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<\/a>We are in the middle of a giant planetary cycle of Uranus in Aries to Pluto in Capricorn that began in 2010 and will continue into 2016.\u00a0\u00a0But even before that cycle began, Pluto\u2019s entry into Capricorn created a major shift in the global political landscape.<\/p>\n
Pluto represents transformation \u2013 the kind that comes when something is destroyed so that something else can emerge in its place.\u00a0Capricorn describes our relationship to the outer world \u2013 our concern with money and finance, the structures of society that create the foundation of our lives such as marriage and governments and corporations. \u00a0Where Pluto in Sagittarius was expansive and optimistic, creating bubbles in everything from housing to the stock market, Pluto in Capricorn was contracting and offered a reality check. \u00a0So Pluto\u2019s entry into Capricorn began a dismantling process, taking apart any structure which did not sit on a firm foundation. \u00a0Bank accounts, career positions, governmental entities, corporations \u2013 we have seen quite a bit of worldwide change and destruction in these areas from which we have still not completely recovered.<\/p>\n
Uranus is the planet of revolution and radical change (as well as innovation and authenticity in our personal lives) and when that planet moved into Aries, the sign of self-assertion and independence, there was a swell of revolution across the globe. \u00a0The Arab Spring is associated among astrologers with the entry of Uranus into Aries. \u00a0Aries is associated with Mars, the planet of aggression and warfare, and I have long predicted that when Uranus moved into Aries the political threat facing nations would be from splinter groups such as Al Qaeda rather than from other nations. \u00a0History has borne out this prediction and now all over the world we are seeing countries being torn apart by radical (Uranus) extremist groups with advanced weaponry (Aries). \u00a0(You\u2019ll find more details about this cycle along with the relevant dates on my website here<\/a>.)<\/p>\n Fareed Zakariah calls this the \u201cdemocratization of violence:\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n However, the radicalism of Uranus is locked in a challenging battle (square formation) with Pluto in Capricorn, representing the forces of big corporations and established governmental forces. \u00a0And as the pendulum swings from the revolutionary fervor of Uranus in Aries to the antithetic crushing of that fervor by those governmental forces, in the US we are seeing military equipment being purchased by local community police forces in astonishing numbers. \u00a0We have seen the results in Ferguson, Missouri this week where military equipment was used by the police to quell protests against the killing of an unarmed black teen in that town.<\/p>\n From Fox News:<\/a><\/p>\n From California to Connecticut and several states in between, local police departments have been steadily arming themselves over the years with billions of dollars\u2019 worth of military-grade equipment \u2014 including grenade launchers, helicopters and machine guns.<\/p>\n The materiel comes from a U.S. military program that, until this week, received little public attention. But after St. Louis police used heavy-duty equipment in putting down riots and protests following the shooting death of an unarmed teen, new questions have been raised about where this gear is coming from.<\/p>\n The flood of equipment being funneled from the Department of Defense to local police departments traces back to a program created in the 1990s. The excess property program, known as 1033, was initially created to help state and local authorities in the war against drugs, and help unused military equipment find a home \u2014 as opposed to being needlessly destroyed.<\/p>\n But the flow of equipment from the military to towns across America has spiked since the 9\/11 attacks. And it\u2019s become a thorny topic among critics who say local authorities shouldn\u2019t be outfitted with heavy machinery originally bought by the government to fight actual wars and track terrorists overseas.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n From an astrological perspective, this isn\u2019t surprising. \u00a0The Uranus\/Pluto cycle always brings a swell of radical enthusiasm followed by social chaos. \u00a0The Uranus\/Pluto conjunction from 1962-1969 brought us Woodstock\u00a0and the British Invasion, Black Power and the Feminist revolution, but was followed by the election of Richard Nixon by the \u201csilent majority,\u201d the entry of National Guard on college campuses and the Kent State killings in 1970.<\/p>\n Still \u2013 do our towns and communities really need military tanks for local SWAT\u00a0teams like this one<\/a>? \u00a0The Economist reports<\/a> that there is a financial motive behind many of the SWAT raids:<\/p>\n Because of a legal quirk, SWAT raids can be profitable. Rules on civil asset-forfeiture allow the police to seize anything which they can plausibly claim was the proceeds of a crime. Crucially, the property-owner need not be convicted of that crime. If the police find drugs in his house, they can take his cash and possibly the house, too. He must sue to get them back.<\/p>\n Many police departments now depend on forfeiture for a fat chunk of their budgets. In 1986, its first year of operation, the federal Asset Forfeiture Fund held $93.7m. By 2012, that and the related Seized Asset Deposit Fund held nearly $6 billion.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n As always, John Oliver cuts right to the core of the matter.<\/p>\n\n
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