#relationship a winner and I dodged a bullet. I just think it's interesting to reflect on. perhaps I could have been free

[meezer]

through some embarrassing twist of fate I am listening to OLD(!!!!! THIS IS CRUCIAL) imagine dragons again. they're........ pretty good. not as good as I used to think they were, but they're decent. they're fantastic compared to their current output though 😂

[opedguy]

Pompeo Admits He’s on the Way Out

LOS ANGELES (OnlineColumnist.com), Jan. 5, 2021.--Resigned to leaving the State Department eight weeks after the Nov. 3 presidential election, 57-year-old Secretary of State Mike Pompeo got philosophical to Bloomberg’s David Rubenstein about his legacy in office.  Pompeo told Rubenstein he thought the country was safer after four year of 74-year-old Donald Trump’s foreign policy than his 59-year-old predecessor former President Barack Obama.  Regretting that more couldn’t be done with Iran and North Korea, Pompeo said that U.S. national security was in better shape than when Obama left office.  During Obama’s tenure, Pompeo pointed out the that the U.S. government funded an eight-year proxy war in Syria, resulting in 500,000 deaths and 15 million driven into refugees, largely in Turkey and Europe.  Under Trump and Pompeo, the U.S. deescalated U.S. involvement in costly Mideast wars.     

        Pompeo’s honest reflection to Rubenstein about his tenure marks the first time since the Nov. 3 election that he accepts his fate that he’ll be leaving the State Department Jan. 20.  Trump told Georgia voters last night that the fate of his election lied in the capable hands of his 61-year-old Vice President Mike Pence.  Tomorrow’s perfunctory Electoral vote tally in a joint session of Congress will be just that, no surprises other than a Republican dog-and-pony show, expressing grievances about the 2020 presidential election.  When the theatrics end, 78-year-old President-elect Joe Biden will be certified as the official winner in the Congressional record.  Trump will have succeeded of entering his protests into the Congressional record for posterity that he thought the 2020 election was rigged.  Pompeo’s admission today speaks volumes about what happens tomorrow.        

     Rubenstein cleverly asked Pompeo to reflect on his accomplishment, getting the fiercely loyal Secretary of State to admit his work was coming to an end.  “So as we talk in the first week in January, do you thin the world is safer today than it was a year ago or two years or there years ago, or maybe it’s not qui as safe as it was,” Rubenstein asked Pompeo.  “No, I think we are leaving—after four years, I thin we’re leaving the world safer that when we came it,” Pompeo said, acknowledging for the first time that “we are leaving,” a newsworthy admission one day before Congress assembles to certify the Electoral College vote.  Pompeo advised the next Secretary of State Anthony Blinken to take the China threat seriously and “push back on Iran.”  Biden’s family has strong business ties with China and Joe already signaled he plans to rejoin Obama’s 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action AKA the “Iranian Nuke Deal.”      

       Pompeo’s admission that he’s finishing up his work should remind skeptics that tomorrow’s joint sessions of Congress should go as expected confirming Biden as President-elect.  Pompeo took over from 68-year-old Rex Tillerson April 26, 2018, getting much accomplished compared to his predecessor.  Tillerson, a former CEO of Exxon-Mobil, looked lost in his job, unable to command the position for whatever reasons.  Pompeo hit the ground running, loving every minute of his time at the State Department. Unlike Tillerson, Pompeo was on the same page as Trump, executing his foreign policy to the letter, taking a tough stance on China, Russia, North Korea and Iran.  Blinken has none of Pompeo’s charisma—and bravado—to get America’s enemies paying attention to possible consequences to harming the U.S. or its allies. 

 Blinken looks to follow in the footsteps of 73-year-of former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.and 77-year-old Secretary of State John Kerry             Blinken should study carefully the foreign policy differences between former Obama Secretaries of State Hillary and Kerry, both continued a policy that toppled Libyan strongman Col. Muammar Gaddafi Oct. 20, 2011 during the Arab Spring, swamping Libya with terrorism.  Both Hillary and Kerry backed the Syrian proxy war and Libyan debacle.  When 52-year-old Libyan Amb. Chris Stevens was killed with three other Amreicans in a terrorist attack on the Benghazi consulate Sept. 12, 2012 Hillary and the Obama administration denied any responsibility.  Blinken should try to learn from Hillary and Kerry’s mistakes.  When it came to Mideast diplomacy, Obama had had a poor relationship with Israel, often taking the sides of Palestinians, leaving Mideast peace more elusive.  Blinken should look at Trump’s approach to Mideast diplomacy:  Because it worked.     

        In less that three years as Secretary of State, Pompeo did an impressive job of promoting U.S. interests around the globe.  Pompeo ended the the Paris Climate Accord or Iranian Nuke Deal, executing Trump’s foreign policy to the letter, keeping the U.S. out of more Mideast wars, doing everything possible to bring home more U.S. troops.  When it came to Mideast peace, Trump set out the best blueprint for peace in the region, signing several peace deals with Israel and other Arab states.  Returning back to the same failed policies of the past, Blinken should follow Pompeo and not let Palestinians wreck Mideast peacemaking.  Trump’s historic peace deals should earn him the Nobel Peace Prize in 2021.  Pompeo didn’t let up one second, traveling the globe at breakneck speed  to promote U.S. interests.  He no doubts has regrets that he can’t have four more years to finish the job.

 About the Author 

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.  Reply  Reply All  Forward

[circe-poetica]

New moon in Libra

The New Moon hits at 12:30pm PDT today, and we set intentions in the Libra mansion.  It is interesting to say the least that the New Moon steeped in balance and harmony (Libra) should come to us this year amidst an enormous energy of conflict and obstacle.  Mars in Aries, the pinnacle of aggression, is in direct Opposition to this New Moon.  This lunation also Squares Jupiter, Pluto and Saturn in Capricorn, and so we are at complete odds with all the change that is happening on the planet right now.   T-Squares like this are pure conflict and obstacle energy, and so this New Moon packs a punch.  In addition, there are two very powerful Oppositions; between Venus and Neptune on the one hand, and Mercury and Uranus on the other.  This is without a doubt, the most intense New Moon of the year, courtesy of all of this very hard geometry.This New Moon may be in the Libra mansion, but there really is nothing peaceful in the atmosphere right now.  If ever there were a time to practice being in the world but not of it, this would be it.  And of course, we must not take this notion too far either, as Libra’s propensity to peacekeeping at all costs is the generator of the spiritual bypass, where if we go too fast to the love and light in a situation (which Libra craves) we just encapsulate the darker feelings below the surface in a manner that causes long term dis-ease.  So, while you are dodging the bullets of conflict right now, also be mindful of avoiding the spiritual bypass as you move through the intentions you set for powerful relationships, and an outside world that reflects your inner desires.Squares and Oppositions are the most powerful angels in astrology.  This lunation has every single planet in one of these hard aspects.  When we break this down, something astonishing emerges, especially when we look at the Oppositions.  Our minds and our hearts are being blown wide open with two Oppositions: one between Venus and Neptune, and the other between Mercury and Uranus.  What is astounding in this lineup is that the planets holding these 180-degree tensions are related to each other as the lower and higher octave of what they each bring. Venus is love at the personal level, and she is Opposing Neptune, the planet the brings us Divine Love.  In the mental arena, Mercury is our individual thinking, and Uranus introduces us to the inspired Mind of Source itself.The nature of all Oppositions is a demand to integrate two polarized energies, and it should be pretty obvious that all of us are being pummeled by the struggle between seeing the world in a personal way, but needing to be in our transpersonal perspective at the same time (but without the spiritual bypass).  This is what I mean by being in the world, but not of it.  We are entering the final lunar cycle of the wave of energy that started in January.  It is during this current lunar cycle that Pluto, Jupiter and Saturn will finalize their powerful dance, hitting the second peak of revolutionary change of 2020.  The first was in January, but early November promises to be just off the chain.  So, fasten your seatbelts, especially if you live in the United States, it’s going to be a bumpy four weeks

.When any two opposing points generate an integration, the creation of a transcendent third is the natural result.  Mother and father come together to create a child.  The artist and canvas join up, and the net result is a painting.

 Small mind (Mercury) and Great Mind (Uranus) come together and create a new way of thinking.

 Love at the personal level (Venus) dances with Divine Love (Neptune), and the transcendent third is a powerful connection to Love as all there is.

 Trust that this is the process we are all going through, and then just set powerful intentions that reflect (Libra pun) how you want to experience your world, your life, your relationships, and your inner vision becoming manifest in form.Squares are like steppingstones we must traverse to get to the other side of the rushing creek we must cross.  We will get there, but the way may be marked by all sorts of breakdowns, as those stones we need to navigate are wet, slippery, and unevenly spaced.  We will get there, yes; but we may fall on our ass as we go. 

The slower planets in this T-Square declare who wins in this fight, and since that is Pluto, Saturn, and Jupiter, the winner is revolutionary change.

 The faster planet receives the impact of the transit, and in this case, it is Mars, who is helping us reinvent how we are walking through our lives.  And course, the Sun and Moon hold up the fastest moving part that makes up this T-Square, and so the intentions we set at this moment are beyond crucial not only to our own future, but the future for humanity as well, and our capacity to collectively move toward Peace.The Libra mansion is where we first connect to relationships with others as a primary way of knowing the divine in ourselves.  In this way, focus on personal relationships and how you’d like them to unfold.  But also be sure to take an extra hard look at how you are relating to the world at large.  There is a lot to decry, object to, and rail against, if you want to go down the rabbit hole of fear and complaint.  But the world you see is a reflection of you, so consider the world you would like to see, and put that into your intention setting as well.  But remember, there is tremendous responsibility in this.  You can not see something in the outside world unless it exists within your own consciousness, and this includes Peace for Humanity.  If you cannot imagine that out there, it is because it doesn’t quite yet exist inside you.  Put those desires into the intentions you set in this New Moon, and help us all create a new world in which all human beings are cared for, and love for humanity leads the way. Michael Lennox