Star Guide

As tonight’s deadline approaches for Greece to pay €1.6bn to the IMF and agree a deal before its bailout extension runs out, there are hopes that the country and its creditors can still come to some sort of deal. Finance minister Yanis Varoufakis has said plainly that Greece will not pay the IMF - an event which ratings agencies would not consider as a default - but is still hopeful of an agreement. And there are reports that Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras may be ready to agree a deal, and could even travel to Brussels tonight. Tsipras has also reportedly had telephone contact today with EU president Jean-Claude Juncker, the head of the European Central Bank, Mario Draghi and European parliament president Martin Schultz. Euro finance ministers conference call tonight: Newsflash: eurozone finance ministers are going to speak in three and a half hours to discuss Greece’s request for a third bailout. They are due to speak at 6pm BST, or 8pm Athens time. June 30   http://www.

Here’s the scoop: Two days before the swaggering Sec-Def touched down in Germany, Gazprom announced that it was putting the finishing touches on a massive deal that would double the amount of Russian gas flowing to Germany via a second Nord Stream pipeline. The shocking announcement made it look like the clueless Carter had no idea what was going on and that his efforts to isolate Russia were a complete flop. And, make no mistake; the deal is huge, big enough to change the geopolitical calculus of the entire region. Robert Morley explains what’s going on in a recent article at The Trumpet: “Russian state-owned gas giant Gazprom signed a deal June 18 to double the capacity of the Nord Stream gas pipeline that delivers Russian gas directly to Germany. The deal is a precursor to war”. “Once this pipeline is finished, almost all of Eastern Europe can be completely cut out of the gas picture. There will be no need for any gas to transit through Ukraine, Poland, Romania, Belarus, H

One day before Greece’s bailout ends and the country’s financial lifeline melts away, Europe’s big guns have lined up one after another to tell the Greeks unequivocally that voting no in Sunday’s referendum means saying goodbye to the euro. There was no mistaking the gravity of the situation now facing both Greece and Europe on Monday. Leaders were by turns ashen-faced, resigned, desperate and pleading with Athens to think again and pull back from the abyss. There were also bitter attacks on Alexis Tsipras, the young Greek prime minister whose brinkmanship has gone further than anyone believed possible and left the eurozone’s leaders reeling. http://goo.gl/kTtNs8 Alexis Tsipras was born on July 28, 1974 at 1:30 am; Athens [1].  The most important current solar arc direction is Sun [14vi] conjunct Haumea[12vi] and TNP Zeus[13vi]. As we can see from his natal chart that these are part of a Grand Cross straddling the horizon axis.  Haumea is a newly discovered dwar

What do Punjab and Italy's Po Valley have in common? More than you might imagine, which explains why immigrant Sikhs from the Indian state became the backbone of Italy's most famous cheese-making industry. June 25; http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-33149580 The news comes to us just as Mars enters Cancer on June 24. A chart for the Mars Ingress at Novellara, Italy is shown here.  For a start we notice that the Moon is placed in the 12 th house linked to cattle [1] square the Sun and Mars is in the 9 th house associated with foreigners [2] giving us a hint that somehow foreigners may be linked to cattle. The Ascendant [28li] is conjunct  TNP Apollon [29li] and square TNP Vulcanus [28cn]. Apollon-Vulcanus : to recognize the display of a “whatever it takes” attitude in connection with offered opportunities, expansion or business; to influence and have a powerful effect on customers or through one’s many talents. [3] The MC [4le] is conjunct

Ajax, Ontario, Canada (CNN)Even without the benefit of context, the image of a naked 9-year-old girl running for her life is as searing and indelible today as it was 43 years ago. That image jolted people around the world. Some say it hastened the end of the Vietnam War. "I always remember that horrible day that we ran from life to death," says Kim Phuc, the girl in that iconic photo. Now 52, she lives just outside Toronto. In addition to her work with the U.N., Phuc has started the Kim Foundation International, a charity that helps children suffering from war, just as she did so many years ago. Its mission is to help the most underprivileged children suffering from war -- building hospitals, schools and homes for children who have been orphaned. Phuc says she plans to live out her life in service of that mission. June 25 http://edition.cnn.com/2015/06/22/world/kim-phuc-where-is-she-now/index.html Kim Phúc and her family were residents of the village of

SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket broke up on Sunday just minutes after its launch with a robotic Dragon cargo capsule headed for the International Space Station, NASA said. The Falcon took off right on time, rising into the sunny skies over Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florda at 10:21 a.m. ET. But shortly afterward, NASA spokesman George Diller reported that the rocket was lost. The last readings from the vehicle were received two minutes and 19 seconds after launch, he said. Debris from the breakup fell into the Atlantic Ocean. NASA and SpaceX were gathering information about the failure, and details are to be provided at a 12:30 p.m. ET NASA news conference. June 28. http://www.nbcnews.com/science/space/watch-spacex-launch-nasa-cargo-try-land-falcon-9-rocket-n383166 The cardinal ingresses of the Sun have a traditional reputation as  important mundane events. On June 21, the Sun entered Cancer, the second of the four cardinal signs. A chart for the ingres

Associate Professor of Psychology Ezequiel Morsella's "Passive Frame Theory" suggests that the conscious mind is like an interpreter helping speakers of different languages communicate.  "The interpreter presents the information but is not the one making any arguments or acting upon the knowledge that is shared," Morsella said. "Similarly, the information we perceive in our consciousness is not created by conscious processes, nor is it reacted to by conscious processes. Consciousness is the middle-man, and it doesn't do as much work as you think."  Morsella and his coauthors' groundbreaking theory, published online on June 22 by the journal Behavioral and Brain Sciences, contradicts intuitive beliefs about human consciousness and the notion of self. http://www.sott.net/article/298322-Consciousness-is-far-less-powerful-than-previously-thought-New-study-reveals The  ground breaking  theory  was published online  on the e

When I think of America’s place in the world today, the image that comes to mind is of a very large animal, perhaps a huge bull elephant or even prehistoric mammoth, which long roamed as the unchallenged king of its domain but has become trapped by its own missteps, as caught in a tar pit or some quicksand, and it is violently flailing about, making a terrifying noises in its effort to free itself and re-establish its authority. Any observer immediately knows the animal ultimately cannot succeed but certainly is frightened by the noise and crashing that it can sustain for a considerable time. I think that is the pretty accurate metaphor for the situation of the United States today, still a terribly large and powerful society but one finding itself trapped after a long series of its own blunders and errors, a society certain ultimately to become diminished in its prestige and relative power with all the difficulties which that will entail for an arrogant people having a blind fai

WASHINGTON — In a long-sought victory for the gay rights movement, the Supreme Court ruled by a 5-to-4 vote on Friday that the Constitution guarantees a right to same-sex marriage. “No longer may this liberty be denied,” Justice Anthony M. Kennedy wrote for the majority in the historic decision. “No union is more profound than marriage, for it embodies the highest ideals of love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice and family. In forming a marital union, two people become something greater than once they were.” June 26; http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/27/us/supreme-court-same-sex-marriage.html?_r=0 The US Supreme Court ruling on gay marriages can be seen both in the US Sibly as well as in the current lunations. The progressed Sun [11pi]  in the Sibly is separating from  a square to Uranus [9ge]. The other elements of the chart that are activated are  Orcus [9vi], Sappho [3vi]; Hephaistos [7ge].   The  asteroid Sappho stands for same sex relationships while Hephaistos is about u

“Game over”, said senior EU officials engaged in back-to-back meetings and negotiations for the past 10 days, as the brinkmanship in the Greek negotiations reached breaking point. If no deal is agreed at the weekend, Greece will miss a €1.6bn payment due to the International Monetary Fund next Tuesday, along with access to emergency support from the European Central Bank that is keeping the Greek banking system afloat. As a two-day EU leaders’ summit ended in Brussels on Friday, several senior officials said Tsipras had to make a choice between accepting the creditors’ ultimatum or embarking on a road that could take Greece out of the euro. The chances of saving Greece were put at 50-50. Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, who talked privately with the Greek leader in Brussels on Friday morning, urged him to go the “extra step” and accept what she described as “a very generous offer”. June 26 http://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/jun/26/creditors-ringfence-greece-economy-al

It is reported that Saudi Arabia has sent a delegation to Moscow for the purpose of once again attempting to lure Russia away from its current interests in the Middle East, and into line behind Riyadh. Indeed, if on Earth there is one nation that needs Russia the most, it might be Saudi Arabia. Conversely, however, if ever there was a nation Russia would be wise enough never to do business with, it would also be Saudi Arabia. A client-state of the British and then American empire, it has of late allowed itself to be used as an intermediary in an increasingly dangerous proxy war involving Syria, Iraq, Iran, Yemen, and to a certain extent, Lebanon, Egypt, and even Libya. To say that Saudi Arabia is a nation in need of friends is an understatement, and Riyadh might finally have realized that Washington sees its “favorite” autocracy as it does all other client-states, expendable.  However, so sociopolitically, economically and geopolitically disfigured from its role as chief regi

A man has been decapitated and several others injured at a factory in France in what President Francois Hollande has called a terrorist attack. Two men drove into the Air Products gas factory factory near Lyon, officials said, before several explosions were heard. One of the suspects, a 30-year-old who was known to police, has been arrested. The dead man was found with Arabic inscriptions on him and an Islamist flag was found near the site. June 26 http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-33284937 The ingress of the Sun into the four cardinal signs Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn are considered among the most important events in mundane astrology. The Sun has just moved into Cancer on June 21 and  the chart for the ingress drawn for Lyon, France is shown here. Since planets on the angles always deserve our attention we notice that Saturn is on the Ascendant  in a quincunx aspect to Sun-Mars in the 8 th house. Mars-Saturn aspects are linked to violence an

A 40-feet dead whale washed ashore near the coast of Revas in Raigad district in Maharashtra. Forest department officials claim that the whale may have got stranded in shallow water and later died; the carcass was later buried near the coast.  Another dead whale was found at the Uran coast around two months ago. Several marine creatures including dolphins have been found dead around the Mumbai coast in the recent past.  The female Blue Whale, the world's largest animal, washed up on the beach on Wednesday morning and despite efforts to move the 20-tonne marine mammal by locals and authorities, the whale died ashore around on Thursday morning.  Recently, blue whales were spotted by researchers along the Sindhudurg coast of Maharashtra in the first such sighting in 100 years. June 25 http://www.mid-day.com/articles/40-foot-dead-whale-washes-ashore-near-mumbai-coast/16319176 The incident occurred on  June 24, the very day of the First Quarter Moon. A cha

A man claiming to be a Ukrainian major general and former assistant to the country's defense minister has announced he is now working with the forces of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic. "I am Ukrainian Armed Forces Major General Aleksandr Kolomiyets. My latest posts are chief analyst of the Ukrainian armed forces, assistant to the Ukrainian defense minister," the man said at a news conference at the Donetsk news agency loyal to the self-proclaimed republic. Kolomiyets had also spent 19 years as the chief enlistment officer in the Donetsk region. "I am going to work for the good of the Donetsk People's Republic," Kolomiyets (not to be confused with oligarch Igor Kolomoysky) announced. The defector says he took his family out of the Ukrainian capital, fearing repercussions from officials. June 22; http://rt.com/news/268828-kiev-officer-defects-dpr/ The Sun’s ingress into the four cardinal signs are important  events in

Corvus – the Lying Raven NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has announced that the Spearhead Force deployed in Eastern Europe will be extended to 40,000 troops. "All together we expect this force to be 40,000 strong," Stoltenberg said. The announcement was made in Brussels ahead of a meeting of NATO defense ministers. The current strength of the Spearhead Force is 13,000 troops.Secretary General Stoltenberg said the threefold increase in troops was “substantial.” "This will enable us to deploy our forces as quickly as we need when crises arise, while maintaining full political control," Stoltenberg said. NATO member states welcomed the deployment of American military hardware in Europe. Stoltenberg said it doesn’t violate the Alliance’s international obligations. According to the NATO head, the Alliance won’t get into an arms race with Russia, but it has obligations to protect its allies. June 24  http://rt.com/news/269389-nato-europe-rapid-force/