In one infamous instance, Himmler relied on a team of astrologers to locate Benito Mussolini when he went missing during World War II. After Mussolini was found, Himmler attributed the success to the astrologers rather than the individuals who decrypted radio codes to locate him....
In 1941, Hess made a risky decision based on the alignment of Uranus and Neptune, as advised by astrologers. They believed this was a favorable time for peace negotiations with Britain and encouraged Hess to act on it. However, Hess’s plane crashed in Scotland during the journey. Then, he was arrested and imprisoned upon being discovered in Britain without authorization.
Hitler was enraged by this incident, and it affected his view of astrology forever after. In 1944, the Fuhrer sent all the astrologers in the country to concentration camps. He also burned their books to demonstrate that he no longer believed in the influence of astrology on his men. Many of his loyal followers adhered to that change in belief, too.
ADDED: We saw "King Lear" the other day, so let me quote these lines spoken by the villainous character Edmund:
This is the excellent foppery of the world, that when we are sick in fortune (often the surfeits of our own behavior) we make guilty of our disasters the sun, the moon, and stars, as if we were villains on necessity; fools by heavenly compulsion; knaves, thieves, and treachers by spherical predominance; drunkards, liars, and adulterers by an enforced obedience of planetary influence; and all that we are evil in, by a divine thrusting on. An admirable evasion of whoremaster man, to lay his goatish disposition on the charge of a star! My father compounded with my mother under the Dragon’s tail, and my nativity was under Ursa Major, so that it follows I am rough and lecherous. ⟨Fut,⟩ I should have been that I am, had the maidenliest star in the firmament twinkled on my bastardizing.
AND: If "switcher" for "remote control" caught your eye, you might enjoy reading "Pass me the hoofer doofer: What do you call your TV remote control? A survey reveals the many names Brits call their TV remote, from 'zapper' to 'turny-over machine'" (CNET). "Switcher" is on the list. It's a long list. Includes "thingy." Who hasn't called it the "thingy"?
Posts
96 comments:
I never got in to astrology. What is the best argument (direct or indirect) for astrology?
She misses events because she can't make simple decisions? Sounds like presidential material to me.
Well, Kamala is a Libra, which is an "Air Sign" and she is an obvious airhead. So there is that.
Me in 1969: "Hey foxy lady! I'm saying Peace, Love, Aquarius...✌️
Addendum: It worked as often as not...
The only argument for astrology is the suite ' The Planets' by British composer Gustav Holst. It is astrological rather than astronomical in its point of view and has been a treasure trove for John Williams and other soundtrack composers for sci-fi and fantasy movies for the past 50 or so years. Compare Holst's Mars to Williams Imperial March from Star Wars. Fun stuff just not as useful in actual warfare as radio signals.
"Addendum: It worked as often as not..."
Yeah? What did you look like?
Vicki Hearne doing a small correction to psychologist talk about James Thurber - a feminine way to do philosophy. I wonder how obvious it is that she is using astrology as a literary trick, and having seen it as a literary trick if it isn't always a literary trick
``Thurber's biographers like to say astounding things such as that the loss of an eye in childhood was what accounted for his genius. For instance, according to Charles S. Holmes in _The Clocks of Columbus_, ``The psychological impact of the injury was more significant than the physical ... In compensation he cultivated his already crowded fantasy life ... Some of the intense competitiveness which marked his character throughout his life obviously derived from this childhood injury and his natural desire to make up for it.'' Holmes is not the only one who talks this way, and it is a very strange way indeed to talk. It is not unusual, of course, being just a new version of the theory of the writer as a human being manque. Or, as in this case, the writer as a baseball player manque. I suppose that Thurber's brothers would also have been geniuses if only they had been in some way maimed early on. My suspicion is that if Thurber's eye troubles can be said to account for anything about his life and career, they probably account for the difficulty he had seeing, for his having submitted to five eye operations, and maybe for his habit of writing short pieces, which are less physically (not psychologically) demanding than long pieces are.
``Astrology serves as a much better candidate for the Explanation of Thurber than psychology does. Thurber was born under the sign of Sagittarius, which rules, among other things, archery. The placement of the sun is what rules a man's health, so a man born with any afflictions to the sun in Sagittarius is going to be vulnerable to health problems associated with archery. I don't have an ephemeris handy for December 8, 1894, the date of his birth, but I bet there is either an affliction of the sun to Mercury, the planet of the eyes and of sense perception in general, or else an affliction from his sun to some planet in Gemini, Pisces, or Virgo. An affliction to Virgo, however, is made fairly unlikely by the enormous intellectual and domestic pleasure Thurber got from dogs - Virgo rules animal training. But Gemini rules dogs, so that lets Gemini as a source of affliction out. It was therefore probably an opposition to Mars in Pisces, which would also account for Thurber's excessive dreaminess and his problems with alcohol, as well as the tenderer and more romantic spheres of experience, as Pisces rules love and all other intoxicants. I would also expect to find Uranus, the planet of the inexplicable and especially the planet of misunderstood geniuses, in the constellation Scorpio, which rules erotic thought, since his brilliant visions of the wars and comedies of the sexes are so persistently misunderstood.
``So his life is explained, but his life is not what Thurber left behind for us, and it is too late for me to tell him that the placement of his sun in Sagittarius indicates that he ought to have come to terms with horses ...''
_Animal Happiness_, Vicki Hearne, p.110
The “switcher”? That’s a new one for me. Is that a Canadian expression?
"The window just shut, because we are just sitting there debating like, okay, well, on the one hand, do we want to see comedy or drama. We both love, you know, sci-fi, right, anyway, um, yeah astrology."
Does this sound like the sort of decisive leadership you're looking for in a President, leader of the Free World. Or does that sound more like some post-menopausal whackjob you would try to avoid at the next PTA meeting.
John Winger: Chicks dig her because she rarely uses her brain, and when she does it’s usually for something like astrology.
Making decisions via Astrology would be a step up for her. But, if she gets installed, she won't be the one making decisions. Even her supporters know that.
As dumb as astrology is calling the remote a switcher is dumber.
To repeat: It certainly appears the people actually running for reelection to the executive do not believe they need to look accountable to voters for reasons unknown…
Kamala? Astrology? Who saw that coming? Joy.
we'll spend 45 minutes debating Which netflix show to watch.. (HA! HA!)
and by the time we stop.. It's time to go to bed, and the window is closed (ha!)
THAT is the sort of Decisive Leadership WE NEED in a President!!
LONG LIVE BIG SISTER!! Vote Early! Vote OFTEN!!
I don't think the author is making this list according to whether he approves or disapproves of the world leader. Sure, Hitler is on there, but he would also be on an honest list of "10 World Leaders Who Where Vegetarians." Half the list are historical figures like Alexander the Great, Cleopatra, and Hammurabi. (The king, not the gorilla.) And while Hitler is on the list, so is Charles De Gaulle.
Also, Hitlers' underlings were into a lot more esoteric things than astrology. Many of them were into the occult and belonged to the Thule society.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thule_Society
I don't remember Nancy Reagan running for President. Maybe I missed that?
Standing on earth - and playing connect the dots with the stars. LOL
Serious stuff - folks!
She's seeing the similarity to her policy positions. Don't like this? Press the button and there's another one.
She displays oodles of enthusiasm for these types of topics, and not so much for topics which actually required her undivided attention, such as the border.
When asked my sign, I've always borrowed the Steve Martin line"I'm a feces".
That link is absolute cancer on mobile. And I don’t mean the cute emotional kind of cancer.
Just an old Country lawyer - Just looked up Holst's Mars. You're right.
But.. Don't Worry! Be Happy!
Neither Kamela nor Doug will have ANY THING to do with making decisions..
There'll be MEN to decide when (where/who/how/why) we go to war..
Just RELAX.. Go Back To Sleep, and let The Experts handle things
Omg there is no end to her derf
Asking the important questions… 😂
August is over, and with it the Dog Days, when one worries about meeting with rabid insanity while out and about. We should be past all that this year. Yet here we are discussing astrology because it is an election year and a candidate said something about her "sign" rather than anything substantial. To hell with that question avoidance technique, to hell with the candidate who even mentions astrology, and to hell with the entire election this year, which will be decided by mail in ballot harvesting. And I'm saying all that about Harris as a fellow Libra.
I'd like to see one of Kamala's famous Venn Diagrams showing the overlap of people who believe in astrology and people who plan to vote for her
I "got into" astrology a little when I was 18 and it was going around yet again, and it's still part of my thinking, unfortunately.
But gee I wouldn't admit it out loud like that.
a call to India and Asok will caast for you her horosope
Long haired surfer stud-muffin.
I don't mind a silly, self-deprecating astrology anecdote now and then in a friend or a comedian. In a POTUS candidate, I prefer the Shakespeare.
I remember the late 60s. It didn't make any difference what you looked like for the foxy ladies who were into astrology. Seems they were really into compounding. A lot.
Before you look, do you think you're going to admire these historical characters? Hint: First on the countdown from 10 to 1 is "Adolf Hitler's Underlings."
If Tucker Carlson is any guide, Hitler admiration is now kosher again on the right.
Another fact that confirms her status as a complete idiot.
The implicit comparison of Kamala with Nancy Reagan is interesting.
Of course, Nancy was the wife of a President and had mostly ceremonial responsibilities, sort of like Kamala's tenure as VP.
He said it while licking his eyebrows.
Do you think Kamala Harris would, like Nancy Reagan, actually use astrology in conducting official business?
Yes
you guys so licky
from Urban dic
Derf
A wonderful humourous individual. Usually an adult. The kind who would make an excellent coach, parent etc.
We should be so lucky as to have him as a coach, he's a derf.
The fault, dear Kamala, is not in your stars, but in yourself.
Her speech comes off like an "internal monologue" and is meant to mimic her internal thoughts. Trump does this all the time.
"Switcher" is what my old, Jewish relatives called the remote. So again, another mark against her being "black".
People who can waste 45 minutes not deciding on what to watch are just stupid.
Benson Bobrick's "The Fated Sky" is a readable popular history of astrology.
People who can waste 45 minutes not deciding on what to watch are just stupid.
Not a good quality when the White House phone rings at 3AM.
I think it’s fair to say that this will solidify the cat woman vote in her favor.
My wife and I sometimes call the remote the clicker; it fits the air-clicking motions we make with our empty hand when we can't find the device.
Crack hardest hit.
I've actually had people unfriend me on facebook because I said that the alignment of the stars and the planets (or the phases of the moon) couldn't possibly exert any physical effects on them. (Psychological yes, but not physical.) What's funny is that the moon actually has physical effects on the oceans, but that's based on it's proximity to the surface of the Earth, not its phases. But they never mention that.
Kamala is a Libra? Can I trans my birth month?
When a girl asks me my sign, I like to give sexy road signs.
Soft shoulder.
Slippery when wet.
Yield!
I'm old enough to remember when the channel changer was my little sister.
Astrology!!! Yikes!
Douglas Adams, _Mostly Harmless_ p.19
``_I_ know astrology isn't a science,'' said Gail. ``Of course it isn't. It's just an arbitrary set of rules like chess or tennis or - what's that strange thing you British play?''
``Er, cricket? Self-loathing?''
``Parliamentary democracy. The rules just kind of got there. They don't make any kind of sense except in terms of themselves. But when you start to exercise those rules, all sorts of processes start to happen and you start to find out all sorts of stuff about people. In astrology the rules happen to be about stars and planets, but they could be about ducks and drakes for all the differnce it would make. It's just a way of thinking about a problem which lets the shape of that problem begin to emerge. The more rules, the tinier the rules, the more arbitrary they are, the better. It's like throwing a handful of fine graphite dust on a piece of paper to see where the hidden indentations are. It lets you see the words that were written on the piece of paper above it that's now been taken away and hidden. The graphite's not important. It's just the means of revealing their indentations. So you see, astrology's nothing to do with astronomy. It's just got to do with people thinking about people.
``So when you got so, I don't know, so emotionally focused on stars and planets this morning, I began to think, she's not angry about astrology, she really is angry and unhappy about actual stars and planets. People usually only get that unhappy and angry when they've lost something. That's all I could think and I couldn't make any more sense of it than that. So I came by to see if you were okay.''
My dad was always wondering where his "clicker" was. Sometimes he'd bother/torment my mom by asking where his "clicker" was when he actually had it in his hand, and she'd yell back at him that she didn't care where the hell his "clicker" was.
Now, I often find myself wondering where my "clicker" is, but I usually mean my phone.
The best justification for Kamala's interest in astrology is "Well ... California ..."
Vicki Hearne, the animal trainer on the Yale literature faculty. I wondered why they hired her.
Those among us who recall wandering a Blockbuster forever in search of something to watch are not offended at your judgemental attitude, just disappointed in your failure to understand that the hunt is a big part of the fun.
boatbuilder said...
“I'm old enough to remember when the channel changer was my little sister.”
I’m old enough to remember when it was a pair of locking pliers.
Actually, that’s not true. After the shank on the knob broke, dad carved a replacement out of a small block of wood, stained it, and it looked nearly identical to the original plastic knob, except a little nicer.
It seems this is another example of Kamala adapting to whoever is talking to her, and always willing to join in with the expected opinion. This is a huge part of being included in the high society circles that got her started/connected in politics, and probably always is what she does so much this is just all she is, whatever the person with her needs her to be.
That also explains the lack of interviews and trouble in more complex circumstances. What do you do when there are different expectations and people are wanting to hear different things, even contrary things, on a topic. You can't morph to all that. And without a set foundation she also can't talk out of her own vision.
I don't think this is new to politics, but she is particularly obvious about it for some reason.
Lazarus said…
“My dad was always wondering where his ‘clicker’ was.”
Clicker? Like the troops used in Normandy in WWII? I am imagining whoever found it had to exclaim “flash” and pops had to countersign “thunder” before it would be passed to him.
And I'm a libra, and very decisive, so I don't think it's the libra in them after all. Theta degradation is probably the real issue they deal with when watching Netflix.
Tucker's delve into WWII revisionism = is not kosher to many on the "right."
LOL.
I'm hollandaise with asparagus rising.
World War II revisionist Tucker is not Kosher to many or most on the right.
comments vanishing again.
Heartless Aztec - You need to update your name to "Long haired surfer stud-muffin"
They did not have time to revisit Stork.... or rather it became central to their faith and religious philosophy.
As if I needed another reason to not vote for her.
But if you think of William Weld as a Republican (he was a RINO) then you could definitely claim it's a bipartisan belief. He went so far as to appoint an official state astrologer for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Likely the first official astrologer for any political jurisdiction for over a century.
I'm old enough to remember when my little brother had to hold the rabbit ears just so, to watch Saturday morning cartoons.
Now that's funny.
I'm Taurus the Bull (like Gomer Pyle) and stubbornly dismissive of astrology.
I think 'derp' is the word intended.
I'm old enough to remember wandering in the Blockbuster. Actually I didn't do much wandering, just waiting while my wife wandered. Scratch that, she was hunting.
The only significance of my "sign", Scorpius (I refuse to say Scorpio), is that it's a really cool constellation. One of the few that actually looks like its namesake. In the direction of the galactic center, it contains many wonderful objects; open clusters M6 and M7, zeta1-Sco (one of the most luminous stars in the galaxy), and many more.
Political Junkie said...
I never got in to astrology. What is the best argument (direct or indirect) for astrology?
Historically, when the moon the moon has been in the seventh house and Jupiter aligned with Mars, it has coincided with times of peace, comity, and very long hairstyles.
I had a career in a small but publicly traded company - I dealt with bankers, New York analysts and they didn’t care that I was a woman, they just cared that I knew what the fuck I was talking about!!!! I sure wish Harris and the dumb ass interviewers knew what the fuck they were talking about. Everytime I hear a dumb ass question from a dumb ass interviewer I wonder why she answers it - I hope to God I wouldn’t answer it - who would ask any man this question? We are equal but different, but I don’t give a shit about whether you believe in astrology or not. And I don’t care what spices she purchases at the spice store! Tell me something about how you will run the country. Those are the questions the American people want to hear answered. I don’t usually swear in posts - but all this ‘cutesy’ stuff has got to stop. If she was any type of a true leader, she would have put a stop to it long ago and that is all you need to know about her.
My comments are from a Madisonian enjoining a week on Cedar Lake in Ontario, where the loons are calling, the eagles soaring and the stars shine unbelievable bright at night! Oh and the fish are biting!
Last time I entertained the benefit of astrology I was 16 getting high with some girls.
Aquarius! Aquariuuuus!
Sheldon Cooper has something to say about it.
Sadly when I asked girls their sign they'd usually say "Stop".
“My father compounded with my mother under the Dragon’s tail, and my nativity was under Ursa Major, so that it follows I am rough and lecherous.”
Obviously Shakespeare was not into astrology. Ursa Major is not in the zodiac. It’s circumpolar, never rising or setting, so you can’t be born “under” it.
“Do you think Kamala Harris would, like Nancy Reagan, actually use astrology in conducting official business?”
Absolutely. And the consequences of having a woo-woo president could be a lot more serious than a First Lady.
My wife and I use the term "The Clicker." Usually me when I'm looking for the damned thing after she has fallen asleep with the TV on.
Would Kamala making decisions based on Astrology or goat entrails or headless chickens really be worse that Kamala making decisions based on her own judgement?
Monty Python What the stars foretell"
I don't actually "believe" in astrology, but functionally, I suppose I behave as though I do -- or a Korean approximation of astrology. E.g. I only became a lawyer because my grandmother's longtime fortune teller told her that was my fate when I was born. My aunt has some source that tells her which days are propitious for making large purchases, and I have checked these when setting the closing for purchases of real estate.
Does anybody really believe she will be allowed to make any critical decisions if elected? Maybe the new colors of the master bedroom and what's for dinner. Everything else will be decided for her just like it's done for Joe now.
We call the remote the "driver". As in "where is the damn driver".
This, "...debating which Netflix show should we start streaming..." struck me as verbal product placement. In anticipation of that fat contract post politics. The Light Bringer led the way.
@Dear corrupt left, go F yourself : That self description is a 55 year old cast back in time. To pretend at 70+ in 2024 that I am still that particular bell bottom wearing specimen would be wholly false.
It is either "the clicker" or "the remote". I am from southeast Michigan, if that's a regionalism like "pop" for soft drinks.
Vicki Hearne is a poet who sometimes writes about animal training - thanks to her course with Wm. Koehler on dog training which treated dogs as moral creatures. She's best a writing philosophy in a feminine way that interests men (not, as far as I know, of interest to women, who find philosophy baffling).
Evren at an early age I knew that astrology was a form of sypathetic magic and had no basis in reality.
Post a Comment