Weekly Roundup: Horrendous Natural Disaster Hits, Plus Celeb Exposes, A Dark Haired Man, Female Enablers & Furious Female Foes
Week ending 17th September 2023
Well, that was a busy week again, and I had some sad news personally yesterday, so left my weekly roundup til today.
We’ve started to look at experimenting with different layouts now, just to give a bit of variety. Check out, for example, the instructions for the Week Ahead Spread I did at the start of the week, which, as you’ll see below, turned out to be surprisingly spot-on.
Readings & News This Week
Major news breaking over the weekend, to add to the general horror of the natural disasters in both Morocco and now Libya. Over the last day, there’ve been serious allegations against ex comedian and recently self re-invented conspiracy guru Russell Brand (so there’s our Dark-Haired Man) who has long, according to industry insider,s not to mention the evidence of what he’s on record saying himself, been very much a wrong’ un for years when it comes to manipulation and his treatment of women. (And no, sorry, openly admitting you’ve been a sex addict with a very murky idea of consent doesn’t absolve you from rape, no matter what his adoring acolytes are saying. The idea that the ‘powers that be’ in the UK find him any kind of a threat is also pretty laughable, imo, but it hasn’t stopped him successfully pushing this narrative among international audiences).
The usual polarisation has of course ensued, and I can’t help feeling due legal process would have been better than highly publicised tawdry expose by the press and C4, and fear the court of public opinion approach may all backfire for those who are supposed to matter most.
The constant enabling by institutions of seriously worrisome behaviour the bigger story in some ways; the same one that keeps cropping up again and again in the entertainment and other industries, esp here in the UK.
“Lessons will be learned”, they say, but sadly they never are.
Anyway, here were the readings for the week. Click on the titles for details of the analysis.
This Week: A Smart, Dark-Haired Man May Be Pushing His Luck & A Game Is Being Played; Watch Out For The Charm Offensive
A smart dark-haired man, fake flattery and charm, and all should stay alert and wise up. There’s an enemy behind that charming facade being negative and unpleasant. There could be gifts or concessions doled out by a wealthy man to gain love or approval, but legal or official intervention may come far too late to be beneficial. We may get a surprise when a more kindly-seeming senior male pours scorn over naive expressions of hope and positive thinking, and there’s a very angry woman in the picture, likely one with dark hair and she may be in the arts, who is setting a trap. Surprise or shocking news may bring tears and sorrow this week, and be warned; a game or gamble is being played regarding sticking to an agreement or promise. Someone is pushing their luck or seeing how far they can go.
Well! I’m guessing this pretty much sums up the Russell Brand saga which came out here over the weekend, certainly as regards our central figure, his unsurprising charm offensive and the legalities. I’m not sure, however, who the senior “Protective” male figure would be. (Musk has come out for Brand, but kindly Protector figure, really?) The woman, or women, are certainly raging back, but will this end up being a trap for them or him? I’d certainly say with the release of his “the Establishment Are Out To Get Me” video, Brand is seeing how far he can go and continuing to push boundaries, as he always has, but possibly so are the Times and Channel 4 who worked together on the investigation. (In fairness, as a reminder, Weinstein was also brought down initially by newspaper investigation). It may bring upset and shock to some, especially the adoring fans he’s amassed on YouTube, and there are clearly gambles galore involved, but who will eventually win the game?
Meanwhile, the rest of the analysis for the week’s readings & stories are follows: