Meditations in an Emergency

Be wild and true and undefeatable

We Americans are mired in a dire emergency that threatens us and the entire world.

The Trumpocalypse is in full-crash SHOCK AND AWE mode. We are besieged. The Demented President and his bigoted thugs have unleashed a firestorm of destruction, hatred, and stupidity. And they are planning more. As we predicted, many of their heinous and grotesque moves are straight out of the Project 2025 playbook.

Below are links to top analysts I personally trust to give us smart assessments of our five-alarm crisis.

• Rebecca Solnit is essential reading during the emergencies we face. Her newsletter: https://tinyurl.com/SolnitNewsletter

• Heather Cox Richardson: https://www.facebook.com/heathercoxrichardson/videos/590837890530283/

• More Heather Cox Richardson: https://www.facebook.com/heathercoxrichardson

• Timothy Snyder, expert on fascism: https://tinyurl.com/LogicOfDestruction

• More from Timothy Snyder: https://tinyurl.com/FascismIsHere

• Robert B. Hubbell: https://tinyurl.com/TrumpCoupUnderway

• More from Rebecca Solnit: https://tinyurl.com/SageSolnit

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"Their actions last week amount to a hostile takeover of the US government, by those who are loyal to Trump, rather than to the US Constitution. The only word that accurately describes that situation is 'coup.' Any other description is a sign of fear, submission, or surrender."

—Rebecca Solnit

Image: Tank Girl is a character created by Alan Martin and Jamie Hewlett

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WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT?

Wise words from sociologist Jennifer Walter about what is happening and what to do about it:

Overwhelming you is the Trumpocalypse's goal.

1. The flood of 200+ executive orders in Trump's first days exemplifies Naomi Klein's "shock doctrine" — using chaos and crisis to push through radical changes while people are too disoriented to effectively resist. This isn't just politics as usual. It's a strategic exploitation of cognitive limits.

2. Media theorist McLuhan predicted this: When humans face information overload, they become passive and disengaged. The rapid-fire executive orders create a cognitive bottleneck, making it nearly impossible for citizens and media to thoroughly analyze any single policy.

3. Agenda-setting theory explains the strategy: When multiple major policies compete for attention simultaneously, it fragments public discourse. Traditional media can't keep up with the pace, leading to superficial coverage. The result? Weakened democratic oversight and reduced public engagement.

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What should we do??

1. Set boundaries: Pick 2-3 key issues you deeply care about and focus your attention there. You can't track everything. That's by design. Impact comes from sustained focus, not scattered awareness.

2. Use aggregators and experts: Find trusted analysts who do the heavy lifting of synthesis. Look for those explaining patterns, not just events.

3. Remember: Feeling overwhelmed is the point. When you recognize this, you regain some power. Take breaks. Process. This is a marathon.

4. Practice going slow: Wait 48 hours before reacting to new policies. The urgent clouds the important. Initial reporting often misses context

5. Build community: Share the cognitive load. Different people track different issues. Network intelligence beats individual overload. Remember: They want you scattered. Your focus is resistance.

If you're on TikTok, below are links to two short videos that might help, too:

Firehose Propaganda

Feel all the feelings

SOME GOOD NEWS

I also recommend the writing of Jessica Craven. Below is an excerpt from her recent newsletter at https://tinyurl.com/JessicaCraven:

I’m guessing you’re ready for good news, and I’ve got some! Remember: two things can be true at once. Things are very bad, AND good things also happened this week.

So let’s take a look at what went right in a week that was otherwise exceedingly challenging. Please take this list in, savor it, and dwell on it. It isn’t doomscrolling, for a change — it’s goodscrolling!

• A coalition of non-profits, public health leaders, and small businesses sued to block OMB’s late night attempt to pause all agency grants and loans.

• The White House rescinded its illegal “freeze” after a day of ferocious backlash.The normally quiet Reddit thread of federal workers at rfednews has exploded with defiance — "We will NOT Resign, we took an oath and we will keep defending it against foreign and DOMESTIC enemies!!"

• The American Association of University Professors are saying they will completely ignore Trump's attempts to control school curriculum.

• A bipartisan coalition of 24 U.S. governors pledged to continue the country’s work toward achieving Paris Agreement goals. Representing nearly 60% of the U.S. economy and 55% of the nation’s population, Alliance members pledged to reduce collective greenhouse gas emissions by 26% below 2005 levels by 2025, a target it is on track to achieve.

• A private equity firm with a growing monopoly on anesthesia practices agreed to a federal settlement requiring it to back off its anticompetitive roll-up scheme that has cost patients millions more for vital services.

• Sacramento City Unified School District officials unanimously affirmed safety for undocumented students at their schools, saying they will refuse to cooperate with ICE or allow them on their campuses.

• A federal judge in Rhode Island granted a temporary restraining order to block Trump’s freeze on all agency grants and loans. The judge also barred the Trump administration from issuing any further directive that emphasizes a funding freeze.

• A group of Quaker meetings, represented by Democracy Forward, filed a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s plan to enable ICE agents to enter houses of worship for their immigration enforcement actions.

• TikTok influencers have been spreading information about ICE raids across the country, sometimes making it harder for agents to enforce Trump’s massive crackdown.

• Left-leaning media outlets are seeing a “Trump bump” in ratings after initially seeing a massive drop in viewership. MSNBC has seen a 61 percent bump since Donald Trump’s inauguration. The Guardian, The Bulwark and The Atlantic have also seen increases.

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ALTERNATIVE REPORTING

Let’s identify excellent journalism that deserves our support and curiosity as we weather this mayhem. Here’s a link to reliable news sources.

Go here for my list of feisty truth-seekers who will keep us informed of what's really happening (it overlaps a lot with the above list): https://tinyurl.com/AlternateMedia

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FREE WILL ASTROLOGY

Week of February 6

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Born under the sign of Aquarius, Clyde Tombaugh discovered the heavenly body known as Pluto in 1930. This was years before he earned advanced degrees in astronomy. His early education was primarily self-directed. The telescopes he used to learn the sky were built from tractor parts and old car components from his father’s farm. During the coming months, I surmise there will be elements of your life resembling Tombaugh’s story. Your intuition and instincts will bring you insights that may seem unearned or premature. (They’re not!) You will garner breakthroughs that seem to be arriving from the future.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): One of the world’s deepest caves is Veryovkina in the nation of Georgia. At its lowest, it’s 7,257 feet down. There are creatures living there that are found nowhere else on earth. I propose we make it your symbolic power spot for now. In my astrological opinion, you will be wise to dive further into the unknown depths than you have in quite some time. Fascinating mysteries and useful secrets await you. Your motto: “Go deeper and deeper and deeper.”

ARIES (March 21-April 19): The world's largest mirror isn’t an actual mirror. It’s Bolivia's Salar de Uyuni salt flat, a vast area that’s almost perfectly flat. After a rain, a thin layer of calm water transforms the surface into a perfect reflector that can be used to calibrate observation satellites. In these conditions, it may be almost impossible to tell where the earth begins and the sky ends. I foresee metaphorically similar developments for you during the coming weeks. Boundaries between different aspects of your world—professional and personal, spiritual and practical—might blur in interesting ways. A temporary dissolution of the usual limits may offer you surprising insights and unexpected opportunities for realignment. Be alert for helpful clues about how to adjust the way you see things.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): From day to day, glaciers appear static. But they are actually slow-moving rivers of ice that have tremendous creative power. They can make or reshape valleys, moving tons of dirt and rock. They pulverize, grind, and topple trees, hills, and even mountains. New lakes may emerge in the course of their activity. I invite you to imagine yourself as a glacier in the coming months, Taurus. Exult in your steady transformative power. Notice and keep track of your slow but sure progress. Trust that your persistence will ultimately accomplish wonders and marvels.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): In recent weeks, have you stirred up any dynamic fantasies about exotic sanctuaries or faraway places or mercurial wild cards? Have you delivered enticing messages to inspiring beauties or brave freedom-fighters or vibrant networkers? Have you been monitoring the activities of longshots or future helpers or unification adepts who might be useful to you sooner than you imagine? Finally, Gemini, have you noticed I’m suggesting that everything important will arise in threes—except when they come in twos, in which case you should hunt for the missing third? PS: When the wild things call to you, respond promptly.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Archaeologists found two 43,000-year-old flutes in Germany. Constructed of mammoth ivory and bird bone, they still produce clear notes with perfect pitch. They were located in a cave that contains ancient examples of figurative art. Some genius way back then regarded art and music as a pleasurable pairing! I propose we make these instruments your power symbols for the coming weeks, Cancerian. May they inspire you to resuscitate the value of your past accomplishments. May you call on the help of melodies and memories that still resonate—and that can inspire your future adventures! Your words of power are regeneration, revival, and reanimation.

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SUPPORT

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You can also buy my books at Bookshop.org: https://tinyurl.com/BookShopBrezsny

And/or buy my Expanded Audio Horoscopes and Daily Text Message Horoscopes

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Art by Wawiriya Burton

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): It's your unbirthday season, Leo—the holiday that’s halfway between your last birthday and your next. During this interlude, you could benefit from clarifying what you don’t want, don’t believe, and don’t like. You may generate good fortune for yourself by going on a quest to discover rich potentials and stirring possibilities that are as-yet hidden or unexpressed. I hope you will be bold enough to scan the frontiers for sources of beauty and truth that you have been missing. During your unbirthday season, you will be wise to gather the rest of the information you will need to make a smart gamble or daring change.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Austrian playwright Elfriede Jelinek won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2004, and Romanian-German author Herta Müller earned it in 2009. But garnering the world’s most prestigious award for writers did not provide a big boost to their book sales. In some markets, their famous works are now out of print. In 2025, I hope you Virgos do in your own spheres what they only half-accomplished in theirs. I would love for you to gather more appreciation and attention while simultaneously raising your income. According to my reading of the astrological omens, this is a reasonable expectation.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): By day, Libra-born Forrest Bess (1911–1977) worked as a commercial fisherman in Texas. By night, he created visionary paintings inspired by symbols that appeared to him in states between sleeping and waking. Other influences in his art came from alchemy, the psychological philosophy of Carl Jung, and Indigenous Australian rituals. His life was living proof that mystical exploration and mundane work could coexist. I’m hoping he might serve you as an inspirational role model. You are in a phase when you have the power to blend and synergize seemingly opposing aspects of your world. You would be wise to meditate on how to find common ground between practical necessity and spiritual aspiration. Are there ways you can unite the desires of your head and heart? Of your need for safety and your longing for adventure? Of your craving for beauty and your fondness for usefulness?

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): The first emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang, arranged for himself to be buried after death with an army of 8,000 soldiers made from terracotta, which is a clay ceramic. Joining the gang below the earth’s surface were 770 horses and 130 chariots. For over 2,000 years, this assemblage was lost and forgotten. But in 1974, farmers digging a new well found it accidentally. In this spirit, I am predicting that sometime in the next five months, you will make interesting discoveries while looking for something other than what you find. They won’t be as spectacular as the terracotta army, but I bet they will be fun and life changing.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Author Zora Neale Hurston said, "There are years that ask questions and years that answer." I will adjust that counsel for your use, Sagittarius. According to my astrological analysis, the first half of 2025 will ask questions, and the second half will answer them. For best results, I invite you to gather and polish your best questions in the next five months, carefully defining and refining them. When July begins, tell life you are ready to receive replies to your carefully wrought inquiries.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Hemoglobin is an iron-bearing protein that’s crucial to most life. It enables the transportation of oxygen in the blood. But one species, the icefish of the Antarctic seas, lacks hemoglobin. They evolved other ways to obtain and circulate enough oxygen in the frozen depths, including larger hearts and blood vessels. The system they’ve developed works well. So they are examples of how to adjust to an apparent problem in ways that lead to fine evolutionary innovations. I suspect you’re now in the midst of your own personal version of a comparable adaptation. Keep up the good work!

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Citizen of Dark Times — by Kim Stafford

Agenda in a time of fear: Be not afraid.
When things go wrong, do right.
Set out by the half-light of the seeker.
For the well-lit problem begins to heal.

Learn tropism toward the difficult.
We have not arrived to explain, but to sing.
Young idealism ripens into an ethical life.
Prune back regret to let faith grow.

When you hit rock bottom, dig farther down.
Grief is the seed of singing, shame the seed of song.
Keep seeing what you are not saying.
Plunder your reticence.
Songbird guards a twig, its only weapon a song.

~by Kim Stafford