You know, there’s usually a transportation story with Mercury retrograde...

There was the famous Jet Blue incident a while back, and then air travel was halted over Europe this spring... This time, it’s the trains in the Northeastern United States.

Now, blaming train mishaps on Mercury retrograde is a bit difficult, since even on a good day things don’t go all that smoothly on the rails. But two significant incidents happened on Monday and Tuesday.

First, a cable fire affected signals on the Long Island Rail Road, effectively stopping train traffic in and out of Jamaica - the busiest railroad bottleneck in the world - for an entire rush hour. As of today, service is still not back to normal. Then, on Tuesday, Amtrak needed to halt Northeast Corridor service due to low-voltage power problems.

In an Associated Press release, from the Kansas City Star (click here for the full story): the director of the National Association of Railroad Passengers said the most likely cause of the Amtrak problem was software issues in a computer system the railroad is upgrading. We shouldn’t take it was a sign of “an antiquated, decrepit or underfunded system,” says he.

Well, we can always take to the roads. Although in another Mercury retrograded story, there is apparently an 11 day old traffic jam in China, which is expected to last into September.

Eh. Maybe I’ll just stay home.

Two more stories in the last day have gotten my attention, as Mercury retrogrades and the sun opposed Neptune.

First, there was the Rocket, Roger Clemens. Yesterday he was indicted for lying to Congress about his use of performance-enhancing drugs during his February, 2008 testimony.

Clemens, a Leo, seems to really represent the haughty arrogance that can be the negative side of the sign. Leo is ruled by the sun, which yesterday opposed Neptune (drugs) in Aquarius (the people, congress). It all fits together so very well, astrologically.

Interestingly, it turns out to be none other than Clemens’ good friend, Andy Pettitte, who provided the key piece of evidence. According to one congressional member, neither Clemens nor his then-trainer were “articulate” enough by themselves to warrant an indictment.

Then there is the disturbing story of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, who was accused of rape and molestation in Sweden. Assange has said that the accusation is a “dirty trick” in retribution for his site’s publication of Afghan war papers, something that greatly angered the Pentagon.

Dirty tricks are certainly a possibility with the sun opposite Neptune. It may be a long time before we learn the truth about this, although with Neptune involved the story may drag on for a while and then just fade away... ala Swine Flu.

Since Mercury is stationing, the picture I put into the previous post showed up not as the troops I intended, but as the image I used months ago in another post of protesters at the G20 summit.

But it will probably mysteriously have changed again by the time you read this...

With the sun opposing Neptune today as Mercury stations to retrograde, it would be a poor time to say anything with certainty. The issues of the day may get us carried away, but the odds are there is a fair amount of misinformation in air.

You can see that in your personal life, especially at work or if business deals are on the menu. But that same energy is coloring the “big” issues of the day, as well. We’re still in the shadow of the Jupiter-Saturn opposition that began the week, pitting the status quo against the forces of change and the values of community against the individual. In the great paradox of things, we often see the energy of one side mixed with the other - for example, Aries’ warrior stance affecting the collective.

The now prominent “Ground Zero Mosque” (actually an Islamic Center about two blocks away) is one of the flagship issues, especially since President Obama said last weekend that they have the right to go ahead with the plans for the center. The president later clarified that having the right doesn’t make it a good idea.

But the president is speaking in the United States, where attention to detail is not a strength - this is the land of KISS (Keep it simple, stupid), after all. Apparently, one in five Americans think President Obama is a Muslim (click here for a story on this). That’s odd, considering all the hoopla about his pastor’s remarks during the campaign. Oh, but that was two years ago.

Daisy Khan, according to the Washington Post, wants to know when “Muslims will be accepted as plain old Americans?” Yet, that may be a little difficult when Saudi Arabia, a country that follows Islamic law, produces stories like this.

Yet some things are clear, like the pullout of U.S. combat troops from Iraq. To the extent anyone really pays attention, this was taken as very good news. Of course, 50,000 American troops will remain as “advisors” (geesh, they must be chewing the Iraqi’s ears off with all their advice). Clear as a bell.

Sure enough, the last few days around the first quarter moon brought up relationship issues and prominent females, and the Scorpio moon made its dark energy felt.



First, poor Dr. Laura. She didn’t call anyone anything, she used a word that you can’t say (unless you’re say, Kanye West). But you can’t even use that word to talk about that word. You have to call it the N-Word. A few years ago, the NAACP had a ceremony where they “buried” the word. Apparently, it’s a zombie.

Ironically, of course, is that in not even allowing someone to say it, we exponentially increase its power. Lenny Bruce understood that... but his understanding didn’t keep him out of jail.

A California judge decided that he won’t decide on the gay marriage ban until December. Some folks will no doubt say that this issue - which predictably came to a head this week as Saturn and Jupiter came to an opposition in Libra-Aries (check the forecast, I said it would...) - is delayed because of the upcoming elections. But you and I know that it’s Venus’ retrograde in October and November.

And even more soberly, the New York Times reported yesterday that a young couple was stoned to death in Afghanistan - for eloping. They were lured back to their village, where friends and family joined in their collective punishment. Saturn rules stones, and he’s in the tradition-oriented sign of Libra, dealing with relationships.

Abject cruelty, vapid stupidity and self-righteous moralism are not ruled by any planet in the heavens, but are found in quantity here on Earth.

Today’s early-morning blast in Bogota, Colombia can be seen as another manifestation of the Jupiter-Pluto square that was angular in that country on August 3rd. In fact, the time of the blast, around 5:30 a.m. corresponds very closely to the square, with the ascendant for the blast on the aspect’s sun and the midheaven on its moon. Click here for the BBC story.



For the most part, today is a quiet day, with the moon void-of-course until 6:42 p.m., EDT. However, as soon as Luna arrives in the normally balanced sign of Libra, she’ll begin making aspect to the Jupiter-Uranus-Saturn-Pluto T-square. Creativity might be running very high this evening, but so may tensions. Relationships (of all kinds) will be particularly vulnerable, and this is a time when feelings that have been submerged for a time may come to the surface, in both constructive and challenging ways.

The last few days have seen Venus making aspects to Saturn, Uranus, and - most recently - Pluto. My prediction, and I do make them every so often, was that we would see prominent women in the news.

And sure enough, Naomi Campbell, Mia Farrow, and now Campbell’s former agent, Carole White, have been making headlines, not in the entertainment world, but in a war crimes court. The three women have slightly different versions of the same story, which centers on events at a dinner party hosted by Nelson Mandela in 1997.

The upshot of it is that former Liberian President Charles Taylor is alleged to have given Campbell “blood diamonds” as a gift. Proof that he gave her the diamonds is apparently crucial in his trial for crimes against humanity... something of a head-scratcher in itself, in that a man that is accused of insighting the rape and murder of 100,000 people ought to have left a more obvious trail than one that needs to be substantiated by celebrities. Still, blood diamonds are bad business, and they would link Taylor to much more than flirting with a supermodel.

Campbell appears to be dodging the full story out of fear for her life, while Farrow is going full-court with her version. With Venus in her home sign of Libra, odds are that the women will be okay.

In our personal relationships, the last few days of Venusian aspects have come at the time of the new moon. Tensions may be running high, but this is an excellent time for course-correction and setting intentions for the future.

Last week’s planetary activity was highlighted by a Jupiter-Pluto square on the 3rd, triggered a day later by Mars aspecting each of those two planets. Looking around the world at the places where the aspects were “angular” (on the horizon, or overhead), we can see that it is indeed a long, hot summer. The position of the sun at the time of these aspects also seems to be very relevant, especially as “heat” is the theme this summer.

Los Angeles and Moscow are battling fires. A 14 year-old boy is accused of setting a wildfire near Los Angeles. The Associated Press reports that 700 people per day are dying of the Moscow fires and their acrid smoke. The political fallout might work its way all the way up to Vladamir Putin, who - like Obama with the Gulf oil spill - could wind up taking the heat for not having superhuman capabilities against the forces of nature.

To add absurdity to tragedy - and more tragedy - a contestant in a sauna context died in Finland. The man had been a room at a temperature of about 230 degrees Fahrenheit (18 degrees above the temperature at which water boils) for about six minutes. There is something very Superhero (or Arch-villain) about Jupiter/Pluto. More power is demanded...

Colombia and Venezuela had the square angular - more directly than Finland - and indeed, Venezuelan President Chavez has urged Colombian rebels to put down their arms. He’s afraid they will be perceived as forces in line with Venezuela. Of course, if they listen to him...

Finally, Haiti had Uranus angular at the aspect, and the sun angular when Mars triggered it a day later. Wyclef Jean, of the Fugees, is running for president, a job that one must really want to have.

It’s a hot summer, and the theme seems to be about getting burned...

Companies have Saturn returns, just like individuals.

I caught this story today about Green Mountain Coffee (click here for the NY Times story), a company founded in 1981 and at its Saturn return.

Apparently, Green Mountain has built its reputation on being a “green” company (although I’m sure the name comes from its Vermont location). Problem is, Green Mountain has been doing great business lately.

But much of their sales come from disposable coffee pods, those little one-shots that make individual cups of coffee. Considering the plastic and aluminum structure of the pods, they are bit less than green. Stepping up to the challenge (always a good strategy when Saturn is involved), Green Mountain is apparently working on a more eco-friendly pod.

Still, this is Saturn, and they were outed by the Times....

Today features a major aspect between Jupiter and Pluto. Power struggles can reach phenomenal proportions, but with Jupiter in the picture, it is usually a matter of principle, at least from the perspective of the participants. Righteous anger is a potential manifestation, and that can be dangerous. After all, we can feel a bit guilty when acting out of anger, but throw in some righteousness behind it, and the temptation is to take off the gloves and really dig in.

The ongoing troubles in Pakistan and Afghanistan seem to capture some of the energy of this aspect, as they have been at the center of international news all week.

The aspect is “angular” (rising, setting, overhead) through East Asia, where it grazes the coast of Vietnam and goes through the island of Java in Indonesia, and cuts through China. It is also powerful through Central Africa and “Mittle Europa,” including a line right through Warsaw.

In the Western Hemisphere, the line of the aspect cuts through the far eastern coast of the United States, around Boston, then down through the Dominican Republic. It is especially strong in Venezuela and Colombia, in South America, places to watch. The U.S. National Hurricane Center announced the formation of a tropical depression which is apparently headed up the East Coast of the U.S., so the effects may be meteorological as well as political, at least in some parts.

But “the” story to watch for the Jupiter-Pluto aspect may be the question of whether a mosque will be built in New York City near the World Trade Center site. That issue is scheduled to reach a new peak today, as the city landmark commission is expected to unanimously reject landmark status for the building, opening up the possibility for renovations for the mosque.

I can only assume that Sarah Palin is aware that the word she used to describe what she says President Obama lacks on immigration is Spanish. She must have used it ironically, although - and it’s early in the morning and I’m still on my first cup of coffee - I fail to see what the irony could be.

Palin made her comments this weekend, as Mars opposed the Saturn-Uranus opposition. In Libra, Mars is most likely to express itself in words, and aggression is often put in a very civil form.

Iran’s President Ahmaninejad also offered to negotiate one-on-one with Obama, another example of Mars-in-Libra aggressiveness - “we can talk, but only on terms you would never accept.”

The energy of the weekend will continue to move us forward as we approach the volatile Jupiter-Pluto square tomorrow morning. Look for evidence - at the international and very local levels - that righteousness might be getting out of hand. There’s always some danger around when people or groups are sure they are in the right.