All States shall cooperate to the fullest possible extent in the repression of piracy on the high seas or in any other place outside the jurisdiction of any State.
United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea
Israeli Special Forces Attack Gaza Aid Convoy
In an act of mass murder on the high seas the State of Israel on 31 May 2010 killed at least nine people
aboard a ship bound for Gaza with humanitarian aid.
According to the Israeli military they boarded the ship on international waters some 100 km off the coast of Gaza in a pre-dawn raid.
All the six ships sailing together as part of the international Freedom Flotilla
were then hijacked and forced to make port in the Israeli city of Ashdod.
The complete freedom flotilla consisted of eight ships from different countries,
but the two US-flagged ships were sabotaged by Israeli agents
and forced into port in Cyprus when steering systems on both ships broke down on the passage from Heraklion in Crete.
The six remaining ships carried 10 000 tonnes of building, medical and educational supplies
along with close to 700 human rights activists from every populated continent.
The passengers who survived the Israeli attack were taken as prisoners and all of their belongings were confiscated,
most of which remain in Israeli possession to this day,
including notebook computers, SIM cards and photo and video equipment.
The BBC reported that 30 passengers were injured in the attack.
At least 7 commandos were injured as they were overpowered by passengers.
In response to early and even more ludicrous claims than usual from the Zionist state
of the human rights activists being members of al-Qaeda or associated with Hamas
we can only assume that the Israeli government views anyone taking action to break the illegal siege of Gaza
as a terrorist or terrorist supporter,
including the Swedish best-selling author Henning Mankell
(that I am not a fan of his books is totally irrelevant – he is still not a terrorist supporter),
the Irish Nobel peace laureate Mairead Corrigan-Maguire,
the US holocaust survivor Hedy Epstein,
the retired US Army colonel Mary Ann Wright,
the former US ambassador Edward Peck,
and the members of the European, German, Israeli, Scottish, Swedish and Turkish Parliaments
– all heroes on board the eight vessels of solidarity.
Endorsements have come from an overwhelming number of terrorists around the globe
including Jewish groups that campaign for the rights of Palestinians
(for US readers without a sense of humor I should make clear I do not consider these people terrorists).
The Elders group of past and present world leaders,
including former President of the Republic of Finland Martti Ahtisaari
and former South African President Nelson Mandela,
has condemned as completely inexcusable
the deadly Israeli attack.
The EU has reiterated calls for an immediate, sustained and unconditional opening of crossings for the flow of humanitarian aid, commercial goods and persons to and from Gaza
.
Now will the EU act?
Welcome
The Cosmic Ledger warmly welcomes all newcomers and repeat visitors. With Saturn having transitted Virgo (the speedy cleaning lady) during the last couple of years progress has picked up speed everywhere. The financial markets have received some critical attention; megafraudsters, sexoffenders, war criminals, and many others have been arrested, tried and some already convicted.
For this website it has meant much less, but long awaited updates are getting there. The astrology section will get a new page on horoscope interpretation and the Sankhya Yoga page will become more accurate and readable. For the software end and my personal astrological know-how it has meant much more. A number of technological previews of the next Astrolog for OS/2 have already been released, and more is on the way.
On a more serious note with Jupiter having been, and still being, very weak in Aquarius, the last year has not been a good one for prosperity. Things are likely to stay grim for a few months longer, but will pick up a great deal later this year, especially in April, as Jupiter facilitates insight in Pisces, Venus happiness in Taurus, and Saturn peace and justice in Libra.
Finally, I wish every truth-lover out there Love of God. The source of all good is always the solution to all evil. A great earthquake is a call to wake up and sense God’s might; a great injustice is a chance to stand up for what is right. Eventually we will see that everything that has ever happened to us has been good to us. Evil is necessary for us to learn Good.
Updates
Astrology: Horoscopes and Psychopaths
2010-05-31: A new page detailing the astrological ins and outs of psychopathy has been added to the astrology section. It can help you spot potential psychopaths by following a straightforward checklist of astrological indications.
Software: Astrolog for OS/2 2.0 TP 49
2010-05-15: TP 49 of the next Astrolog for OS/2 version has been released. This very significant update brings the chart analysis module a big step closer to the pre-alpha stage – or dare we even call it alpha?
Software: Astrolog for OS/2 2.0 TP 39
2010-04-21: TP 39 of the next Astrolog for OS/2 version has been released. This release features a number of significant improvements to the chart analysis module and also includes a simple stats function.
Health: Reasons to go Vegetarian
2010-01-27: The vegetarian reasons page is now in order. Hypertext markup has been corrected and a number of broken links have been removed or replaced. The same goes for the vegetarian diet page, which is well worth reading these days since so few people know what it means to be a vegetarian.
Software: WarpCalc 1.10
2010-01-16: Version 1.10 of the WarpCalc scientific calculator package has been released. This is a minor version update. It includes a fix to correctly recognize numbers with spaces following the decimal separator.
Software: Astrolog for OS/2 2.0 TP 22
2010-01-08: TP 22 of the next Astrolog for OS/2 version has been released. Sankhya Yoga is a new chart analysis factor.
Software: Astrolog for OS/2 2.0 TP 21
2009-11-07: TP 21 of the next Astrolog for OS/2 version has been released. It features a substantial rewrite and expansion of the automatic chart analysis (ACA) system.
Software: Astrolog for OS/2 2.0 TP 13
2009-05-02: TP 13 of the next Astrolog for OS/2 version has been released. Its most important new feature lets the user configure the default rising sign. This setting will have a critical impact on the second stage of automatic chart analysis, which will crown the final version, but for now it only affects house dispositor graphs and the appearance of null houses.
Software: Astrolog for OS/2 2.0 TP 10
2008-07-12: A technological preview of the next Astrolog for OS/2 version now gives the straight Sankhya Yoga and a separate and complementary Integrity Score. Other new features include extended chart information and being able to enter dates in the format of your locale as well as in some other commonly used formats.
Astrology: Sankhya Yoga
2007-08-31: The straight-talking Sankhya Yoga page in the astrology section has been updated to reflect even more changes to come.
Health: Live Earth Update
2007-07-09: The vegetarian reasons page has been updated in response to the Live Earth jippo with a link to a FAO report on the impact of livestock on greenhouse gas emissons.
Age of Experience
Besides assessing the Sankhya Yoga of a birth chart to know the big picture and the general level of good and bad at which the individual planetary placements operate, I (and others with me) have discovered the importance of the lunar nodes. The north node, which is called Rahu in Jyotish, reveals age as measured in past-life experience. This spiritual age tells a lot about how a person, institution or anything else will take to “new” ideas in this life. Rahu is at home in the really old signs of Capricorn and Aquarius. John McCain has it placed in the former and Barack Obama in the youngest of all signs: Leo. No doubt who is the eldest, is there? John McCain has expressed his wonder regarding Obama’s willingness to try ideas that have been tried and failed in the past. Another example is Adolf Hitler, who had Rahu in Cancer, the partner of Leo and likely the second-youngest of all the signs. He did mistake after mistake and one can perhaps argue that all he did was a mistake.
On the matter of Sankhya Yoga I should point out that both McCain and Obama (unlike Hitler) are examples of Dama Yoga, and therefore should exhibit at least some of the good qualities associated with pillars of society, including above average IQ, a strengthened sense of justice, tact and diplomacy, innate education and a genuine concern for people. Keep this perspective in mind while reading the following paragraphs.
John McCain, unlike many politicians before him (ok, not really before him) was born with the Sun in the eighth house (using Sidereal Houses). This position brings emotional isolation in some form. In his own isolation, it is hard for him to see the need and vulnerability of others, and he may be capable of terrible coldness and even cruelty, to those who need him. All according to The House Book by Stephanie Camilleri, whose reading for this house placement makes perfect sense for the Sun in Virgo as well. It also mentions that death, imprisonment and/or exile may mark his life. McCain’s Virgo Sun also reveals a slight mental deficiency. As a result McCain develops his talents at a slower pace and appears less warm than Obama.
The mental picture for Obama is quite different. His vibrant Sun in Leo shows mental capacity to learn quickly and to live up to the best that is within him. Compared to McCain’s his temper should be more civil and pleasant. However, Ketu extremely weak in Aquarius brings both his learning speed and temper closer to that of the average person. Technically, Obama’s Sun may be considered in the eighth house just as McCain’s, but with an even Ascendant (Capricorn) its meaning is very different. In this case there may be a great potential for power, as well as an ability to manage others with skill, though that skill may sometimes appear somewhat Machiavellian. The great wording of the last two clauses is another loan from Stephanie Camilleri’s house book.
The Moon signs of both candidates are tougher to read, with McCain’s in Aquarius indicating a focus on society and a hunger to be a force for social good. He does not share this Moon sign with any other Dama yoga politicians that I have on file. However, there are a few Pasa yoga examples with Angela Merkel, Tony Blair, and Richard Nixon. Most often the Moon in Aquarius reveals good intentions gone wrong. A notable exception is for the Full Moon, but none of the mentioned politicians have it. Obama’s Moon is in Gemini. Again I have no Dama yoga politicians with this Moon sign on file, but a couple of Pasa yogas are John Kerry and Vladimir Putin. There is also a Kedara yoga example with Helmut Kohl. The Moon in Gemini most often indicates psychopathy, but the combination with Obama’s Sun in Leo should minimize this. It still indicates a very youthful person, and not someone with a clear direction in life. Together with a zero strength Jupiter it gives Obama much of the bad child about him – but nothing of your typical leader figure. Gemini is the sign of money, as well as ideas and the persuasive selling of them. It is also the sign of modern science, which explains Obama’s unusually narrow focus.
Intellectually, McCain is light years ahead of Obama, in large part thanks to his Jupiter in Sagittarius, which is the single strongest possible indication for a leader and a moral king. McCain’s Jupiter is here in complete disagreement with his Virgo Sun, which represents the antithesis of a leader. The strong Jupiter, nonetheless, gives McCain a sense of humor, right and wrong, and human understanding that Obama sorely lacks. Both McCain and Obama have more dignified sidereal rising signs (Aquarius and Capricorn, respectively) than W Bush and Dick Cheney (Cancer and Leo, respectively). For the former this should indicate better health, and also increase the likelihood of good deeds, as well as better fortune in general. Aquarius is the most dignified of the twelve possible ascendant signs and according to Jyotish a doer of all things which are morally right. Capricorn is the even complement of Aquarius and able to plan and carry out schemes of considerable magnitude.
As far as generations go I would have preferred the Pope’s, Hillary’s or my own. McCain has Neptune in Virgo, which he shares with John Lennon (bigger than Jesus), Josef Fritzl (not really a monster) and Bernie Madoff (what a fraud). This is an intellectually impaired generation of egoism and general stupidity, which values modernity and the antithesis of Truth. Virgo is big on sex and low on emotions. At her worst she represents evil, and has an easier time believing in monsters than in God. Obama has the same planet in Scorpio, which is a lot less stupid and far more intelligent, but nonetheless also strengthens antisocial traits on an even lower level than Virgo, such as jealousy, general idiocy, blind hate, delusions, and all sorts of wickedness including killing for its own sake.
I am an astrology student and not a professional astrologer.
As I through the grace of God learn more,
please expect some interpretations to change over time.
The birth data used have been published elsewhere on the web.
The rodden ratings are AA for Obama’s chart
and A for McCain’s.
For a professional reading of the two Sun-Moon combinations
I recommend the astrology classic Heaven Knows What
by
the late American astrologer Grant Lewi.
More recent birthdata available through
Astro-Databank
have 18:25 as the birthtime for John McCain.
These data carry an AA rating and should be more accurate
than the A-rated data used in an earlier postscript from 8 May 2009.
The Sun is no longer in the 1st house, but the 8th.
The Moon has also changed.
It has now advanced from Capricorn to Aquarius,
which I think gives McCain a more suitable reading from
Heaven Knows What
.
Full Moon
Once a year we experience an ideal Full Moon. This occurs when the Sun is in Leo and the Moon is in Aquarius. While a New Moon is considered a natural malefic in Jyotish (Indian astrology), a Full Moon is seen as a natural benefic. Also the Chinese consider a Full Moon fortunate. With the Sun in its natural domicile this Moon represents the very best of single planet indications. For a little more than two days a year both the spiritual and the material sides of life are fully energized. A person born under this Moon is aware of ultimate reality (Aquarius = Knowledge) and has the sense of self necessary (Leo = Royalty) to see dreams materialize. For Kedara yoga this could mean a master of numbers. For the Dama and Veena yogas it spells leaders of thought. For the others unreliable emotions yield caprice.
A Note on Happiness
If you are not happy but want to be, try these three steps: 1) realize you are better off with God, 2) ask His forgiveness in full understanding of your past stupidity, and 3) expect Him to surprise you with all the happiness you need.
As for giving, remember that you cannot give what you do not have. If you want to give peace to the world you have to have peace within. You can only have peace within if you are with God and you can only be with God through asking forgiveness. To receive forgiveness you also need to give forgiveness.
Life in the material world is said to be like having a constant 40-degree fever. Until you remember God you are delirious beyond all hope of recovery, especially so if you do not realize how bad your condition really is.
According to Jesus we are all evil and only God is good. Thanks to God’s love he constantly teaches us how to restore our health. Some of us may be more difficult to teach than others, but we are all work in progress.
For people on the road to recovery God has provided astrology, through which we can learn where we stand, how far we have to go, and what to expect from both ourselves and the people around us.
As astrology helps keep madness at bay we get a grip on our situation and it gets easier to love – His first commandment. Astrology can also give practical advice on everything from selecting a suitable spouse to the best time for celibacy.
Finally, astrology makes it more obvious that we do not have free will. To praise or blame ourselves or others is to worship the created in place of the creator, so we better stop the praise-blame game and realize who is God.
When we receive punishment it is not for our
actions,
but for believing we are actually responsible for them – thinking we could have acted differently.
If you think you are doing good (self-righteousness) you have in this sense just as much to ask forgiveness for as someone who thinks he or she is doing evil.
All that does not take place in faith is sin
(Rom 14:23).
Let us all follow God’s long-standing advice:
Worry about nothing, love everyone, know and trust in Him.
Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother
(Mark 3:35).
Astrological Review and Forecast
There are many wills in the world and not all of them can have their way at the same time. Using astrology one can track who is on top at any given time. Simplistically speaking demons reign when the planets are in their signs of fall and saints reign when they are in their own signs.
The most important planet for tracking the will of the world is Saturn, or Kronos in Greek. Saturn left the sign of Leo and its state of fall on 3 September 2007. It continues to be somewhat poorly placed all through Virgo, but the worst of the current cycle should now be over. After a period of relative happiness and tolerance, Saturn entered Gemini on 21 April 2001, then reached Cancer on 4 June 2003, and finally Leo on 16 July 2005.
The period through Cancer and Leo covers the U.S. occupation of Iraq, a magnitude 6 earthquake killing over 5 000 in Indonesia, a tsunami killing more than 200 000 people around the Indian Ocean, a hurricane killing over 1 000 in the U.S., and all sorts of horrific injustices including abortion legalizations. Closer-to-home, less high-profile and more every-day nerve-wrecking activity should have left many without proper sleep.
In August of this year the world also experienced a magnitude 8 earthquake shake Peru, killing over 500 people and injuring more than 1 000, and the day Saturn conjuncted the Sun, reenforcing the roaring Leo characteristcs, the first and probably only category 5 hurricane of this season struck Mexico. The period as a whole saw no fewer than 7 category 5 atlantic hurricanes.
Finally, as the period came to an end this past Summer, Greece saw more than 3 000 wildfires giving many people a visible picture of the hell that is Leo at its worst. A personal example of Saturn in Leo is Adolf Hitler, notable for exhibiting the worst qualities of this placement including invalidism, need to head the parade at any cost, and being too smart for his own good. The same traits also grow strong when the Sun joins Saturn, or with Uranus placed in Cancer, both cases notably showcased by current Russian President Vladimir Putin. Unlike Hitler, however, Putin is a young adult rather than a school boy. His Rahu in Aquarius (success/strength) is also the exact opposite of Hitler’s in Cancer (arrogance/addiction).
Things should be improving as Saturn now transits Virgo. Despite being weak at first and then possibly resentful and plagued by frequent changes, the coming 2 years should see an overall improvement over the past 5. Already since December of last year, Jupiter in Sagittarius has been mitigating the worst of Saturn in Leo. Jupiter – the planet of fundamental truth, insight and joy – will continue to be extremely well-placed until December of this year.
Not long after Jupiter leaves Sagittarius in December of this year, the Moon’s nodes enter their best signs. The longest period of dignity in their cycle begins in January of 2008 and lasts all through Saturn in Virgo and beyond. People should become more aware of reality, and astrology could see a major breakthrough. Spirituality booms yet again as it did once before in the early 90s.
Jupiter will see another high as it enters Pisces in January of 2010. This transit favors intellectual ventures, perspective on life, stand-up comedy, and general prosperity. In summary, the overall forecast until 2010 is for the better, with the middle of November especially good for saints and a lot worse for demons.
Website Redesign
The complete redesign of the Ledger is the result of months of effort and reading up on standards and trying to tame various browsers to behave nicely, or at least nicely enough to bring the content of this website within reach of every beloved visitor. A lot has been learned in the process and as much as possible will be shared in the months to come.
To reap all the benefits of standards the redesign complies with the strict document type definition of HTML 4.01 and completely relies on Cascading Style Sheets for layout and presentation. Behind the scenes PHP hacking makes future changes and additions simpler than before. The publishing end has been sped up thanks to enhanced REXX scripting.
For a couple of months more this website will have many rough edges including old pages not yet converted to the new design. Expect all pages to have been converted by the end of the year. Presentation should continue to improve steadily.
Accessibility and Browsers
Accessibility has been improved with skip links and associated access keys. The skip links are not only available to visually impaired visitors using screen readers, but also to anyone using the keyboard for navigation. In many regular browsers such as Opera and Mozilla you can now also use their Site Navigation Bars for previous/next page, etc. Read more about the accessibility of this website.
The website has been tested and seriously tweaked for Internet Explorer. Small CSS adjustments have been made for Opera. Contrary to expectations Firefox does not consistently have the best CSS support. In at least one instance Opera and even Internet Explorer outperformed Firefox. At this time it seems to me that no single browser can fully replace the others. However, the open source browsers are the only ones to fully support fixed sidebars.
For backwards compatibility the redesign has been repeatedly tested in Netscape 4.61 and with style sheets turned off in Mozilla and Opera. Netscape as well as text browsers will be able to view all content. The former will miss out on special HTML 4.01 features, some accessibility, and most CSS including the three column layout. Of the tested browsers Mozilla/Firefox and Opera are alone in supporting the compact contents listings.
Although somewhat mellowed after testing I would still recommend FireFox for former Internet Explorer users, and Mozilla for Web developers and former Netscape users. If nothing else the Mozilla products are available on more platforms and support all the accessibility features employed by this website. For the most complete CSS 2.1 support I recommend Opera and if you have the option the Mac OS X browser Safari for things like text shadow. Internet Explorer 7.x browsers and older are not supported by this website.
Quote for Thought
you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength– Mark 12:30
