September 25, 2008

It's been an interesting day so far.

Yesterday, the "stationing" as we say in the astrological community, of Mercury, was rather uneventful. This means that from where we are on Earth, the planet Mercury, because of its proximity to us and the speed at which all the heavenly bodies are traveling in their respective orbits and around the Sun, appears to be standing still, and will begin to look like it's moving backwards. You can probably relate best to this concept by thinking about how other cars appear to you when you're a passenger in a car and you're traveling down the highway. Sometimes, in some situations, depending on the speed at which you are traveling relative to the speed other cars around you are traveling, those other cars sometimes appear to be moving backwards, even though you know all the cars around you are driving forward. Try it sometime. You'll see what I mean. It's just about the perception of the direction, but that somehow seems to impact our world in typical , predictable ways - notably, that computers sometimes go haywire, travel is delayed, communication is muddy and confused, anything electronic either stops working or hiccups somehow. Planes are re-routed, plans are derailed because of unexpected events, and agreements - anything communicated and written - are usually afflicted and cause trouble once the direct motion of this planet is resumed. Astrologers globally caution everyone not to have surgery, not to sign contracts, not to agree to anything (commitments!) during this time, and for the two weeks before and after.

That said, it's like a double-negative if Mercury was retrograde when you were born.... so I've spoken with people who say some of their best times are during the retrograde. The rest of the world is suffering from chaotic, unpredictable mishaps and delays while these people are having smooth sailing. Just goes to show ya .... :)

No huge delays (in my life), but I heard about a lot of other snafus for folks all around me. In my experience, it's the shadow (the two weeks before and after the actual retrograde) that is the worst time. Just like pulling teeth to communicate, especially (for me anyway) with members of the opposite sex. Nobody can seem to be clear about the point(s) they're trying to make, and it all gets muddy and strange. If I had a dime for every guy I broke up with during the retrograde.... But that's another story.

[Just had another one yesterday! But you know my mantra: if not him, someone better!]

Alright, the point of today's post is One World. I managed to see Joseph's post with the "Mouse Trap" (hope you saw that), which is all about how what one person does affects everyone on the planet, and arguably, all of existence.

This is now especially evident in the economic crisis. Greed never begets anything but trauma. Sometimes I think about "free trade" and the economics of allowing everyone to go about everything without sensible controls. I remember when they deregulated the airlines. I had friends in the business. They foretold nothing but doom for this, and they proved to be correct. Airline after airline went bankrupt; those who stayed in business did so by nothing less than cutthroat tactics, flying faulty aircraft, diminishing their customer service so one felt like a cow in some herd instead of a human paying relatively big bucks to fly anywhere at any time.

I guess in any society, there are those who will underhandedly take advantage of every loophole for their own gains, but karmically, at some point, everyone loses, as we are now seeing. No matter how you protect yourself, you're probably going to be impacted by this crisis one way or another.

This also goes to the post, later retracted because of bad math (LOL!), from T.J. Birkemeyer, an entrepreneur, who put it out there that instead of throwing good money after bad, we should consider just distributing the money and helping everyone out.

I hate bureaucracy. Child of the 70's, I always have. I see no point, especially if the people in charge are either illequipped or not fairly compensated for the burden of governing.

I just found out that a senator's salary is about $160K per year. Not a lot of money by today's standards, compared to the gruesome politics one has to endure to be in the Senate, and get to the Senate, and survive and make a difference. Puts a whole new spin on things when you realize that these people are ostensibly in it for the good feeling they get from (hopefully positively) contributing to the machine that runs our country.

Yet they have appearances to uphold, palms to grease, constituents to satisfy, causes to triumph. All of that has got to take more than $160K a year. Where does the rest of the money come from? And what do they have to do to get it, and keep it?

This is why I dropped out of the whole democracy thing in the 70s. I just saw greed and corruption at every turn. I still believe that the world is run by a very small group of people, and that those faces we see on TV are all puppets, being ruled by The Machine. Even the candidates. Once they "get in," I think somebody pays them a visit and tells them how it will really go. They are handed speeches, and doctrines and are at the hands of the Powerful - whoever that is. Many books are written about this.

So, what do we do? Do we abandon the system? Rip it down entirely? Allow it to continue in its fraudulent and deceitful way to run our lives, hoping some savior will come along and fix it?

I do not believe *it* can be fixed. I think like most corrupt systems, it has to fall apart completely and somehow a new, somewhat improved system will rise from the ashes of the old.

Unfortunately, our lot - all the incarnates this lifetime - are bound to be part of the breakdown, self included. This is why I say, get yourself in shape. Learn to defend yourself. Figure out where you are most vulnerable and plug up those holes - quickly.

Many predictions point to an earth that will soon be devoid of drinking water.

Given that our bodies are 60% water (at least), how will we survive that? Who is talking about these things?

That's why I love Whoopie Goldberg, pounding her fist on The View's kitchen table, saying, "I wish we could stop talking about Sarah Palin's hair and McCain's old age and Obama's color and whether we're being sexist or ageist, and just get to business! How are we going to save this planet?"

These days, people are thinking about saving the economy first and foremost. The poll I saw last night said 53% now say "The Economy" is the most important issue this campaign. What a laugh. Where were these people a year ago? How fickle we are - the war, education, healthcare, gun control, the "right to choose," now the economy.

To me, this is how it goes:

1) If you don't have your health, you have nothing. What's happening with healthcare? I can't afford to have my eyes checked, my teeth cleaned, my system checked out, annual physicals - because I am too worried about my MORTGAGE. Which leads me to....

2) Money to live. If you don't have money, you can't feed yourself, you can't get to work, you can't live inside, you can't do anything.

So .... why is all of a sudden a ridiculous RISE in the percentage of folks who have miraculously decided that "The Economy" is the new hot ticket item?! To my mind, it's been that way all along.

Protecting house and home, yeah - educating tomorrow's leaders to do the right thing for themselves, us and the rest of the planet, yeah.... but really, at the end of the day, if America would just decide to fix its own problems without going off to solve all that's "wrong" with the world, I think The World would look more favorably on us, and I think we could finally gain strength and unity inside our own borders, enough to hold our own in this changing world.

I don't have any problems with other countries making technological advances, unless they hate us and have said out loud, in public, that they hate America and want to wipe us off the planet.

Some countries have done this. I agree that some of our resources should be spent finding ways of disarming those threats, or at least understanding how they are progressing so we can defend ourselves. But first, I wonder if devoting resources to helping the rest of the world understand that war only begets more war - and the futility of that dynamic - if the whole world agreed that peaceful coexistence is vital to the earth's survival, well, that would be money well spent.

Which leads me to my last point.

My chiropractor today told me about a great special on PBS about a study made of baboons - specifically agressive baboons, and how their socialization and lack thereof is so informative for us, especially now in this day and age. The program is called "killer stress" (http://www.nationalgeographic.com/nglive/washingtondc/f2008/films/stress.html), and from what I understand, this is a fascinating study made over many years by observing a tribe of baboons.

This is where I have to leave off for tonight.... more tomorrow!

P.S. This show is airing on PBS channels. Here in the Bay Area, I get to see it on Saturday night, and can't wait! More later.....

Today's News

Hello, out there!

I am going to post something short just so I can get into the habit of posting every day.

Today is Monday, another crazy day in my life.

I had to weigh in. I'm in maintenance after spending $95 a week on a weight loss plan that was the most responsible and rapid way I could get my weight under control. Yet, primarily because I'm so bored at work, I spent the last 29 days eating foods that are no on my plan. I was really afraid to get on the scale today.

Up four pounds (since last month), 2% gain in body fat. And I feel it. This is what I get from eating cookies and bread. They are my downfall. Comfort food! So, I'm back on the bandwagon.

My counselor gave me a great anchor today. She said whenever I'm tempted to eat these high glycemic index foods, to just say out loud, "I am careful about the glycemic count of the food I eat and I only eat foods that are good for me."

Mainly I'm working on trying to sleep 6 hours a night at least, and taking my vitamins every day, and eating the right foods so I don't go into depression or backslide into carb addiction.

So... a fresh lease on life and here I am.

The weather, this first day of Autumn, is beautiful here. The sun shone brightly, there was a slight breeze that kept the temps in a very pleasant range, and the leaves are starting to rustle. Fireplace weather, my favorite. They say it's going to get warmer as the week progresses, which is fine.

Spoke with Bill (my former husband) today. I'd left him a voicemail because he is the best professional mover I've ever worked with, and I need some furniture moved at the part-time job on Saturday. I need big, strong men. Mike wants me to go to Home Depot and round up a bunch of guys from there. I don't feel comfortable with this. I'd much rather give the work to people I know. So that's where we are. The furniture is being delivered Wednesday and I'm not ready. I don't want to take any time off because I'm saving it for the holiday so I can go see the family and still have some vacation time to recover from those travels. Not sure I'll be able to go anywhere, though. The prediction is that the cost of travel will triple on November 1. And I'm not ready to book anything yet.

Perhaps I'll drive! OMG.

I know, I know. It's all about me.

I saw Bill Clinton on "The View" this morning. He is so articulate and persuasive. I liked everything he said, though I could feel the "spin" here and there. Bill, a fellow Leo, is one of the few "Lions" of our times.

This past Saturday I met another Lion. But I will describe him another time. We need more alpha men in the world now, I think. Seems to me that the young men I hear about and meet have no drive, no aspirations, no energy to do anything but sit mesmerized in front of their computers and waste time.

I should talk! But one step at a time, I am getting closer and closer to my goals.

I hope you are too!

To tomorrow!

Tina