Note: this is NEXT WEEK’S forecast. To read the present week’s column, please scroll down to “RECENT POSTS” on the right margin, and click on “April 3 – 9, 2016.”

ALL TIMES/DATES ARE PDT (Pacific Daylight Time Zone). PDT is 8 hours “before” Greenwich (England). (As long as Britain is also on Daylight time.) For example, when it is noon PDT, it is 8 pm in England – and 4 am the next day in China.) The “World Clock” in the right margin gives you some clues. (You can also Google “time zone converter.”)

START NOTHING: 11:57 am Mon. to 1:07 am Tues., 8:59 pm Wed. to 6:53 am Thurs., and 10:48 am to 4:23 pm Sat.

PREAMBLE:

My preambles are growing longer and longer, which overshadows this blog’s main purpose, prediction and astrology. So today, I’m restricting it to the couple of items below. However, I hate throwing out what I’ve written (selfish that way) so I’m placing most of the “preamble” in an “after-amble” position – after the Weekly Forecast. That way, you can read it or toss it.

You probably know I am somewhat militaristic. When Putin started building up on Ukraine’s border, I thought the U.S. (Europe being largely limp) should immediately amass 100,000 troops along Ukraine’s border. They didn’t, and Russia invaded. Natch. I didn’t write that, but here’s my latest idea:

In Belgium, the army and police should, without warning, surround the city of Brussels. They then announce that everyone must stay indoors for two or three days. They then systematically search every single building, apartment, home, garden, factory, park or patch of woods, etc., working from the perimeter to the centre. Anyone found outside their residence will be arrested. – including anyone in an office or factory. Everyone must be home. One-tenth or one-fifth of the police/army would prowl the streets this whole time, to catch anyone “running to hide” or trying to move weapons/explosives.

In a major, organized world, France would do the same to Paris, Lyons and Marseilles, Germany to its major cities, etc. Preparations would have to be ultra-secret, and all cities would have to be surrounded simultaneously.

 

WEEKLY FORECASTS:

 

 ARIES   March 21-April 19

Your heightened charisma, energy, clout and effectiveness continue all week. Sunday and Monday feature errands, casual contacts, news, information, short trips, communications, paperwork and details. Be curious – ask questions and explore. Yield to wanderlust. Sunday isn’t great for action: anger, illusion, and unwarranted optimism lurk. Be diplomatic, keep your sense of humour. Monday’s fine (after 2 am PDT) — tackle things early. Your domestic arena swells in importance Tues./Wed. Tuesday’s great, could offer true romance in the am or noon hour. You see things clearly – especially spiritual things, self-restricting things, and/or secret burdens. Wednesday’s a bit rougher, but fine if you avoid electricity (radios in bathtubs, etc.) and treat your mate in a nurturing rather than sensual way. Romance, pleasure, beauty, charming kids, teaching, creative urges and speculative ventures – any and all visit you Thurs. dawn to Saturday afternoon. Your luck is huge, so jump in! Don’t count pennies, be generous.

 

 TAURUS   April 20-May 20

You remain in a quiet, restful, contemplative state for 9 more days. Chase money, buy/sell, cultivate clients, angle toward a pay raise Sun./Mon. Don’t fight the trend Sunday: shrug off problems and obstacles Sunday (sleep will gain more for you than action) – but do chase results Monday morning (to noon, PDT). Errands, short tips, communications, casual contacts, details, paperwork fill Tues./Wed. Tuesday flows splendidly, a great day for communicating, but if you want a specific “yes” answer, reach out before noon or after 5 pm (PDT). Wednesday holds barriers, disruptions, but beyond these a splendid goal (probably a sexual or romantic one) seems to call you – patience required. Chase that goal either Saturday eve/night, or next week. Thursday dawn starts a 3-day interval (to Sat. afternoon) of success in domestic, security, financial, research and career elements – and with the opposite sex, although in a non-romantic way, more in a nurturing or practical way.

 

 GEMINI   May 21-June 20

You remain in a friendly, popular, happy state. Wishes can come true, optimism, abounds, entertainment awaits, and exciting flirtations occur. Your energy, charisma, clout and effectiveness rise strongly Sun./Mon. You’ll be the center of attention. Start significant projects or ventures. BUT – if you want them to succeed, start them between 2 am and noon PDT, Monday. (Sunday’s filled with obstacles and opposition, both of which you can “defeat” quite easily.) A new romance is not likely to arise, but if it does, it will be a long, good one. Chase money, buy/sell, seek a pay raise, cultivate clients, and protect possessions Tues./Wed. Tuesday’s best – charge forth. Love, career, and sensual relationships also favored. (“Sensual” = too casual to keep your interest after sex.) Wednesday could end with littered toys around you – broken from fights, disruptions, impatience. Casual friends, siblings, travel, visits, calls, emails, paperwork, details, writing/expressing, media – these fill Thursday dawn to Saturday afternoon, and in such lucky ways that it would almost be a shame to squander this luck in mere errands and communications. Attempt something a bit daring: write a news story, or phone your local radio, travel to unknown neighbourhoods, be curious. (You could, while driving around, discover a great home – although investing, even in a home, should be left until after May.)

 

 CANCER   June 21-July 22

The accent remains on ambition, career pressures, prestige relations and your worldly status. Now there is no need to hold back or grapple with obstacles – the last of these appeared last week. But spend your time quietly Sun./Mon. – rest, avoid competitive situations, and protect your health. Plan future actions Monday, not Sunday. (Sunday – and its ideas – are argumentative, deceptive and impractical. Still, you might spot an ambitious opportunity before 1 pm PDT Sunday.) Your energy, charisma, clout and sense of timing soar Tues./Wed. Tuesday’s better for action, as Wednesday is full of obstacles, disruption and lack of co-operation. Start something ambitious and important Tues. – realize VIPs and higher-ups favour you until the last day of April. Chase money Thurs. dawn to Sat. afternoon – ask for a pay raise, cultivate new clients, buy/sell, etc. Good luck accompanies you all 3 days. A message or call could mean a wish is coming true, probably Thurs. Friday opens a door to a “power play” in career, or gives you a chance to invest in, or research to mine new knowledge in, your career.

 

 LEO   July 23-Aug. 22

Your mellow, wise, loving and understanding mood continues, Leo. This is an excellent week to move legal, far travel, media/publishing, educational and love matters forward – you’ve already met (and hopefully overcome) the essential problems the last three weeks. Now you’re free to charge ahead. Sunday/Monday spell “happiness” – your optimism and popularity rise, entertainment combines with a celebratory mood, and, perhaps, a bit of flirting, even a new, friendly romance. However, despite your buoyant mood, Sunday’s filled with barriers and deceptive conditions, so wait until Monday morning if you want success. Retreat Tues./Wed., lie low, avoid competitive situations – rest, contemplate and plan future moves. Deal with civil servants, charities, hospitals, and spiritual questions. Tuesday’s smooth and productive; Wed.’s disruptive and non-co-operative. Time your actions accordingly. Your energy, magnetism (“star power”) timing and effectiveness surge upward Thurs. dawn (PDT) to Sat. afternoon. Charge ahead these three days, start important projects, see and be seen, impress new followers, consort with VIPs, etc. You’re the leader and the winner late week!

 

 VIRGO   Aug. 23-Sept. 22

The depths of life continue to swirl around you – though the swirling has slowed, and the major obstacles have passed, making this week an open door to plunge profitably into these depths. Depths = secrets and mysteries, heightened intuition, research, medical diagnoses, sexual yearnings, hunger for power, financial commitments and lifestyle changes – actions and consequences, good consequences. Sunday and Wed. call for caution, discretion, and are generally failure-prone. But the other five days are lucky, benevolent, productive. Chase career goals, deal with VIPs, bosses, parents and authorities Sunday/Monday. Monday morning’s best (PDT) as Sunday has you hopping between aggressive people, deception, and “idealistic arguments,” leaving little room for advance. A wish could come true Tues./Wed., as a general sense of happiness, popularity, optimism and celebration fills you. Tuesday’s far better than Wed., so act accordingly. (Tues. favours mental effort, travel, love, and social joys.) Retreat Thurs. dawn to Sat. afternoon. Rest, contemplate and plan – and deal with civil servants, institutions and charities. These, and research and applications for government grants/aid, and career efforts and spiritual pursuits – everything goes well these three days!

 

 LIBRA   Sept. 23-Oct. 22

The accent on relationships continues. (This includes short and long, minor and crucial relations, as well as dealings with the public, relocation, negotiations and agreements, competitive situations, opposition and challenges, even litigation.) Many single Librans will meet their loving life mate between this September and October 2017, but a few might link up this week. The problems in relationships occurred in the last 3 weeks. The present week is free of these obstacles, so the fresh horizons that face you now, the opportunities, are valid and workable – even the opportunity to love/mate. A wise, mellow mood flows over you Sunday/Monday – but wait until Monday morning to act, to buy travel tickets or start that school essay or apply to college, or ask someone to wed you, or join a philosophy group or cultural organization. Someone is attracted to you, but will wait until Thurs.-Sat. to approach. Be ambitious Tues./Wed. Act Tuesday, as Wed. is packed with break-offs, domestic irritations, disruptions, etc. You’ll love Thursday dawn to Sat. afternoon – wish fulfillment, social delights, popularity, entertainment, and light romance – plunge in!

 

 SCORPIO   Oct. 22-Nov. 21

One last week of work and drudgery, Scorpio. Continue to plod along. Protect your health; eat and dress sensibly. This week is virtually problem-free (except for blockages and minor irritations Sunday and Wednesday). You can accomplish more than usual, and could end the week with the praise or admiration of higher-ups. Sunday/Monday bring secrets, financial manoeuvres, sexual yearnings, medical diagnoses, research and detective work, and lifestyle changes. Don’t commit to any of these Sunday, when argument, deception or monetary disagreements are rife – act Monday morning instead (before 12 noon PDT). A loving, mellow, compassionate and wise mood fills you Tues./Wed. Act Tuesday, as Wed. is filled with alienation and disruption. (Tuesday favours media, publishing, far travel, international affairs, wisdom, cultural involvements, and all intellectual efforts.) Be ambitious Thursday dawn (PDT) to Saturday afternoon – now you can display all your hard work for bosses, now’s the time to produce your accomplishments, or start a new venture. Whatever ladder you choose to climb, this interval is packed with luck, progress and reward. Mingle with VIPs, be “socially ambitious.” You could win a promotion. Good luck lifts you.

 

 SAGITTARIUS   Nov. 22-Dec. 21

The accent remains on romance, good luck, speculation, creativity, charming kids, beauty and pleasure. (Steep yourself in the pleasure of the moment; this is not a time to think of the future.) You might start thinking of a past romance soon (next week to late May) – it’s possible this person will return, or you’ll make an approach. Also, same period, you might grow indecisive (if you’re single) about a present love affair. If you’re a married parent, start looking soon for an opportunity benefitting your children, which you passed by before – e.g., a school application, or setting up a university/college fund. Sunday/Monday confront you with significant relationships – but almost all are problematical or contain irritants up to 2 am (PDT) Mon. Make your move (to co-operate, find a partner, relocate, even to “fight”) after this time. Life’s secrets and hidden forces float to the surface Tues./Wed., bringing lust, power and financial hunger, and aiding research/investigation. Act all Tues. to 2 am Wed., then retreat to sidestep possible new problems and disagreements Wed. Tuesday can bring romantic success in a powerful way! I don’t think anyone should invest before June – EXCEPT you. So, invest confidently Tues. Dawn (PDT again) Thurs. to Sat. afternoon again aids love, but now from a compassionate position. Far travel, intellectual pursuits, religion, philosophy, media, cultural involvements – all meet sweet luck now, so plunge in. Some Sages will agree to wed – good.

 

 CAPRICORN   Dec. 22- Jan. 19

The emphasis remains on home, family, property, security, garden, Mother Nature, and retirement. Don’t beat yourself up if you haven’t accomplished a lot in the past few weeks – this is a natural hibernation and rejuvenation time. It’s also a good time to prune relationships and projects: jettison the stale and withered, invest your faith and action in the new and healthy. It’s a time to extend your roots even more deeply, to expand and secure business foundations and territory, rather than seeking top-line growth. Much of this “deepening” might be almost hidden, just as we don’t see roots growing. (But just look at your kids, if you have them: they are roots growing, in a sense.) Tackle chores Sunday/Monday – carefully Sunday, as disagreement, muddled thinking and legal barriers hamper you. Monday morning (PDT) is “open for action.” Relationships fill Tues./Wed. – you can reach agreements, negotiate, deal with the public and with those who are familiar. Tuesday’s splendid – your spouse will tend to take your side, so this is an excellent time to propose home repairs, moving, children’s programs, etc. – or to get a better deal from the landlord. An affection-based sexual opportunity might arise – I’d skip it. Wednesday needs care and diplomacy, as “enemies” (or simple disagreement) might arise. You face an uninterrupted run of good luck Thurs. dawn (PDT) to Sat. afternoon – sexual, intimate, financial and lifestyle ventures and actions are very likely to succeed. (But in finances, reduce debt rather than invest, before June.)

 

 AQUARIUS   Jan. 20-Feb. 18

A flurry of errands, casual contacts, trips, calls, mail programs, telephony, and just “daily business” prevails for another 9 days (to April 18). Get as much accomplished as you can during this productive, rewarding week. Many of the casual contacts you make now can turn into happy friends, even draw you into a social circle that will buoy you for a long time. You might also, if single, start a friendly love affair. Romance – or at least romantic notions – fill Sunday/Monday. However, Sunday holds so many barriers and glitches that you might be wise to act Monday morning (PDT) rather than Sunday. Tackle chores and protect your “surface health” Tues./Wed. (eat, sleep and dress sensibly). Act Tues., not Wed., as the latter day contains disruption, (sneaky) opposition and struggle. Buy tools or machinery, get the job done Tues. – love could blossom, maybe with a co-worker. Relationships, fresh horizons, opportunities, negotiations and agreements, relocation themes – all are blessed Thurs. dawn to Saturday afternoon. You could meet a viable life-mate, sign a contract, etc. Plunge in!

 

 PISCES   Feb. 19-March 20

The accent remains on making money, buying/selling, protecting possessions, rote learning, and sensual attractions – for 9 more days. Your money planet is slowly travelling through your career sector, so the two will co-operate nicely – e.g., it’s easier to make money through “higher levels” than from “doing chores.” This is also a good time to climb ambition’s ladder. Two things: 1) though it might seem contradictory, higher-ups will be impatient, critical – but still inclined to give you a pay raise or promotion; and 2) things in this area tend to go backward or be delayed next week to late May (which might bring the return of a former opportunity) – so act now – except Sunday or Wed. Sunday/Monday bring domestic concerns, kid/parent relations, security, gardening, repairs, and Mother Nature. Sunday’s difficult; Monday morning aids progress. Passion, romantic notions, adventure, creative and risk-taking urges, beauty and pleasure arise Tues./Wed. Tuesday’s splendid and lucky – a good day for daters and fiancés, artists and filmmakers. But Wed.’s filled with disruptions and “misses.” Tackle chores Thurs. dawn (PDT) to Sat. afternoon, a splendid interval for getting things done, for health improvement, and buying tools or machinery.

The End.

 

AFTER-AMBLE:

The following is from my answer to a comment a week ago. Thought I’d use it again:

“You pose one of the essential questions of astrology, mysticism, and many self-awareness practices: Is it better to experience and learn from suffering, or just to live? I sometimes think better to just live, for how do we know that learning based on suffering is actually true learning? It might be contorted by the suffering that engendered it. How about learning from joy, or from love? If I had to learn, I’d much rather learn what happiness teaches me, than what sorrow does. I know many readers will adamantly oppose this, and mystics and religious folks will deny it, but look at life: happy, compassionate, reasonable, fair children come from happy homes, and create happy homes in their turn; whereas those who suffer at home, do not: they form unhappy homes in their turn, marry the wrong person, philander – and worse, steal, murder, abuse their own children, practice incest, etc.  Even the “suffering learners” whom our society admires, such as martyrs, mystics, and most saints, spawn violence – and their followers murder, rape, etc. Mohammad the Prophet, a “Holy Man,” centuries later “inspired” genocidal ISIS. Jesus said, “I have come to bring war, not peace.” I think suffering was a fashion, a long fad that distorted everything for about two millennia, from child-rearing to novels and operas, from belief systems to our justice system. Let’s look for health, as looking for God has only harmed millions of people and started numerous wars. I think we have reached the technological level now that we can begin to reduce suffering and work toward happiness. If our only path to God is suffering, then it’s time to let God go. (As He Himself tells us in the Old Testament. He says, basically, when mankind can leave the earth, when he can escape the seasons, mankind will no longer need Him. We have already left the Earth: some astronauts stay in the ISS a year, “escaping the seasons.”.)

 

The Washington Post just published an opinion piece called “The Day Trump Killed the Fact.” The day before, President Obama criticized the press for simply accepting candidates’ positions without vigorously questioning them or rigorously checking their purported “facts.”  Of course this was all directed at Trump. And of course Obama didn’t mention his own suite of lies about “Obamacare.” I think Sander’s medical plans are far superior to Obamacare, which became just another way to hike premiums and separate the rich from the poor. This is why Sanders is so popular: because even the liberals, the Dems, who are supposed to help the underclasses, instead have become patricians who condescend to the poor, and frankly, prey on them – and Obama is no exception. Under the guise of helping the poor obtain medical insurance, he raised their rates. Earlier, Bill Clinton threw a quarter of the Blacks in jail, and refused full welfare to those outside prison.

The very day Obama voiced his criticism of the media, the television pundits on CNN lamented that they would love to report factually, and give viewers the real story as they saw it, but this would, unfortunately, not be what viewers wanted to see and hear. “The media is, after all, a business,” one said, “and we don’t want to bore our audiences” with dry, factual reporting.

All this is wrong. Wrong. The fact is, facts hold less and less sway – they’re almost irrelevant. For months, the pundits have been declaring the death of Trump because his lies are so obvious and his depth of (factual) knowledge so slight, in virtually every area, health, education, foreign affairs, etc. What they seem to miss is that the campaign(s) (specifically Trump’s) is not about facts. It’s about attitude, promise, and the ability to see America, and to see what it needs and how it operates. Trump sees big chunks of the American reality, and acts on those, and addresses them, and everyone calls him stupid, unrealistic, crude and non-PC — and then they rush to repeat his ideas as their own, on immigration, terrorism, Europe and NATO, etc. Even Kasich, the lone holdout, is now spouting a few Trumpistic ideas. Trump is, sadly, the only genius among them, Republicans and Democrats. And he has all the problems of geniuses: he’s awkward, a loose cannon, misses the simplest things that an ordinary person would know, is opposed by the PC dunderheads, etc. (Genius at root does not mean intelligent. It means to create something new. Only Sanders comes close to Trump in this regard.) I would never vote for Trump, but you have to give him his due.

Trump’s quick abandonment of “facts” is what has flabbergasted the media (who tend not to be geniuses) and so they remain amazed at his progress. The two candidates who are most “factual” (Hillary and Kasich) are also the most out of touch – and boring, unfortunately.) Now the media is trying to destroy his campaign. They have found his weakness – he can’t think on his feet, but he tries to. So the media now “traps” him with unexpected questions on subjects he has not thought through – for example, Chris Matthews repeatedly browbeat Trump to answer whether he would punish women who had abortions – the whole concept of abortion was Matthews’, not Trumps. But he badgered Trump until the Donald finally said, “Yes.” He should have said, “Let me study the matter,” but his combative style seldom allows him to block an unconsidered answer.

There is something soft and decadent about a society whose media pay more attention to the top politician (e.g., now Obama – before it was Bush junior) than to their own conscience. In a strange way, I think Trump’s followers are rebelling against this decadence; they want to “Make America Great Again.” And why shouldn’t they ignore the media, as it’s said they do, if the media is nothing but a mouthpiece for the establishment?  At last, now I understand why Trump kept attacking and denigrating the media at his rallies – usually suicide for a politician, but it helped Trump because, as only he understood early on, his followers were, or would soon be, ultra-sceptical of the media. But – did he understand, or was it meant to be that way?

THE ROLE OF DESTINY: If Trump’s dislike of and skepticism toward the media was sparked by the cancellation of his show, “The Apprentice,” and his row with Megan Kelly and Fox, this implies that he was not a big critic of the media before those events, and that he did not purposely start a fight with the media because he thought that would swell his bag of followers. (In both fights, he was attacked, and his reactions were “counterpunches,” as the media says.) Yet being at odds with the media, as argued above, has helped Trump. I suspect no one, including Trump, could have seen first, the media’s mistreatment of him early on, and second, that his anger toward the media would increase his followers. In this sense, I view the early battles with CBS and Fox, even Kelly’s vituperative accusations in the first debate, as destined to bring him and his constituency together. For a long time after the two early fights, CBS and\ Fox, the media gave Trump a species of pass: they saw him with a mixture of humor, disbelief and affectionate disdain, as his gaffs, one after one, fell by the wayside, and all his wrong moves either fell away, or could not dent his rise.

Now, after Obama’s scolding, the lapdog major media (that is, 99.9 % of all media in North America – I can only think of one exception: Bill Maher after 9/11) – the lapdogs attacked. Chris Matthews forced Trump to mistakenly say he’d punish women who sought abortion. I’d always admired Matthews up to this point. A day (I think) earlier, Anderson Cooper on CNN showed the deep PC bias favouring ostrich-ism. He first misrepresented the truth by framing his question a certain way: it was: “Why did you attack Ted Cruz’s wife?” He was referring to the ad Trump ran showing his wife and Cruz’ wife, both “portraits” or head shots. Trump’s wife is an international beauty, and Ted’s wife is, well, not. Ted was outraged, I think by the fact that, like all before him except Kasich, he had attacked Trump, and found that he, Ted Cruz, was not invulnerable to Donald’s counter punch.

Anyway, the “now freed to be critical, Obama says so” media started up the howl and cry: Trump attacks Cruz’ wife. Trump goes beyond the boundaries. Etc. Very little mention that Ted’s PAC had placed the first attack, in Utah, Mormon country, a photo of naked Melania, just before that ultra-religious state’s primary. (In which Trump was subsequently trounced.) So Anderson Cooper asks Trump, “Why did you attack Ted Cruz’ wife?” Trump answered: “He started it.” Anderson repeatedly said that was no excuse, that was “what a five year old would say.” After a heated exchange, Cooper refused to abandon his derision and refused to accept “he started it” as an excuse. Trump should have said: “If you stood up right there and jumped on me and stared biting and scratching me, are you saying I would be wrong to fight back? If ISIS attacked Israel, are you saying Israel would be wrong to fight back?” Of course “he started it” is a viable reason in any battle or warlike situation. Cruz attacked Trump in a cold, calculated and sleazy way (I feel ashamed that he was born in Canada) timing it to do the most harm, and when Trump almost casually stung him in return, using Cruz’ own technique and concept, Cruz was outraged, called Trump a “snivelling coward.” I wonder if that was projection. Yet everything Cruz did to initiate the fight, and his despicable, snake-like intent in starting it, was ignored by Chihuahua Cooper, who remember had been given Obama’s permission to yap and bite. But it was lousy journalism, just as Kelly’s attacks in the first Fox debate were lousy journalism. Both were trying to put their own case across, rather than present the object under study: Trump.

Cooper’s lack of objectivity and professionalism was really disheartening because it represented a whole constituency who still cling to the teat of the inured establishment, an establishment that, whether consciously human-driven or by nature, uses “tools” such as PC in order to keep the population centered on form rather than substance, for in this way they can create all sorts of forms, while squirreling away all the substance for themselves.

Of all the candidates, only Bernie Sanders has pulled away the curtain hiding the Wizard of Oz. Still, I’m making no predictions.

The End.