ARGO "the best bad idea we have, sir"

The Middle East has been a constant problem area for as long as I can remember (and I'm old - or old enough). There hasn't been a period in my life when something unpleasant wasn't going down in the ME. I do not release my old homeland, the UK, from responsibility for some of it. That attitude almost had me avoiding the newly released movie Argo.....almost.

If you enjoy an adventure movie in which the CIA hero doesn't shoot anybody, (James Bond was never like this) none of the main characters carries a gun, but all are involved in a real life escape from danger venture, then Argo is for you. We saw it at the weekend. I enjoyed it a lot. Husband did too, but said that he found certain scenes a lttle too uncomfortably tense and unsettling. I know what he meant, especially the last scenes of the movie, when I felt the urge to yell out "for goodness sake (cleaned up version) get a flippin' move on!" That's a sign of good direction, I guess. Ben Affleck directed as well as playing the lead.

The film tells the true story, sticking to the facts for - I dunno - maybe 80% of the time, depicting events during the Iranian Revolution of 1979. Most (film says 60) staff of the US Embassy in Iran were held hostage, as spies, for over a year by Islamic militants. Six members of Embassy staff managed to escape and were taken in by the Canadian Ambassador in Tehran. The tricky job of getting six escapees out of Iran was dropped into the lap of CIA expert getter-outer Tony Mendez; the movie is based on his book.

There are lots of sources online with more detail of the story, as well as the Wiki link above. I'll refrain from giving away more than any passing reader might already know if around in the late 1970s when the events happened. For anyone, like me, with no memory of what went on, there's a very clear introduction in the first frames of the movie, narrating background history and lead-up to the point at which the movie begins. I thought this was a very good way to introduce younger viewers to the history of what remains a very important on-going problem area of the Middle East.

The movie was well handled, in my opinion. I understand though, from later reading, that some Canadians weren't too happy about certain aspects of the way the story was presented, in relation especially to the Canadian Ambassador's role in events. Ben Affleck saw to it that at least one of the Canadian objections was addressed before wide release of the movie.

Argo was a movie, after all, not a documentary. There were scenes which didn't happen in real life, there was humour emanating from supporting characters, particularly when the Hollywood crowd hove into view. Situations and remarks which seemed comical when viewed from the safety of a cinema seat may not have seemed nearly as funny in the real life situations.

There's interesting information about the real Tony Mendez in this Washington Post Lifestyle article, with a photograph of him with Ben Affleck and the six escapees.

I'd love to know the birth date/place/time of Tony Mendez to see how well astrology fits. So far I've only been able to find "1940". Not enough. His talent for disguise, ingenuity, quick thinking and extreme adventure seems to me to be a blend of Gemini/Sagittarius with Neptune prominent.

Sprinkles from The Week that Was

It's good to learn that Ben Affleck is using his celebrity to draw attention to the horrendous conditions in the Eastern Congo, Central Africa. (Here)
His natal chart is available at Astrodatabank (Here).

Much written about Ben's astrology up to now has centered on his relationships. This other side of his personality is far more interesting to me. Take a look at the chart, linked above. His ascendant in Cancer with Venus just a degree away reflects a compassionate, kindly nature. But look at the aspects all pointing towards Chiron (looks like a 'k' sitting on an 'o'). Chiron represents The Wounded Healer in astrology. Its astrological label varies, not a planet, bigger than an asteroid, not really a comet. Its orbit lies between Saturn and Uranus, many astrologers see it as playing a significant part in natal charts. Five aspect lines are heading for Chiron, straight as an arrow in Ben's chart! That is astro symbolism - right before your eyes. Ben is doing what he can to raise awareness and give rise to some healing. Good on him!


This week's episode of TV's "The Mentalist", with the delectable Simon Baker, afforded me a "neener- neener- neener" to those skeptics who gloated, at the start of the series, that at last TV has given the finger to programmes boosting the validity of psychic abilities. This week's episode featured a lady psychic who shocks the mentalist to his core with some information only he could know. I still predict that he will, in the end, accept his own true psychic abilities. He is currently in denial because he feels he caused the death of his wife and daughter. ( My earlier post about this show, here.)


With Pluto inching towards Capricorn and a slow transformation of many of the ways of life we now take for granted, it seems that a small corner of the distressed motor industry is catching up, at last. The Tesla Car looks good, said to perform well, though possibly not the one you need for long road trips. One big snag for impecunious mortals like us - the price, said to be around $98,000. Come on guys! Please! At that price we'd have to live in it!


Rumors shimmied around blogland all this week as to the possibility of President Elect Obama picking Senator Hillary Clinton as his Secreatry of State. Gripes and grumbles from one camp, elation and calls of "it's about time" from the other. Looking back to a tarot reading I tried in June (here)
I wrote:

"As I tell myself, all the time, "it ain't over 'til it's over". And whatever happens next, Senator Hillary Clinton is not going to walk away, head bowed, disappointed."

I hope this happens, it's been a long time coming. Gossip is that he has offered, she will accept, and an official announcement will follow "after Thanksgiving".

Why So Afraid of Socialism?

The YouTube clip at the end of this post comes from Friday's edition of "Real Time" hosted by Bill Maher. His guests included Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, an Independent who describes himself as a democratic socialist. Glory be!! Another American politician to whom I can easily relate, and the only self-defined socialist in the US Senate. Along with the other two guests on Real Time this week, actor Ben Affleck, and multi-talented comedian Martin Short, conversation centered around socialism - the democratic type practiced in many European countries and Canada.

Socialism. The very word strikes fear in the hearts of too many Americans. However, if a politician is shrewd enough to call it Populism - then it sneaks in by the back door. Bernie Sanders is too straightford a character to mince his words in order to pander to his public.

Socialism. It's impossible to define it in a few words. Researching the internet on the subject only serves to confuse a simple mind like mine. In the smallest of nutshells, and slightly tongue-in-cheek, the "2 Cows Philosophy" defines it thus:

A SOCIALIST:
You have two cows. The government takes one and gives it to your neighbor.
A REPUBLICAN:
You have two cows. Your neighbor has none. So what?

Interestingly, the same list also defines:

A CHRISTIAN: You have two cows. You keep one and give one to your neighbor.

Compare "A Socialist" with "A Christian". It's odd, isn't it, that in a country so proud of its Christian values, socialism is derided and feared ?

Throughout the show on Friday evening Bernie Sanders' responses elicited enthusiastic cheers from the audience. Granted, it was a largely liberal audience, but the fact that a socialist's words were accepted by them so graciously was a baby step forward. In the United States socialism is more often than not equated with communism. It's a serious mistake which has been fed to the public by right-wing pundits.

A quick look at the natal chart of Bernie Sanders then. Perhaps he has the astrological patterning to make a brand of socialism palatable to Americans.

Is there some reflection of his political leanings here? Aquarius planets perhaps, or strong Uranus - both have connections with socialist thinking. Born 8 September 1941, New York NY. No birth time known, so this is a chart set for noon on his date of birth. Ascending sign and exact degree of Moon in Aries not shown.



Hmmmm....no Aquarius (unless it was the rising sign, which we can't know without a birth time). His Sun lay smack-dab in the middle of Virgo indicating a discerning and critical nature, one that can separate the wheat from the chaff with consummate ease.

Mercury (mental processes and communication) is found in an early degree of the more tactful and dipolimatic Libra, and trines Uranus at 00 Gemini - here's that socialist rebel mindset of his! And.... Saturn is conjunct Uranus, albeit in a very late degree of adjacent sign, Taurus. Saturn and Uranus are opposites in essence. Tradition versus the avant garde, the old versus the new, status quo versus change, capitalist versus socialist. Bernie Sanders has them well-blended in his personality blueprint! The signs the two planets occupy, Gemini and Taurus, could also be said to represent opposite ideas - free thinking, adaptable (Gemini) and the more traditional fixed mind-set (Taurus). He has an innate understanding of traditional values, but with a yearning to modernise and improve them to fit 21st century needs, and the unusual talent of being able to communicate on both levels. These characteristics have helped him to make his brand of socialism acceptable in Vermont, one of the first 13 states, steeped in tradition, yet willing to step into the 21st century with Senator Sanders.

The clip from Friday's edition of "Real Time"