction. I continue to enjoy "Neptune Cafe", and your other writings.

re: who will win - I enjoy your insight very much. Your latest comments on the election are thought provoking. In looking at the dates of National Conventions, it appears  that the Moon will be void all day on Obama's nomination day. I have read that Presidential nominees on a void moon always lose. Do you have any thoughts on that?

re: who will win - In your last column, you predicted a Romney win because among other things, Saturn will transit Scorpio during 2013, indicating that "voters turn conservative and elect a business-oriented Republican."  However, I would argue that Romney is more of a radical than a Conservative.  He, along with the GOP, is running on a platform of radical change, such as repealing ACA, voucherizing Medicare, reforming social security,reforming our tax code to benefit the rich, and rolling  back most environmental and financial regulations. To me Obama is more of the status quo. So wouldn't Saturn in Scorpio be related more to actual conservative policies rather than party labels? 

re: Election day snafus - Or the infamous computer hacking/vote tampering that SURELY went on in the past 2 elections! There was even an Ohio court case brought, and Karl Rove was heavily implicated, along with an Ohio IT guy whose private plane, with him piloting, went down on his way back from D.C. after supposedly telling the Bush PTB that he would testify about the vote manipulation. Does Mars have anything to do with stuff like this? "Computer wars" or something? ;-)

re: Meditations for Obama - I too am psychic and do healing meditations for people.  Can continuing meditations, surrounding Obama with light help protect him from all the negativity surrounding him and help him get re-elected?

re: U.S. empire -  Love your work, to me you are the best in the field. I wonder though why not one astrologer has written about the end of the time as World-power for the USA. Brittain held it for over 300 years. Spain ruled the world for awhile and who can forget Rome. But not one held it past a certain time. Maybe the USA will hunker down and do what it does best, do the Phoenix-Thing. The crowning achievement of any Scorpio! But what do you think? Believing in a Scorpio ascendent, Pluto coming full circle migjht make it happen. Thanks for all the interesting work you do, I have learned a lot. 

re: the Venus occultation - In your recent columns you have been repeating the same mistake that I and others have been making: that Venus is occulting the Sun this June. This is a Venus transit of the Sun, not an occultation, according to Wikipedia's definition. This makes sense when you think about the meaning of the word "occult," which implies hidden. Venus is too small to hide much of the Sun.

re: the Venus occultation - You mentioned Venus' occultation of the sun in your recent Newscope article, and it got me thinking. What does this signature mean for someone born under it? My son was born during the last Venus occultation, and as he approaches his 8th birthday this Venus occultation will make a "return" of sorts. Is his life destined to be marked in some way by this rare Venus event?  And will the upcoming Venus return mean anything significant for him?

A. I don't imagine the Venus occultation in itself will be especially significant for an 8-year old. However, if you're concerned, you should get a reading for your son to get the whole picture. The activation of a boy's Sun is often expressed by events in his father's life.
April  2009 - Dec 2011
at Neptune Cafe's 
NewsScope archives
Feb. 20, 2012 - Xanax: addictive and profitable; Assad and the Lunar Eclipse; Bobby Brown

Feb. 27, 2012 - Obama's progressed Mars, Top Five Astro-events for March, will Jeb Bush save the GOP? 

March 5, 2012 - Obama's Interview, the swing state Ohio, Maria Menounas - something to talk about

March 12, 2012 - Billionaire Sara Blakely, Rush Limbaugh and the feminazis, yoga teacher Kristin McGee

March 19, 2012 - the Goldman Sachs elite, journalist Chris Hedges, George Clooney arrested 

March 26, 2012 -  Afghan War chart, April's top five astro-events, Hunger Games star Jennifer Lawrence

April 9, 2012 - Ann Romney and Gender Gap, Trayvon Martin and George Zimmer-man, Matt Damon's guru 

April 9, 2012 - Ann Romney and Gender Gap, Trayvon Martin and George Zimmer-
man, Matt Damon's guru 
April 16, 2012 - The Chiron-Pluto Generation, Bobby Petrino's issues, and Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie

April 23, 2012 - The Secret Service scandal, May's top five astro-events, and the Titanic 100 years later 

April 30, 2012 - China's Uranus cycle, France's next president Francois Hollande, DWTS' Katherine Jenkins

May 7, 2012 - Romney blames Obama, Michelle Obama's rectified birth chart, writer-director Joss Whedon

May 14, 2012 - Same-sex marriage, Venus and the financial markets, and Tom Gabel's transformation 

May 21, 2012 - FB's IPO, Will Greece leave the Eurozone?, Wis. Governor Scott Walker's recall

May 28, 2012 - Mohamed Morsi - Egypt's next president, June's astro-events, Jupiter and the SE

June 4, 2012 - Obama or Romney? Spain's financial T-square, cyberwarfare's General James Cartwright.

June 11, 2012 - Part Two of Who will win - Obama or Romney? A deeper look at each candidate's chart 
* LeBron James was featured when he left the Cleveland Cavaliers for Miami. See newsscopearchives/nsc071210
* See NewsScope’s story on the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision: January 16, 2012
** See the oft-quoted NYTimes piece: 
russian-church-opposes-syrian-intervention
NewsScope for June 18, 2012
By Michael Wolfstar

The Voices of the People, 
Drowned Out in a Sea of Money

The 40th anniversary of the Watergate break-in reminded us how corporate campaign donations were at the center of the scandal that brought Richard Nixon down. Consequently, campaign finance laws were passed in 1974, and for the next 36 years Americans had relatively fair elections without the influence of big money. Then, the 2010 Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision allowed for the creation of superPACs.*
Astrologically, Pluto is associated with the physically small, invisible force that has enough concentrated power to transform the larger whole. SuperPACs funded by anonymous billionaires fall into this category. Now that transiting Pluto is sextile the U.S. Scorpio Ascendant, plutocrats are having an immense influence over American politics. Last week, as Pluto made the exact sextile, we learned that casino billionaire Sheldon Adelson is giving $10 million to a superPac that supports Romney.

Adelson is only one of 32 billionaires who have contributed to Romney’s campaign. Barack Obama is similarly targeting wealthy supporters, and has already conducted 164 hugely successful fundraisers. Romney’s Chiron and Obama’s Neptune are both located at 8º Scorpio, which conjoins the U.S. Scorpio Ascendant; they are all now being favorably activated by transiting Pluto. Following the nature of Pluto, these donors expect major concessions in one form or another.
This month, Uranus makes its first of seven squares to Pluto, highlighting the unrestrained, unregulated manipulation of the system by plutocrats. Pundits estimate that the campaigns could rake in $1 billion each by November, doubling the 2008 total. In 2014, the transiting Uranus-Pluto square aligns with the U.S. Sun when the full consequences of this unseemly influence will become obvious. This is when the promises for financial deregulation extracted for donations may lead to seizures in the economic system.
Putin and the Patriarchs

Since the fall of the atheistic Soviet regime in 1991, the Russian Orthodox Church has experienced a resurgence of prestige, becoming the de facto official religion. Church patriarchs claim 100 million followers, and have the enthusiastic support of President Putin, who regularly attends Church services. As the New York Times recently reported*, this political alliance is behind Putin’s support of Syria’s President Assad.
Vladimir Putin’s horoscope (October 7, 1952; 9:30 am; Petrograd, Russia) describes a surprisingly significant religious influence. With Scorpio Rising, Pluto is the ruler of his chart, and is prominently placed at the Midheaven. Pluto here denotes his belief in autocratic power. His role as Russia’s president and prime minister is supported by Pluto’s favorable aspects, but also shaped by the square from Jupiter.

Jupiter is associated with religion, and when adversely aspecting Pluto, tends toward fundamentalism. Jupiter in traditional Taurus symbolizes the patriarchs of the Russian Orthodox Church, and in the 7th house of partners, they have become Putin’s chief political allies. With Aquarius on Putin’s 4th house cusp, Uranus becomes the ruler of his early home life. He was born a Russian Orthodox Christian, shown by Uranus’s placement in the 9th house of religion.
On February 8, 2012, at a meeting of religious leaders in Moscow, Patriarch Kirill (the supreme leader of the Russian Orthodox Church) described the Putin era as a “miracle of God”. At the time, transiting Jupiter had just entered Putin’s 7th house of partners, and he had gained the Church’s support for his re-election. Currently, as Putin meets with G-20 leaders in Mexico, transiting Jupiter is conjunct his Moon, the ruler of his 9th house. Under this influence, we can be sure that he’ll continue supporting Kirill, who in turn supports Assad.
NBA Finals: 
LeBron James vs. Kevin Durant

Sure the Oklahoma City Thunder have the relentless athleticism of point guard Russell Westbrook, and the Miami Heat are glad to have Chris Bosh back in the line-up. But in the last seconds, when the game is on the line in these highly anticipated NBA finals, both teams have invariably entrusted their fate to their superstars, LeBron James and Kevin Durant.
Durant was born with his Libra Sun opposite Mars (September 29, 1988; Washington DC; time unknown), which gives him grace and poise as he attacks the defense. Mars is strongly placed in Aries and given an overwhelming need to win by the square to Chiron. A precise Mercury-Uranus sextile enhances one’s ability to be in the moment and to make spontaneous adjustments like passing when double-teamed.

LeBron James* (December 30, 1984; Akron, OH; time unknown) likewise has a Mars-Chiron square to push him to the top. He has a Mercury-Uranus conjunction to speed up his mental processing of unfolding situations, like Durant. His Aries Moon gives him a similar drive to be number one, to be the best. These two champions have similar charts, and to top it off, have a look at their Venus placements.
While we don’t often look at Venus in athletes’ charts, we can think of this planet as representing their popularity, their celebrity status. James has Venus at 24º Aquarius, exactly opposite Durant’s Venus at 24º Leo. Here we have the astrological signature for the superstar showdown and the millions of fans lining up on either side. My bet is on James: his progressed Pluto at 27º34’ Capricorn is exactly conjunct the U.S. Pluto, and transiting Pluto is conjunct his Sun. He’s becoming King James.