Of the six largest snowstorms in New York City history, two have occurred this year, and three since 2006. A pesky consequence of global warming is that is changes weather patterns in bizarre ways, leading to more snow even as the overall temperature climbs. Oh well.

Interestingly enough, with Mercury retrograde, snowstorms first closed European airports, most notably Heathrow in London, last week, and then their American cousins this week. In the midst of the holiday travel season, the headache has been huge. This echos Mercury's retrograde in the spring, when volcanic ash from Iceland closed airports across Europe.

The picture, by the way, is from last year's storm. I left my camera at my sister's house on Christmas, another Mercury retrograde phenomenon, I guess.

In other news, President Obama apparently called Michael Vick, enthusiastic about Vick getting a second chance in the NFL. Professional sports are always so concerned about the image their athletes - "role models" - provide, that they can be very unforgiving. Vick's role in a dog fighting scheme that killed dogs by electrocution and hanging, among other things, is apparently something the sanctimonious NFL and the President can get past - and in record time. Vick has been rehabilitated quickly enough to come back and be in the playoffs. At least no cannabis was involved... that would have been unforgivable.

Tonight's full moon is already high in the sky, casting a silvery light all over Queens, New York, and I'll bet plenty of other places as well.

Today is the darkest day of the year, just before the Winter Solstice. We have less sunlight than on any other day of the year. But this year, it just so happens that the full moon falls on the same day... so while we have the least sunlight, we have the most moonlight.

Or at least we do now...


That will soon change, as the Earth passes between the sun and the moon, gradually darkening the skies. A full moon is always powerful, bringing things to light. A lunar eclipse is a supercharged full moon, one that extends the influence of the full moon both forwards and backwards in time. The solstice is a turning point, the low end of the solar year.

So, what does this very special eclipse mean, besides a little extra drama in the skies?

We'll have to see. Personally, I think that it will really set off the who's-in-charge? power struggles of Pluto in Capricorn. We may soon be waking up to find that the world is different than we have thought it to be (Wikileaks has been working on proving that to us). Although it is also a Mercury-retrograde issue, the Net Neutrality bill is in the Senate, and while it seems to offer some protection for consumers, it will also restrict wireless access to some applications... not all of your favorite websites will be available. Who's in charge?

But you can wait and see for yourself. My only observation is that the only thing that comes between the bright orange glow of the sun and the cool silvery moonlight, is the Earth.

Mercury went retrograde yesterday, and I've already experienced a bunch of the typical stuff. One of my email accounts always -always - stops working just as the Cosmic Messenger backs up. I get a message saying that the Certificate cannot be trusted. It's easy to fix, but a bit time-consuming. I like it, though, cuz it always happens right on cue, the day before the retrograde. Then there was the Long Island Railroad train whose doors stopped working... and so on.

But the biggest do-over in the news was the "Celebration" in the Southern United States of the 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War. There were RE-enactments of Georgia's secession convention, and RE-living of the Old South, mint juleps and all. Click here to check out the Associated Press story on the events. But also read the UK Guardian editorial.

As Alabama NAACP president Benard Simelton said, "It's almost like celebrating the Holocaust."

This type of thing - especially a glorification of the "rebel" spirit of the South, is likely to increase as Uranus enters Aries. The Tea Party obviously resonates with the secessionist tendencies of the South (old or new).

Mars squared Jupiter on Monday, and will aspect Uranus on Friday, making for a dynamic week. With the Warrior in Sagittarius and the two Giants in Pisces, it has been quite a row. The sun is also in Sag, amping up dogmatic beliefs, even as the moon sailed through otherwise-compromizing Libra. Saturn is in that sign, however, and the news has been characteristic of that sober planet.

What am I talking about? Pisces, Sag, Libra. Compassion, beliefs, bargaining. But the planets involved have wrangled some of the worst aspects of these signs together...

The U.S. Congress, famous for bailing out GM and banks "too big to fail" has failed to extend unemployment benefits for hundreds of thousands of Americans - not only dooming them but also hamstringing the economy (because people on unemployment tend to spend money). At the same time, Republicans have threatened to derail all legislation if tax cuts are not extended for the richest Americans.

And while many in the new Congress see repealing the feeble health care laws that were passed as a priority, a new report now estimates that retirees will need about $100,000 to meet uncovered Medicare expenses. And the Congressional committee to reduce the Federal deficit has some dire ideas in stock, including cutting 200,000 federal jobs.

Wikileaks is the real news of the week - both in what it has revealed and in the heat that it is under. Hillary Clinton was preaching openness in Central Asia on Wednesday, while the U.S. government is seeking to prosecute Julian Assange, Wikileaks founder.

You can read the news however you like, and take what you will out of each issue. But what no one can fail to see is that we are going to extremes - holding to dogmatic beliefs and ignoring any call to compromise and common sense. It is as though we would rather sink while waving our flag (whatever flag you want to wave) than swim.

In our more personal lives, we might be feeling more like the victims of the power plays that are taking place so far from us. But we are also faced with a question as we barrel ahead with our personal agendas - Are we living out the courage of our convictions, or holding on to yesterday's reality for dear life?