Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Why Should We Care? & Edward Snowden's Natal Chart

By the time I click on the publish button the current surveillance saga will probably have moved on to yet another chapter. I'm still not as invested in the whole public outcry as most, mainly because we should have realised it was going on, and had been ever since 2001 - maybe even before that to the extent that technology then available could cope. A trawl through the nets to see whether I'm missing something crucial that'd kick my reactions up a notch or two followed.

Thinks: terrorism, though it poses a clear threat, doesn't pose such a huge threat to the USA as to warrant the allocation of billions of dollars to surveillance programs said to be the best way to circumvent such threats, when such programs involve wholesale invasion of telephone and internet communications of hundreds of millions of individuals - a mind-boggling volume, daily. In effect, though, chances of anyone's e-mail or phone call to friends and family being intercepted has to be tiny indeed, or even chances of defining the patterns of any individual's habits of communication, come to that - or so I assume. But the expense of all this to the country, when not in the most robust of financial health - there's that!

The item I found with a possibility of getting me engaged more in this issue was a comment at a blog called Lawyers Guns and Money, where a post by Erik Loomis asking why people were getting so much up in arms about this issue and not about several other important matters facing us. A commenter "Yankee Frank", responded well, I thought, and I trust he would not object to my spreading his words here:
The only reason people don’t care much is that they don’t really understand the import of this. Once the government can examine everything (pretty much) about someone’s past, that person is no longer free. If the government wants to, they can doctor up anything about you they want — to prove you are “evil”, or mentally ill, or a liar… and once they can do that to anyone they have total control over us. They can retroactively examine anyone’s life and find whatever “evidence” they want of anything they want to charge you with.

Why do you think criminal lawyers tell their clients never to speak to the police without their lawyer present? Even if you tell 100% truth and are innocent they can turn your words against you. All they need is a “witness” who saw you somewhere you (or your decades of internet history) claim you weren’t and they have you as a liar, and if you’re lying about an alibi, well then you are very likely guilty. They don’t even have to fabricate the witness. People want to help the police, and they “see” things they didn’t see all the time. This scenario plays out regularly in this and other ways. Hence lawyers tell you to say nothing to the police. These records mean you’ve been talking to the police since 2006, and they can catch you in any number of “lies” to weaken your credibility. People get life sentences for things they didn’t do based on evidence just like this.

Once you are a suspect, that is the beginning of the end of your freedom. The fact that we are all under threat of becoming suspects based on something we said or wrote 15 years ago, or whenever, because the NSA has all our history, means we are all constantly under threat of suspicion. This is what totalitarianism looks like.

The reason this is more important than income inequality and unemployment, and I think those things are hugely important, almost as important as this… is because this freedom underlies all the others. WIthout the freedom to speak out without the government being able to silence you and/or destroy your life, forget protest. Forget fighting for the unemployed, and forget arguing against any government activity period. We will live in a world where 99% of us are too terrified to even raise our voices, let alone dissent.

These things are only abstract because most of us just don’t understand how the state works when it goes after you. Hopefully I have shed some light on this.

I don't think we're quite at that stage of a totalitarian-like state quite yet, but an atmosphere where such things could become a daily worry may not be that far over the horizon.

Something upon which to chew, indigestible as it may be!

There's a good run-down of the situation in this video interview : Jake Tapper and Glenn Greenwald on CNN (around 14 mins)




For any passing astrology buffs, here's a natal chart (12 noon version) for Edward Snowden constructed using birth data given by Wikipedia - "The army did confirm Snowden's date of birth: June 21, 1983." Place of birth stated is Elizabeth City, but that's not an option on my software so I've used the nearest place available. (Update: see comments below for exact time of birth and a link to updated chart on site elsewhere- Gemini was rising by the way).

Snowden has lots of Air in his chart, unlike Greenwald : 3 Gemini planets and 2 in Libra. 3 in Sagittarius (Fire), with Uranus conjunct Jupiter - I'd bet on that conjunction as his "daring" trade mark. Natal Moon will be in Scorpio whatever his time of birth - between around 10 and 23 degrees. Whichever, transiting Saturn is heading that way, indicating some kind of restriction or limitation in his future. It's actually already happening, so his time of birth was likely to be earlier in the day rather than later, I think.

Pluto conjunct Saturn in Libra form an harmonious trine to his Sun and Mars in Gemini, blending a passionate, almost obsessive draw to legal matters (in this case Constitutionality?)with his naturally energetic and communicative core personality.

"Star" and key element of his chart, in the circumstances, for me has to be Uranus conjunct Jupiter.




15 comments:

mike said...

Interesting, too, that he's had transiting Mars opposing that same Jupiter-Uranus conjunction the past several weeks. Transiting Mars will soon be conjunct his Mercury. Of note is the current transits of Sun and Jupiter in the late degrees of Gemini now conjunct his North Node, Mars, and Sun, while opposing Neptune (secrets), and trine his Saturn-Pluto conjunction in Libra.

I agree with you that he'll be up against restrictions with transiting Saturn conjuncting his Moon in Scorpio (at whatever degree his Moon may be), but he does have the protection of transiting Jupiter in Cancer trine his Moon several times over the next year. I would venture to say that over his lifetime he probably has surprisingly unexpected "good luck" with his natal Jupiter-Uranus conjunction in Jupiter's home of Sag. At some point, the North Node will (or has) conjuncted his Moon, which will further define his emotional, subconscious direction. I think that he will remain a media sensation for some time and will be viewed as a daring hero over his and Greenwald's efforts.

According to Greenwald, there's more revealing information to come...that is further indicated by transits to Snowden's chart. Specifically, transiting Mars conjuncting his natal Mercury very soon, followed by Mars' conjunction with Sun-Jupiter-N.Node next month. Plus transiting Jupiter over the Sun-Jupiter-N.Node in a week or two. Snowden will be in the spotlight for a while, but I think in a favorable profile.

As a side note...I suppose his previous several years have been very precarious for him. He's had a Saturn return and the Moon's Nodes have hit his two stelliums in the Gemini-Sagittarius axis with eclipses.

Twilight said...

mike ~~ Lots of interesting bits and pieces show up, don't they?

Jupiter/Sag matches what will become his way of life, at least for a while - travel/escape abroad, maybe even settling (asylum) in some place.

Perhaps his Saturn Return was what triggered his desire to do something about realising the injustices he could see were going on - out of view of the public.

He must be a very bright young man, considering he dropped out of high school, and seems not to have any high fallutin' academic achievements, and still be capable of commanding a salary of 200,000 p.a. at such a level of security clearance! Gemini'll do that for ya I guess! Quick wit allied to mental acuity, and growing up alongside developing technologies to which he obviously had close affinity.

Anonymous said...

Just chucked asteroid Prisma (#1192)into his chart at Astrodienst (where you can choose his actual birthplace)and tr it's less than 33 mins from exact conjunct tr Uranus just past his DC. His progressed chart has tr Merc cj his Mars and tr Neptune cj n POF. Here is a person after my own heart and mind.

Twilight said...

Anonymous ~ Thanks for that additional info. My own interest (and confidence) in astrology stops short of asteroids and progressions (sorry!) I'm always open to persuasion, though, and what you've pointed out will be of interest to other passing readers who are into astrology.

His natal chart must have a multitude of markers just now, this is probably going to go down as the most significant time of his whole life span.
:-)

mike (again) said...

Oooops...next to last paragraph should read:

According to Greenwald, there's more revealing information to come...that is further indicated by transits to Snowden's chart. Specifically, transiting Mars conjuncting his natal Mercury very soon, followed by Mars' conjunction with Sun-Mar-N.Node next month. Plus transiting Jupiter over the Sun-Mars-N.Node in a week or two. Snowden will be in the spotlight for a while, but I think in a favorable profile.

mike (again) said...

You might be interested in the following, Twilight:

An interesting video about the data you create:
http://vimeo.com/34750078

Using metadata to find Paul Revere:
http://kieranhealy.org//blog/archives/2013/06/09/using-metadata-to-find-paul-revere/

State of Maryland surveillance:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mz6zS04ekVc

Chomp said...

Interesting the natal chart

Twilight said...

mike ~ Those are interesting links, thank you!

The Paul Revere treatment is a very creative way to give lay persons a vague idea of what's going on regarding surveillance.

Re the vid. about Maryland public transport surveillance - I wouldn't be overjoyed about it if I lived there, but wouldn't actually be against that kind of surveillance, as long as notices that it's going on are posted prominently. I think the lawyer who speaks in the video is drawing his line a wee bit too tightly in objecting to it.

It's hard to know where boundaries should be drawn though.
Such blanket surveillance is such a relatively new ability/ facility. The government is acting like a big kid playing with a new toy - a toy that would be capable of some very dangerous (and even more unwelcome than at present) consequences in the wrong hands....or even in the hands holding it at present!

Twilight said...

Chomp ~~ Yes - for sure! :-)

mike (again) said...

I interpreted the attorney's discussion of Maryland's video AND AUDIO recording on public buses as about the continual eroding and acceptance of the loss of privacy, ie, it's just one more loss of many. Americans have become accepting of intrusions into our lives and consequent losses of assumed privacy.

The video clearly points-out that our constitution does not have provisions for the definition OR protection of privacy. Justice Potter Stewart's decision (1967, unreasonable search), "But what he seeks to preserve in private, even in an area accessible to the public, may be constitutionally protected." The events of the past decade do not support Stewart's decision.

The loss-of-privacy-program is promoted by the fear mongers, marketing execs making money from our personal lives, and those wishing to exploit personal and national security via the police and military.

I found it interesting that the attorney wasn't allowed to video record on the same bus that was recording his every move and spoken word. Have you followed the events regarding the public recording of police officers? The more recent judicial reviews allow for citizens to record the police, but now the police are confiscating the cameras and telephones as potential weapons!

Whether I would feel more secure on a bus in Maryland that records both video AND AUDIO isn't the point. Do I feel more secure in a country that has greatly accelerated its intrusion into my personal life via almost every conceivable contrivance? No, I fear the government and data-collectors now.

Twilight said...

mike ~~ I understand your point of view. I do think, though, that surveillance in public places belongs in a different category from surveillance of what we would expect to be private endeavors (phone calls and e-mail communication).

I don't see the surveillance on public transport as much different from the (now) routine surveillance that goes on in stores and at ATMs, and which does, on occasion help to catch wrong-doers (as the Boston Marathon events).

I think the crux of the matter is where a line has to be drawn. That question needs a proper public airing, which it hasn't yet had because people had become apathetic about it all.

mike (again) said...

Uh oh...now it's spilling-over to Britain!

Reminds me of Spy vs Spy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spy_vs._Spy

Today's revelation is that UK is collecting data on foreign diplomats:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/16/uk-spies-hacked-diplomats-phones-emails_n_3451680.html?icid=maing-grid7|main5|dl1|sec1_lnk3%26pLid%3D330355

Twilight said...

mike ~~~ Yes - I saw that! What fun! They seem to be taking their plots straight out of old spy novels - I expect to see James Bond or George Smiley showing up at any moment. ;-)

mike (again) said...

From Planet Waves
http://planetwaves.net/pagetwo/daily-astrology/edward-snowdens-astrolog/

4:42 AM is time of birth

Twilight said...

mike ~~ Oh - good! With BC to back it up too. Thanks for letting me know.

Gemini rising isn't a big surprise - Snowden has proved himself to be a very good communicator in interview - I've seen remarks on his quick mind and fluency mentioned several times by journalists: all very Gemini - he has that Gemini look too, I think.