ACCIDENTAL JOURNALIST & FRIENDS : The Rise of Citizen Journalists

by Edith Hathaway © 2017

George Webb calls himself the “Accidental Journalist,” while his admirers call him “an extraordinary and intrepid investigator” and his detractors call him (predictably) a “conspiracy theorist.” Others like him have become “citizen journalists” in recent years, joining the burgeoning ranks of on-line Independent news media. Generally they do not feel served by the mainstream media, especially during the 2016 U.S. Presidential election and dating back to 9-11 or earlier. Many citizen journalists did not plan to be journalists, but moved into it out of utter frustration with the level of information being presented on mainstream news (MSM). 

Corporatization of the news has increased notably since Feb. 1961 (with the 20-year Jupiter-Saturn conjunction cycles predominantly in sidereal EARTH signs, through 2199, but especially strong through Sept. 2100), and it has led us to this point – with more focus on news as entertainment, corporate control and profits, and far less on investigative journalists holding governments and corporations accountable. This is due to Jupiter losing the Graha Yuddha (Planetary War) with Saturn, which in EARTH signs greatly minimizes Jupiter’s ability to hold its own in Jupiterian arenas such as publishing, journalism, and education. Jupiter also rules over the nation-state as well as humanitarian and ethical concerns. During the EARTH period, Jupiter’s realm is overwhelmed by Saturn’s superior power as a planet of business, corporate control and consolidation of material resources. (This topic is covered at greater length in two of my previous articles, one on the Information Age to Surveillance State and the other on Deep State vs. Head of State.)

As a recent example, the Media Rating Council (MRC) announced on June 27, 2017 that over a 6-week period starting May 17, 2017, CNN evening news devoted 353 minutes to the (still unproven) Trump-Russia narrative, 29 min. to terrorism, 5 min. to the economy and 5 min. to trade. Also on June 27, 2017, an undercover video by Project Veritas shows CNN producer John Bonifield remarking that CNN’s Pres. Jeff Zucker instructed his producers and reporters to stay on the Trump-Russia story predominantly since it brings the network their highest ratings.

In response to this, individual citizens are looking for ways to circumvent the power of established journalism to control the message, especially when little real investigative journalism is done and misinformation abounds. Citizen journalists may differ in their political affiliations, but they are seeking truth and integrity in government over and above any given ideology.

Jason Goodman is another recent convert to citizen journalism and now a working partner with George Webb. Goodman’s YouTube news videos began in spring 2017. His first interview with Webb was released April 28, 2017. Shortly thereafter they became friends and working partners, with Webb joining Goodman at his Youtube site now officially known as “Crowdsourcethenews.”

Goodman puts it this way: “I was very fed up with the poor reporting in the news.” A director and cinematographer trained at New York University Film School, he founded 21st Century 3D in 1993, and was internationally recognized for innovation in production techniques and stereoscopic 3D technology development. When the 3-D technology wave dried up, and with it his key investments in the field, he left Hollywood and recently returned to New York City looking for something else to do. This was a full 29 years (a Saturn orbital return) since he had begun shooting stereoscopic 3D. Astrologically, this indicates he would either take off on a further chapter in the same field, or end it altogether – as happened due to the 3-D industry closing down in Hollywood. We will talk about this further when we discuss Goodman’s birth chart further below.

Goodman came up with the idea for “Crowdsourcing the news” and so began the fledgling news organization “Crowdsourcethenews,” with techniques George Webb had already been using in his video series. The intention is to bring key stories to the public via Youtube and various social media outlets. Viewers are invited to participate or comment on ongoing investigations, especially if they witnessed something relevant to the discussion or have expertise in a relevant area. Videos were and are posted daily and often multiple times daily.

Jason Goodman: “We are using the Crowdsource power of social media to put a huge think tank on a problem.” George Webb: “Our viewers often turn into contributors. This is like a family puzzle. Everybody can play.” (May 31, 2017) “This is a new kind of journalism… and it’s not about me, or some other Youtube pundit; it’s about linking up… all different kinds of experts…. What I really want to do is introduce the process [of crowdsourcing] as a better way of getting at the truth, because the current model is perverting the truth. It’s not even close to the truth, and the PPI dossier is the best example of that. It’s not about having a monopoly on the truth… it’s about form… and content … and process. It’s not about any one individual being smarter… than the other individual.” (June 23, 2017)                    From Crowdsourcethenews on Youtube

Also invited to join them was Patricia (Trish) Negron from Boston, who had interviewed George Webb prior to Goodman, and whose business background from the early 1990s is a clear asset to the team. She joins Webb and Goodman daily on Skype or in person at Goodman’s headquarters in New York City or other reporting locations, most recently London and Oxford, UK. Her Linked-in profile includes a B.S. in Criminal justice (1988), and a Certificate of Special Studies from Harvard University’s Extension School of Administration and Management (1990). From Linked-in, she is described as a “seasoned financial and business analyst with professional background in banking, brokerage and strategy consulting services around performance, branding, and operations including crisis and reputation management.”

In Jan. 2017 Negron formed the U.S. News Corps, where she says: “I’m a passionate purveyor of content that informs, excites and engages those who want to get at the truth in a world of coordinated deception and propaganda.” Coalescing with Webb’s formidable investigative skills and intelligence contacts, Goodman’s organizational skills and expertise using technology to bring people together, Negron’s mission statement coincides closely with that of Webb and Goodman:

“Our mission is to shine a bright light on the news stories that need to be told. We seek to break through official narratives and escalating censorship to find truth, supported by solid evidence. [We present] research, analysis, curation, publication & distribution of award-winning journalists and their content. We are the antidote to #FakeNews.”

From her Linked-in profile, progressive values seem to describe her well, though Negron has not yet stated any partisan political vantage point. CNN, The NY Times and other MSM outlets have called Webb and Goodman “Right Wing extremists,” but this is not based on any fact-checking. Both of them supported Bernie Sanders in the 2016 primaries, though Goodman voted for Trump in the General Election. However, themes of seeking truth and integrity in government unite all three of them with each other and with their viewers.

Far from replicating top stories of the mainstream news, their stories often precede mainstream (MSM) news stories, or at least what MSM decides to cover as official narrative, perhaps coerced or intimidated at times not to cover a particular story, such as the Seth Rich murder July 10, 2016. Rich was a Democratic National Committee (DNC) staffer in charge of Voter Data Management. At the time he was killed he was a key witness in at least two lawsuits regarding fraud alleged to be committed by the DNC and the Clinton campaign during the Democratic primaries. Rich was a Sanders supporter and said to be angered by the fraud and theft he witnessed first-hand during the Democratic primaries. His murder remains unsolved, with a great deal of evidence withheld from the public, including surveillance footage, police body camera footage, autopsy report and death certificate. The last person Rich spoke with was election fraud lawyer Bob Fitrakis. (Source: Fitrakis via George Webb)

Seth Rich was one of 7 people to die within a few short months, all of them connected to the DNC, the Clinton campaign, or Wikileaks. According to applied mathematician Richard Charnin, there is zero probability of that occurring within such a short time. He also says: “It’s not just about Seth Rich. Applied Mathematics indicates a virtual 100% probability of a cover-up.” Further, the True Vote indicates that Donald Trump won the popular vote by 48% to 44%, or 5 million votes. Hillary Clinton’s popular vote win by 2.9 million is “a myth,” says Charnin, with mainstream media pre-election and exit polls rigged for Clinton.   (See these two items in Selected References under Richard Charnin.)

While liberal MSM news appears determined to destroy the Trump presidency for colluding with the Russians to win the election (with zero proof after over 11 months of accusations and investigations), Crowdsourcethenews is investigating various other people and events focused around U.S. national security issues, and also integrity in elections and government. Proof of collusion between the Democratic Party, the Clinton campaign, and liberal MSM is undeniable, and is confirmed in part from emails released by Wikileaks July 22, 2016. But according to the Crowdsourcethenews team, there are other implications that are even more serious and far-reaching.

GEORGE WEBB

From Nov. 2016 through late June 2017 George Webb has posted over 800 videos on a daily basis on Youtube. His remarkable detective work and shrewd analysis as a citizen journalist have already earned him kudos from many corners, and has others wondering where he acquired such amazing sleuthing abilities. He credits his college roommate (“a Navy guy who trained in intelligence”) for teaching him much of what he knows about intelligence work. One of his brothers also worked in Air Force covert operations in Central America. Webb has worked as computer hardware and software salesman, also doing web analytics and network troubleshooting, some of it at McAfee, a U.S. global computer security software company. In an interview with Arlen Williams June 25, 2017, Webb said:

“Network analysis is a little bit like investigation. Instead of the entities being routers and switches and pc’s [personal computers] and laptops, they are people. Servers are like organizations and people are like pc’s. And then there are these connections, and you can look at the chatter or traffic between two points. It tells you a lot – just by metadata. So the same analysis that [Edward] Snowden did with social graphing that Michael Hayden [former NSA and CIA Director] talked about – is the same sort of thing I use in analyzing what I call “rat-lines.” [Rat-lines] are an illegal network or an illegal conspiracy.”

A brief review on how to read the North and South Indian charts.

SOURCE: Cleveland [Ohio] Vital Records Dept. Birth data: Oct. 12, 1960, Cleveland, Ohio. My speculative rectified time is 6:16 am EDT. Ascendant: 9:17 Virgo. Birth name in Ohio birth records is George W. Sweigert. Email requests to George Webb for his birth data elicited no response, and I made no progress until I learned his legal surname at birth was Sweigert. He has said publicly he was born in Cleveland, and Ohio provides open source vital records to the general public. During my phone call to the Cleveland Vital Records Dept. to obtain a birth time as a researcher, the staff member looked at Webb’s birth certificate and informed me there was no birth time listed on it. He also said this was common in the state of Ohio.

If Virgo is the correct Ascendant, it also places Sun in the Ascendant, which is an important vantage point in its own right. Webb was a college basketball star (1978-1982) at Miami University, Oxford, Ohio. In 1982 he was named an Academic All-American and an NCAA Postgraduate Scholar. He played basketball for North Side High School, Fort Wayne, Indiana, and in 2003 was named to the Silver Anniversary Team of the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame.

In his birth chart we expect to see good physical vitality and good visibility in the world. This is shown by several factors: Sun is rising in the Virgo Ascendant and is Atmakaraka (AK), significator of the soul or self, the planet at highest degree of celestial longitude in the chart. The AK can bring good fortune, especially if strongly placed, which this is. Moon in the 10th house from the Sun is good for visibility; also, a very strong Mars is aspecting the Ascendant, Sun and Moon, as well as Jupiter and Saturn. Mars at the top of the sky (10th house) has Digbala (directional strength and best angular house position) and is excellent for physical strength and dominance.

We also see a Virgo orientation to the life. The Sanskrit word for Virgo is Kanya, meaning “the maiden” or “virgin.” Its symbol is a young woman, often pictured in a boat, holding wheat (or corn) in one hand and fire in the other. The Virgo Ascendant person often attracts conflict and/or the need to correct impurities, both in food and agriculture and in mental and verbal discrimination. Otherwise, the body strongly rebels and may well suffer ill health. Being a mental sign and an earth sign, it is especially attracted to getting things done on a practical level, and may be highly skilled in debate, dealing with dissension of varying degrees, including wars, or correcting wrongs through military means, or legal or medical procedures. Mercury is planetary lord of Virgo, and where Mercury, Mars and Venus are situated in the chart will determine how this plays out in the life.

With his Mercury well placed in Libra in the 2nd house of speech, and within a few degrees of Venus well placed in its own sign, Webb is assured of having sweet and eloquent speech, even when he is discussing rather difficult and complex subjects. Venus and Mercury are great planetary friends and add personal charm. Webb also appears to be charitable to his detractors and always ready to find a new level of friendship, even in the midst of conflict. This quality supports placing Mercury and Venus in the 2nd house from the Ascendant, which is also a Raja yoga (king-maker yoga) and a Dhana yoga (wealth-giving yoga), generally raising one’s personal fortunes in life. In addition Moon-Mars is a Dhana yoga and Jupiter-Saturn forms a major Raja yoga as lords of Houses 4 and 5 together in House 4, combining angular and trinal house lords. This enabled him to have an excellent education and receive a full (basketball) scholarship to college, according to his brother David. Webb was the youngest of four brothers and one of six siblings. Their father became famous as the inventor of the cordless phone, so we see the 9th house lord (best planet in the chart) is well situated with Mercury in the 2nd house of speech and income.

Combined with the Virgo Ascendant and Sun, there is a practical focus, and Webb was well suited to the computer field, but also to journalistic and/or investigative work that involves educating the public on matters he considers important – often because he sees some level of impurity that needs to be exposed. His comparison of computer investigation to people investigation is apt, as this is clearly a person for whom information runs across many parallel tracks. He follows this easily and optimistically, optimism coming from Jupiter opposite the Moon, giving him also many choices in partnership (business and/or marriage).

He was married once on July 5, 1987, according to Oregon State records, and has two adult children. He appears to be separated or divorced at the current time, but that has not been confirmed. Saturn is also opposite the Moon, which gives steadiness and loyalty in partnership. Jupiter and Saturn in the same sign and house is a very important indicator in the life. One is often involved in the key issues of the era, and often as an entrepreneur. Jupiter is the planet of Dharma (right work and right life purpose) and Saturn is the planet of Karma (our conscious and subconscious actions on an ongoing basis). Jupiter and Saturn in the same sign lessen the confusion over dharmic/career choices often experienced by the person with many planets in dual signs. Thus, Webb would tend to go forward with any new career endeavor with a sense of conviction and a sense of the ethical foundation of his actions. Saturn in Sagittarius greatly helps along these lines, being Saturn’s most ethical sign placement.

A dual sign Ascendant (Virgo) and five planets in dual signs (Sun, Moon, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn) bestow a lot of adaptability and versatility. Decision-making regarding choice of mate or career may cause anxiety, if only because the dual sign person has so many aptitudes and interests and so many directions they could go. They often need to do at least two things work-wise, even if within the same field. In Webb’s case, his Moon and Mercury both in air signs (Moon in Gemini, Mercury in Libra) give him ease in communications and learning. With key planets in Gemini, there can be an obsession to make things accessible to others. With Webb also, the range and depth to the topics he investigates is staggering, including a lot of technical information he breaks down for his viewers. This comes from several major Raja yogas, including a Hamsa Mahapurusha yoga, Jupiter in its own sign in an angular house, adding power – a yoga he has in common with Jason Goodman

As mentioned, Moon in the 10th house is excellent for public exposure, also for political impact. And whether or not Virgo is the correct Ascendant, Moon is definitely 10th house from the Sun. One’s impact can be commanding, emotional and also profitable (Moon-Mars), as cited earlier. And just as Moon-Mars forms a Dhana yoga (the Chandra Mangala yoga – excellent for wealth), Moon-Jupiter forms a yoga that is excellent for popularity (Gajakesari yoga: the elephant/lion yoga – in which the person can walk tall in the jungle (of life), like an elephant, with the strength and daring of a lion.)

The Dasha (planetary period) timing for a 6:16 am birth time works well for his Vimshottari Dasha life-time sequence, at least the most recent ones. In his June 25-27, 2017 interviews with Arlen Williams, Webb says that he first became more seriously involved [as an activist] in 2010, when he worked on some anti-terrorism projects in Times Square with Mayor Rudy Giuliani. He protested the activities of the Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF), after they turned into a surveillance force. Webb says they intimidated local and state police by introducing night time covert action forces. Though secret presidential directives from 1999 onward have allowed the FBI and the CIA to work together to create confusion and disruption, in fact this type of infiltration has been happening since the 1940s. Webb was particularly vocal about what he observed happening with the JTTF and “this secret police force we have at night in America.” He observed that many of the so-called “great busts” of terrorists were in fact “entrapments.” Webb dates his own first “definite brushes with the FBI” from 2010, especially in protesting [current FBI Director] Andrew McCabe and his counter terrorism activities.

With a 6:16 am birth time, Webb’s 7-year Ketu Dasha begins on Sept. 25, 2009. Ketu (South lunar node) is well placed in the 6th house of conflict, but it tends to bring in a period of one’s life where materialistic matters suddenly become less important and the real essence of one’s concerns is directed elsewhere. His marriage may have ended in Ketu Dasha, while the ongoing theme of righting wrongs and dealing with conflicts is repeated. Virgo is the 6th sign of the zodiac, and Ketu is located in the 6th house from the Virgo Ascendant. Also, most pivotally, his JU-SA mutual contacts are repeated by transit in 2010-2011 when the transiting JU-SA oppositions occurred on the Virgo-Pisces axis. This, triggered his Sun and Ascendant in Virgo and the four planets in angular houses from it: Moon and Mars in Gemini, Jupiter and Saturn in Sagittarius. The exact JU-SA oppositions occurred Aug. 16, 2010 and Mar. 28, 2011. There is a long list of major events that got triggered at this time, including the Arab Spring and the Fukushima earthquake, tsunami, and massive nuclear disaster on March 11, 2011. Webb is especially concerned with the transport and use of nuclear waste and weapons.

An event that occurred in mid-August 2010 was Julian Assange’s arrest by Swedish police for sex crimes that were initially dismissed but later renewed by a different prosecutor, and obviously intended to curtail his activities at Wikileaks. This has kept Assange in legal entanglements ever since, and either in British jails or trapped at the Ecuadorean Embassy in London, UK, where he has lived under armed guard for the past five years. George Webb participated in transferring thumb drives from suppressed authors to Der Spiegel prior to Wikileaks taking over that role, at which point Webb performed the same service for them.

Prior to fall 2009, Webb’s17-year Mercury’s Dasha (Sept. 24, 1992 to Sept. 25, 2009) would have been relatively peaceful, with career advancements and personal success through ease of communications. Following the 7-year Ketu Dasha (up through fall 2016), his Venus Dasha would bring a definite positive shift, since Venus is the best planet for a Mercury-ruled chart. With the 6:16 am birth time, Webb’s 20-year Venus Dasha begins Sept. 25, 2016. The arrival of Venus Dasha would enable Webb to move forward with plans previously either thwarted or perhaps not yet fully conceived. Having worked with Wikileaks to pass on thumb drives, he was an admirer of the Bureau of Investigative Journalists and its founder Gavin McFayden, who was also a founder of Wikileaks and closest mentor to Julian Assange.

With the sudden death of McFayden on Oct. 22, 2016, and the sudden disappearance the next day of Eric Braverman, former CEO of the Clinton Foundation, Webb was galvanized to report on this series of events that no mainstream news outlet was following. [Note: Webb states McFayden’s death incorrectly on Youtube as Sept. 22, 2016.] Webb found more and more evidence supporting the thesis that both Braverman and Rich were sending thumb drives to Wikileaks. This includes John Podesta’s March 8, 2015 email citing Eric Braverman as “the leaker” of DNC/Clinton campaign emails [to Wikileaks]. (See Selected References, under https://wearechange.org) But with McFayden’s sudden death on Oct. 22, 2016, Braverman was thwarted from sending another thumb drive to Wikileaks. He was said to be shocked by what he found while cleaning up financial operations at the Clinton Foundation, which Chelsea Clinton hired him to do in 2013. Then he resigned in Jan. 2016.

Webb titles his Youtube series: Where is Eric Braverman? He lists the episodes as Day 1, Day 2, etc. based on the number of days he has been tracking Eric Braverman, plus a number of other topics he is investigating. All of it continues to spiral back to the DNC, the Clintons, the Clinton campaign, and Wikileaks, which is why he often titles his Youtube series “Hillary’s Leakers Hackers and Henchmen.” Webb identifies the Leakers as Seth Rich and Eric Braverman; the Hackers as the Pakistani Awan brothers (who managed a spy ring in U.S. Congress since 1999 plus much more, but were allowed safe passage back to Pakistan); Henchman as John Podesta; and White House connection as Robert Creamer, a Democratic Party/Clinton campaign operative. The Awan brothers are accused of stealing Congressional laptops and blackberry phones – a fact that George Webb played a key part in exposing.

After Seth Rich’s murder in Washington D.C. July 10, 2016, no death certificate or autopsy report was ever produced and much evidence appears to be either suppressed or “lost.” Webb and Goodman interview Rod Wheeler, the D.C. detective initially hired by the Rich family, and Wheeler confirms how unusual it is for there to be no autopsy report or death certificate. Braverman was last seen at the Russian Consulate in NYC on Oct. 23, 2016 (apparently finding no support from the FBI and seeking asylum in Russia), at which point he disappeared. He had been told to return one week later for a visa. He suddenly reappeared in Oxford, UK on June 23, 2017 to deliver a lecture at the Challenges of Government conference at the Blavatnik School of Government, Oxford, UK.

Webb’s journalist partners Jason Goodman and Patricia Negron went to this event in Oxford, were nearly kicked out for no apparent reason, and were prevented from speaking with Braverman as he left the lecture hall. He appeared to be heavily “managed” and “contained,” unable to speak with them even if desired. Prior to this, Webb’s intelligence said that Braverman was living on a kibbutz near Tel Aviv, Israel. Meanwhile MSM’s non-reporting on the disappearance of such a high level Clinton operative is striking. Webb was determined to investigate, and in the process he uncovered many more strands of a much larger story of criminality. Braverman and Rich may be two among many victims in this larger framework.

JASON GOODMAN

A brief review on how to read the North and South Indian charts.

SOURCE: Birth data: April 7, 1972, Bronx, New York. My speculative rectified time is 5:34 am EST. Ascendant: 24:25 Pisces. Jason Goodman gave me his birth details via email from a birth certificate. In our email exchange he said he was “inclined to accommodate this request… but based on the attacks we have been under” he thought it best “to consult an attorney before volunteering such information.” His attorney then allowed only month/day/year and location to be conveyed. I later inquired if he was born prior to 6:28 am EST (since after that the natal Moon moves from Sagittarius to Capricorn). With no response to my query, I moved on to find a speculative rectified time. As with George Webb, I found it compelling to put the Sun in the Ascendant, in this case almost exactly sunrise. This in itself is always a chart worth studying.

Jason Goodman’s natal Sun at 24:14 Pisces is closely opposite George Webb’s Sun at 25:46 Virgo. This and many other planetary configurations testify to the seemingly instant bond of friendship between them and their decision to form a working partnership almost immediately after their first interview on April 28, 2017.

There is a good chance Jason’s natal Moon is in Sagittarius with Jupiter. This gives the optimism and expansiveness that makes him want to move quickly into new territories, especially now that he has left the Hollywood 3-D scenario. With Moon in Sagittarius, the mind is flexible, the spirit is passionate and yearning to find the Truth. As with George Webb, this puts the Moon in the 10th house from the Sun, giving good personal visibility and political clout. They share the dual sign preponderance as well, in this case with Ascendant and four planets in dual signs: Sun and Mercury Retrograde in Pisces, Moon and Jupiter in Sagittarius. The same flexibility and versatility predominates, and it strengthens both Sun and Mercury to have the sign lord of Sun and Mercury – Jupiter – in the sign of Sagittarius, which it rules. A planet in its own sign is confident and comfortable in its own sign or domain. If Pisces is the correct Ascendant, it gives a sense of well-being and further self-confidence, amplified by the Hamsa Mahapurusha yoga, Jupiter in an angular house in its own sign.

His Mercury is debilitated in Pisces, but receives correction from Jupiter in an angular house from Sun-Mercury. Because of the correction (Neecha Bangha Raja yoga), Mercury – the planet of communications – may start out weak or with some disadvantage but becomes stronger over the lifetime. As a retrograde planet, Mercury may tend to go back over certain matters repeatedly. The need for review may happen also if the person feels hurt or victimized by others. Commentators at Youtube have noted that Goodman finds it harder than Webb to shake off the trolls and the detractors. He returns to the subject more often, especially when he knows he has been lied to and/or treated unfairly, including by colleagues who initially befriended them and then suddenly turned on them.

Since Pisces is both a water sign and a dual sign, there is more of a possibility of confusion on an emotional level – since water rules over the emotions and the dual nature of Pisces can bring greater emotional disequilibrium. The dual sign brings in struggle between conflicting themes, with Pisces often involving war and religion, in part due to the power of Jupiter and Mars from this Ascendant, and also religion and art. But Goodman’s strong Jupiter helps to offset some of this.

As with all water signs, Pisces brings greater intuition and connectedness to everything going on around them. Pisces is a sign of compassion and self-sacrifice, and planets in water can suffer more, as there is a more visceral experience of their surroundings and people in their surroundings. At times, it is difficult to separate from one’s environs and/or the suffering one feels from being so connected to others in the immediate and/or far-reaching environment. With Goodman, this is also combined with his technical training and precision; he is more concerned with production values, insuring the video sound and/or light are acceptable. He is the one always checking to confirm his audience can hear and see properly, and that each of those on screen can be heard and seen properly. If it is not all correct, he finds it hard to move on with the program.

As a dual water sign, Pisces is Meena in Sanskrit. In the classic work Jataka Parijata, Vol. 1, Ch. 1, v. 9; 12: “[The] sign Pisces consists of two fishes with their two tails and heads in reversed positions….The resort of Meena or Pisces is a river, the sea and similar collections of water.”

Pisces is a sign of Moksha (spiritual liberation) and a sign ruling over the classic 12th house – a house of loss and expenditure; also the highest level of the Moksha houses, ruling over spiritual growth and liberation. Moksha houses are also associated with some degree of personal suffering and loss, especially including financial loss and expenditure. The sign of Pisces is also associated with being imprisoned, or residing in a foreign country, or in a place that is separate from “normal” daily life, such as a hospital or prison, or an ashram. The classic 12th sign and 12th house are both also associated with surrender. Not that every person is going to be spiritually oriented, but the fact that Moksha plays such a large role in the Pisces Ascendant individual, it means that unless this person becomes spiritually orientated in some way, they may lose their whole identity in seeking for something. Either they put all of their efforts into something and it comes to fruition because of their intense focus on the dharmic goal, or they lose everything because they lose the emotional (or spiritual) motivation to reach the dharmic goal, whatever that may be.

Clearly, Jason Goodman is totally committed to this Crowdsourcethetruth project. And since Webb and Goodman are born 12 years apart, they share the same position of natal Jupiter. In this case Jupiter is in Sagittarius, the strongest position for Jupiter in regard to both journalism and publishing . Jupiter is in its own sign, as we have noted, and is stronger in fire than in water, though it owns Pisces and is exalted in Cancer. But in Sagittarius, Jupiter carries more of Jupiter’s fire power and less of its emotionality; more of its ethical sense of responsibility and less of the pathos and suffering of water. It is action-oriented, yet capable of changing course in mid-stream. Finally, Jupiter is strong in a dual sign, and with its orbit of 11.9 years, it unites two of the three partners of this enterprise. (Birth information from Patricia Negron was not requested, but would be of interest.)

One note about Goodman’s planets in Taurus: Venus, Mars and Saturn. Though Venus is strong in its own sign of Taurus, it loses the Graha Yuddha (Planetary War) with Saturn. This is because they are within one degree of celestial longitude. We have mentioned this regarding Jupiter and Saturn conjunctions. (Note: This rule only applies to 5 planets: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. Though there is some controversy around the rules, as classic sources differ, the rules I follow after many years of research are these: The winning planet is established in the following descending order: size, effulgence, and orbital speed. (Saturn wins over Jupiter due to its large ring system.) See my article on Graha Yuddha, giving principles and examples.

Saturn’s victory over Venus here has several effects. Generally, duty or business concerns (Saturn) prevail over the arts, luxuries, or even love matters (Venus). In this case, Venus and Saturn fall in the 3rd house of film and short distance/local travel. For Goodman, the business side overwhelmed the artistic side, making it impractical for him to carry on with his career in 3-D film technology, even with a strong Venus in its own sign. Another clue is that both Venus and Mars are in Rohini nakshatra.   Key planets placed in Rohini nakshatra tend to attract jealousy from others, and Goodman has remarked on Youtube how others in the film industry were jealous of his successes. This comes from the Vedic myth in the Puranas surrounding Rohini, who was the most beautiful of the 27 wives of the Moon (Soma, a man in this story). He was supposed to spend one night with each of the 27 wives (constellations), but Rohini was so beautiful and entrancing that he spent longer with her, causing jealousy from all the other wives. Thus Rohini nakshatra is associated with both earthly desires and artistic expression, but also with intense competition and jealousy from others.

Further describing this point, with Saturn in Taurus (EARTH) and Jupiter in Sagittarius (FIRE), and in a 6-8 house relationship, there is some unease between choosing one’s true dharma or dharmic path (right work/right purpose in life) – associated with Jupiter, and choosing the path that provides a practical business orientation (Saturn). This is simply a reality and part of one’s destiny with the planets in such a formation, notably Jupiter and Saturn, and also Venus and Saturn. But if Pisces is the Ascendant chart, there will be a great sense of fulfillment in immersing oneself completely into a cause one believes in fully. The challenge for Pisces will always be how much to surrender or sacrifice, and how to keep one’s identity in the midst of a quest that is so all-consuming. 

THE CHALLENGES OF CITIZEN JOURNALISTS

Citizen journalism is an exciting and innovative response to the real decline of journalism that can be correlated astrologically to the start of the EARTH period from Sept. 1921, with its greatest impact from Feb. 1961 to Sept. 2100, as noted earlier. Crowdsourcethenews may be typical in considering itself “a coalition of American citizens concerned about the safety of our fellow citizens, the safety of democracy in the United States, and the safety of the integrity of our government.” But since citizen journalists may threaten the status quo of the mega media and its close contacts to the CIA, they may also be targeted in ways that mimic COINTEL operations of the 1950s, 60s and 70s that never really stopped, even after the 1975 Church Committee findings. These involve technological obstructions, ongoing low-level harassment, and other actions aimed to split up working colleagues, disrupt their activities, discredit them, and create character assassination (if not physical assassination).

During the EARTH period, increasingly many true investigative journalists have suffered for “reporting the truth while those who covered it up thrived.” (Robert Parry) In 1996 American journalist Gary Webb began publishing the results of his year-long investigation of the CIA-backed Contra wars in Nicaragua. Even with exhaustive and accurate reporting, he was soon demonized by his colleagues and MSM to the point where no media outlet would hire him. He died of an apparent suicide in Dec. 2004, age 49.

George Webb (no relation to Gary Webb) has already experienced various kinds of targeting, as have his colleagues. This includes Webb’s arrest in Ohio on June 15, 2017. Webb had arrived in Ohio and was waiting to meet a contact the night of June 15th when he was arrested in Zanesville, OH. His arrest was for sleeping in a car in the driver’s seat while legally parked, and with keys “within arm’s reach.” Webb was not arrested for DUI, as was falsely reported by both CNN and The NY Times. His car was towed and bail posted at $3500, with many strictures and hurdles to paying the bond or even reaching Webb by phone in the Zanesville jail.

Astrologically this coincides on June 14-15, 2017 with the typically unpredictable and unwieldy transition of tr. Sun (or any planet) as it moves from one zodiacal sign to another, in this case from Taurus to Gemini. Tr. Sun conjoined tr. Mars in Gemini, and as it entered Gemini it formed a close opposition to Saturn retrograde in Sagittarius. Sun and Saturn are planetary enemies and their opposition indicates a confrontation with authority. Sun and Mars (the two most fiery planets) opposite Saturn denotes a serious, at times militant confrontation. Since Webb already has four planets on the Gemini-Sagittarius axis, his chart was triggered, as was Jason Goodman’s, with his natal Jupiter in Sagittarius and probably Moon as well. Further, the Gemini-Sagittarius axis constitutes a kind of giant nervous system of the world, where so much in the way of trade, travel, communications and information in general gets transferred. Dominating the air waves, the USA chart (Kelleher) has Sagittarius Ascendant and four planets in Gemini: Mars, Venus, Jupiter and Sun, in that order.

The only way the mega media could have known Webb was in Ohio was from the FBI; and though other offers came in, his bail was paid in cash by Jason Goodman, who immediately hopped a flight from NYC to Ohio to get Webb out of jail.  Goodman’s video footage at the jail confirms the true (and questionable) reason for Webb’s arrest by Zanesville police. They had been tracking Webb since his arrival, with the FBI labeling him “a suspicious person.” As a journalist investigating some very hot topics, he was probably getting too close to some real answers: a threat indeed, but to whom?

The previous day (June 14, 2017), four diplomatic containers from Pakistan arrived at the Port of Charleston, South Carolina on the Maersk Memphis, and Webb had requested that the port sweep those specific diplomatic containers for radiological materials. This was based on what he considered “urgent and credible intelligence he received from trusted intelligence sources.” Charleston authorities decided to close down the entire port, and this led to national headlines wrongly accusing Webb of “a dirty bomb hoax.” The containers were scanned, but Freedom of Information (FOIA) requests to date have been denied regarding what was in those containers and who shipped them.  They may or may not have contained hazardous materials.

More recently Maersk shipping has hit the headlines worldwide when its cyber systems were hacked on June 27, 2017 and many ports hacked around the world. George Webb had predicted that APM (cyber management) systems for all ports receiving Maersk ships would be hacked. He had been investigating Maersk for some months, including its close ties to the Awan brothers, and the danger of providing them with diplomatic immunity, enabling them to ship hazardous materials under diplomatic protection when they are also closely involved in the Pakistani nuclear program and have ties to Islamic terrorists. Webb says Pakistan has potentially the world’s no. 3 nuclear stockpile, is a world leader in depleted uranium weapons, and its development of small tactical nuclear weapons has been reported in The India Times.

Add to this the vulnerability of U.S. ports, most of which do not yet have adequate scanning equipment or trained technicians to identify hazardous materials. As Webb points out, it is not a new idea that radioactive materials being shipped around the world are a major threat. The National Academy of Sciences has said that depleted uranium presents a “clear and present danger” to the U.S. and the world. President Obama said the same in a speech Dec. 2016 regarding “dirty bombs.”

When on June 27, 2017 Maersk operations suffered cyber attacks to their IT systems across the world, it is important to understand that Maersk is the world’s largest shipping company. It has a fleet of over 600 container vessels, with one out of every 7 container vessels in the world. Coincidentally, Charleston, South Carolina is the last point of land on the North American continent for the eclipse path the day of the Total solar eclipse Aug. 21, 2017. This is the first time in 99 years that an eclipse is visible ONLY to the United States, so this eclipse will probably impact the U.S. more than any other country. In this case the eclipse path traverses the entire continental United States (see below), and is likely to have some negative impact.  While we cannot assume that locations along the eclipse path will be the most severely affected, nevertheless the coincidence of the Charleston, SC port playing a key part in this entire drama is notable, as is the seriousness of the concerns made public previously by President Obama, the National Academy of Sciences, and more recently – citizen journalist George Webb, supported by his colleagues Jason Goodman and Trish Negron.

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[UPDATE:  Aug. 2018: Jason Goodman recently announced on his Youtube channel that he is no longer in communication with George Webb, and is still awaiting the repayment of over $4000 USD in expenses that he incurred acting on Webb’s behalf in 2017.  They have not worked together for many months, though each of them maintains their own active video channel as citizen journalists.]

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[This article also appears in the July 2017 issue of Astrologic magazine, an on-line magazine.]

Copyright © 2017 by Edith Hathaway. All rights reserved.