Saturday & Sundry Thoughts on This & That

Not many or particularly deep thoughts. Over the past week or so I've been feeling tired, exhausted, fatigued, fed up.... It's not really connected the breast cancer issue. Both incisions are healing well, and the pesky drain was taken out at last, on Thursday. Stitches likely to be taken out on Monday. There might be a course of radiation sometime in my future, but I have not yet made my appointment with the radiation oncologist for assessment - I need a little breathing space, damn it! It's our 15th wedding anniversary on Tuesday. We missed a celebration last year, have missed celebrating my birthday and husband's birthday already this year.

My secondary issue, lymphocytic colitis, discovered after colonoscopy, has been causing more problems after it had gradually started settling down. I suspect that side effects from the 6-week course of meds I bought - at the knock down price of $1,400 - have been kicking in during past days. I have only 5 days' worth of tablets left. Side effects of this med do include unusual tiredness, and various types of discomfort stomach/bowel-wise. These should subside once I finish the course (I hope).

Other thoughts, unrelated to health issues:

If Joe Biden eventually becomes the Democrats' nominee in the 2020 presidential election - it simply has to have been "a fix".

Happy to see the name of Mike Gravel around once more, this time in context of the 2020 election.

Two of my posts on Mike Gravel from 2007 and 2008:

https://twilightstarsong.blogspot.com/2007/10/soapbox-time.html
https://twilightstarsong.blogspot.com/2008/05/changing-horses.html

We watched "I, Daniel Blake"

on Netflix this week - a 2016 British movie. It made me as angry as I've ever felt watching any movie or TV drama. Angry, not at the movie itself, but at the circumstance described in it, which are present for far too many people in the UK (and in the USA too as it happens). Gold Star to the movie's director, Ken Loach (also famous for other hard-hitting films such as "Kathy Come Home" and "Kes"). Thank the gods for the Ken Loaches of this world - unafraid to say what needs to be said in ways that strike at the heart.

 James Spader as Alan Shore, Candice Bergen as Shirley Schmidt

David E. Kelley, in the USA, is another such writer/director, though not as raw and hard-hitting as Ken Loach, he still managed to get said things that needed to be said. We've been re-watching (by DVD) the whole series of "Boston Legal" this week. Alan Shore's wondrous closing speeches are the jewel at the heart of each episode; these address issues that needed to be candidly addressed at the time the show originally aired. Those same issues mostly still need a candid airing in 2019 - because really nothing much changes, does it? "Boston Legal" managed to last for 5 seasons on ABC channel, 2004-2008. Those outspoken closing speeches did, eventually, raise the hackles of the network's owners, or their advertisers, I guess. Where is today's comparable show?

Changing Horses

It's Mike Gravel's birthday in a few days' time, on 13 May. He's a former Democratic Senator for Alaska, and was one of the original eight Democratic candidates for the US presidency.

The YouTube video below reminded me of how things were not that long ago. It was featured on the Savage Politics blog yesterday. After watching it, then reviewing my own creation, the first video I ever attempted, in June 2007 (re-aired at end of this post), underlined for me how much things have changed politically over past months.

Mike Gravel was, at the start of the primary season, one of 3 American politicians I instinctively trusted. Al Gore (who chose not to run in the presidential race) and Dennis Kucinich were the other two. Dennis withdrew from the race very early on, due to lack of media coverage resulting in little public support, apart from a core of faithful fans. Mike soldiers on to this day though, but since March as a Libertarian, not a Democrat. He changed horses, not in mid-stream but approaching the far bank. I was happy to see him expressing views which still exactly coinicide with my own. The way things are heading, perhaps I should consider following his example and find a new horse for myself!

I wrote a little about his natal chart in a blog titled "Soapbox Time" last October. A quick look at current transits tells me that transiting Jupiter at 22 Capricorn trines his natal Sun at 22 Taurus and transiting Uranus at 21 Pisces sextiles his Sun - both are helpful, harmonious aspects. Whereas there's little chance of us ever seeing a President Gravel (more's the pity) he'll probably be enjoying some support for his views, with a consequent morale boost.



My own first attempt at compiling a video: "The Impossible Dream"

Soapbox Time

Lots of things tempt me to drag out a personal soapbox and leap upon it, here's the latest.

Mike Gravel, Alaska's former senator, currently a Democratic presidential candidate, is being excluded from the TV debate sponsored by NBC, scheduled for 30 October. He has written about it HERE.

NBC have, apparently laid out criteria which Mr Gravel does not meet, he tells about it thus:

"When my staff called NBC directly to find out why I was now barred from attending, Chuck Todd, NBC news' political director, told us that there were three criteria we did not meet, namely that I had not campaigned in New Hampshire and/or Iowa at least 14 times in the past year, that I was not polling at 5% and that I hadn't raised $1 million.

Since I announced my candidacy for the Democratic Nomination for President of the United States on April 17, 2006, I have certainly traveled to New Hampshire and Iowa at least 14 times. And, according to a recent CNN poll, I am tied with Joe Biden, Dennis Kucinich and Chris Dodd.

NBC claims I haven't raised enough money to qualify. I'm proud of the fact that I don't collect millions from special interests........ By stifling my voice on the basis of fundraising dollars, NBC is reinforcing the power of money over our national political discussion and our freedom.

But why has NBC suddenly come up with "requirements" designed to exclude me from the debate?"

As I see it this is another attempt by the mainstream media to force feed its audience with what THEY want them to hear and see, for corporate reasons.

Mike Gravel has not received a fraction of the exposure of the MSMs chosen big 3 - Clinton, Obama and Edwards, yet his voice is one I intuitively trust, along with that of Dennis Kucinich. These two men are the real deal, there aren't many like this in politics, either here or in Britain - they deserve to be treasured.

Another very telling point from Mr Gravel's article :

"The fact that NBC is owned by General Electric, one of the world's leading military contractors, is frightening and certainly smacks of censorship directed at the most outspoken critic of the influence that the military-industrial complex holds over this great nation. In the past decade, GE has benefited financially from the global war on terrorism and currently holds almost $2 billion in military contracts"

The Satya Center ran an excellent article in July "Mike Gravel: Still Principled After All These Years", which reminds us that

" During the 1960s, he was often in the news as one of Congress’s fiercest opponents of the Vietnam War. In his most famous act, Gravel helped make public the Pentagon Papers by carrying them into the Senate in two suitcases and reading them into the record - for a time, with tears streaming down his face".

Here's his 12 noon chart (birth time unknown).



Sun in steadfast Taurus, with three planets in Gemini, lightening the Earthiness, giving him wings and a flair for communication. Mars conjunct Uranus in Aries represents the determined fighter for people's rights. Saturn (rules and laws), purely Saturnian in its own sign of Capricorn, widely trines and blends with his Taurus Sun. Mr Gravel's Moon at 12noon was in Sagittarius - a birth before 6am would take it back to Scorpio - it's hard to say which is more likely - he has the passion for a cause which says Scorpio, but he also displays the bluntness of Sagittarius - I'd go for Sagittarius on balance.

Transiting Mars, now around 8* Cancer is coming up to opposition with Mr Gravel's natal Saturn - perhaps indicating the current struggle.

America may never see a President Gravel, but as long as his voice is allowed to be heard, then the country has an opportunity to hear truths which will be forthcoming from few others.

There's an on-line petition - if you feel as I do about this, please click-on over there and sign.