Glenn Greenwald Challenges Mainstream Media Censorship

By Edith Hathaway © 2020

Glenn Greenwald

Censorship once mocked in the West as prevalent only in totalitarian nations is now the norm in the U.S. today. Real investigative journalism requires courage and independence to report the truth, and how this truth corresponds to reality. It is a very rare phenomenon in today’s world of mainstream journalism and social media.

In this context, investigative journalist Glenn Greenwald is a rare phenomenon, and his resignation on Oct. 29, 2020 from a publication he co-founded in 2013 and launched in Feb. 2014 (The Intercept) is a landmark event.  He has spoken out strongly against the blatant and widespread censorship by mainstream and social media in refusing to cover the news of Hunter Biden’s emails.  Specifically as well, Greenwald’s article in late Oct. 2020 on the Biden family corruption was censored by The Intercept, causing him to resign.  The Hunter Biden emails and texts reveal how Joe Biden’s family has profited by accepting huge amounts of money from China and the Ukraine in exchange for Joe Biden’s political influence.  Further corroboration on this national security scandal has come from former Biden insiders and verified by the Dept. of Justice, the FBI, the U.S. Senate, and Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe.  Previously, Greenwald has called out his colleagues in mainstream media for promoting the Trump-Russia collusion hoax, of which he was always skeptical.

In taking this latest action, Greenwald has done what few other Left-leaning mainstream journalists have dared to do: go above and beyond his own personal political orientation to cover the dangers of censorship in a democratic republic.  He also challenges political activism posing as journalism.   All the other key players at The Intercept were pro-Biden and refused to expose his scandals.  Greenwald chose to resign from his own publication (also giving up his job security) when they refused to publish any of his material challenging the mainstream narrative that the Biden family scandals were “Russian disinformation” and of no importance for U.S. citizens to consider in the last days prior to the U.S. Presidential Election on Nov. 3, 2020. Nor would they allow him to publish this material elsewhere.

“Make no mistake, the public sees the Hunter Biden and the Joe Biden family corruption story.  The DC media lost control over the public awhile ago.  The story is now about WHO is trying to hide it.”     Richard Grenell, diplomat, former Acting Director of National Intelligence, Oct. 28, 2020.

For some time I have written about the issue of corruption in the mass media.  Now it becomes more and more exposed as we approach the Jupiter-Saturn conjunction of Dec. 2020. Over the last 60 years all the arenas over which Jupiter rules (law, religion, journalism, education, the nation-state, among others) have become increasingly weakened and corrupted, often by corporate greed and/or the forces of indoctrination.  The erosion of integrity and purpose has occurred in each of these arenas, and I have said that Jupiter’s weakness from Feb. 1961 in the JU-SA conjunction at 1:52 Capricorn (sidereal zodiac) would impact the next 60 years. And we have seen this.  Then in the last year or more I have been saying that 2020 marks a turning point for the upcoming 60 years when there is a chance to see some marked improvement in all these categories. But for this to occur in a serious way the corruption has to be exposed, and very convincingly.

Astrologically this is due to Jupiter’s debilitation in Capricorn at the JU-SA conjunction, but in 1961 it was Vargottama in Capricorn, and as such repeated in many important harmonic charts in Capricorn, Jupiter’s sign of debilitation. However, with the JU-SA conjunction of Dec. 21, 2020 at 6:20 Capricorn, Jupiter goes to the Aquarius Navamsha (9th harmonic), and though still ruled by Saturn, Jupiter is no longer in its sign of debilitation.  This lessens the weakness of Jupiter and its realms over the next 60 years and brings an opportunity for some improvement – especially since this JU-SA conjunction occurs at the fulcrum point of the core of the EARTH period, i.e. the 120 years from Feb. 18, 1961 to March 14, 2080 when all but one JU-SA conjunction (in May 2000) falls in sidereal EARTH signs.  Another planetary signature from the outer planets is that after 15 years tr. Pluto exits Jupiter’s sign of Sagittarius on Dec. 30, 2020, just nine days after the JU-SA conjunction and the Winter Solstice in the northern hemisphere.

These are the larger planetary patterns that give us this general story. Adding to the planetary confluence is tr. Jupiter nearing the end of its transit through sidereal Sagittarius on Nov. 21, 2020.  Jupiter becomes even stronger when it enters Vargottama Sagittarius, from Friday, Oct. 30, 2020 at 3:37 am Eastern time.  This means that Jupiter repeats in its own sign of Sagittarius, and evokes greater opportunity for Jupiter’s various arenas to reap the benefits of exposure and public understanding of changes that need to be made.  This has a greater chance of happening during these three weeks (that include the U.S. Election), and also onward from Dec. 21, 2020, with the upcoming JU-SA conjunction.

Glenn Greenwald

Greenwald’s actions on Oct. 29, 2020 at a very specific time allow us to look at a very large issue in a more lasered-in fashion, examining one journalist dealing with one very potent current issue erupting (or not erupting due to censorship) across Western media land.  Greenwald was a litigation attorney for many years before choosing to devote himself totally to political journalism.  He is fiercely committed to issues of honesty and integrity in journalism and for this reason he drew the attention of NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden in 2013. Snowden personally chose Greenwald to convey his story for the first time to the world about the rampant surveillance being conducted of private citizens all over the world.  Greenwald documented Snowden’s story and published it in a series of articles in The UK Guardian, for whom he worked at the time.  In addition to calling out his colleagues on the Trump-Russia collusion as pure fabrication aimed at taking down a duly elected president, Greenwald has bravely spoken out about political corruption in his adopted country of Brazil.  For this he has endured false accusations of committing cybercrimes in Brazil.

A brief review of how to read a North and South Indian chart.

Source: Wikipedia.  Monday, March 6, 1967, Queens, N.Y. No birth time available. 12:00 noon used.

If born before 8:26 am EST, Greenwald’s natal Moon is in late Sagittarius. But many of his traits appear instead to support an early Capricorn Moon, as given above.  Greenwald is a tireless and diligent worker who is also extremely well organized (Capricorn).  This Moon is in close opposition to an exalted Jupiter in Cancer, creating a Gaja Kesari yoga and allowing him to rise above his peers in his field.  His expansive and optimistic nature is also typical of Moon-Jupiter close contacts.  Tr. Jupiter is especially strong as it is Vargottama and about to turn Stationary Direct at 1:02 Cancer.  Oddly, he deals with the same astrological phenomenon as Vice President Joe Biden, with an exalted Jupiter weakened by its retrograde status.  Both of them also have natal Jupiter in the Vargottama sector and near their Stationary degrees, Greenwald to Stationary Direct and Biden to Stationary Retrograde.

A Capricorn Moon in this chart also receives an aspect from natal Mars in Libra, accounting for his fiery mind, his ability to work quickly, and his tendency to get involved in some of the most hot-button issues of the day.  His natal Mars is especially strong as it is very close to its Stationary Retrograde degree at 9:48 Libra.  After Jupiter, this makes Mars the second natal planet to be very close to its stationary degree, giving it additional power.  Mars would have to be very strong in Greenwald’s chart to bestow on him the necessary courage to 1) speak the truth regardless of his political opinion and 2) to resign from an organization he co-founded, especially one in which it was understood from the outset that journalists would be protected from overlords who would forbid journalistic freedom and the push for transparency.

Mars is conjunct Ketu, giving it a more inventive, revolutionary and explosive quality.  Reading from natal Moon as a sub-Ascendant, assuming Moon probably falls in early Capricorn, this puts Mars-Ketu at the top of the chart and again tends to put Greenwald in prominent positions in his field.  Both Mars and Ketu in Swati nakshatra contribute to his tendency to be independent as well as an independent thinker. (Since 2005 he lives in Brazil with his husband David Miranda and their adopted children. Greenwald speaks two languages fluently.) Mars, in turn, is disposited by exalted Venus in Pisces, adding further to Mars’ strength and making two planets that are in their exalted signs, both of them classic benefics: Venus and Jupiter. Jupiter also aspects Venus in Jupiter’s sign, further strengthening Venus.

Natal Sun and Mercury are in the idealistic sign of Aquarius, and Mercury is retrograde. This is a good position for a journalist or a lawyer. Mercury in an AIR sign facilitates ease of communication, while Moon in an EARTH sign helps to organize the mind and the thoughts.  Mercury retrograde provides a tendency to go back over old ground, reviewing all the facts and issues multiple times before presenting them to the public.  Sometimes this can be excessive, but for a journalist or a lawyer, being careful and fluent is an advantage.  In any case, the Mars aspect to Moon helps him to work rapidly, and gives him courage.  Greenwald has always taken principled stances that put him outside of popular opinion and acceptable dialogue among mainstream corporate journalists.

On Sept. 29, 2020 tr. Saturn turned Stationary Direct at 1:12 Capricorn, and if Greenwald’s natal Moon is indeed in early Capricorn this would put increasing pressure on him externally and internally to speak his truth no matter what. Further, the Hunter Biden emails first emerged in the public realm on Oct. 14, 2020 in a story in The NY Post.  More and more corroborating information was released over successive days.  Even so, mainstream media (except for Fox News) and social media refused to cover it.  Oct. 14th is notable as tr. Mercury just turned Stationary Retrograde at 17:31 Libra the previous day at 9:06 pm Eastern time.  (Greenwald is very responsive to Mercury retrograde in the heavens since it resonates with his own Mercury retrograde.)  Tr. Mercury turns Stationary Direct on U.S. Presidential Election Day, Nov. 3, 2020 at 1:45 Libra. Often called “the October surprise,” since this story was released just prior to the U.S. Election, it seriously threatens the viability of a presidential candidate: Joe Biden, in this case.

Biden and his presidential campaign have refused to acknowledge the story’s veracity, though they never questioned the authenticity of the emails and text messages or that the laptop was Hunter Biden’s. In Oct. 2020 Hunter Biden’s lawyer even contacted the Delaware computer repair shop where Hunter had left the computer in April 2019 (and never paid for the repair job), asking for the return of the computer. Hunter left it there for over 90 days and never claimed it, after repeated requests to do so.  The computer repair man then took ownership of the computer. But after seeing dangerous and damaging material on the hard drive, he made copies and in Dec. 2019 turned the original over to the FBI.

Unfortunately, the FBI never acted on it, including during the Impeachment trial of President Trump during fall and winter 2019, when U.S.-Ukraine matters were very much in the forefront.  After getting no response from either the FBI or some unidentified Republicans, some months later the Delaware computer repair man contacted President Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani.  Giuliani checked out the laptop over many weeks and then rolled out the story in various venues.  In response, Leftist mainstream media censored the story and/or anyone who tried to pass it on, including even The New York Post itself!  This included also the social media giants, which decided – without examining the laptop themselves – that it had been “hacked.” They obviously wanted such a damaging story on Joe Biden to disappear so as not to affect his chances to win the Nov. 2020 election.  But in the process they were acting as partisan activists, abdicating any responsibilities as real investigative journalists, and imposing a totalitarian brand of censorship.

Since Mercury Stationary Retrograde coincided closely with the initial release of this story, it follows that Mercury Stationary Direct may coincide with some resolution of this story, or at least some type of bookend.  For instance, if Joe Biden does very poorly in the presidential election, this “October surprise” story could be said to play a huge role.  I believe it will play a huge role, and of course I have already predicted (since Oct. 2019) a win for President Trump. So this should just serve to magnify Trump’s win, as mainstream media’s mass censorship has only increased the public’s interest in the story and made mass media look very bad.  The exception among mass media is Fox News, which has covered the story.

Greenwald Resigns from The Intercept

A brief review of how to read a North and South Indian chart.

Source: https://greenwald.substack.com/p/my-resignation-from-the-intercept   Within this article is a text or email with the time stamp of Oct. 29, 2020, 10:20:54, Zone -3  [for Greenwald’s location: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil].  This is the exact time when Glenn Greenwald posted his extensive Resignation statement.

Here is an excerpt from Greenwald’s statement on resigning from The Intercept:

“[T]he pathologies, illiberalism, and repressive mentality that led to the bizarre spectacle of my being censored by my own media outlet are ones that are by no means unique to The Intercept. These are the viruses that have contaminated virtually every mainstream center-left political organization, academic institution, and newsroom.… American media is gripped in a polarized culture war that is forcing journalism to conform to tribal, groupthink narratives that are often divorced from the truth and cater to perspectives that are not reflective of the broader public but instead a minority of hyper-partisan elites. The need to conform to highly restrictive, artificial cultural narratives and partisan identities has created a repressive and illiberal environment in which vast swaths of news and reporting either do not happen or are presented through the most skewed and reality-detached lens.”

In his post-resignation interviews, Greenwald goes on to discuss how authoritarian the Left has become, and how they are basically intolerant of free speech, especially if it involves the presentation of opinions they do not share.  Such commentary is not unknown, but more remarkable coming from a Leftist.

With Jupiter rising in its own sign of Sagittarius in this chart, Glenn Greenwald clearly has had a profound and immediate effect with the announcement of his resignation from The Intercept. What followed was an immediate flurry of media interviews, both on mainstream and independent media, though mainly Fox News covered him in the mainstream media, in an interview with Tucker Carlson.  Jupiter rules over journalism, and to have it rising in the chart so close to the Sagittarius Ascendant is the strongest factor in the chart. This is further supported by the announcement falling on a Thursday, Jupiter’s planetary day.

The Papakartari yoga to the Ascendant is a testimony to how difficult it was for Greenwald to extricate himself from The Intercept, including efforts to try to persuade his editors that they publish rebuttal articles to his, still allowing him to publish on the Biden scandals at The Intercept or elsewhere.  A Papakartari yoga involves two malefic planets in houses either side of a given house. It is especially difficult if it involves the Ascendant or the natal Moon.  In this case, Saturn in Capricorn and Ketu in Scorpio straddle the Sagittarius Ascendant.  Even so, Jupiter in the Ascendant is said to correct 1000 doshas (flaws), as in this case, and the Ascendant is strengthened by being in the Vargottama sector of a dual sign, i.e. the last 3 degrees 20 minutes of the sign.  This gives extra strength to the Ascendant, and thus to Greenwald’s entire statement, which is essentially his major defection from mainstream media and his return to independent media.

In his resignation statement and his post-resignation interviews, Greenwald speaks passionately about how former members of the DOJ, CIA, FBI, NSA have infiltrated our mainstream media and taken over with their propaganda – through leaks and clandestine operations.  He regards this as “incredibly dangerous, no matter what your ideology,” though it currently serves the Left.  Citing these points in an interview with Tucker Carlson on Fox News Oct. 29, 2020, Greenwald defends his right to cite his views on both liberal and conservative news outlets.  Carlson congratulates him for leaving the journalistic censorship of The Intercept, and agrees with all of Greenwald’s points on the “increasingly restrictive media and political climate.”

In the Resignation announcement chart tr. Moon is closely conjoined retrograde Mars in Pisces, and tr. Mars is within 1 ½ degrees from its Stationary Direct point Nov. 14, 2020.  This combination fortifies the Moon, and both planets are further buttressed by their sign lord Jupiter being strong in the Ascendant of the chart.  All this gives urgency to the matter at hand and insures that Greenwald is heard on many platforms across U.S. media, if not even more broadly.  The high opinion in which Greenwald is held is shown by benefic Venus at the top of the chart, an  Amala yogaAmala = spotless, and this yoga gives a spotless reputation and a tendency to be well regarded across a broad spectrum of people.  In this case, even people who do not agree with Greenwald politically respect his journalistic integrity and his determination to leave no stone unturned in the process of searching for real answers to complex political events and situations.

Adding to the strength of the chart is the Parivartana yoga between Venus in Virgo and Mercury in Libra. This mutual sign exchange between Venus and Mercury involves the 10th and 11th houses. This has several benefits, including the power of effective and eloquent speech, as Mercury and Venus are great planetary friends. An exchange between the 10th and 11th houses allows the fulfillment of purpose of the event initiated with this Resignation announcement.  It marks Greenwald’s severing of relations with The Intercept after 7 years and his return to independent journalism.  In the process, he is getting a lot of publicity not just for himself, but for his exposure of the major flaws and current dangers of mainstream journalism, including in censoring a major political story that pertains to a presidential candidate.  This emphasizes the point I made at the outset, that as we fast approach the Jupiter-Saturn conjunction of Dec. 2020 we see many things exposed that need to be changed and purified over the upcoming 60 years.

There are two debilitated planets in the chart: Venus in Virgo and Sun in Libra.  Both are corrected, thus both achieve Neecha Bhanga Raja yoga status.  This reflects on a certain amount of humility and initial disadvantage involved for Greenwald to resign from this once secure position.  In addition to these two debilitated planets, there are two planets in their own signs: Jupiter and Saturn.  Moon and Mars are both fortified by being in the sign of Jupiter in the Ascendant, where Jupiter is both swakshetra (in its own sign) and also Digbala (best possible angular house).  Further, Moon is Digbala in the 4th house, and Moon and Mars are very strong in this chart, showing how innately strong Greenwald’s position is, and how much fiery passion and experience he brings to the subject.    Moon’s next aspect is to Mars in the same sign, and this reflects the immediate volume and breadth of news coverage on Greenwald’s resignation story.

The Gaja Kesari yoga (Moon and Jupiter in mutual angular houses) speaks to his popularity and high status among respected journalists.  Even so, and even with the Gaja kesari yoga, the Moon makes its last aspect in a square to Jupiter in 6 ½ degrees.  This shows that Greenwald still has a tough road to navigate in exposing those who have had an iron grip on the mainstream media and other institutions and will not let go of that grip without a big fight.  Nevertheless, Greenwald’s resignation from The Intercept and his exposure of the issues are crucial in helping the public to understand these broader issues of widespread censorship.  Greenwald’s passion and eloquence helps people to better comprehend that this is not just a passing problem but one that needs to be called out and acted upon immediately.   In fact, it could be said that the “reality wars” they wage are causing major fractures in our society and must be exposed and eliminated.

The Navamsha chart supports a more hopeful tone, with the Ascendant encased in a Shubha Kartari yoga (two classic benefits straddling the Ascendant:  Jupiter and Moon).  A Kala Sarpa yoga across the 10th house axis of career and status is powerful, and the concentration of physical planets in only three houses: Houses 2, 4, and 12 brings intensity.  Navamsha Venus and Mars are well placed in their exalted signs. Navamsha Saturn is in its own sign, and with four planets in the 2nd house of speech and income, Greenwald has his work cut out for him post-resignation, including continuing to expose malfeasance in the mainstream media.

[UPDATE Nov. 4, 2020:  Greenwald weighs in on the 2020 U.S. Election.   “The U.S. Inability To Count Votes is a National Disgrace. And Dangerous.”  See his ongoing updates on this topic.]

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Selected References

From the author:

  • https://edithhathaway.com/citizenfour/  March 1, 2015  [This article includes analysis of Greenwald’s chart, presenting a case for a possible Gemini Ascendant. There is also material on Greenwald’s close associate Laura Poitras.  They worked together on documenting Edward Snowden’s explosive revelations in June 2013 and co-founded The Intercept in 2013, along with Jeremy Scahill.  The Intercept was funded by e-bay’s co-founder Pierre Omidyar and his First Look Media.]

From other sources:

  [This article also appears in the Nov. 2020 issue of AstroLogic magazine, an on-line magazine.]

Copyright © 2020 by Edith Hathaway. All rights reserved.