SOUTHWEST
Metal Star 6 (associated with government leaders) in the southwest meant that governments in southwest regions would play a part in triggering economic growth and increased commerce. However, because Star 6 was untimely, we forecasted that wealth for leaders and supervisors would come with complaints and dissatisfaction from their staff or civilians. Early last year, the United States House of Representatives introduced an economic recovery stimulus package that entailed spending roughly $550 billion and making tax cuts of $275 billion. Appropriations Committee chairman, Representative David R. Obey commented, “You have to look at this bill as not a salvation for the economy by any means. It is simply the largest effort by any legislative body on the planet to try to take government action to prevent economic catastrophe, and even that may be insufficient.”

NORTHEAST
Star 3 in the northeast had the potential to bring pediatric digestive ailments acquired from polluted or contaminated food. Among several cases of food quality control issues, one of the headlines in 2009 was the tainted baby formula in China that killed several infants. Gardiner Harris of the New York Times also reported that food safety was no longer improving, and that the number of diagnosed cases of illness caused by bacterial infection, such as salmonella, was rising. Among those affected, children under 4 years of age were sickened more than any other group, and adults over 30 years old suffered more hospitalizations and death due to food poisoning than usual.

The wood energies of Star 3 conflict with the northeast earth energies. Because Star 3 relates to political issues and scholarship, and the northeast is associated to children, we forecasted that children’s education would likely suffer in 2009. In his article, “Peering at the Future”, Bob Herbert of the New York Times reported that education funding and performance level was declining in the United States compared to the rest of the world. The latest stats revealed that an American student drops out of high school every 26 seconds.

On a broader scale, New York Times reporter Paul Krugman pointed out that America led the way in universal basic education from the 19th Century through the 20th Century, and the results were economic success. He stated, “…our college graduation rate [is] slightly below the average across all advanced economies.” Without good college education, the average United States citizen is less likely to get a full time job, deepening the economic crisis. As Krugman pointed out, “…we need to wake up and realize that one of the keys to our nation’s historic success is now a wasting asset. Education made America great; neglect of education can reverse the process.”