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M A Y A ' S M O O N R E P O R T , O C T O B E R 2 0 0 2 The sky was alight the night of September 20, as the Pisces Full Moon—the Harvest Moon—shone brightly. (See Daily Success Guide for September 21). President Bush had just announced his National Security Policy, with the emphasis on first strike, i.e., the U.S. right to hit any nation that might have "weapons of mass destruction." (I think this includes 17 nations that do, let alone nations who "might.") He also signed an executive order disallowing any more public input into plans for national forest lands. Pisces is a sign of sacrifice. Yes, people and nature are being sacrificed. This full moon conjoined Benetnash, a fixed star often associated with public catastrophe, which will surely be a consequence of the Bush policy. There was, in fact, at least one catastrophe. A ferry sank off Gambia with 800 lost—in the orb of the watery moon. In Germany, Chancellor Schroeder’s coalition gained a majority in the elections, thanks to the Chancellor speaking out strongly against the Bush Iraq war. Bush’s doctrine of pre-emptive strikes was enforced immediately in Washington, where police made arrests of 650 protestors who were peacefully preparing to protest the IMF meeting. The police made no charges of illegal activity. During the entire two-week period between this full moon and the new moon, there were many protests by the people, basically against imperialism. In Khartoum, Sudan, at least 700,000 marched against Israel. In London, 400,000 marched for peace, in Italy 1,500,000 marched against the Iraq war, in Australia thousands rallied against war, in Cape Town all workers struck for a day in protest of privatization, and in Belgium 1400 were arrested for protesting at a U.S. military base. People around the world are taking to the streets. Pisces is a water sign, and the waterfront is serving as a crucial crossroads of decision for the labor movement. The International Longshoremen Workers’ Union (ILWU) and the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) of ship owners have been struggling over a contract for months. The ILWU is a strong labor union, with a history of worldwide solidarity in the workers movement, as well as support for progressive causes. The PMA is a transnational group (not your local ship owners), under the jurisdiction of the WTO, which has a record of trying to break the backs of workers. The two groups came to agreement on all issues but one—the crucial one. The Union says that new jobs created by mechanization should be given to longshoremen. The PMA refuses on the grounds that the new jobs are not listed in the job descriptions covered in the contract. This is a real deadlock, a Rubicon that will determine the future of labor in the corporate-ruled world. If the Union gives in, it gradually disappears as new types of jobs replace old ones. And if the ILWU, the fiercest of unions, goes, so do all of them. Labor’s back is broken. On the other hand, if the PMA gives in, they will not have the iron hand, the total control, over workers which they are striving for. It will be a blow to the corporate takeover of the world. At the last quarter moon, the PMA shut down all the major West Coast ports, and locked out the ILWU. The dockers agreed to arbitration, but the PMA refused, and left hundreds of ships filled with cargo waiting to be unloaded, an economic hardship for many. This was not a workers’ strike, but an owners’ lockout—the equivalent of an owners’ strike. But the workers are—surprise—bearing the brunt. As of this writing, October 8, Bush is invoking Taft-Hartley to force the workers back to work for 90 days. During that time they work under old contract conditions, and are prevented from doing anything to help their cause. There will, however, be others working on their behalf, for the ILWU has earned great loyalty in the progressive world. This is the first time in history that Taft-Hartley has been invoked against workers, due to an employers’ lockout. As I watch this situation, it appears to me that the whole thing is a set-up to make the workers look bad, and thus to assure that the PMA wins. The economy has been used as hostage to force these developments. This maneuver is similar to the Bush stance on weapons inspections—continuing to make conditions more and more impossible for Iraq (or any nation in that position) to accept, and then blaming Iraq for any trouble. We often hear the phrase "blaming the victim." In truth, this is a much-used propaganda tactic by those in power to eliminate blocks to their agendas. On the other hand, the union movement made a gain. Gov. Davis of California signed a farmworker arbitration bill, which will open the way for the formation of farmworkers’ unions on at least a few large farms. It’s a beginning. Back to the Bush juggernaut. Ari Fleischer, Bush’s spokesman, said in a press conference that the U.S. could assassinate Saddam—it would be a lot cheaper than a war. Weapons inspectors were ready to go into Iraq, but U.S. objections are holding them up. The U.S. greatly stepped up its regular carpet bombing of Iraq, which has been going on for eight years. Congress passed a bill that said that anyone "connected" to "terrorist" groups could lose their citizenship. Bush and Congress agreed on a resolution allowing Bush to do what he wants in Iraq. As of this writing, it is being "debated" in Congress. This debate is another example of Chiron in Capricorn working to expose wounds in the establishment. The debate is being broadcast in full, and gives a public display of the thinking of many Congresspeople. There are some outstanding exceptions, but for the most part, their ignorance, shortsightedness, and primitive thinking are quite amazing. During the last week, constituents around the nation deluged their Congressional offices with anti-war expressions. I now see why for the most part they were ineffective. The listener call-ins during the debate showed far more depth and reason than did most of the debaters. Reread the September 21 entry. There was a very powerful Saturn with this full moon. One of Saturn’s domains is government. The Halls of Government have been filled with business these last two weeks! Saturn also delays. And this rush to war has been delayed. |
