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updated 8/13/2007
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Insights:

April 2006

We are certain to be dealing with the effects of the two eclipses in March whose issues will have to be faced squarely this month.

Pluto in Sagittarius (1995 – 2008) continues to take the lead in confronting us with the ills of globalism; i.e. the "outsourcing" of the American labor force to cheap workers abroad and the flooding in of illegal immigrants from Mexico who will work for substandard wages in the U.S., dragging the wages paid and Americans along with them into a race to the bottom. The eclipse on March 14^th at 24 degrees of Virgo (labor), was on the Neptune of the U.S.A., highlighting a history of corporations’ using slave labor in the South before the Civil War and imported cheap Chinese labor in the early 20^th Century by the "robber barons" to build the railroads under conditions so bad that thousands died constructing them. Before modern labor laws were passed and enacted in the 1930s, men, women and children were literally worked to death in factories and mines for a pittance and lived in disease-ridden slums. These same inequities are being transferred to the highly touted economies of India and China with a relative handful of capitalists becoming very rich and the vast majority living in poverty. Henry Ford understood in the 1920’s that if you pay your workforce well, you will have a healthy consumer market place and he was able to sell his cars based on this concept. Without jobs, there is no economy.

Globalism is rapidly transferring about 80 to 90% of the world’s capital and resources into the hands of about 2% of the population. The giant multinational corporations and financial institutions are the true aristocracy. By their financing the campaigns of presidential and legislative candidates, they control our government and continue to destroy the checks and balances so necessary to the function of a democracy.

The smaller entrepreneurial businesses on which the country was built and from which most of the greatest innovations have been created, are being crushed by the giant monopolies that now make almost nothing in the U.S.A.

Without checks and balances, we have the biggest budget and trade deficits of all time and, with the war in Iraq bleeding our resources dry, are heading into national bankruptcy and a prolonged depression. This, coupled with running out of abundant fossil fuels will force us into a severely restricted life. As Pluto enters Capricorn in 2008, we need to be prepared!

Foreign Relations:

The March 29^th Solar Eclipse hit the Sun in the chart of Iran. The Bush administration is giving the same preparatory talk he gave for invading Iraq; i.e. they are making weapons of mass destruction. Iran claims it is creating nuclear plants for electrical generation; most likely because they, as an oil nation, see the end of the age of oil ahead. Their legendary hostilities to the U.S.A. and Israel are motivating us to threaten military strikes. Not one inspector from the U.N. or anywhere else claims Iran has developed nuclear weapons. The real reason behind all this is that Iran threatened to set up a "bourse" or marketplace in which they will sell oil in Euro-dollars rather than in the American dollar.

Saddam Hussein did the same thing in 2000. The question is whether Iran will back off on this decision. Our military attack on Iran would spread an already disastrous war around to wider territories.

Many of the Central and South American nations are moving toward detachment from doing business with the U.S.A. and electing more populist and socialist leaders. Hugo Chaves, Pres. of Venezuela is enjoying bashing the U.S.A. with a fair degree of frequency and has a voice with many of these nations who have suffered America interfering in their elections for years in order to favor our industries that do business there. Many of these nations have charts with late degrees of the mutable signs and are being influenced by Pluto’s transit through the late degrees of Sagittarius. We can expect, as recently, more changes in government and politics for these countries.

The exception to this is Brazil who is enjoying Pluto sextile it’s ascendant and Jupiter sextile its Sun and Mercury this year. Their successful production of ethanol made from sugar cane is setting a worldwide example of how to get off the addiction to oil and gas. They have plans to increase production and export the product abroad.

The Economy:

There will continue to be layoffs this month in the U.S.A. as Mercury in Pisces forms an opposition with Mars in Gemini and a square with Pluto in Sagittarius. These may center around transportation industries, i.e. autos and airlines.

Gold will continue upward this month, as I predicted in this newsletter last month. The cabal was busy last month propping up the Dow in spite of an interest rate increase, oil and gasoline prices increasing, and the national debt getting even worse. Saturn stations to go direct April 5^th and is trine and sextile the nodes all month. Between the 9^th and the 14^th, the Mercury/Mars/Pluto configuration hits in late degrees of mutable signs, usually bringing the stock market sharply downward. The behind-the-scenes people will have to work hard to keep things looking good.

Interestingly, the richest man in the world, Bill Gates, had his natal moon in Aries hit by the March 29^th Solar Eclipse. Look for him to make some major changes in his personal life and the affairs of Microsoft. Maybe he and his buddy Warren Buffet are cooking up something interesting. I do not believe either of these men are members of the elite "cabal". They got rich the old fashioned way: being smart, independent, and lucky.

Terrorism:

Whether it is insurgency in Iraq or in the U.S.A. this is a very dangerous month for increased terror attacks and our nation needs to be on alert, as the Mercury/Mars/Pluto configuration hits.

Weather and Travel:

Last month’s weird weather certainly showed up! One of the islands in Hawaii got hit with monsoon type floods causing enormous mud slides. Australia got hit with cyclones containing 180 mile per hour winds! Strange high winds hit the Northeastern U.S.A. and severe tornadoes hit the Midwest, flattening towns. This month, some weird windy weather may hit between the 9^th and the 15^th, and again between the 18^th and the 19^th.

Plan your trips accordingly.

Final Comments:

This month’s configurations, although stressful, are helping bring issues out in the open that need to be faced. I am greatly encouraged by more media coverage of decisions being made be powerful people that can no longer be hidden behind doors closed to the public. Polls are showing a real disgust and disillusionment with the people in Washington and that is a healthy sign that we may finally be re-engaging with our democracy, coming out of our collective coma, and waking up to the new realities that directly impact our lives.

The signs of a failing civilization are showing up to haunt us and many of us are reminded of similar trends when the Roman Empire fell. There are other visible signs that creative people are stepping forward with new ideas and scenarios for the betterment of humankind and their voices are getting louder. I read where recently some billionaires are buying up sections of the rain forests to conserve and protect them from destruction. Others are contributing millions to the founding of special trusts dedicated to solving the problems of disease, poverty and environmental degradation.

The co-housing movement is emerging, dedicated to solar and energy efficient architecture and cooperative neighborhoods created to be interactive and caring rather than alienated and selfish, emphasizing a sustainable and fulfilling way of life.

What we need to do at this moment is open our minds and hearts in anticipation of a better way of life, once the historic trends have played themselves out. As the end approaches, the beginning is graciously presenting itself to us and only asks to be recognized.

Stay tuned!

Linda

Linda L. Schurman

What Next?
A Survival Guide to the 21st Century

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following are five links that, over time, offer excellent insights into the financial crises we need to understand

Jim Sinclair

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