The Cardinal T-Square Crisis - Jupiter Conjuncts Uranus > Gaza, Israel & Turkey: Ideologies Going To War? > Plus, Global Financial Markets: Hungary, Austerity In England, More Deflation Ahead & China Upset With Goldman Sachs? Also > Mystery Crop Damage in U.S. South & Mundane World Forecast: 2010-2015

The Cardinal Crisis

 Demonstrators in Israel hold up Israeli and Palestinian flags in a protest against Benjamin Netanyahu's government in the center of Tel Aviv, Israel June 5, 2010. 

Credit: Nir Elias/Reuters

The Cardinal Crisis

Israel, Gaza & Turkey

Ideologies Going To War?

Plus,

World Financial Markets:

Fears of A Double Dip?

&

Mundane World Forecast: 2010-2015

By Theodore White; mundane Astrolog.S

Θεόδωρος

What a mess. No matter how much free astrological advice is given, it seems that those involved in religious, political and ideological conflicts do not pay heed to mundane world transits.

They should.

I have continued to forecast about the inclinations of this year, and, of problems and troubles on the high seas. Nothing has changed, as the world transits head towards the formation of their configurations featuring the Cardinal Cross, and T-Square.

Opinions, personal sensibilities, ideologies, be they dogmatic, political or religious, are of no concern to the world transits and their inclinations. 


Should anyone give sway to the belief that their ideological opinions and stands trumps world transits, they are truly living in a dreamworld of fantasy and self-delusion.

World transits are very real.

Jupiter has entered Aries, and on June 8, conjoins Uranus at 00-Aries. This is a preview transit of their two other conjunctions in Pisces arriving later this year, and then, their official re-entries back into Aries in early 2011.


Presently, both planets are transiting as part of the Cardinal-T-Square of June, July, and August 2010.

So, I continue to warn all about the seriousness and power of the Cardinal inclinations of the planets relative to the earth as we now approach the first series of the Cardinal Crisis Transits.

The planetary configurations of the cardinal inclinations do not favor operations on, over, and below seas and oceans.

I continue to warn about accidents, and intentional violence taking place on the high seas. 

Transits are unfavorable, and will be so for some time.

Again, I urge caution, prudence, diplomacy, and patience.

The past week has seen Turkish and Israeli relations worsen over the relief of Gaza. See recent news events since May 31, 2010, which follows the Israeli Commando attack on the Turkish aid-ship in the Mediterranean Sea.

Israeli Patrol Boat Kills Four Militants in Diving Gear

Israeli Rejects UN inquiry into Gaza Flotilla Attack

Egypt to Strip Men Married To Israeli Women Of Citizenship

 Turkey, a nation of 73 million people where Europe meets the steps of Asia, is also a country with a million man army, is a member of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and a country that has sought to join the European Union.

A secular and religious nation, the Turkish people are not happy about what they say is the intentional starvation of the Palestinian people.

Moreover, under the cardinal planetary inclinations, it appears that Israel's current leadership is practicing foreign affairs with a heavy hand ~ against what the world community desires to see. This is not something that is wise at all under the Cardinal inclinations just ahead.

So, what's next?

Well, two things, which are really three things:

1. Israel remains stubborn, goes unilateral, and war breaks out with Turkey
2. The world's nations focus on Gaza, and Israel is then blockaded
3. People can come to their common senses, and let everyone, including Palestine, live in peace

I prefer the third option. This allows the Cardinal Crisis transits to pass by, without leaders, policymakers, and everyone else, to be inclined towards the violence of the planetary inclinations.

As a mundane astrologer, I continue to warn everyone to take it easy ~ especially leaders and policymakers.

I would also advise diplomats to step up their game or get off the court so some real players can improve the situations building up to this year's Cardinal Crisis.

Under these particular world astrological transits, it is a serious mistake to think, or to believe, that the world community will forget about the economic crisis, by providing them with international crisis of the sort now playing out in Gaza, Israel, Turkey, and the Korean Peninsula, among other regions of the world.

Gaza, Israel & Turkey
The Cardinal Crisis: Tensions Continue To Mount

 Pro-Palestinian demonstrators wave Turkish and Palestinian flags during a protest in Ankara against Israel's deadly raid on Gaza-bound aid ship. Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed June 6, 2010 to hold Israel to account over what he said was "state terror" in the Middle East as thousands protested against the deadly raid on Gaza-bound aid ships

Credit: Adem Altan/AFP

~ AFP reports ~
By Hande Culpan

ANKARA (AFP) – June 6, 2010 - "Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed Sunday to hold Israel to account over its "state terror" in the Middle East as thousands protested against the deadly raid on Gaza-bound aid ships.

The Israeli operation, in which nine Turks were killed, has plunged the fragile ties between the onetime strong allies into a deep crisis, with Erdogan hardening his strong criticism of the Jewish state.

Gaza "is a historical cause for us," Erdogan said in a public speech in the northwestern city of Bursa, parts of which were carried by the CNN-Turk news channel.

"We object to those who force the people of Gaza to live in an open-air prison... We will stand firm until the blockade on Gaza is lifted, the massacres cease and the state terror in the Middle East is accounted for," he added.

The hands of a detained activist from the Gaza-bound flotilla are placed on a bus window as it leaves a prison in Beersheba, southern Israel, on the way to Israel's airport, Wednesday, June 2, 2010. Israel quickened its expulsion of detained activists from a Gaza-bound flotilla as the worldwide diplomatic fallout from its deadly raid on the ships widened.
 Credit: Alberto Denkberg/AP

Israel has cut Gaza off from all but vital humanitarian aid in a bid to pressure the enclave's rulers -- the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas -- to end rocket attacks on the south of the Jewish state.

Turkey recalled its ambassador to Tel Aviv and canceled joint military exercises after last week's raid, while demanding a formal apology from Israel.

Israel will be absent from the participants of international aerial exercises that the Turkish army said Sunday would take place in central Turkey on June 7-18 with planes from the United States, the United Arab Emirates, Italy, Spain and NATO taking part.

Ankara has also called for an independent international inquiry into the incident, which Erdogan said he discussed plans with UN chief Ban Ki-moon in a telephone conversation on Saturday.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy also spoke out Sunday about the need for "a credible and impartial inquiry".

He said he spoke by phone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and asked him to accept such an investigation, in which France would be willing to take part.

But Israel's ambassador to Washington, Michael Oren, told "Fox News Sunday" programme that his country had "the ability and the right to investigate itself", and would not participate in any international probe.

In Ankara, some 6,000 to 7,000 people gathered under pouring rain, shouting "Damn Israel! Murderer Israel, get out of the Middle East!", an AFP photographer said.

Some protesters set fire to a picture of Netanyahu as others held up a banner depicting him as a a pirate with a hook arm next to the inscription: "The Flotilla of Humanity Against Pirates."

In Istanbul, some 1,000 people called on the government to expel Israeli diplomats.

Moroccan police said 35,000 people, including government ministers, held a protest in the capital Rabat where they trampled on Israeli flags.

In Lebanon, several hundred left-wingers burned Israeli flags at a demonstration near the US embassy while some 3,500 people, many wearing Palestinian headscarves, demonstrated in the northern French city of Lille.

Organizers of the aid flotilla have accused Israeli soldiers of firing indiscriminately in the raid on the Turkish ferry, Mavi Marmara, where the nine victims were killed.

But they have also acknowledged that the activists attacked Israeli soldiers with metal bars.
Israeli officials say the soldiers responded only after they were attacked by the activists.

The mass-circulation Hurriyet newspaper on Sunday published photos of bloodied Israeli commandos being overpowered by those on board the ferry, which it said were recovered from a memory card obtained from an activist.

 This Monday, May 31, 2010 photo taken by an unidentified person aboard the ship Mavi Marmara, an Israeli soldier is surrounded by people aboard the Turkish-flagged vessel. The photo was released by Turkish activist group IHH. According to IHH, the Israeli soldiers were hurt while storming the ship in confrontations with activists aboard, and were later returned to other Israeli troops who boarded the ship. 
Credit: AP/IHH

One of the photos shows an Israeli soldier holding the back of his head with one hand, with blood on his face and the front of his shirt torn open.

photograph: AP/IHH

Given the tense atmosphere, Israel late Sunday ordered that Israeli soldiers should not take part in military missions to Turkey or even go to the country for private reasons, the premier's anti-terrorism office said.

Media reports have said that Turkey's justice ministry was mulling possible legal action against Israel; while prosecutors in Istanbul have launched an investigation to build a possible case over the raid against Netanyahu, Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi."

~

~ The AP reports June 7, 2010 ~
By Selcan Hacaoglu

ISTANBUL, TURKEY — "A summit for a 20-member security group for the Asian region kicked off Monday in Istanbul with Turkey seeking to condemn Israel for a raid that killed nine Turks on a pro-Palestinian aid flotilla that had attempted to break the blockade on Gaza.

Turkey, the most important ally of Israel in the Muslim world, said it would reduce military and trade ties with Israel and shelved discussions of energy projects, including natural gas and fresh water shipments.

 Mass protests continue in Turkey. Credit: Umit Bektas/Reuters

It also threatened to break ties unless Israel apologizes for the raid last week.

Nine heads of states, including leaders of Iran and Syria, and Russia's prime minister are scheduled to attend the two-day Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia, or CICA, that opened Monday.

Turkey said Israel, also a member, was invited but not expected to attend.

The interception prompted a worldwide outcry and growing demands that Israel ease or lift the blockade that has been in place since 2007, when the Islamic militant Hamas seized the territory.

Under the blockade, most exports from Gaza are banned, further depressing the territory's economy.

 Back Home: Kuwaiti Member of Parliament Dr. Waleed Tabtabai, one of the 16 Kuwaiti activists that were on board the aid convoy sailing to Gaza is greeted on his arrival Wednesday, June 2, 2010 at Kuwait International Airport. The activists were received at the airport by high ranking Kuwaiti officials along with hundreds of relatives and sympathizers. 
Credit: Gustavo Ferrari/AP

Turkey said it considers Gaza as well as the situation in Afghanistan as test cases for the security group that includes Russia, Iran, Afghanistan and South Korea. The group last met in 2006, after being set up in 1999 to discuss Asia's conflicts.

Turkey is assuming the presidency of the group from Kazakhstan and is expected to use the platform to draw attention to the plight of Palestinians during Monday's meeting between foreign ministers of the participants. Iraq and Vietnam will become new members on Tuesday morning before the world leaders convene.

Before dawn on Monday, June 7, the Israeli navy fired on Palestinian divers off Gaza, and Palestinian medics said they later retrieved four bodies.

The Israeli military said its forces prevented an attack on Israeli targets, but did not explain further.

The incident came a week after Israeli commandos killed the nine Turks, including a 19-year-old boy who held dual Turkish-U.S. citizenship, in international waters of the Mediterranean.

On Saturday, June 5, Israel commandeered another aid ship [The Rachel Corrie] without incident. All 19 activists, including a Nobel Peace laureate, and crew were deported Sunday."
~

MYSTERY CROP DAMAGE THREATENS HUNDREDS OF ACRES?

The Cardinal transits also show us events in the natural world. Like this story from the American mid-south where WREG in Memphis, Tennessee, reported June 1, 2010 that a mystery plague is damaging crops and killing birds?


~

World Financial Markets

Fears of A Double Dip?

 The world transits at this time in June show that global markets will continue to be very shaky due to weakness of the world economy, and the continued corruption of hedge fund players, and international bankers.

I expect that as the cardinal inclinations strengthen this month, for many stocks to continue to take a battering on currency, oil, and energy disruptions, as well as the obvious geopolitical tensions  building in various parts of the world; particularly the Middle East.

Heard In Hungary: "We're Not Greece?"

~ Bloomberg reports June 7, 2010 ~

By Zoltan Simon

"Hungary’s government reversed course over the weekend, saying there was no danger of default after it spent two days telling the world the nation was at risk of a Greece-like crisis.

Analysts from the European Union to Moody’s Investors Service say the current message is correct.

That may not be enough to ease investor concern until Prime Minister Viktor Orban takes concrete steps to achieve the budget deficit target set by the EU and International Monetary Fund. 

The cabinet will approve plans today and Orban will present them tomorrow, Istvan Hollik, a government press official, said by phone.

“It’s a pretty big change from one day to the next,” Gyorgy Barcza, an economist at KBC Groep NV in Budapest, said in a June 5 interview. 

“It’s positive, but local assets may not recover quickly because the new government now has a credibility deficit and that takes time to overcome.”

Hungary’s domestic politics roiled global markets last week as officials in Orban’s week-old government compared the country to Greece while claiming the previous administration lied about public finances.

The comments were flashed around the world by the news media, feeding concerns Europe’s sovereign debt crisis was spreading, triggering a 4.8 percent two-day drop in the forint and pushing the euro to its lowest level in four years.

'Forint, Bond Gains'

The forint strengthened 0.7 percent to 286.66 per euro at 9:09 a.m. today.

The yield on the government’s three-year forint bond rose to 7.003 percent from 6.941 percent. The benchmark BUX stock index fell 4.4 percent.

Mihaly Varga, Orban’s chief of staff and a former finance minister, sought to ease those concerns during a June 5 news conference. 

Hungary’s deficit target of 3.8 percent of gross domestic product, approved by the EU and IMF, is “attainable” with changes in spending and revenue plans, said Varga, who a week earlier estimated the shortfall may exceed 7 percent.

“Any comparison with countries that have much higher credit default swap ratings than Hungary is unfortunate,” Varga told reporters in Budapest. 

“The comments that have been made about this issue are exaggerated, and if they come from colleagues that’s unfortunate.”

Credit default swaps, a measure of the cost to insure against default, on Hungarian debt jumped 58 percent in two days to 410.3 basis points on June 4.

The rise on the second day was the most since October 2008, when Hungary received a 20 billion- euro IMF-led bailout to ensure it could pay creditors.

On June 2, credit default swaps on five-year Hungarian dollar debt cost 259.3 basis points, compared with 738.4 for Greece, according to CMA DataVision prices.

‘Serious Progress’

That reflected investor confidence in former Prime Minister Gordon Bajnai’s austerity programs, which reduced the budget deficit to 4 percent of GDP last year from 9.3 percent in 2006.

Hungary’s deficit will widen to 4.1 percent of GDP this year, compared with an average of 7.2 percent in the EU and 9.3 percent in Greece, according to European Commission estimates.

Government debt will increase to 79 percent of economic output, compared with an EU average of 80 percent and 125 percent in Greece, the forecasts show.

IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn said he was “surprised” by the Orban government’s comments last week. EU Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn said Hungary has made “serious progress” and suggestions of a possible default were “misleading.” 

Both spoke June 5 after a gathering of finance ministers and central bank governors from the Group of 20 nations in Busan, South Korea.

‘Not Greece?’

“Hungary isn’t the next Greece,” said Kristin Lindow, a senior vice president at Moody’s Investors Service, in a June 4 phone interview from London. “Hungary has a good track record of doing what it needs to do when in trouble.”

While Varga concurred, he said a fact-finding committee appointed by Orban found that the previous government’s budget figures were “miscalculated by orders of magnitude.” 

He didn’t detail the scope of spending and revenue changes needed to maintain the budget target.

“Hungary’s situation is consolidated, and the planned budget deficit is attainable, but we need to enact measures for the latter,” said Varga, who headed the panel.

Orban, who spent eight years in opposition, swept to power in April elections after promising tax cuts and faster economic growth following the worst recession in 18 years. 

The economy contracted 6.3 percent last year. Fidesz’s landslide victory gave Orban a two-thirds majority in parliament.

Boosting Revenue

The cabinet is focusing on boosting revenue to create room for tax cuts without endangering the deficit target, the news website Index reported, citing unnamed sources.

The options being considered include a bank tax that would take away a third of lenders’ profits and channeling private pension fund assets into the state budget, Index said.

Peter Szijjarto, Orban’s spokesman, yesterday said the cabinet is also considering a 16 percent flat personal income tax.

Szijjarto on June 4 said that the government was committed to tax cuts and would reduce the deficit by spurring economic growth and job creation.

He also said concern about a default “was not exaggerated.”

The comments may have been calculated to draw a reaction from the EU and international investors to make it easier for Orban to backtrack on some of his election pledges, said Jay Bryson, a global economist at Wells Fargo Securities LLC in Charlotte, North Carolina.

‘Needs to Be Done’

“If you’re trying to cut your deficit, tax cuts in the near term are probably not the way to go,” Bryson said. “Maybe the populace is not really willing to undertake the steps that need to be done.”

Orban sought permission from the IMF and the EU to raise the deficit target. European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso rebuffed him on June 3.

Hungary remains in a “delicate situation” two years after its bailout and can’t afford to end fiscal consolidation, Barroso said at a joint press conference in Brussels. 

Markets will “immediately punish” a country that seeks to widen its deficit at a time when EU members from Greece to Germany are cutting spending.

“The critical issue here is that anything happening in Hungary, or any country as small as it, can trigger a drastic reaction from the financial markets,” said Domenico Lombardi, president of The Oxford Institute for Economic Policy. 

“Markets are looking at any sign of weakness as confirmation of their lack of confidence in the institutional strength of Europe.”

~

~ The BBC reports June 7, 2010 ~

"European stock markets have opened down, amid renewed fears of a double-dip recession.

The FTSE 100 opened 1.3% down, while Asian markets also tumbled, with Japan's Nikkei 225 closing down 3.8%.

Meanwhile, the Euro dropped to its lowest level against the dollar in four years.

Fears were largely driven by disappointing US jobs data released Friday, June 4, 2010.

Euro Currency: June 7, 2010 - 0930 UK time

Euro To Dollar Spread - May 7 to June 4, 2010

Some 431,000 jobs were created in May, the US Labor Department said. However, analysts had expected 500,000 new jobs.

Other European markets also fell in the first hour of trading, with the German Dax index down 1.9% and France's Cac 40 down 1.7%.

The Nikkei had been down 4% at one point, and its closing level marked its biggest daily fall in 14 months.

The Chinese Hang Seng index also fell 2.3% in Monday trading.

Oil and gas stocks were particularly hard hit as energy prices tumbled

Oil Woes?

Oil and gas stocks have been particularly badly hit, amid worries that global energy demand may be slowing.

Japanese oil refining company JX Holdings was the biggest faller, down 8.3%.

The price of Brent crude oil dropped 8% late on Friday and over the weekend to $70.50, before recovering to around $71.50 on Monday morning.

Meanwhile, US light, sweet crude fell 7.8% to $69.50, before recovering to the $70 mark.

Eurozone doubts?

On currency markets, the euro dropped 2.8% over the weekend to $1.188, before rebounding above $1.19.

The single currency hit an 8-year low against the Japanese yen of just over 108 yen, before recovering above 109 yen.

Meanwhile, the pound continued to split the difference between the dollar and euro.

Against the dollar, sterling was down 1.85% to $1.44, while against the euro it was up 1.1% to 1.213 euros, its highest level since 2008.

As well as US job woes, market angst over the euro zone was piqued further on Friday afternoon.

In Hungary, a spokesman for the new prime minister claimed that the country faced a "Greek-style" financial crisis after the outgoing government had allegedly falsified data.

However, the Hungarian government has since been at pains to rephrase the comments after the country's currency, the Forint, dropped 6% against the dollar on the news.

Worries about the health of euro zone banks were also heightened by an unsubstantiated market rumor on Friday that French bank Societe Generale had suffered a big loss in its financial derivatives trading.

The bank said it had no comment to make about the rumor that saw its share price plummet 7.6% on Friday."
~

More Private Sector Deflation Ahead?

~ CNBC reports June 7, 2010 ~
By Patrick Allen, CNBC Senior Editor

"Bond markets could get very nasty over the coming months, while stock investors could take a few months off and stop attempting to trade volatile swings in the markets, Anthony Fry, senior managing director at Evercore Partners, told CNBC Monday.

“The current problems will be with us for 5 years or more and uncertainty is very high," Fry said.

"Sentiment is extremely volatile as shown by the collapse of the Prudential’s attempt to buy AIA. When the deal was thought up just a few months ago it was a very different world,” Fry told CNBC on Monday.

Fry says the best we can hope for in the current environment is a soft landing, but sees little chance of this happening.

“Look at the current situation. You have Greece, now you have Hungary and huge issues surrounding Spain and Portugal,” he said.

Fry believes many European banks have yet to fess up on losses and says governments across the world are between a rock and a hard place.

“Governments need to cut spending and raise money and if they do not do so credibly will be killed by the bond market demanding higher rates,” he said.

'No Exit Strategy'

Fry sees three outcomes for the global economy and none of them makes very good reading.

“You can have lower rates and deflation, higher rates and higher inflation or the nightmare scenario of higher rates and deflating asset prices,” he said.

“If the nightmare scenario plays out as I suspect it may then the debt situation gets worse.

There is currently no exit strategy and the reaction to the crisis of policy makers remains a big worry.”

As a result, Fry is telling investors to play it safe and buy physical assets like land.

“I don’t want to scare anyone but I am considering investing in barbed wire and guns, things are not looking good and rates are heading higher,” he said.

The comments mirror those of bearish Bob Janjuah from RBS, who told CNBC on Friday that we are facing big stock market losses and told investors to get into gold before G20 governments attempt to throw another $15 trillion in quantitative easing in a bid to jump start the economy.

“The policymakers' response to the crisis has been new debt and this is an old game” said Janjuah.

“Over the next 6 months we will see private sector deflation pushing 10-year yields down to 2 percent," he predicted.

"This will see the policy makers mistakenly attempt to kick start the economy and market with a global quantitative easing program worth between $10 and $15 trillion dollars."

 ~
 Austerity Coming To England?
British Prime Minister David Cameron Says:

"Years of Pain Ahead."

British Prime Minister David Cameron

~ The Times reports June 7, 2010 ~
By Jonathan Oliver, Political Editor

Exclusive To The Times - "David Cameron has warned that the economy is in a far worse state than previously thought and signaled that Britain faces years of “pain” as the spending axe falls.

The prime minister indicated a sharp downgrade in official growth forecasts and revealed that welfare and public sector pay would bear the brunt of budget cuts.

It is understood that tough measures being considered to help control the £156 billion budget deficit include benefit freezes and cuts in child tax credits.

There are also likely to be below-inflation pay rises for state employees on top of next year’s planned freeze.

In an interview with The Sunday Times, Cameron said: “Proper statesmanship is taking the right action, explaining to people the purpose behind the pain.”

The prime minister said there would be no “trampoline recovery” of the economy. He warned there was a “serious problem” with forecasts inherited from Labour of robust 3% growth next year.

“There is a huge amount of debt that has got to be dealt with. Crossing our fingers, waiting for growth and hoping it will go away is simply not an answer,” he said.

“The country has got an overdraft. The interest on that overdraft is swallowing up things that the nation should otherwise be spending money on.

We have got to take people with us on this difficult journey.”

Cameron gave a clear hint of the priorities for the emergency budget in two weeks’ time.

“You have to address the massive welfare bills,” he said. “You have to address public sector pay bills. You have to address the size of the bureaucracy that has built up over the past decade.

“Otherwise you will have to make reductions across the board which you don’t want to do. We need to address the areas where we have been living beyond our means.”

With the budget of the Department for Work and Pensions set to face cuts of up to 20% over the next five years, ministers are hoping for large savings from schemes to force claimants off incapacity benefit and into work.

More draconian measures are also on the table. Freezing all benefits for 12 months next year would raise £4.1 billion.

Executing a Liberal Democrat pledge to axe child credits for couples on a joint income of more than £26,000 could save more than £1 billion a year.

It is understood that ministers have ruled out means-testing child benefits and winter fuel payments.

All public sector workers earning more than £18,000 a year already face a pay freeze next year, but it is understood that curbs in wage rises beyond 2011 are likely to be unveiled in the budget on June 22.

Cameron said he had not seen the report being prepared by Sir Alan Budd, the head of the government’s new budget watchdog.

MPs expect that Budd will scale down the current growth forecasts to somewhere nearer the average predictions of independent economists, who believe next year’s growth will be a sluggish 2%.

The prime minister insisted the figures that the coalition had inherited were wildly over-optimistic. “There were two levels of optimism in what the [Labour] government was forecasting,” Cameron said.

“One was trampoline growth of 3% and above, and the second theory was that interest rates would always stay low.

“One of the most shocking things is the extent of the interest we are paying on our debt. If we don’t do anything about it, it is going to be £50, £60, £70 billion.

“It is going to be huge. We will be spending more on debt interest than we do on educating our children and defending our country. It is totally irresponsible what we are left with.”

Despite the challenge of cutting the deficit, Cameron said he was still confident that most of the gap could be closed by cuts in public spending.

“Sometimes politicians haven’t tried hard enough to reduce inefficient spending and reach for the taxes too quickly,” he said. “We shouldn’t do that.”

However, he refused to rule out an increase in Vat, which many analysts believe will go up from 17.5% to 20%.

“We want expenditure to bear the burden of what needs to be done,” he said.

Cameron signaled a softening of his stance on capital gains tax, which is due to go up this month from 18% to nearly 40% to help pay for the Lib Dem aim of taking the low-paid out of income tax.

Facing a growing rebellion from Tory back-benchers, the prime minister said he was considering some sort of relief for investors selling assets such as shares or second homes that they had held for a long time.

“I totally understand the arguments,” Cameron said. “I did not come into politics to punish people who want to do the right thing and save.”

Giving his own gloss on the budget cuts, Nick Clegg, the deputy prime minister and Lib Dem leader, warned there would be no return to the “sink or swim” economics of the Thatcher era.

 Deputy British Prime Minister Nick Clegg

“Fiscal retrenchment does not mean a repeat of the 1980s,” Clegg told The Observer. “We are going to do this differently.”

George Osborne, the chancellor, claimed a significant victory yesterday as the G20 group of leading nations backed the British government’s stance on spending cuts."

Mr Cameron argued that the boom under Labour was an illusion. The boom in financial services was a mirage, he said, because it was “conjured from years of low interest rates, cheap money and a bubble in the price of assets like houses.”

It was also maintained by unsupportable levels of immigration, which at one point accounted for a fifth of our economic growth while millions were dependent on welfare payments, as well as a boom in government spending, Mr Cameron said.


“So when the inevitable happened, and the boom did turn to bust this country was left high and dry, with a massive deficit that threatens to loom over our economy and our society for a generation.”

Mr Cameron singled out particular government departments where there have been inappropriate public spending, which are likely targets for the Comprehensive Spending Review.

- The Department for Work and Pensions, which increased benefit spending by over £20 billion, he said, accepting as a fact of life the eight million people who are economically inactive.

- The Ministry of Defense, which allowed 14 major projects to over-run, which at the last count are £4.5 billion over budget.

- The Department of Health, which almost doubled the number of managers in the NHS.

- The Treasury, which sanctioned all of this because it published growth forecasts that were far more optimistic than independent forecasts.

Austerity Coming To United Kingdom: Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron speaks at the Open University in Milton Keynes, England Monday, June, 7, 2010. Cameron said the pain of cutting Britain's national deficit will be worse than previously feared, and will affect everyone in the country. Laying out his reasons for squeezing spending, Cameron said England cannot avoid a deficit which rose to £156 billion pounds ($225 billion) in the last fiscal year. 

Credit: Alastair Grant/AP

Mr Cameron continued: 'If we fail to confront our problems we could suffer worse – a steady, painful erosion of confidence in our economy.'

“Today, almost every major country in the world is focusing on the need to cut their deficits.

'And the G20 has called on those countries with the biggest deficits to accelerate their plans for reducing them.'

'If in Britain investors saw no will at the top of government to get a grip on our public finances, they would doubt Britain’s ability to pay its way.'

After the speech, Mr Cameron reiterated the case for raising Capital Gains tax, making an argument likely to dismay the right of his party.

“If you read any of the things written by anyone about capital gains tax ... they all agree that there is a massive leakage of revenue that takes place when you have a very low rate of capital gains tax and a high rate of income tax.”

Public sector unions reacted with fury to the speech.

The chief executive of Unison, Dave Prentice, described it as “a chilling attack on the public sector, public sector workers, the poor, the sick and the vulnerable, and a warning that their way of life will change.

“There was nothing in this speech that told the rich, the banking and financial sector or the City speculators that their privileged way of life will change.”

Hugh Lanning, Deputy General Secretary of the Public and Commercial Services Union, called Mr Cameron’s speech is a “smokescreen."

“The debt wasn’t caused by the public sector: it was caused by the banks and the financial crisis,” he added.

“The best way to cut public expenditure is to grow employment, not to put people on the dole.”

The Government should also raise money by cracking down on tax avoidance, he said.

The Government is due to present an emergency Budget on June 22 and the results of the Comprehensive Spending Review in the autumn.

Tomorrow George Osborne, the Chancellor, will announce a public consultation on where the cuts should fall.

It was also reported this morning that he is considering setting up a “star chamber” before which ministers would have to justify the cuts in their departments."
 ~

Meanwhile, it seems that just about everyone these days is upset one way or another with Goldman Sachs.

Now, it is the Chinese?

China Upset With Goldman Sachs

~ The Financial Times reports June 7, 2010 ~

By Jamil Anderlini

"Public criticism of Goldman Sachs has come to China, where the investment bank has been lambasted in articles in state-controlled media.

Parts of the media, apparently emboldened by congressional inquiries and public anger in the west, have openly slated Goldman; arguably the most successful foreign investment bank in China.

“Many people believe Goldman Sachs, which goes around the Chinese market slurping gold and sucking silver, may have, using all kinds of deals, created even bigger losses for Chinese companies and investors than it did with its fraudulent actions in the U.S.,” read the opening lines of an article in the China Youth Daily, a state-owned daily newspaper, last week.

The article was widely distributed through commercial news portals and the websites of government mouthpiece Xinhua News and the People’s Daily, the Communist Party publication.

Referring to Goldman as a “black hand” that “played little tricks carefully designed to gamble with Chinese enterprises,” the article made few specific accusations of wrongdoing by the bank.

The report followed similar commentary and articles published in publications including the 21st Century Business Herald, one of the largest financial newspapers in the country, and New Century Weekly, a liberal magazine.

The reports were highly critical of Goldman for designing and selling oil hedging contracts to state-owned Chinese companies that then lost billions of dollars when oil prices plunged, contrary to Goldman analysts’ predictions, in 2008 and 2009.

Probably the most telling assertion in all of the articles is the complaint that Goldman has been too successful in China, that it has made too much money from underwriting initial public offerings, arranging deals and making its own private equity investments.

Goldman saw a 2007 investment in a small pharmaceuticals export company of less than $5 million rise to nearly $1 billion at the company’s IPO, a gain of 20,000 percent. The bank has a lead role in the IPO of the Agricultural Bank of China.

“Goldman has just been so successful in China, but this is one of the perils of success here,” said a senior banker at one rival in China.

“Many of its domestic competitors and some in the government are very unhappy that they have been doing so well lately.”

Chinese business reporters are rarely allowed to criticize powerful state enterprises, but foreign companies are often regarded as fair game.

“We’ve a very strong track record in China and one we’re proud of, but we need to help people better understand our business,” said Edward Naylor, a spokesman for Goldman Sachs."

~

Dates of Cardinal T-Square Transits

Mundane planetary configurations & dates 2010-2011

Compiled by Theodore White; mundane Astrolog.S

• April 6-7 - Pluto stations retrograde at 5-Capricorn
• April 7, 2010 - Saturn re-enters tropical Virgo
• April 26, 2010 - Saturn opposes Uranus (4th opposition)

• May 23, 2010 - Jupiter opposes Saturn (first time since 1990-91)
• May 27-28, 2010 - Uranus enters tropical Aries
• May 30th, 2010 - Saturn stations direct motion at 27-Virgo

• June 5-6, 2010 - Jupiter enters tropical Aries
• June 6-7, 2010 - Mars enters tropical Virgo
• June 8, 2010 - Jupiter conjoins Uranus at 0-Aries

• July 5, 2010 - Uranus stations retrograde at 0-Aries
• July 8, 2010 - Jupiter turns North in declination
• July 11, 2010 - New Moon total eclipse at 19-Cancer (not seen in N. America)

• July 21, 2010 - Saturn re-enters tropical Libra for good
• July 23, 2010 - Jupiter stations retrograde
• July 25, 2010 - Jupiter Squares Pluto
• July 26, 2010 - Fifth Saturn/Uranus opposition
• July 31, 2010 - Mars & Jupiter turn S in Declination
• July 31 - Mars conjoins Saturn at 0-Libra

• August 3, 2010 - Jupiter, retrograde, Squares Pluto again
• August 6, 2010 - Venus turns South in Declination
• August 13-14, 2010 - Uranus re-enters tropical Pisces

• August 16, 2010 - Jupiter Opposes Saturn
• August 20, 2010 - Mercury retrogrades in Virgo
• August 21, 2010 - Saturn Squares Pluto

• September 8, 2010 - Saturn turns South in declination
• September 8, 2010 - New Moon at 15-Virgo
• September 8, 2010 - Venus enters Scorpio

• September 8-9, 2010 - Jupiter re-enters tropical Pisces
• September 12, 2010 - Mercury stations direct
• September 14, 2010 - Pluto stations direct
• September 14, 2010 - Mars enters Scorpio

• September 19, 2010 - Jupiter conjoins Uranus for first time in Pisces

• October 8, 2010 - Venus retrograde in Scorpio
• October 29-30 - Venus turns to "morning star" phase for ten months
• November 6, 7, 2010 - Neptune direct in motion
• November 18 - Venus stations direct
• November 18 - Jupiter stations direct
• December 5, 6- Uranus stations direct motion
• December 10-30 - Mercury retrograde

• January 4, 2011 - Jupiter conjoins Uranus a third time
• January 22, 2011 - Jupiter enters Aries
• Jan. 25, 26 - Saturn stations retrograde 17-Libra
• February 25, 2011 - Jupiter Squares Pluto
• 
  
• March 3, 2011 - Transiting Lunar Nodes shift to Mutable Quality of Sagittarius & Gemini

• March 11-12, 2011 - Uranus enters Aries (first time in 84 years)

• March 28, 2011 - Jupiter opposes Saturn 

~

Mundane Survey Of Global Events: 2010-2012

 The Cardinal Cross of August 2010: This chart, set for London, England, shows the Cardinal Cross in action for most of the world as global transits rotate. August 2010 is a powerful month of conflicts, clashes, and global stresses according to my mundane forecasts.

 

World events are strongly highlighted. From the crisis in the Middle East, to crisis in Thailand, Greece, Europe, Asia, Korea, and North & South America.

The Cardinal Crisis is basically forcing long-standing, unresolved issues to the surface, demanding change, betterment, and, as a result, evolution, from how people live and work, to how public and private institutions serve their wider communities.

The events of the world from now to the mid-2010s are reflective of the decisions and actions of the 1990s and 2000s that are now being exposed by the global transits.

Geopolitical stresses will force leaders to tackle a host of challenging issues worldwide that require vision and a new way of looking at the world to promote peace and advance healthy progress into the new decade.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton with her diplomatic team in China in May 2010.

Credit: AP

The oil leak crisis in the Gulf of Mexico will become a epic disaster, casting British Petroleum into financial ruin, and threatening the future existence of the company. 

By summer 2010, a hurricane will sweep through the Gulf, with hopes it will clear out much of the tens of millions of gallons of oil that has spread along the U.S. southern coasts.

May 2010 satellite image of BP's oil leak into the Gulf of Mexico.

Credit: NASA

The internal battles in Greece because of heavy sovereign debt and deep austerity will re-ignite over the summer months of 2010.

Groups battling severe economic austerity measures in Greece urge Europeans to "rise up" during the late spring and summer of 2010.

 The crisis in the Middle East beckons between Israel, Gaza, Turkey, Iran, Syria, Jordan, Egypt, and the Arab states highlighted threatening war over international aid to Palestine.

 The crisis on the Korean Peninsula will also continue to be tense, threatening to re-ignite a war between both those nations.

 Thailand's crisis is far from over. The coalition government is due to fall from the repression of groups intent on ending what they see as a illegal killer government.

 The economic crisis is also far from over. The pressures on Wall Street, bankers and hedge fund moguls will increase in 2010 and 2011 with calls for major, and sweeping financial reforms across the board, pitting the status quo against a very angry American middle class:

The climate & weather will become major news again with volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, climate extremes of hot and colder than normal temperatures, La Nina, droughts, and most of all floods, as world transits strengthen into 2010-2011:

 Nature Erupts: Volcanic activity as Uranus enters Aries.

Criminal underworlds undergo vicious struggles: As Pluto transits Capricorn, and forms a T-square to Jupiter, Saturn and Uranus, the drug wars raging in Mexico will expand, forcing ever more soldiers onto Mexican streets and pitting the average person against killer drug gangs. In this case, the people win. Parents will take only so much and when their children are being attacked; no amount of "power" from ill-gotten gains can make them win in the end.

 Mexican Drug Wars: Mexican federal police & forensic experts inspect the scene after two men were shot dead by unknown gunmen in the northern border city of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico on May 26, 2010. Ciudad Juarez has been hit by waves of very brutal drug-related violence, making it one of the deadliest cities in the world.

Credit: AP

The Markets

  That 1,000 point drop: May 6, 2010 proved to be one of the strangest days in the history of the Dow Jones. A mysterious "1,000-point" plunge in the afternoon hours, blamed on a "fat finger," lost money for tens of thousands of traders and nearly collapsed the stock market. Federal authorities investigate, but the "glitch" still has not been explained nearly a month later.

So, in my mundane perspective, the world is, in effect, dealing with the outworn views and methods of the past, while seeking to forge a new way forward into this new century.

The year 2010 is a transition year, and will be historic in my view. In 2010, we are in the predawn of a new age, and some are in the sunset of a old age, mainly that of the late 20th century.

The year 2011 is the start of a new cycle, mainly brought on by the official entry of Uranus into Aries, the first time in 84 years.

This cycle opens up the decade of the 2010s, and practically dominates it with a long-running square aspect to Pluto in Capricorn.

The year 2012 is a strong year. It is dominated by Gemini for the most part, as well as the popular-culture fears of the Mayan Calendar system and the "end of the world." 

According to my calculations, the world will not end, but those who continue to press on with such foolishness will cause enough worry and concern among that some people will go about very upset through 2012, that is, until the year 2013 arrives on time.

Below, is my mundane forecasts on the major planetary configurations of the Cardinal Crisis Years:

~ Mundane Forecast: 2010-2015 ~

Forecast By Theodore White; mundane Astrolog.S

Θεόδωρος

There are six (6) major transits of the Cardinal Crisis Years - signified by the planets involved & their inclinations:

- Saturn oppose Uranus -

2008-2010

Frustrating attempts to change existing conditions

The new versus the old

Virgo/Pisces - Aries/Libra

Negative attitudes within personal areas of responsibility against those of personal freedom. People generally demand strict obedience to their authority but will rebel against authority at the same time.

Much cooperation is needed to avoid falling into the unfavorable inclinations of Saturn's opposition to Uranus.

A sustained cycle where much insight, honesty, and awareness is needed to offset the powerful tendency to be rigid and unforgiving in personal and professional affairs.

Extreme viewpoints expressed by the ignorant and mentally ill fall under this influence. Loud public pronouncements shouted with wild mannerisms expressing inconsistent attitudes can be observed.

Common sights are: bugged-eye pundits uttering unsubstantiated personal opinions as facts; personal attacks, insults, and acerbic comments designed to bring attention to oneself.

Impulse, haste, snap judgments, immaturity, poor communication skills lacking any sign of social grace and basic manners can be observed.

Negative emotional attitudes bordering on signs of stress and mental illness is also quite common.

There is widespread conflict between the old order and the new emerging order. This is generational.

Groups and individuals battle against corruption of the old establishment, while the old establishment denies losing their clout, and remain fixated on old methods, rejecting anything "new" that threatens their established order.

Concepts and ideas in economic, business and political affairs tend to be impractical, unreliable, and eccentric. Economic life continues to run at a low ebb.

See - Part 3 Of Spain Is Dying

These conflicts play out with professional and personal relationships in a pre-revolutionary manner - pushing relationships to breaking points.

Saturn's opposition to Uranus is unfavorable when dealing with joint accounts, finances, corporate business affairs, inheritances, insurance, and all economic matters important to organizations, groups, and individuals.

The economic climate is highly stressed, with conflicts between the "old" and the "new" at extremes and waiting for the breaking points to arrive.

Selfish motives within organizations, and groups tend to be those where others try to take credit for the work of others in order to advance their own careers leading to estrangements between associates, colleagues and friends.

Ulterior motives abound, as do negative emotions, rampant cynicism; along with personal and professional betrayals. The feelings are quite intense, as oppositions tend to be.

Saturn's inflexibility grinds against Uranus' desire for significant change. The events that have taken place in the world since 2001 is now moving into the "release" phase and into the second decade of the 2010s.

As the fifth and last Saturn/Uranus opposition peaks by July/August 2010, we should observe strong emotions worldwide; seeking a "release" from the pent up energies, anger, and recriminations that have built up over the recent decade of the 2000s.

- Saturn Square Pluto -

2010
 
Power Plays, Plots, Cold, Evil & Unsympathetic People

Libra/Capricorn

General signs of paranoia exists within groups and organizations is one feature of a Saturn/Pluto Square. 

The large-scale implications of actions taken in government, business, and political groups often force people to face dangerous situations of a sinister nature.

The will power of those involved in personal and professional intrigues is heightened to the point of very negative inclinations with some people using coercive methods to achieve what they perceive as success.

Under Saturn/Pluto this can feature acts of blackmail, threats, and plots at the highest levels of government, within political groups, and corporations.

Paranoid individuals with extreme opinions, and viewpoints is also common under  A Saturn/Pluto square. 

The emotions can be deep, but the insights are often clouded by dishonorable associations and emotions to individuals and groups who do not have the best interests of others at heart.

Some individuals will find themselves battling against corruption and rampant dishonesty within organizations, or within associations, be they professional or personal with attacks on their reputation coming as a result of fighting dishonest persons and groups.

The coming revelations of widespread corruption in global financial markets, on Wall Street, and other stock markets will be under the Saturn/Pluto square.

Forcing major players to fight for their freedom because of accusations of the theft of tens of billions of dollars leading to a worldwide global recession.

Corporate power plays take center stage under the cardinal crisis transits with increasing political pressure and regulatory scrutiny on major banks, insurance companies, and those implicated in widespread financial malfeasance over the last decade.

The focus on these areas: unemployment, insurance, housing, stock markets, hedge funds, secret bank accounts, general economics, political and government affairs, alimony, and inheritances - is all common under the influences of Saturn's square from Libra to Pluto in Capricorn.

It is also common under these inclinations for opposing groups and individuals to use negative, dishonest, and evil means to obtain personal/profession advantages over others; or attempts to hide past acts of malfeasance to avoid implicating others involved in acts of corruption.

This often backfires under the Saturn/Pluto square and results in public scandal along with damage to the reputation and the careers of those who used negative means to gain what they "perceive" to be an advantage.

Nowhere does "do unto others as you would have them do unto you' applies more than under a Saturn/Pluto world square.

The effect on personal and professional connections can be long-lasting with people completely breaking off any further association with friends, family and colleagues.

Power struggles - both internal and external - is a main theme of a Saturn/Pluto Square.

The will-power is increased, but the personal judgment is often very poor. This gives way to intense emotions that are not clearly understood enough to make valuable judgment calls on all levels of decisions.

Often, decisions are based on perceived "associations" with others who are not one's friends, nor who share one's common interests, except to advance their own personal interests while using others as a means to and end. Very common under Saturn's square to Pluto.

After the square aspect passes, the events which have taken place under its influences are fully revealed, leading to permanent estrangements from those once trusted and valued as friends, associates, or lovers.

Saturn's continued transit through Libra (2010-2012) then features a full distrust and estrangement from those who used dishonest means during the Saturn/Pluto inclinations. 

These estrangements will last a very long time and trust will never be restored after the world square aspect has moved out of orb.

- Jupiter Square Pluto -

Coercions, False Promotions, Litigation & Dishonesty

Aries/Capricorn - 2010-2011

Opposition from Jupiter in Cancer to Pluto in Capricorn arrives 2013-2014

The Jupiter/Pluto Square acts much like that of Saturn's square to Pluto. Jupiter's motion into Aries in mid-2010, and then again in February 2011, will square Pluto in tropical Capricorn.

The same kinds of conflicts under Saturn's influence by square to Pluto comes into action with hasty, impulsive and headstrong promotion of one's opinions as facts to gain a perceived advantage over others.

Temptation is strong with inclinations to use dishonest means to get what one thinks they want.

Rampant litigation under Jupiter's inclinations lead to a rush toward legal wars without first seeing the bigger picture. With the Jupiter square to Pluto: it is the forest first, the trees second, but do make sure you count each tree.

The contradictions of this is simple:

Jupiter's square to Pluto, in combination to its conjunction to Uranus in opposition to Saturn, and by square to Pluto, and back, fully complicates matters, so as to act as a powerful feedback loop with amplifiers about to blow loudly if the volume of intensity is not turned down.

The energies of the Cardinal Cross transits are simply too strong. Patience, slowing down, and reposing are the keys to effectively neutralizing these powerful cardinal inclinations.

Under the Jupiter/Pluto square, serious mistakes are often made preparing legal cases without first laying down the proper practical groundwork.

Often, this comes about because of ego, and headstrong acts featuring arrogance and pride; but wholly failing to take into account the small, but very important details.

The majority of litigation made under these influences will collapse like a house of cards after months of what seemed like a iron-clad case.

The only way to neutralize this transit, as with all the others of the Cardinal Crisis transits is to slow down, and to be strictly honest at all times in all personal and business affairs.

Also, the need to remain detached and practical while plodding step-by-step without ego, impulse, and haste. This is the antidote to the impulsive inclinations of cardinal transits.

Power-plays, and forced acts of coercion, with promotions of extreme expressions of personal, political and religious viewpoints is quite common under this global square.

Often, one's aspirations to remake others comes with neglecting one's own house while confused attitudes about ethics and morality are cast aside in favor of haste and impulse - rushing to judgment.

Struggles with corrupted individuals and groups is also common under a Jupiter/Pluto Square. 

Criminal underworld groups, and their associates often war against one another in the perceived struggle for "power," without understanding the dire future implications of their violent acts which, in time, will return upon the very people involved in these evil affairs.

There can be dubious spiritual practices featuring over-optimistic false spiritual, religious and political beliefs shaped by the realization that there are large-scale forces at work that the individual (s) have been forced to see as a result of changes in lifestyles.

The square aspect in this respect can be positive if the individual (s) remember to not act in haste or impulse in accepting too easily that which is being realized.

Under the cardinal crisis transits, there are efforts by others to remake or coerce others to partake in evil behaviors - effectively using people to do the things which "appear" to advance the interests of those who agree to take part in actions, or groups. 

After the 2010 Jupiter/Pluto Square comes another one by mid-2013 into the year 2014.

This will be part of the Grand Cardinal Cross of 2014 showing powerful cardinal inclinations of haste, and impulse that feeds into the coming Uranus-Pluto Squares of the 2010s.

Again, there is a sense that things are not changing as quickly as people would like them to, and the ramifications of the decade of the 2000s continue to persist into the early years of the 2010s.

Unless the problems of rampant past corruption - especially in the financial sector - then this world Grand Cross, with Jupiter now in Cancer, as part of another series of cardinal crisis configurations - will return to bite back with a vengeance in 2014.

- Jupiter Oppose Saturn -

2010-2012

Bad Business Timing, Questionable Tactics &  Promised Favors Undone
Pisces/Aries - Virgo/Libra
Jupiter at 0-10 degrees Taurus

Jupiter/Saturn oppositions arrive every 20 years. The last one took place in 1990-91. They usually always feature an economic recession, usually deep ones, which can take several years to emerge out of before conditions gradually improve.

Such will be the case with the 2010-2012 opposition of Jupiter/Saturn. During these oppositions expect business to suffer as the generational transition continues over the course of Jupiter's opposition to Saturn.

Because of the poor economic climate some people may resort towards using questionable tactics to get ahead and make money.

With the business climate contracted, some will seek shortcuts and dubious actions to get ahead while others continue to face competition with limited resources.

The desired expansion of business is fraught with frustration after frustration, red-tape, barriers, blocks, delays, and legal problems. Rising defaults & bankruptcies increase as a result of past mismanagement of resources and corruption with credit conditions tighter than normal.

See - Professor Warren Warns About 2011-2014

It is an unfavorable time to expand business concerns, or to take chances because of the uncertainty of finances, contracts and commitments from others, who tend to be unreliable due to limited resources, confusion, lack of planning, procrastination, and a general lack of honesty and fair play.

The crush of competition, fighting for a limited amount of customers, with resources lacking can further cause disruptions in professional and personal lives to the point of some leaving entire industries for good.

This will continue under the inclinations of Jupiter's opposition to Saturn.

It is a poor time to seek favors from others, as the business climate of 2010-2012 will continue to suffer from immense commercial & residential real estate losses, double-digit unemployment, and a general sense of malaise from an aging generational establishment.

Those seeing support from official institutions, such as federal, state, and local agencies, may find themselves frustrated with the lack of help usually expected from these offices.

This is because those in positions of power are either on their way out the door themselves, or have become cold and unsympathetic to those in need; preferring instead to look out only for themselves.

While this takes place, many people will see their own personal and professional responsibilities increase; while wages continue to stagnate from the lack of resources, which will be limited because of prior economic corruption and waste.

The opposition of Jupiter to Saturn can test what the true balance really is between being optimistic, and being pessimistic. Much will depend on the ability of the individual to be creative, and patient, while the opposition is underway.

It will not last forever, so those who are looking for opportunities during this time should be aware to remain cautiously optimistic, while clearly seeing what the true barriers to success will be during 2010 to 2012.

Most, if not all of the barriers are those held by people with cold, conservative and uncompromising attitudes. Hypocrisy and distorted moral values is also common under a Jupiter/Saturn opposition.

What used to make sense, and would be expected as normal modes of operation and procedures is perverted by the unyielding attitudes of uncompromising people.

Many of these people will be older, and due to the transit of Saturn, will exhibit rigid views without realizing that in a short period of time after the opposition has waned and passed; that they themselves will receive similar treatment from the very people whom they denied opportunities and relief.

The conflicts which come about during 2010-2012 under the Jupiter/Saturn opposition will tend towards ethics; morals; joint finances, family responsibilities, friendships, associations, romantic relationships, partnerships and corporate struggles that will test the reliability and strength of relationships in general.

The Jupiter/Saturn opposition will begin to weaken in February 2012, and by the end of March 2012, will move out of orb.

By this time, those who were frustrated, or blocked from advancement will find an easier go of things gradually in 2012 as Saturn moves out of opposition to the outer planets, and brings a sense of relief by 2013.

However, memories will be still fresh from the red tape, delays, and barriers put up by those with unyielding attitudes. This will come back to haunt those who denied others the potential for advancement during the 2010s, and leads into the coming Uranus/Pluto squares of the 2010s.

The relief in 2013 doesn't last long due to Jupiter's motion out of tropical Gemini, and into tropical Cancer where Jupiter will transit to oppose Pluto in Capricorn - initiating yet another chapter of the Cardinal Crisis Years.

- Jupiter Oppose Pluto -

August 2013 - June 2014

 Cancer/Capricorn

Part of the Cardinal Grand Cross of April 2014

Forced Reforms, Business Clash, Coercions, International Tensions &  Revolts

By the end of June 2013, transiting Jupiter will have moved out of tropical Gemini, and enter Cancer. Making a nice trine to transiting Saturn in Scorpio by early July, it would appear that the struggles, and tensions of the previous two-and-a-half years are over.

However, this is not so according to the world transits. This is simply a breather with more to come by the following month of August, when transiting Mars conjoins Jupiter in Cancer and oppose Pluto in Capricorn.

Jupiter's opposition to Pluto is a time of what appears to be continued stresses around finances, economics, and what policies should be enacted, and which should not.

There can be tendencies to push things too quickly, to overreach with big plans, and grandiose ideas without firming up foundations.

During the period of the Jupiter-Pluto opposition, it is important to take time to make certain that the practical matters of business and personal life are attended to by balancing one's sense of organization against one's desire to push out and expand.

Under this influence come attempts to force, to coerce, or to remake others - claiming one's desires to reform other while not paying attention to one's own need for it personally. This is also extended internationally.

A fine balance must be taken under a Jupiter-Pluto opposition before initiating wide reforms carelessly without prior deep thought, insight, and understanding of the long-term consequences.

Jupiter is in Cancer - the home sign of the United States - so in 2013 and 2014, the opposition to Pluto can indicate tensions from the people towards government, or, to an administration in power at the time as well as international tensions abroad.

The areas highlighted are those around political policies, philosophical ideology, education, religion, and cultural beliefs and norms clashing against anything that appears to be autocratic in nature.

The strongest date of the opposition is in the year 2014, when transiting Mars, Jupiter, Uranus and Pluto form a Grand Cross in the cardinal signs of Aries, Libra, Cancer, and Capricorn. The peak of this grand cross is in April 2014.

Jupiter will oppose Pluto, while in square aspect to both Uranus in Aries, and Mars, retrograde in Libra by April 2014. Tensions are high and this grand cross speaks of both international and national tensions at a peak under yet another Cardinal Crisis.

Mixed with a sense of over-optimism, underneath the public feelings at this time is also impatience, and a strong lack of practical common sense that allows many to jump to conclusions - which is part of the cardinal inclinations of haste and impulse once again coming to the fore.

The sense of adventure and grandiose idealism at this time is marked by a hesitancy seen by the retrograde of Mars in Libra at this time.

There are unexpected hostile dealings with foreigners for those outside their home countries, and those overseas tend towards being unpredictable and unreliable.

Spring 2014 into summer 2014 is not a good time for overseas travel. Moreover, the diplomatic tensions are high, so diplomats may come into contact with those in foreign states those who may be difficult to contend with at this time.

Prudence, tact, and foresight is strong advised among all parties, be they individuals, groups, companies, organizations or nations.

The Grand Cross of 2014 signals a sort of "peaking" of the previous cardinal transits of 2010 and 2011 with inclinations of demanding freedom at all cost without taking on the mantle of patience, and responsibility that comes along with demands.

Before 2014, the sense of optimism fueled by the coming and going of the year 2012 when the world did not come to an end, and the inclinations of the year 2013 with a sense of new-found, but cautious optimism, is met by April 2014 with a sense that rebellion and revolt is once again on the horizon.

The international tensions at this time in 2014 will stem from former disagreements and beliefs among nations which appear to have undermined future matters by ignoring principles with empty words - saying one thing, but doing another.

This obviously leads to international clashes when trust appears to be broken between some nations. This shows in world transits of 2014. It is the year of the diplomat.

Mars' retrograde in Libra (March 1, 2014 to May 19, 2014) plays a strong role in the Cardinal Grand Cross of that year.

Wise decision-making is at a premium; so heads of state, and their diplomats should be careful not to overreach, nor to promise more than they can deliver, but to balance threats with peaceful acts, and with careful solutions via prudent diplomacy and tact.

Mars' opposition to Uranus in Aries in 2014 speaks of conflicts, and clashes among states, organizations, friends, and family who take sides on the broader issues of the times. The transit of Mars in Libra (December 7, 2013 to July 25, 2014) is a long one. 

The retrograde of Mars from March to May 19, 2014 takes part during the strongest months of the Cardinal Grand Cross in April & May.

Decision-making is important here, and, with Mars declining in Libra, it is essential to have the right players in position during this time of global transits. The wrong personalities involved as "diplomats" are apt to make things that much worse simply because of their personal and political ideologies.

It is wise to remove ideological hotheads in critical positions at this time in 2014 and to replace them with calm, cool, and smart diplomats who can be trusted and relied upon to create atmospheres for leaders where positive progress can be made.

Compounding this will be a total Lunar eclipse at 25-Libra during the early morning hours of April 15, 2014 that will be visible over the Americas, the Pacific, and east Australia. 

The degrees indicated by Sabian symbols say ~

• 25º Libra - "The sign of an autumn leaf brings to a pilgrim the sudden revelation of the mystery of life and death."

• 26º Libra - "An Eagle and a large White Dove Turning into each other."

 My forecast is for an international conflict at this time of the Grand Cross, that continues into July 2014, before either being resolved fully, or which escalates into warfare.

The choices indicated here by Jupiter's opposition to Pluto show that successful advance diplomacy must be made prior to spring 2014, and that signs of the coming conflicts will be seen in late 2012, and early 2013.

Spring 2014 in the northern hemisphere is a tense time of international tension that should be resolved by carefully handling the energies with proper decision-making, diplomacy, and a fine balance between leadership and international cooperation. 

In this way, President Theodore Roosevelt's advice to "speak softly but carry a big stick" applies very well at this time in the world. The energies of the solar year of 2014 are about the promotion of peace, calm, and wise diplomacy. 

Though the ignorant may propound immediate military action; the consequences are far-reaching into the future - so leaders at this time in 2014 will need to exercise wise restraint while carefully balancing the advice of doves and hawks to come to a solution that will satisfy everyone.

Compounding the problem at this time is the fifth exact square between Uranus and Pluto which occurs in April 2014. This is part of the Global Grand Cardinal Cross that year. We will now take a look at the roles these two outer planets will play, along with their powerful inclinations.

 - Uranus Square Pluto -

2011-2020 overall

Rebellions, Revolts & Revolutionary Sentiments

Aries/Capricorn

early Taurus/Capricorn

If anything defines some of the more tense cardinal energies of the 2010s, it will be the Uranus transit of Aries in global square to transiting Pluto in Capricorn. 

Handling this world square will not be an easy matter after the failures of the past generation to resolve many of the outstanding issues of the end of the 20th century, and the decade of the 2000s.

By July 2011, transiting Uranus will come very close to performing a near-exact square to Pluto in Capricorn, but Uranus will station retrograde on July 9, 2011 - delaying the first exact square with Pluto for 11 more months.

Uranus and Pluto, as slow moving outer planets, will remain in orb for most of the decade of the 2010s. Their most powerful inclinations occur from 2011 to the year 2018.

The first of seven (7) exact squares begins officially on June 24, 2012 with Uranus and Pluto square at 8-Capricorn. This is the first in a series of very powerful world square aspects between both planets relative to the Earth.

The Uranus/Pluto Cardinal squares lasts, overall, from 2011 to 2020.

An unprecedented Seven (7) exact squares occur in just three (3) years: 2012 to 2015
(*) = significant dates

1. June 24, 2012 – first global square at 8-degrees Aries/Capricorn
2. *September 18-19, 2012 – second square at 6-degrees Aries/Capricorn
3. May 20, 2013 – third square at 11-degrees Aries/Capricorn
4. November 1, 2013 – fourth square at 9-degrees Aries/Capricorn
5. *April 21, 2014 – fifth square at 13-degrees Aries/Capricorn
6. December 14-15, 2014 – sixth square at 12-degrees Aries/Capricorn
7. *March 16-17, 2015 – seventh global square at 15-degrees Aries/Capricorn


The last time Uranus and Pluto met in global square aspect was during the 1930s. This was a decade of reactionary, extreme right-wing politics, revolutionary socialism, rising crime, rebellions, revolts, and restrictive laws gradually reducing freedoms throughout Europe and the then-Soviet Union.

The Bank Crisis and Stock Market Crash of 1929-33 fueled the early years of the Great Depression with rising waves of petty crime and bank robberies. The resulting foreclosures of homes, businesses and family farms amid a depressed global economic system cast a dark shadow over the world.

The NYSE reaching its lowest trading point in history. Weather anomalies under the influence of Uranus in Aries led to the hottest year in U.S. history in 1933-34 with drought and dust storms raging across the American Midwest.

Meanwhile, political extremism ensued with the rise of tyrants, as Adolf Hitler rose to power in Germany while in Japan, radical forms of militarism spread so much that it was being openly taught in elementary and high schools.

The revolts, rebellions and revolutionary sentiments under the Uranus/Pluto squares thus paved the way for the Second World War that followed by the end of the 1930s.

Uranus in Aries and Pluto in Capricorn revolve their squares worldwide for much of the 2010s, but the most powerful periods are between 2012 through 2015.

This is a time of great upsets within nations which have now experienced at least four to seven years in the wake of the global economic crisis.

Uranus' penchant for sudden change against Pluto's desire structure in Capricorn for a kind of transformational war that butt heads over the "kinds" of new changes to be realized and those not to be supported.

While this is happening, populations around the world seem to have had it to their chins with the constant disruptions of their lives; the losses of lifestyles over the years. 

They react powerfully by demanding immediate changes without question while the forces of the status quo and old establishment refuse to yield - deciding to procrastinate even more.

Groups, organizations and individuals have become radicalized by the events since 2008. So much so, that by the time (June 2012) of the first of seven exact Uranus/Pluto square social unrest is a certainty in regions around the world.

There are increasing signs of rebellions, revolts and foreboding examples of revolutionary sentiments expressed in various nations upset with the status quo, represented by Pluto in Capricorn.

It seems everything is on the table here: economic, social, political and religious structures are be challenged from all sides. People want change, and intend on getting it.

The headstrong inclinations of Aries, with Uranus in it's 7-year transit in this sign, squaring Pluto can indicate sudden deaths coming about unexpectedly; usually through acts of violence, and from common accidents, and unexpected large-scale disasters related to weather extremes.

Past associations, friendships and relationships can become radically changed under Uranus and Pluto's cardinal squares. It is at this time, between 2012-2015 that companies that were hanging on by a thread financially - can suddenly break and fall into bankruptcy.

The entry of Neptune into tropical Pisces in February 2012 will impress dissolution on failing companies afterward, with a slow, but gradual death into the mid-to-late 2010s.

The sudden losses associated with Uranus' transit in Aries can bring about greater financial losses than expected while corporations continue to witness power struggles as the generational transition picks up speed in the early to mid-2010s.

The revolutionary sentiments inclined by Uranus/Pluto come about as a result of the frustrations of the decade of the 2000s.

The global economic crisis, and the resulting societal effects have angered many populations who feel that their governments and representatives were not representing them, but corporate monied-interests that pilfered society's resources.

The resulting backlash featured under the Uranus/Pluto squares of the 2010s will be widespread, and quite unsettling for those involved in the mismanagement of trillions of dollars and euros over the previous decade.

Rising crime can be a problem; also fueled by the lack of resources because of the Banking Crisis of 2008-2012. 

Hasty and impulsive actions to acquire money through illegal acts become more public as law and order seems to be failing to take hold of the rising tide of criminal acts perpetuated by career criminals let out on the streets after being released from prison, but not reformed.

State officials, under pressure financially, are forced to release thousands of prisoners in the early 2010s to relieve the system from overcrowding.  

State lawmakers all over the U.S., who say they need to save money from the devastating losses in state revenues say must release tens of thousands of convicts from prison in the 2010s, including drug addicts, thieves and violent criminals.

If there has been little reform of the system during the time of incarcerations, then obviously the lingering effects of the economic crisis that awaits convicts on the street can be a threat to public safety under the Uranus/Pluto squares.

By the spring of 2014, things become quite tense again globally with another Cardinal Cross - this time a Grand Cross configuration featuring Mars, Jupiter, Uranus, and Pluto in the Signs of Libra, Cancer, Aries and Capricorn.

Grand Cross configurations in cardinal signs seek immediate release of strong, emotional pent-up energies.

By April 2014, there is a sense among populations that they have had enough. They eject the usual explainations behind the causes of the economic crisis, which, by this time, will have persisted at various levels significantly enough to cause outright revolts in some nations.

At the same time, international tensions are sure to be high as well. There is a strong need for calm, but strong diplomacy as the Cardinal Grand Cross energies peak by April & May 2014.

Resolution of conflicts between nations can occur by utilizing cooperative stances, as well as using the carrot and stick method to bring unwilling parties to the bargaining tables to resolve differences.

The energies of Uranus Square Pluto can be violent. Accidents, and deaths are caused by haste, impulse, and the refusal to be patient, and tolerant.

Aries is the Sign of haste/impulse, while Pluto seeks general transformation, but through a gradual and steady use of the authority, forms, disciplines and structures of Capricorn.

The clashes between pre-revolutionary forces and those managing the old systems of structure can meet in the middle, but this can only be accomplished through diplomacy, understanding with all sides being flexible.

Uranus' transit in square to Pluto will undoubtedly shape much of the international climate of the 2010s to the point that presidents, prime ministers, diplomats, national leaders, CEOs, managers, and all those in executive positions will have to carefully determine how best to handle their respective leadership roles over the next 10-12 years.

It will not be easy. Those who make the effort to plan ahead, and who are flexible in their thinking, and their attitudes, will do much better than those who are not.

Nonetheless, expect the global square of Uranus to Pluto to be the prime cardinal inclinational force that will make world news time and again through the decade of the 2010s, and into the mid-2020s.
~

 How To Handle The Cardinal Crisis Years?

Baby Boomer Angst: A woman ponders her future after going out of business in the Bank Crisis of 2007-2010.

The best ways to handle the strong inclinations of the Cardinal Crisis years is to understand that the world is changing, and therefore, so must you.  Be honest with yourself about it all.

We are in a time of major transition, from one generational establishment into a new one.

This will take time, but will be fully completed by the mid-2010s.

 Aging Baby Boomers: An entire generation with Pluto In Leo, unwilling and unprepared for retirement, must now deal with their futures as senior citizens.

Baby Boomers, those with Pluto in Leo, are now the new elderly in the world. As they leave the establishment, there are personal concerns and questions: What now? What am I to do? Where am I to go? 

What's next?

For Baby Boomers, the years as the establishment from 1993-2011 has seen a world go into  economic chaos, with outdated structures, now crumbling after neglect, not improved, and levels of financial corruption and greed permitted to unchecked for years.

There are consequences to all of this, and it will be felt in the 2010s for the Baby Boomers.

For most of this generation, the future has been treated with a back turned to it, rather than face first.

I observed this happen with the Baby Boomer generation in the year 2000, right after the millennium. For all the exciting talk about "future" and a "new world" & "Jetson's society" - every year of the 2000s was spent, not looking forward, but looking back.

These fears, as I've written about before, has more to do with the Boomers' fears of aging, and their failure to attend to the very important matters associated with growing older.

I have consistently advised my baby boomer clients to reject the 'forever young' view of their contemporaries, and to get down to the real business of preparing themselves for retirement.

That word, "retirement" has been treated by the majority of Baby Boomers as a bad word. So, it is no wonder that many have been unable to cope with the realities of life when it comes to aging. If one denies it even exists, then why bother, right?

Wrong.

That time is now nearly here, with the start of the 2010s, and boomers who have wasted years in denial will find themselves nearly destitute in the next decade as a result of this denial of the passage of time.

Their is little time left for Baby Boomers to prepare for their elderly years. With society in decline because of the failures of their own generation during their time as the establishment.

World transits show that there is not going to be the attention showered on the Pluto in Leo generation as there has been for its entire life. There is simply too much work on the table for the generation now coming in as the new establishment.

Baby Boomers have hastened their own demise as a generation and will have to deal with the lack of preparation and insight that could have easily been prevented with vision, rather than denial of what happens naturally, which is aging.

So much economic damage has been done by the generation of Baby Boomers that it will be very difficult for the majority of this generation to handle the decade of the 2010s with the knowledge that they caused much of the problems they now face as the elderly.

The resentment of younger generations will be palatable so many Boomers will have to deal with the honest anger about how their generation conducted themselves as the ruling establishment during the years 1993-2011. 

It will not be easy; however, those Baby Boomers who are willing to come to terms with the failures of their generation, and who are able to leave behind the outworn attitudes and behavior that caused the collapse, will be able to make enough positive changes in their lives that can benefit them, and others.

Generational angst of aging, and unresolved ideological conflicts have been the prime causes for the recent collapses in trust and stability worldwide.

The world transits of the Cardinal Crisis Years is bringing all of this to a head, and calls for action away from those things which are outdated and outworn.

This is the reason for the civil unrest and much of the international tensions.

Should Baby Boomers take off the blinders of denial and open their eyes to the truths of what has been done, or not done, by their generation, only then will they be able to move forward honestly and be able to face life as the elderly and live in peace.

A younger generation, that of Generation X, the children born in the 1960s to mid-1970s, is about to become the new establishment of the 2010s and 2020s.

"X" is the mathematical symbol for the unknown variable, or factor.

This generation will be very busy as the new establishment. Born with Pluto in Virgo, ruled not by the Sun, but by Mercury, another variable of great significance in astrology.

Generation X will inherit a world that is unsure of itself and that is in the early stages of a series of crisis.

Battered by years of abuses, corruption, massive levels of greed, a world misused, and drained of great resources by the acts of two generations: the oligarchy with Pluto in Cancer, and their children, the Baby Boomers with Pluto in Leo, this new generation faces a great challenge.

The years from 2011 to 2030 will feature Generation X as not only reformers, but as visionaries who will attempt to re-bottle the positive values they learned as children in the late 20th century ~ into new forms and useful methods in the 21st century.

This task will not be easy due to the enormous amount of problems across a wide spectrum left over from a time span of 36 years.

From crumbling infrastructures, to outdated methods in business, government, and private companies, to the constant ideological wars of two past generations, to global crisis.

Generation X will have to pick up the pieces, clean up the damage and trash, and at the same time provide not just for the Pluto in Leo generation, but also lead the way into the future for the generations born in the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s.

You are talking about doing 36 years worth of work in about 18 years.

You're all going to have to cut Generation X a lot of slack. Talk about a workload.

Generation X will act as a buffer between the younger generations after it and the Baby Boomers before it. In many ways, it is paradoxical, in the sense that the Pluto in Leo generation has treated Generation X, the Pluto in Virgo generation, as if it did not exist.

This was mainly a result of the Pluto in Leo generations' obsession with 'eternal youth' and its denial of aging.

To see a person younger than you and to take, or deny this younger generation the resources to progress in the world has been the cause of the massive deflation of the economy, and the crumbling of infrastructure.

The transits of the Pluto in Virgo generation show visionary reformers who will have to do the work of 36 years in 18 years.

This can only be accomplished through the octave of Mercury, which rules Virgo. So Generation X is well-placed as the decade of the 2010s begins.

For the individual, the questions of how to move forward into the future will greatly depend on your own personal motivation, deep insight, and preparation.

These questions can be turned into answers by following your instincts more or less, and trusting yourself while being certain to know what your personal astrological transits are. 

This can be done by consulting professional astrologers to delineate your natal and progressed planetary transits.

Choices will have to be made during the years 2010-2011 that will impact the rest of the decade, so be aware of the importance of looking further down the road than you would normally do. 

The entire decade of the 2010-2020 is very important for all people, so, be aware of the need to take things step-by-step, say, every two-and-a-half years, working, and planning to achieve your goals, and aspirations.

What will work best is practicality, reliability, common sense and vision.

In the meantime, from 2010 to about 2014, expect many changes throughout the world that will call on you to shift your perspectives from the outworn and useless methods, to the new: this is going to be a major theme throughout the decade of the 2010s.

This will not be a simple matter of making superficial efforts at change, no.

The planetary inclinations are very strong, and, because the outer planets are involved, will take longer for them to complete their cardinal inclinations over a period of time. We are in for the long haul here.

The idea is to gradually head towards the chosen directions you want to go, be it personally, socially, or professionally, and to understand and clearly see that times are indeed changing.

Once this is done, and it should be done as quickly as possible, then the next idea is to gravitate towards your own gifts and talents, rather than to take on jobs and positions that, in the recent past, were used to merely survive enough to pay the bills.

My forecasts into the future show that the economic crisis will continue to dominate much of the 2010s. This, in itself, casts a dark shadow over much of the world during the decade should the prior economic damage be more than currently advertised.

Therefore, the best way to proceed is to use the knowledge of these changing times to begin to surround yourself with people who share positive common goals, but who are also practical, reliable, and not given over to false positivity, and shallowness.

This is important to remember because over the years, some people who claim to be "spiritual" are really just making the rounds, and speak with empty promises that do nothing but waste valuable transit time.

The world transits as they impact personal nativities will force unresolved issues to the surface - making you face them.

Therefore, it is essential to take care of any personal matters within yourself so the strong transpersonal planets do not force whatever is unresolved into the outer world, thus slowing you down, and putting barriers in the way of your aspirations and goals.

 The cardinal crisis years are years of transition, challenges, crisis, of course, but also of generational change and transformations.

The entry of Jupiter, and Uranus into Aries is one sure sign that things are about to change, and in a big way for the world.

Again, times are changing.

From a mundane perspective, it is time for another generation to come into its own and to help shape the healthy progress of humanity into the future.

After all of that, I continue to take Oddball's Advice. In these times, this is how I feel nearly every day now, but I continue to have faith.

Let's get some more positive vibrations out there in the world and be more hopeful and righteous as Oddball says.

~