Nutty Okie Senator ~ & ~ Heading Out

From ghoulies and ghosties and long leggety beasties and things that go bump in the night....and loopy Oklahoma senators, Good Lord, deliver us!

Before we hightail it out of this crackpot state for a few days, this from Huffington Post yesterday:

OKLAHOMA CITY -- A Republican state senator from Oklahoma City introduced a bill Tuesday that would ban the use of aborted human fetuses in food, despite conceding that he's unaware of any company using such a practice.

Freshman Sen. Ralph Shortey said his own Internet research led him to believe such a ban is necessary and prompted him to offer the bill aimed at raising "public awareness" and giving an "ultimatum to companies" that might consider such a policy.
Shortey said he discovered suggestions online that some companies use embryonic stem cells to develop artificial flavors, but added that he is unaware of any Oklahoma companies doing such research.

In an e-mail to The Associated Press, U.S. Food and Drug Administration spokeswoman Pat El-Hinnawy said: "FDA is not aware of this particular concern."

Best comment: by commenter Thaag Tidestalker:

I agree! We also need to work diligently on ensuring that:

1. Horses are permanentl­y banned from driving motorcycle­s
2. Rain is mandated to fall toward the ground, and not any other direction
3. Mongol Hordes respect the borders of the United States and do not plunder here

If we don't make sure all these become law, there could be UTTER CHAOS!!! (hail Eris)

We'll be heading out today....on the road to somewhere. It'll definitely be southward, probably veering west to catch more reliable weather. We considered going east into Louisiana and cajun country, but weather forecast is decidedly damp for that area. Next we considered southwest to Big Bend National Park, skirting the Rio Grande along the Mexico border in Texas -some great scenery there. But daylight is short and motels within 100 miles of the park are few, husband's dislike of night driving caused us to shelve that one for now. So...maybe somewhere in southern New Mexico. There's Spaceport America, in the region, if we manage to hit a convenient time for one of the preview tours; Las Cruces and Silver City are still to explore anyway........ Back in a few.

THE WEEK THAT WAS

This week made me angry - very angry. The lovely and peaceful state of Oklahoma, where I've lived for the past 5 years has two of the most despicable senators in Washington. Yes, they are both Republicans, and espouse the opposite ideology to my own, but that's not the problem. There are a few Republicans and conservatives who I respect, and who conduct themselves with dignity and intelligence. Not these two!



(Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images: Tom Coburn on far left, James Inhofe on far right of photo.)

Senator Tom Coburn and Senator James Inhofe: it's past time that Oklahomans opened their eyes to see these two men for what they are. Why do they vote them into office, giving them power over their lives, when they patently do not give a damn about the people of their state? There are over 700,000 Oklahomans without health insurance, do these senators care? Do they?

This week brought two clear examples of the kind of men these are, and where their loyalties lie.

My blogger buddy, R.J. Adams at his blog Sparrow Chat has said things I want to say myself about Tom Coburn's actions this week. At a town hall meeting on health care reform a woman, in tears, told him of her husband's plight. RJ's two posts of 25 and 27 August relate:
"I'm Just Nipping across the Road to take Out My Neighbour's Appendix" and
"Health Care Reform? Don't let the Wealthy Suffer"

RJ has a much better turn of phrase than I can muster while feeling this angry.

Next, watch Senator James Inhofe declare that he'll vote against health care reform without reading the bill.

These men are public servants, it's time they started serving the public. They quite obviously have not the slightest inclination to do anything but serve their corporate masters, while undermining anything and everything the current administration is trying to do for the good of the people of this country.

Here are 12 noon natal charts for these two charmers. I'm going to point out one thing common to both - it's the key to the problem.





Look at the planets traditionally known as "malefics" Mars, Saturn, and in modern times, Pluto. (Malefic = having or exerting a malignant influence.)

In Coburn's chart Mars, Saturn and Pluto are conjoined at 12, 16, 19 Leo - a stellium of malefics, triple strength malefic energy!

In Inhofe's chart Mars, Pluto and Saturn form a Yod (Finger of Fate). Saturn is at its apex with a sextile between Mars and Pluto at its base. Astrologers say that the energies of the two sextiled planets are blended and chanelled through the planet at the apex.
Different pattern, same malefic blend!

I rest my case.

On a much calmer note, another blogger whose posts I sincerely respect and enjoy is Peter Clothier at The Buddha Diaries. Peter is encouraging his readers to join in a letter-writing and show of solidarity on behalf of the health care reform movement. He writes:

"So I'm asking the more than 70 percent of us who say we believe in significant health care reform to be "solid" with our friends, our neighbors, our families, ourselves--and yes, our online contacts. I'm looking for access to bigger platforms, more active support... Facebook (follow the link to the PO/PO facebook group), Twitter, big circulation blogs and political sites. Can you do this?

AND I want us all to show up at our local Post Office, letters or cards (expressing the hope that our senators will support reform) in hand, at HIGH NOON ON 09/01/09.

Will you help me? Will you broadcast this? Will you be there? Will you shake my hand? "

Yes, indeed - I'll be there physically at our local post office, and in spirit will stand with others elsewhere. I'm pretty sure that I'll be the only one at our post office. I encourage anyone who feels strongly that health care in the USA is in dire need of reform to write a letter to their senators and post it at 12 noon on the first of September. The letters, hopefully a lot of them, will arrive together - a show of solidarity, and proof that one person, even in isolation, can feel in tune with many other like-minded folk throughout this nation.

Rachel Maddow: One For The Future?

I wonder who'll be on the political scene in the USA around 10 years from now, say for the elections in 2016 and 2020? One name in the future's political headlines which wouldn't surprise me a bit would be Rachel Maddow. She's 35 now, in ten years she'll be just about the right age to run as a presidential candidate, or be chosen as VP, having perhaps done a stint in the House or Senate in intervening years.

Rachel's new TV show, which has all the hallmarks of being "the one to watch" for those keen on politics, was aired for the first time last night. She has been seen fairly regularly on MSNBC all year, doing pundit duty along with Olbermann, Matthews, Buchanan and the rest, as well as presenting a regular radio show on Air America. She strikes me as the type of person for whom US politics is crying out. She oozes confidence, speaks and debates with a no nonsense clarity, clear grasp of issues, but never loses her calm, friendly approach.

Rachel Maddow was born on 1 April 1973 in Castro Valley, California. I can find no time of birth, so here's a chart set for 12 noon. Moon position will be inaccurate, though it will be somewhere in Pisces. Ascendant must remain a mystery, in the absence of birth time.



Sun and Venus in Aries, Jupiter and Mars in Aquarius, Saturn in Gemini, Moon and Mercury in Pisces. Outer planets in Libra and Sagittarius.

Her Aries and Aquarius planets are in harmonious sextile; Saturn in Gemini also sextiles Sun/Venus in Aries and trines the Aquarius planets - more harmony!
A sweetly linked line-up, indicating a very "together" person, enthusiastic, energetic, abundant intelligence, ability to analyse, and disciplined communicative skills all work together in harmony. Moon and Mercury in Pisces reflect another side of Rachel's personality, her sensitive and comapssionate nature, via Mercury this softens her style, which otherwise might come over as cold or dictatorial, which she definitely is not!

Rachel is well known for her unstinting research and preparation, a reflection of workhorse Saturn in Gemini, and Jupter/Mars in analytical Aquarius.


"The former Rhodes scholar, with a doctorate in political science from Oxford, is writing a book about military politics in postwar America and is famous at MSNBC for bringing a scholarly rigor to her preshow research and preparation. She has been known to arrive at Rockerfeller Center from her Manhattan apartment nine hours before she is due to go on air, cloistering herself in a cubicle with an iPod as she reads and writes on the day's news.
"One of the things that separates Rachel from many people is the amount of fresh information she brings to her storytelling," said Wolff. "She really often isn't expressing an opinion as much as laying out facts that lead to the conclusion."(See here)

Rachel has had a good professional and mentoring relationship with MSNBC colleague Keith Olbermann. Perhaps they relate well to each other because Olbermann's natal Sun at 7.01 Aquarius conjoins her natal Jupiter at 7.04 Aquarius, and is therefore also in harmonious aspect to her Aries and Gemini planets.

It'll be interesting to watch Rachel Maddow's progress from here on.