The Meaning of the Moon
2003 Moon Cycle Reports:
Pisces (March)
Aquarius (Feb)
Capricorn (Jan)
Sagittarius (Dec)
2003 Moon Cycle Reports:
Pisces (March)
Aquarius (Feb)
Capricorn (Jan)
Sagittarius (Dec)
2002 Moon Reports:
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
April-May
March
February
January
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M A Y A ' S M O O N R E P O R T , M A Y 2 0 0 3 Aries is where we plunge into life, and stake out our territory. The Aries Moon cycle occurred from New Moon on April 1 until the Taurus New Moon on May 1. I plunged all right—right on my head, ruled by Aries. The nurses in the emergency room said that they had three other such wounds that day. Aries, intent on its goal, can be blind to its surroundings. The lesson for me was to pay attention. The U.S. staked out its territory in Baghdad. They came in using "high tech" cluster bombs, which shred people, and leave bomblets to blow up later, like land mines, especially tempting children, who are getting eyes and guts blown out by them. And then came the looting, most notably of the great Baghdad Museum, which contained literally priceless antiquities, and the burning of the invaluable Library of Antiquities. A Swedish peace witness saw American soldiers start and encourage the looting … probably so that there could be photos of Iraqis looting. The one place which was protected by Americans in Baghdad was the Oil Ministry. Unprotected were foreign journalists, who were staying in the Palestine Hotel. Historically journalists are not targets in conflicts, and these journalists had sent the hotel’s coordinates to the American command, to assure protection from fire. Americans fired on them anyway, without provocation according to all witnesses, killing three and wounding many. Journalists called April 8 a Black Day for journalists. Besides the killing at the Palestine Hotel, the Americans also fired on the Al Jazeera offices, killing one reporter. Al Jazeera, the Arab news group, had also sent their coordinates to the American command. (Americans also bombed the Al Jazeera offices in Basra, and earlier in Kabul, Afghanistan.) No witnesses, please, unless they’re embedded. At the same time veteran journalist Peter Arnett, reporting from Baghdad, was fired from CNN for speaking his mind. He was unrepentant, and now reports for the London Daily Mirror. Immediately came the scrapping over the booty. Who is to run the oil fields? Bush said they were for the Iraqis, but that charade didn’t last long. As of last call, Bush and Blair had submitted a resolution to the UN giving them power to take charge. Bush appointed Ret. Gen. James Garner as overseer of Iraq, but that didn’t last long, either. He has since appointed L. Paul Bremmer as Iraq czar. Bremmer was once managing director of Kissinger Associates. Humanitarian and infrastructure needs of Iraqis have been neglected by the coalition, and the Iraqis are angry. Islam is stepping into the breach, helping with food, water, and basic repairs. Bush says that Iraq can’t have an Islamic government, but that may be what they democratically want. They do not want the Ba’athists, who ran the country, to have power—but those are the Iraqis with whom the Americans are working. Nor do they want or trust the expatriate Iraqis whom the Pentagon has brought in. With good reason: Chalabi, Rumsfeld’s fair-haired boy, is both a convicted bank embezzler (in Jordan) and has been under contract to the CIA. Falluja, an Islamic stronghold, may go down in history. In the course of two days, U.S. soldiers impulsively shot and killed Islamic civilians there. It was like a declaration of war on Islam. But the Muslims recovered, and both sides made peace efforts. The situation in Iraq is very tense, with random shootings on both sides occurring, wounded people dying in hospitals because of unavailable water and electricity, and anti-American demonstrations happening. The attack has collapsed the food distribution network, leaving Iraq’s entire population in danger of literal starvation Three-quarters of Iraqis have lost access to drinkable water. On the day the statue of Saddam Hussein toppled, former CIA Director James Woolsey said that the Iraq attack was just the first episode in a new World War. In the meantime, Halliburton and its main subsidiary, Brown and Root, is getting huge contracts to rebuild the oilfields. I read that they were the largest contracts ever awarded. Cheney was CEO of Halliburton, and still receives about a million dollars each year from them. Bechtel, another huge construction firm with excellent connections, was also awarded a big contract for reconstruction, expected to run up to $100 billion. A recent report shows that Bechtel has been laying the groundwork for this contract for 20 years, with Donald Rumsfeld as its lobbyist. In the meantime, Rumsfeld is talking about "regime change" in Syria and in North Korea. Syria counters with asking for a Mideast pact agreeing to the elimination of weapons of mass destruction. N. Korea says they will scrap their nuclear weapons program if the U.S. gives them aid, and guarantees their security. Israeli violence in Palestine increased greatly during this time. A new Palestinian prime minister, Abu Mazen, picked by the U.S., was installed as the U.S. presented its "Roadmap" for peace to Israel. He is liked by Israel and the U.S., but does not have respect or presence in Palestine. Fighting intensifies in Afghanistan. States’ deficits are the largest in more than 50 years. Cuts in government budgets in every department and at every level are hurting the U.S. population. Education and health care are the two most high profile victims, but everyone is feeling it. People in this area are protesting vociferously, with the theme—"Money for oil and war, but not for educating or caring for our children." The U.S. buys hundreds of thousands of personal dossiers from Choicepoint, the infamous software company which supplied the grossly defective voter purge lists to Florida, eliminating thousands of legal voters. These newly purchased lists come from 10 Latin American countries. The FBI has also paid $8 million to Choicepoint for dossiers on almost every adult living in the U.S. SARS was a big news item. Many communities—so far, going on 200—continue to pass resolutions against the so-called Patriot Act. My community, Sausalito, passed a great resolution, strongly affirming constitutional rights and the Bill of Rights. These, then, are some of the major U.S. challenges with which we’re working for the remainder of the year. |
