What a Difference a Year Makes......

I've deliberately avoided, up to now, mentioning dire issues in the news during last year relating to the late Jimmy Savile (Sir James Savile would you believe?) He was a Yorkshireman and he let the side down very, very badly. Under cover of "good works" (which he did spear-head at times) and popular TV shows he was up to some really nasty works of abuse and paedophilia. The BBC's tardy investigation into his crimes has also uncovered some similarly criminal activity perpetrated by others. Just this week I've seen the name of British TV sports commentator and games presenter Stuart Hall OBE (yep - OBE - Order of the British Empire) involved.

From Wikipedia

On 5 December 2012, Hall was arrested on suspicion of rape and sexual assault and charged with three counts of indecent assault against three different girls, (a 9-year-old, a 13-year-old and one aged "between 16 and 17") between 1974 and 1984. He was bailed to appear at Preston Magistrates Court on 7 January 2013, when he pleaded not guilty He was bailed until 16 April to appear at Preston Crown Court, on condition that he lived at his home address and that he had no unsupervised contact with children under the age of 17. On 22 January 2013, Hall was charged with one count of rape and 14 additional counts of indecent assault between 1967 and 1986.

I remember Stuart Hall from a TV game show "It's A Knock-Out", also recall that there were a few snide remarks about him going the rounds back then, though whether due to knowledge of his doings outside of TV shows, or whether because he was a bit of a hammy show-off I don't know.

Anyway, in the process of trying to remind myself what Stuart Hall looked like long ago I came across a blog called Classy Gents with a post dated 31 January 2012 about Stuart Hall, sincerely praising his "classiness".

A snippet:

His voice is really quite something; warm, refined, and luxurious, it harks back to a bygone era of television, when the BBC required it’s own unique intonation. Quite why this Classy Gent has been relegated to providing merely the occasional update on 5 Live’s football coverage is beyond us. In his younger days, such was the respect in which he was held that he is perhaps the only commentator never to have played the game professionally, who has appeared on the bench for a European cup final.....................So, in celebration of his long career and the hope that we may get to hear from him more prominently in the years to come, we give you Stuart Hall – our Classy Gent of the Day.

Oops!!!!

What makes late discovery of such egregious activity even worse is the fact that both the above-named had been honoured! Savile was knighted, Hall accorded Order of the British Empire. How did two such well-known individuals, recognisable by almost everyone in the UK during the 1970s and 80s, not only escape discovery of their wrong doing, but manage to get themselves honoured as well? Somebody, somewhere, must have known what was going on.

Astrology a load of rubbish?

Astrologers, particularly those in the UK, have recently been upset by a remark made during a TV programme,
Wonders of the Solar System. From a post dated 11 April at Collaborate with Fate, the blog of astrologer Kathryn Cassidy, and a link she provides, I discovered that the offending remark, made by a Professor Brian Cox went something like this:

"Now astrologists have said for years that Jupiter influences our lives. But we now have scientific evidence that this mighty planet does have a significant connection with our own small world.

Now, Jupiter is so different to our planet… a big ball of gas half a billion kms away. It’s difficult to see how it could have anything to do with us at all. But despite the fact that astrology is a load of rubbish, Jupiter can in fact, have a profound influence on our planet. And it’s through a force … gravity."

Stating baldly that astrology is "a load of rubbish" on public TV, without further question or debate on the matter seems hardly in keeping with the type of programme he was presenting. He stated his opinion, not a fact. If the rest of the programme met the same opinionated standard, then I'm pleased it isn't available to investigate here in the USA.

The BBC and British TV in general has long nurtured a very jaundiced view of astrology. BBC is funded by the public, via an annual licence fee. This was well over 100 pounds (about $150) a year when I left the UK, and is probably higher now. A publicly funded service should keep its entire audience in mind. The BBC was always keen to avoid offending minority groups, but it seems that astrologers and those interested in the subject are not considered important enough to be accorded the same courtesy. Prof. Cox had no need to mention astrology at all, but just couldn't resist taking the standard elitist poke at it.

Astrology isn't rubbish. There - that's a fact!

Astrology is a centuries old discipline, a part of human history. It deserves respect on that count alone. I'm the first to admit that, in the form handed down to us, astrology has problems. Centuries of "helpful" experts have added items to its doctrine, embellished a bit here, changed and modified a bit there, updated and enlarged its purview. But at the center of astrology, right at its core, I am convinced there is something very, very valuable.

A couple of recent threads at the Skyscript forum indicate that some current astrologers are feeling particularly concerned about astrology being seen as working via "causal" means. By that is meant that the planets might be thought to emit some kind of rays or energies which cause events or character traits to manifest. I certainly don't think there are planetary rays beating down upon us from the heavens. My best guess is that the planets and their regular cycles act as markers on the waves of time in space, and that some quality carried within the waves of time in space is key to it all. In order to use astrology we need the information contained in an ephemeris (a timetable of planetary positions). Without that information astrology could not exist. My best guess might still be seen as espousing a causal "mechanism", but it's not at all the same as the old ray theory from the 19th and early 20th century.

There will be more, much more, as yet unimaginable, to be discovered by scientists and physicists. Professor Cox conveniently makes no allowance for this, and acts as though he knows everything.

Astrology's true core will be revealed and fully understood....one day. I'm sure of it.