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by Maya del Mar

On January 8, the "Nuclear Posture Review," signed by War Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, was delivered surreptitiously to Congress. This was the day of the first of three Mercury-Neptune conjunctions in Aquarius.

On March 10 the Los Angeles Times broke a story on this revolutionary review. That day Mercury was conjoining Uranus, also in Aquarius. And strategist Pallas Athena took Mercury’s old place, and was conjoining Neptune in Aquarius. Mercury had just finished its last conjunction with Neptune.

These Mercury in Aquarius connections occur at the time of the joining of the U.S. progressed Sun with its natal Moon at 27-28 Aquarius, which starts a new 360-year Aquarian cycle for the U.S. Mercury describes what’s on our minds.

Ever-creative Sun gives life and vigor and spirit to Moon. It fires it up. The Aquarian Moon of this moon-ruled Cancer nation has been waiting 226 years for this moment, the first such in the nation’s history.

We plant seeds for this cycle now, and the current transits make clear the direction of this long (to us) cycle. The NPR gives us an idea of the type of seeds which the nation will nurture as it begins its next 360 years.

The Nuclear Posture Review delineates an about-face in U.S. nuclear policy.

The NPR discusses a variety of nuclear weapons, from mini-nukes to "robust nuclear earth penetrators," and how they can be used in both conventional and nuclear warfare.

Ever since Hiroshima, the U.S. policy was to use nuclear weapons only in situations in which the nation’s survival was at stake. We have all known that the unrestrained use of nuclear weapons in war could end life on earth as we know it.

The NPR reverses that policy. It says the U.S. should develop new types of nuclear weapons, together with plans to use them—e.g., in an Arab-Israeli conflict, in a war between China and Taiwan, or in a conflict between the two Koreas It lists seven countries—Russia, China, North Korea, Libya, Iraq, Iran, and Syria—as targets against which nuclear weapons might be used.

There have been many comments against this policy. The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists moved the hand of their "Doomsday Clock" forward two minutes—to seven minutes to midnight. This is the same position as when they began the clock in 1947. This is the third time the hand has been advanced since the end of the cold war in 1991.

But nothing stops the war steamroller. This is the current official Neptunian vision. We can notice that the U.S. has a very close square between Mars and Neptune. Its fantasies are of assertion—look at the glamour of violence in the media. But Neptune casts a veil of delusion and denial in regard to national aggression.

The U.S. states its goal of being boss of the world.

This Nuclear Posture Review is simply a tool in recasting the U.S. as the big boss, taking over the world. This is the essence of the Pluto-Saturn structural transformation which we’ve been discussing for the last eight months (see previous feature articles). This nation is now above the law, not only disregarding international treaties, but its own laws as well.

This change has been a long time in the making. Perhaps a big turning point was at the end of the cold war. In 1989 President Bush asked a group of advisors, including Cheney, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, and Colin Powell, to create a strategic plan for the United States. All of those men are now influential in GW’s Administration.

The centerpiece of the plan was that the U.S. become the ruling power in the world, and that it attack anyone who threatened, or they thought might threaten, that position. "The U.S. can and should prevent any power from becoming a great power."

The goal is to remove any regime in the way of unfettered U.S. domination, so that the U.S. can have unchallenged exploitation of resources, land, and people around the world.

This goes along with Plan 2020, from the U.S. Military, which says that the U.S. should rule the world from space, and should be able to "destroy any target on earth."

The U.S. Empire is a fact. GW declared its presence in the State of the Union address. "All options are on the table," he said. He described the U.S. as a Warrior State.

Bush has given $80 billion extra to the military this year. Nuclear weapons are hidden in the Dept. of Energy Budget, and they are getting up to $80 billion. Both the Space and Foreign Aid budgets are mostly military. Most of our non-fixed budget is now going to weaponry, and to the contractors who manufacture it.

The Bush Administration is presiding over a restructuring of U.S. society in which the major aim is to rule the world, rather than to have a just and free society. The bulk of our resources are now going to develop the military force which can maintain that unquestioned dominance.

The Bush agenda includes getting the population used to surveillance, and symbols of patriotism. It outlaws dissent and individualism. The techniques of propaganda, patriotism, and scape-goating are identical to those Hitler used in his rise to power. (GW’s grandfather, in fact, banker Prescott Bush, was one of the major financiers behind Hitler—even after the U.S. entered WWII.)

A hard look at the planets shows some drama and deviation, but essentially a steady development of U.S. power leading up to the U.S. Pluto return in 2022-23, when transiting Pluto conjoins its birth position in the U.S. chart, at 28 Capricorn. Pluto moves slowly, and we have never experienced a Pluto return. This return will start a new 250-year cycle in how the U.S. wields its power. We are now finishing up the old power cycle.

We are also finishing up the last 20 years of a 200-year cycle of Jupiter-Saturn conjunctions in (mostly) earth signs. The last conjunction was in May 2000, at 23 Taurus, the earthiest of the earth signs. In earth signs there is "acting out." Things need to be tangible and manifested; talk will not suffice. Earth signs are conducive to the earthiness of physical violence. This cycle will last until 2020, and during this time we can expect conflict over the Taurean domains of land, money, and resources.

What can we do?

I believe our most effective work is to support all movements for justice—in our own lives, in our own nations, and throughout the world. If it is even partly true that all violence is caused by feeling unjustly treated, then working for justice will reduce violence, and open the door to many social benefits. This is long-term work.

But this work especially suits the U.S. chart, with Libra at the top. Libra is the sign of justice—of balance, fairness, and equality. I find Librans to be the most humanistic of all people. Libra is the sign on the midheaven of the U.S. chart, the place which shows goals and purpose. The midheaven is where destiny is written.

Not only does the Libra midheaven show that the U.S. is headed towards having a reputation for fairness and equality, but the U.S. Saturn is also in Libra. Saturn shows where our essential work and challenge lies—as well as our fears. Saturn is our major lifetime focus. The Statue of Liberty, holding the torch for justice, shows the nation’s theme.

Historic justice is just as important as immediate justice. South Africa recognized that with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The current African-American suit for slavery reparations is another recognition of a long-delayed need for justice.

Look at how you can better balance your own life. Reading Awakening the Tiger, reviewed elsewhere in this issue of Daykeeper, is an excellent place to start. And then join with others in your community who are working for justice.