More Moon in Taurus, sign of creature comforts, as the snow continues to fall here in New York. My pantry is stocked, and so long as there’s no power outage (which I am not anticipating), I’ll be happily engaged in a full day of appointments, with no need to leave the home office. Planetary patterns are mostly easygoing, save for a challenge between the status quo-preferring Moon and stubbornly revolutionary Mercury in Aquarius at 11:55AM ET. Which will prevail?

Look back to two weeks ago, when there was an easy connection between Mercury and Uranus. How were you thinking outside the box? Your innovative genius gets a second look just after midnight, as that Mercury-Uranus connection repeats itself. Adjust as required. Plans may be finalized around March 1st, when the pattern makes a third connection and concludes the cycle.

Also of note: Venus — which refers to love, attraction, values, women, money and art — enters Pisces today at 10AM ET. No more Venus in Aquarius social scientists who blithely proclaim “I love you, but don’t take it personally”. Venus in Pisces is soulful and compassionate. See if you notice the shift.

Get it off your desk if you can today; Moon goes void on an expansive connection with Jupiter in regal Leo, suggesting an indulgent evening…and doesn’t enter the next sign — Gemini — until 5:36PM ET on WEDNESDAY.

And now, the news.

Big blizzard on the East Coast. Happy Mercury retrograde travel delays! How about communication snafus? Sarah Palin experienced one on Saturday, when her teleprompter allegedly failed while she was making a speech. The result was a train wreck, apparently, according to numerous reviews by conservative commentators, including this one published in the Washington Examiner:

…her “long, rambling, and at times barely coherent speech left some wondering what role she should play in Republican politics”.

Don’t let this happen to you! If you’re giving a speech in the next two weeks, make sure your tech support folks have triple-checked everything. Also make sure you’ve got notes in your pocket as a back-up, if tech supports fails.

Meanwhile, I am still having trouble receiving emails sent from my website. So if you’d like to schedule a consultation, please either call me (what a novel concept) at this number — or send an email directly to eg at graceastrology dot com. Tech snafus aside, Mercury retrogrades are excellent times to review your life with your astrologer.

As the Uranus-Pluto square approaches its seventh hit, we are sure to see more and more incidents of shocks and explosive actions. One that happened yesterday also has a lesson to tell about Saturn (control, reality check) in Sagittarius (broadcast media, beliefs, righteousness). It involves a TV news promotions producer who committed suicide outside Fox headquarters here in New York. The promo producer was fired from his job at the Fox affiliate in Austin back in May. One can imagine that this man might have had significant mental health issues, as losing a job — however upsetting — does not mean the end of the world for most of us. But here’s the Saturn in Sagittarius lesson:

A promo producer’s job is to get your attention and convince you to watch the actual news broadcast. Back in February, you may remember a story about a pretty blonde college student who went jogging in Austin and was arrested for jay walking. Read the details here.  A photo of her in tears, on the ground and handcuffed, went viral. The promo producer put that photo on the Fox affiliate’s website, hoping it would get viewers to tune in.

Soon thereafter, the Austin police chief was asked at a press conference about the arresting officers’ seemingly overly aggressive tactics. The police chief reacted defensively and said something totally outrageous, for which he eventually apologized. The promo producer used a shot of the police chief at the press conference and placed it next to the photo of the woman jogger on the Fox website. It was a provocative contrast.

The Saturn in Sagittarius lesson here is that the police chief did not like the photo — so much that, according to the promo producer’s boss, he would not give the TV station any more one-on-one interviews. Restricted access (Saturn) for that TV station (Sagittarius). The boss was not happy. He thought the photo the promo producer used made the police chief look like “a buffoon,” if the recording of the conversation made by the promo producer is authentic. Does it look that much different from the one that ran in the New York Daily News? Why, when the police chief refused to grant the TV station any more interviews, didn’t the station make that a news story?

Welcome to the reality of news — if you weren’t already aware of it.  Check out what Meet the Press host Chuck Todd had to say when asked why reporters do not ask tough questions of certain interview subjects; this happened in late December, a few days after Saturn entered Sagittarius. Who really controls the news? The next couple of years will bring more awareness on this topic, I’m sure.

This New Moon cycle suggested the potential for big ideas with sweeping consequences. Today the Obama Administration announced its intention to “dramatically change how doctors are paid”.  I hope the plan also includes ways to dramatically change how some nursing homes are collecting their debts (a must-read for anyone planning to grow old someday). Elsewhere, the Koch brothers announced their intention to spend $900 million in the 2016 elections, as ad sales reps for media outlets across the nation surely cheered….