Monday September 8, 2025
– Full Moon Phase – illumination, realization, fulfillment, shadow, relationships, experience
– Moon in PISCES – Void of Course 1:44 PM – 2:37 PM moving to ARIES
– Retrogrades –
- Pluto – May 4th – Oct 13th
- Neptune – Jul 4th – Dec 10th
- Saturn – Jul 13th – Nov 28th
- Chiron – Jul 30th – Jan 2nd
– Best Days (from the Farmer’s Almanac) – Sep 8th – 9th – Cut Hair to Slow Growth, Dry Fruits and Vegetables, Kill Plant Pests, Mow to Slow Growth, Perform Demolition, Pick Apples and Pears, Quit Smoking, Slaughter, Start Diet to Lose Weight, Wash Wooden Floors
– Planting Calendar (from the Farmer’s Almanac) – Sep 8th – 9th – A poor time to plant.
– Sabian Symbol for the Solar-Lunar Year: – 11 ARIES: the ruler of a nation
– Aspect of the Aeon Sophia: (Wisdom): – Kali – The Destroyer
– Aspect of the Aeon Thelete: (Will/Desire): Kathe (God of The South)
– Sabian Symbol for the Solar-Lunar Month – New Moon in LEO – SUN/MOON – 01 VIRGO: in a portrait, the best of a man’s features and traits are idealized (EARTH – 01 PISCES: a crowded public marketplace)
SUN – 17 VIRGO: a volcanic eruption
EARTH – 17 PISCES: an Easter promenade
Happy Monday! “. . . Dream of things that never were, and ask Why Not?” ~JFK
Why Ask Why?
Can you name the product that this was the slogan for? Probably not. I do not think it exists anymore (thankfully). But the question is less about bad tasting beer then about why we collectively follow things in the mainstream.
Last week, I discussed military parades (and parades in general). I asked why we have such things, with the answer being propaganda and saber rattling. Which is a mostly true answer. And it is “mostly” because of secondary purposes. In the word of Economics, we called these externalities or unintended results.
In the case of a local parade, consider that external results of having an event that travels for about 2 miles. There are positive and negative effects:
Positive
- community activity
- clean up the streets
- spending at small businesses
- spending at secondary events, picnics etc.
- draw attendees and their money into a local area
Negative
- cost to clean and clean up
- cost for security
- inconvenience to the neighborhood
There is a lot more on each side of the balance sheet, but you get the point. I bring this up to point out another aspect (remembering the $45 million and $4 Billion price tags on the political parades I discussed). For these political events, much of the Economic positives are not there.
Consider life in a communist country (like China or Russia). What care do they have towards creating revenue for the little guys? How many corner stores and gas stations will you find near Tiananmen Square? In theory they are not supposed to need such things. Maybe a bug dealer may be frying up his goods on a corner. But this is not adding much to the Chinese Economy.
So, it begs the question of WHY. What can possibly be the positive gain of a political, military parade. I would love to see a study on the financial gain derived from such an event.
Speaking of other pointless events . . .
VMA’s
The Video Music Awards (previously known as the MTV Video Music Awards) was broadcast live (maybe) on CBS last night. I did not watch it. And frankly I have absolutely no answer Why this “awards ceremony” exists in 2025.
- MTV no longer shows music videos.
- No network on TV airs music videos.
- Only place I know of to watch music videos is YouTube.
- The promotional point of artists creating music videos ended about 20 years ago.
As a teenager in the 80’s, we lived for video’s after school. In LA in the early 80’s, cable was expensive – or you could not get it most places. So, we had lousy video shows. I think we finally got cable in about 1983 or 84 and became MTV junkies.
Every artist who wanted to make it would make videos. Most of them sucked. But what an industry it created. And the funny part is that MTV, who was the market for the phenomenon never seemed to make the kind of money from it that they hoped. What a shame.
The First VMA show was in 1984. Took place in New York (like MTV itself). And worked as a promotional vehicle for MTV. Why would they want to play second fiddle as a simple category at the Grammy’s or the American Music Awards?
All of these shows (like the Oscars or the Tonys or the Emmys or the Golden Globes) are all just publicity stunts to create relevance for their respective markets. They shine a spotlight on the performers and offer excuses for people who may not have bought into them to . . . go out and buy some more.
But with the VMA’s, WHY does it still exist? The market has passed. Died. Over. Yet still they persist. Glad it’s not my money paying for it.
BONUS Why Ask Why Question:
Over the weekend in Chicago, there were 19 people shot and 7 killed. Over Labor Day weekend, there were 58 people shot and 9 killed. The Question (and the bonus research assignment) What was the breakdown of race of the victims and perpetrators of these crimes?
I am pretty sure that a while back, the lamestream media put a moratorium on reporting race figures along with crime. A quick survey of news stories in Chicago will support this.
I did attempt to research why this was (specifically in Chicago). It took me 5 different searches before the Google AI would answer the question. For the most part, the AI kept telling me that “race” information WAS being collected with Crime statistics. The AI finally said this:
Media often don’t report race with crime statistics due to concerns about reinforcing racial stereotypes, potentially fueling public bias, and the potential for misuse of information by politicians. Overrepresentation of minority groups as perpetrators can create biased perceptions, while avoiding the topic entirely can also obscure crucial data and context about disproportionate impacts of crime and policing on certain communities.
Glad they finally allowed a little honesty in their results.
And, I am sure that the media or DNC will finally come out and make the accusation that Donald Trump is targeting Chicago’s lack of law enforcement as a Racial thing rather than a desire to get people to stop killing each other.
Looking at these three questionable items makes us all continue to ask, “Why Ask Why?” And continue to question. Because for these, I cannot see a “Why Not?”