Tom Tomorrow

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Is It Already April 1st?

We’re Not the Boss of A.I.G.
by CARL ICAHN

BARNEY FRANK, the Massachusetts Democrat who heads the House Financial Services Committee, recently said that the government should sue American International Group to recover the $165 million in bonuses it paid to executives in its financial products division. “We own this company, in effect,” Mr. Frank said, referring to the government’s 80 percent stake. “As the owners of the company, we do not think we should be paying bonuses or should have paid bonuses to people who made mistakes, who were incompetent.”

Sadly, though, under American corporate law share ownership does not count for much. Mr. Frank might be surprised to learn that a lawsuit would have almost no chance of success in court, even for a majority shareholder like the government. A.I.G. would most likely argue that the oft-cited “business judgment” rule gives management wide latitude to set compensation without shareholder interference. What the government should have gotten was board representation in return for its large investment in A.I.G.

Now, barring political resolution (including a confiscatory tax or a voluntary surrender of bonus money), the government’s choices are limited to exercising the rights of a shareholder. Perhaps one silver lining to this debacle is that it will finally alert Washington to the lamentable state of corporate governance in America. Our legislators will find — as I have as a shareholder who has waged many battles to get on corporate boards — that the rights of the shareholders are quite circumscribed...

Click Here For Bull Full Opinion

Op-Ed Published: March 28, 2009
The New York Times

Note: Advertisement by The Cato Institute published in The New York Times

For The Record

The Richmond Library
WILL BE CLOSED
This Friday,
March 27th 2009
Sorry for any inconvenience

^Signage posted at said Library Branch^


More Library Info:

Group hissing over broken boiler that closed branch

The Eastwick Library Branch has been left out in the cold for almost two months now, and the Coalition to Save the Libraries believes the city is just telling stories.

Mayor Nutter tried to close Eastwick and 10 other branches in a cost-cutting move in December, but Judge Idee Fox thwarted him, ordering all the branches to remain open.

But the library coalition has learned that the Eastwick Library, at Island Avenue and Lindbergh Boulevard, had closed, despite the order.

The coalition sent a letter to Fox and Nutter on Friday demanding that the library be reopened, saying patrons were being deprived its valuable resources.

Kathleen Dougherty, assistant vice president of communications and development for the Free Library, said that the branch checked out of business on Jan. 24 due to a broken heating system.

"There is no money available for the repair in the city's capital budget," Dougherty said, noting that the building's boiler is what has kept library patrons out in the cold.

The coalition said it thought the city was using the broken boiler as an excuse.

"The City has used excuses like the inability to staff the library with sufficient security guards and the unwillingness to pay to fix the boiler," the letter reads.

Dougherty said that the branch will reopen when it's warmer.

"We are hopeful that we will be able to open sometime in April," she said, "but that will be weather-dependent."


Article written/reported by JESSICA BAUTISTA
Published Wed, Mar. 25, 2009
Page 6
Philadelphia Daily News

Diet & Exercise

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

12 oz. coffee (light/sweet)
1 hash brown bar
cup of coffee (light/sweet)
pint of lager
12 oz. coffee (light/sweet)
2 cans of beer (12 oz. apiece)
2 pints of lager
12 oz. coffee (light/sweet)
2 pints of lager (*)
5 situps


(*) plus additional pint of lager

Random

MOVING INTO THE 21st CENTURY WITH
THE CCSOO

We are now “on line” with all of our assignments. To join us on the information highway, simply follow the directions below. Welcome to the CCSOO assigning program.
*NOTE: If you have paid your 2008-09 dues (associate members: $20, CCSOO members- $40), then go directly to line 7 after getting into web site (lines 1,2)

1) Go to web site by typing: www.assignbyweb5.com/ccsoo (all lower case)
2) Go to Enter Basketball Site by clicking on words, not picture.
3) Go to second box marked “User Registration” Click on
4) Fill in ALL boxes with your information, including the first box which you should mark “Official”.
5) Click on Register at the bottom and your information will then be available to me for me to “approve” as a user of this web site.
6) Once I approve you (it will be a few hours, or a day at most (once I receive your dues check)), you will then be able to use the web site.
7) Next time you go on, use the LOGON entry.
8) You LOGON by using the first initial of the your first name and your full last name, SKIPPING NO SPACES and all in LOWER CASE. For PASSWORD, enter upper case CCSOO. Once you get into your next screen, you may change your password to suit yourself.
9) Now it’s time to check your schedule. You will see a box with MASTER SCHEDULE, click on and you will find a spot to click on Search. The program will list all of your assigned games and you may see additional information on a specific game by clicking on the number to the left of the individual game. This will give you all information for the game/school assigned. We will be assigning all of the games by the end of November, so it is important that you either approve or turn back all individual games by 11/30.
10) If you have any questions or need to contact the AD, you may contact the AD/School via e-mail by clicking on their e-mail address or by phone.
11) Now let’s look at some of the other features.
12) Update user information is where you can add or change personal information about yourself, including e-mail address, phone, address, etc. Be certain to click on bottom entry key on this page to make these changes enter into the program.
13) Change Password is to be used immediately so that we know you have successfully entered the database and have checked in. Just go to OLD Password, type ccsoo and then go to New Password and enter your own. Make it all lower case and keep it simple. Type again on verification line and enter by clicking on key at bottom.
14) Availability Calendar: If you know days you cannot work, simply place cursor on that day’s date and click to change box to red. This closes that date and you will not receive any games that day. If you have a specific time you can work, type that in the box within that date. Be sure to click on update button at bottom.
15) Concierge is a “Map Quest” program that tells you the location of the school.
16) Contacts lists all of the ADs, Coaches, Officials, and Observers (Observers are not listed at this time). To e-mail anyone, just go to this list and click on box containing the e-mail address of that person.
17) Questions: call Bob Gottschall at 610-692-9668. The 610-692-9668 is also the line for faxing so if that is busy, either e-mail (rhgott@comcast.net) me or wait for a short period of time to try to make contact. I would suggest e-mail (see refs’ list and my e-mail address).

Thanks for your cooperation, and again, Welcome to the new CCSOO assigning system!
Bob Gottschall


Footnotes:

Photo - Orcus of the Outer Solar System

via: Astronomy Picture of the Day

Explanation: A newly discovered object in the outer Solar System moves like an anti-Pluto. 90482 Orcus was first discovered in 2004 and is slightly smaller than Pluto, although still one of the largest Kuiper belt objects known. Orcus may one day have the same IAU designation as Pluto: a dwarf planet. Orcus and Pluto have similar orbits: each achieves nearly the same maximum and minimum distances from the Sun, each orbits on a similarly shaped ellipse, and each orbital ellipse is tilted toward the other planets' orbital ellipse by roughly the same angle. The great mass of Neptune causes each to circle the Sun twice for every three Neptune orbits. Orcus is like an anti-Pluto, however, because the two objects always remain across the Solar System from each other. Orcus can be found as the spot near the center of these discovery frames moving slightly down from the top. Until the end of next week, the discoverers of Orcus ask for your help in naming its newly discovered moon.


Basketball:

Download Info/Icon left on public library terminal at Free Library of Philadelphia (Port Richmond Branch)

Fridge/Freezer (Update) Plus Other Foods

Most Recent Cookie Fortune:

Love goes nowhere uninvited

Learn Chinese - Beverage; drink

yin liao

Lucky Numbers:

23 56 46 17 42 50


Previously: Two Fortunes In Single Chinese Cookie (2 in 1)

First Read:

The job is well done.

Daily Numbers: 4 5 7
Lotto Six #'s: 72 24 78 45 23 15

Second Read:

You are loyal to your family.

Daily Numbers: 5 0 4
Lotto Six #'s: 4 15 32 67 12 37

On This Date In History

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Today is Wednesday, March 18th
The 077th day of 2009.
There are 288 days left in the year.

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Today's Highlights in History


On March 18, 1965, the first spacewalk took place as Soviet cosmonaut Aleksei Leonov left his Voskhod 2 capsule and remained outside the spacecraft for 20 minutes, secured by a tether.

On March 18, 1837, Grover Cleveland, the only U.S. president who served two non-consecutive terms, was born.


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On this date in:


1766 - Britain repealed the Stamp Act.


1837 - Grover Cleveland, the 22nd and 24th president of the United States, was born in Caldwell, N.J.


1909 - Einar Dessau of Denmark used a shortwave transmitter to converse with a government radio post about six miles away in what's believed to have been the first broadcast by a "ham" operator.


1922 - Mohandas K. Gandhi was sentenced to prison in India for civil disobedience.


1925 - A tornado with a base nearly a mile wide tore a destructive path 219 miles from southeastern Missouri across Illinois and into southwestern Indiana. With 695 killed, it is the deadliest tornado in U.S. history.


1931 - Schick Inc. marketed the first electric razor.


1937 - A gas explosion at a school in New London, Texas, killed more than 400 people, most of them children.


1940 - Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini held a meeting at the Brenner Pass during which the Italian dictator agreed to join in Germany's war against France and Britain.


1959 - President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the Hawaii statehood bill.


1962 - France and Algerian rebels agreed to a truce.


1974 - Most of the Arab oil-producing nations ended their embargo against the United States.


2000 - Taiwan ended more than a half century of Nationalist Party rule by electing opposition leader Chen Shui-bian president.


2002 - Brittanie Cecil, 13, died two days after being hit in the head by a hockey puck during an NHL game between the hometown Columbus Blue Jackets and the Calgary Flames.


2005 - Doctors in Florida, acting on orders of a state judge, removed Terri Schiavo's feeding tube. (The brain-damaged woman died 13 days later.)


2005 - Former Connecticut Gov. John G. Rowland was sentenced to a year in prison and four months under house arrest for corruption.


2008 - Democrat Barack Obama confronted America's racial divide head-on with a speech in Philadelphia in which he urged the nation to break "a racial stalemate we've been stuck in for years."


2008 - Oscar-winning filmmaker Anthony Minghella ("The English Patient") died in London at age 54.

Republicans Respond

Senate Republicans and Judicial Nominations

To the Editor:

In “Who’s Filibustering Now?” (New York Times Editorial, March 9th), you criticize Senate Republicans for writing the president with suggestions for a smooth confirmation process for federal judges.

First, we did not insist that “Mr. Obama begin by appointing holdover Bush nominees.”

Rather, we noted that it would show that the president is serious about changing the tone in Washington if he nominated a few Republicans.

The Times did not complain when President George W. Bush nominated the Democrats Roger Gregory and Barrington Parker to the circuit courts. It is curious that it now urges President Obama not to practice the same sort of bipartisanship.

Second, The Times noted that it is entirely “appropriate” to request that the president consult us on nominees from our own states. Yet it seems to complain that we expect Senate Democrats to enforce that practice just as they insisted it be enforced during the Bush administration. It is unfortunate that the importance The Times places on the Constitution’s advice and consent requirement varies with the occupant of the White House.

Mitch McConnell
Senate Minority Leader (Republican)
Washington D.C., March 10, 2009


Unrelated:

Ex State Senator Fumo Guilty on all 137 counts of Conspiracy, Fraud, Tax Offenses and Obstruction of Justice; Faces 10 years or more

The FBI pursued him for four years. Its agents interviewed more than 350 people and compiled documents that filled 240 boxes. Yesterday, a jury of 10 women and two men wrote the finish. They found Vincent J. Fumo to be a corrupt politician who abused his power to enrich himself.

Click Here For Complete Article

For The Record

The Fishtown Community Branch of the Free Library of Philadelphia was closed on March 13, 2009, so Fishtown library branch employees could cover staff shortages at other library branches in the city of Philadelphia.


Editorial Update:

Library Funding - Worth checking out

City Councilman Bill Green's proposal for dedicated Free Library funding isn't exactly far-fetched, so Mayor Nutter overreacted Friday when he branded the idea as "fiscally irresponsible."

In several other Pennsylvania counties and municipalities in this region, as well as across much of New Jersey, libraries receive some form of dedicated funding.

That doesn't mean Green's plan should be implemented, however. But it does deserve a serious review by Council, particularly given the critical importance of preserving viable library services in Philadelphia.

Green's proposal, cosponsored with five others on Council, is straightforward. Under state law, voters can be asked to approve a referendum that would dedicate a fraction of the city real estate tax millage to the Free Library.

"Let's ask the voters if libraries are such an essential service that we should have separate dedicated funding," Green explains.

The library earmark wouldn't represent a tax increase, since the city's overall tax rate would remain stable. Libraries, though, would be assured of their slice of the fiscal pie.

Green's intent would be to generate the same level of funding that Nutter is expected to propose in his new budget this week. That wouldn't solve all of the Free Library's money woes. The mayor still faces a challenge to keep the lights on in as many library branches as possible.

There may be downsides to the plan that should be weighed. For instance, a dedicated tax for libraries might only further tie the hands of the mayor in setting budget policy.

Under current rules, the mayor can balance the need for library funding against the whole array of other critical city services. He's fully accountable for all of those decisions, and there's a value in having that flexibility in crafting the city budget.

There's also the slippery-slope effect: While state law does not provide specifically for similar tax set-asides for other city services, officials could come under public pressure to declare set funding levels for fire stations, trash collection, and the like. That would erode further a mayor's ability to manage City Hall.

The practical effect of a dedicated library fund could be to delay or even postpone the broader, dispassionate review of the library system and staffing: Can and should all of the branches continue to be funded, given the city's population decline and revenue crunch?

At the same time, the city should work with the Philadelphia school district to see if joint funding is a solution, since the district essentially uses some branches in place of its own libraries. More broadly, the energetic group of advocates who rallied against 11 branch closings last year should develop a plan to adopt libraries and identify private funding to underwrite branches.


The Philadelphia Inquirer
published Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Matchbook Mantras

Music Truisms

No. 63

Music has the strength of freedom

Do not distribute these matches
or tobacco products to minors

(c) 2005 RJRTC


Music Truisms

No. 111

It's the only language in the world that everyone understands

Do not distribute these matches
or tobacco products to minors

(c) 2005 RJRTC

The Church & Conservatives Reply

Letters: Taking Exception
Science is not value-free

In response to your editorial "Stem-cell research: A return to science" (Tuesday), President Obama's decision to lift restrictions on federal funding of human embryonic stem-cell research does not separate ideology from scientific inquiry, but confuses them. It is based on an illegitimate premise that science is value-free and not in need of appropriate ethical restraints.

The Catholic Church embraces sound scientific inquiry and promotes the use of scientific research that ensures the common good and the dignity of the human person. But the church will always speak out strongly against the false ideology of scientism, which makes illegitimate use of science to achieve ends that run contrary to the good of human society.

The president's executive order has opened a Pandora's Box of ethical problems that will never be solved by the underlying utilitarian principles that guide a large percentage of the scientific community. Scientific research should not be done simply because it can be done. The Catholic Church must speak out against the false values that masquerade in the form of true ones. The president's executive order is one such instance.

In the words of Cardinal Justin Rigali, chairman of the U.S. bishops conference's pro-life committee, the executive order is "a sad victory of politics over science and ethics."

Father Dennis J. Billy

John Cardinal Krol Chair
of Moral Theology
St. Charles Borromeo Seminary
Overbrook


More:


Christine M. Flowers: Paging Dr. Frankenstein..


WHEN President Obama lifted the ban on federal funding of embryonic stem-cell research, the supporters screamed in joy - "Science over ideology!" - like charismatics at an old-time revival.

Ironically, these advocates of unfettered embryonic experimentation are just as ideological as they accuse the other side of being. The difference is that for them, science is the creed, and blind faith the commandment.

I can't say I'm surprised at this development. We who champion life over choice saw the writing on the wall months ago. During the campaign, Obama didn't hide his liberal stance on abortion rights, one that put him far to the left of most Americans, including many in his own party.

Still, I'm deeply troubled by the self-congratulatory rhetoric from the president's supporters who claim that the debate has been moved to a higher ground.

That's code for "Listen up, knuckle-dragging Neanderthals. You had the audacity to believe that a passel of cells are more important than real humans, and that you could shove your religion down our throats?"

And so, the many Americans who believe that one form of human life shouldn't be exploited to serve another have been put in our places. Shown up for the heartless creatures we truly are - people who want Michael J. Fox and children confined to wheelchairs to suffer endlessly.

Well, before they get too excited about all this brand-new lab material, I have a message for the starry-eyed science-worshippers:

Don't kid yourselves into thinking that ideology has been purged from this debate. It's still there, guiding the presidential pen, allowing tax dollars to be used for ethically questionable initiatives. It's the ideology of scientific arrogance.

The Wall Street Journal said it best: "The question of whether to destroy human embryos for research purposes . . . is . . . about how we will treat members of the human family at the very dawn of life; about our willingness to seek alternative paths to medical progress that respect human dignity . . . we can only hope, in the years ahead, that scientific creativity will make embryo destruction unnecessary and that as a society we will not pave the way to the brave new world with the best medical intentions."

Now that they have a sympathetic president, scientists don't need to be creative anymore. They don't need to seek those "alternative paths," even those that have shown a great deal more promise than embryonic research. Fortunate for them, since they might actually be able to see that medical progress and ethics aren't mutually exclusive.

The problem isn't that scientists actually delight in the destruction of innocent human life. It's more that many of them - and the supporters of their research - consider the work to be above the mundane quibbles and qualms about morality that trouble the rest of us - beyond the slippery slopes, immune to Pandora and her infamous box.

Those scientists and their supporters are ordinary folks who believe they're on a divine mission to alleviate human suffering (even though some don't believe in an actual divinity).

Unfortunately, that's sometimes a simple-minded definition of progress. Especially if you define "progress" as allowing a paralyzed child to walk again, it's hard to argue that a few cells containing all the elements of humanity deserve protection as well.

That's the insidious dilemma for opponents of embryonic research. We have to confront family members who are desperate to ease a loved one's pain. Have to explain why it's wrong to experiment on embryos that would otherwise be destroyed. (Even have to deal with liberals who have, miraculously, discovered a deep affection for Nancy Reagan.)

If we point out that, despite life-saving need, indiscriminate organ-harvesting is against the law, or stealing tissue from a corpse is a crime, even for someone who really "needs it," they don't listen.

Well, maybe this will register.

With a stroke of his pen, the president has, for the moment, ended the debate on whether we should enter this brave new world. Now it's just a question of how far in we will travel, how much power we'll give the priests of science. What was that about the death of ideology?


published Friday, March 13, 2009
Philadelphia Daily News


Non-Bonus Round:

Politics - President Obama's Stem Cell Stand Is Immature by Charles Krauthammer

Last week, the White House invited me to a signing ceremony overturning the Bush (43) executive order on stem cell research. I assume this was because I have long argued in these columns and during my five years on the President's Council on Bioethics that, contrary to the Bush policy, federal funding should be extended to research on embryonic stem cell lines derived from discarded embryos in fertility clinics.

I declined to attend. Once you show your face at these things you become a tacit endorser of whatever they spring. My caution was vindicated...

Click Here For Complete Editorial

GRINGO (2009)

Coming in April, 2009. Circus Devils goes acoustic! The life and times of the Gringo told in a cycle of songs with moods ranging from jubilant to melancholy to mean.


Produced by Todd Tobias. Voice, lyrics and cover art by Robert Pollard. Music by Todd Tobias and Tim Tobias.

Track listing: 1) Witness Hill 2) Every Moment Flame 3) Ships From Prison To Prison 4) Bad baby Blue 5) Easy Baby 6) Before it Walks 7) Monkey Head 8) When the Beast Falls Down 9) Letters From A Witch 10) Arizona Blacktop Company 11) Hot Water Wine 12) In Your Hour of Rescue 13) Ants 14) Stars on all Night 15) The Gasoline Drinkers 16) Yellow Cloud (inst.)


Note: Circus Devils link streams three songs from Gringo plus additional songs from their previous six albums

Diet & Exercise

Saturday, March 7, 2009

16 oz. coffee (light/sweet)
12 oz. can of beer
4 pints of lager
5-6 handfuls of salted popcorn
med coffee (light/sweet)
2 soft pretzels
sm light coffee (12 fl. oz.)
2 pints of lager
5 sit-ups



"I want to be drunker than Meatloaf and fatter than Elvis."

-- Robert Pollard

Rex Morgan, M.D. (Master of Unintentional Humor)

by Woody Wilson & Graham Nolan


About The Comic:

Created in 1948 by the late Dr. Nicholas P. Dallis, a psychiatrist from Scottsdale, Arizona, Rex Morgan M.D. continues to be the quintessential family practice physician.

Dr. Dallis created Rex Morgan not only as an exciting and entertaining comic strip, but also as an educational tool: a comic strip that would heighten the awareness of readers about the importance of modern medicine.

Over the years we have seen Rex deal with the compelling medical and social issues of our times — drug abuse, domestic violence, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, diabetes, organ transplants, adoption and sexual harassment, just to name a few. There have been more than a few documented cases in which readers were actually able to identify illnesses in themselves from information presented in Rex Morgan M.D.

The strip's realism has made it a valuable resource for health care professionals around the country. The Leahy Foundation used a Rex Morgan series on epilepsy as a teaching tool for professionals and students at Harvard University. The Cuyahoga County Witness/Victim Service Center Family Violence Program in New York used a Rex Morgan segment in its handbook for battered women.

Rex Morgan M.D. appears in over 300 newspapers nationwide, and with an estimated 30 million readers every day in the United States and 14 foreign countries, Rex continues to be one of the most well known and best-loved physicians in the world."

For The Record

The Richmond Library
WILL BE CLOSED
This Saturday,
March 7th 2009
Sorry for any inconvenience

^Signage posted at said Library Branch^


Note:

The Fishtown Branch of the Free Library of Philadelphia was closed on February 21, 2009 in order to cover staff shortages at other branches in the city.


More Library News (State Level):

Rendell: Staff cut at library in error

He said his budget proposal mistakenly indicated a 90% reduction at the State Library, not the real 50%

HARRISBURG - Apparently, doomsday has not arrived at the historic Pennsylvania State Library.

In his February budget address, Gov. Rendell proposed chopping library funding in half, from $4.84 million to $2.39 million, a steep cut in a lean budget laden with across-the-board reductions.

But yesterday, Rendell said a figure published in his budget proposal that projected a 90 percent staffing reduction was wrong.

Rendell said he would never allow staffing to get to the point where the library would have to close.

He said the library's 50 percent cut would mean a similar staff cut - from 56 to about 28 employees. But more jobs could be preserved if savings can be found in other areas, said his spokesman, Chuck Ardo.

One of Pennsylvania's four major research libraries, the state library was founded in 1745 by Benjamin Franklin. Across the street from the Capitol, it houses the state law and education libraries, and has one of the largest newspaper collections in the country.

State Librarian Clare Zales said she was assessing the role of the library with the goal of trying to balance materials preservation and access.

Nevertheless, she said, with fewer employees, hours and services will be reduced.

Library advocates say there is little doubt the cuts will have a "negative impact" on services such as interlibrary loans and research requests.

"It's not an operation loaded with people sitting around doing nothing," said Glenn Miller, executive director of the Pennsylvania Library Association. He said the smaller cuts would be "clearly a step in the right direction, and we welcome it."

As to the budget book figure, Ardo said, "We are trying to determine exactly where that number originated and how it got into the book."


Reported by Amy Worden (Harrisburg Bureau)
The Philadelphia Inquirer


Update: Letter To The Editor

Library help

Public-education champion Gov. Rendell may be "committed to libraries," but not in any positive sense.

Pennsylvania public libraries now rank 38th nationally in per-capita funding, a decrease from the 36th- percentile ranking that horrified Philadelphians and the nation when The Inquirer wrote about it in 1998. The "fiscal reality" is that Pennsylvania libraries continue to trend downward, experiencing cut after cut. Will Pennsylvania's governor count himself as an advocate when Pennsylvania is at rock bottom?

It is tragic how Pennsylvania's elected officials continue to starve this most important legacy of Benjamin Franklin, this most democratic American institution of them all, our much-needed, much-utilized public libraries.

Anne Minicozzi

Trustee, Radnor Memorial Library

published Sunday, March 8, 2009
The Philadelphia Inquirer
page C4

Near Side Of Negativity

Horoscope - March 5, 2009

Pisces Feb. 20 - March 20. Don't be stupid about attempting a task that is far too strenuous to handle alone.

Aries March 21 - April 19. Do not try to impose your presence in places where you're not wanted.

Taurus April 20 - May 20. It's best to be a loner, because a lot of little things will bug you.

Gemini May 21 - June 20. Walking around with a chip on your shoulder is a sign of wanting it knocked off.

Cancer June 21 - July 22. Be careful not to be judged as taking advantage of another by asking more of someone than you should.

Leo July 23 - Aug. 22. Do the assignment properly in the first place.

Virgo Aug. 23 - Sept. 22. Handle your fair share of the responsibilities, and you won't get in any trouble.

Libra Sept. 23 - Oct. 23. Either pass up the invitation or be prepared to smile through your displeasure.

Scorpio Oct. 24 - Nov. 22. People's dispositions are fragile, and that includes yours.

Sagitarious Nov. 23 - Dec. 21. Don't look for a receptive audience if you start to expound on a subject that is a big bore to everyone else.

Capripcorn Dec. 22 - Jan. 19. It's better to yield than to get crushed.

Aquarius Jan. 20 - Feb 19. Major difficulties are likely to develop if you insist that others do everything strictly your way.


Bernice Bede Osol

Galaxy may be full of 'Earths,' alien life

As NASA prepares to hunt for Earth-like planets in our corner of the Milky Way galaxy, there's new buzz that "Star Trek's" vision of a universe full of life may not be that far-fetched. There may be 100 billion Earth-like planets in the Milky Way, or one for every sun-type star in the galaxy, said Alan Boss, an astronomer with the Carnegie Institution and author of a new book.


Click Here For Complete Article

Update:

Are we alone? Spacecraft may help find out


More:

Earth -- a ringed planet?

3/3/09: Square Root Day

Dust off the slide rules and recharge the calculators. Square Root Day is upon us.

The math-buffs' holiday, which only occurs nine times each century, is today, Tuesday — 3/3/09 (for the mathematically challenged, three is the square root of nine).

"These days are like calendar comets, you wait and wait and wait for them, then they brighten up your day — and poof — they're gone," said Ron Gordon, a Redwood City, CA teacher who started a contest meant to get people excited about the event.

The winner gets, of course, $339 for having the biggest Square Root Day event.

Gordon's daughter even set up a Facebook page — one of a half-dozen or so dedicated to the holiday — and hundreds of people had signed up with plans to celebrate in some way. Celebrations are as varied: Some cut root vegetables into squares, others make food in the shape of a square root symbol.

The last such day was five years ago, Feb. 2, 2004, which coincided with Groundhog Day. The next is seven years away, on April 4, 2016.


Science Fun Continued:

Mystery of Belly-Button Lint Solved

On This Date In History

Today is Monday, March 02nd
The 061st day of 2009.
There are 304 days left in the year.

On March 2, 1877, Republican Rutherford B. Hayes was declared the winner of the 1876 presidential election over Democrat Samuel J. Tilden, even though Tilden had won the popular vote.

On March 2, 1904, Theodor Seuss Geisel, who wrote and illustrated the popular 'Dr. Seuss' children's books, was born.

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On this date in:


1793 - Sam Houston, the first president of the Republic of Texas, was born near Lexington, Va.


1807 - Congress outlawed the importing of slaves to the United States, effective the following year.


1836 - Texas declared its independence from Mexico.


1899 - Congress established Mount Rainier National Park in Washington state.


1917 - Puerto Ricans were granted U.S. citizenship.


1923 - Time magazine debuted.


1933 - The movie "King Kong" had its world premiere in New York.


1939 - Roman Catholic Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli was elected pope and took the name Pius XII.


1949 - An American B-50 Superfortress, the Lucky Lady II, landed at Fort Worth, Texas, after completing the first non-stop, around-the-world flight.


1959 - Jazz trumpeter Miles Davis held the first of two recording sessions that yielded the album "Kind of Blue."


1962 - Wilt Chamberlain of the Philadelphia Warriors scored an NBA record 100 points in a game against the New York Knicks.


1965 - The movie version of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical "The Sound of Music" had its world premiere in New York.


1985 - The federal government approved a screening test for AIDS that detected antibodies to the virus, allowing possibly contaminated blood to be excluded from the blood supply.


1997 - It was revealed that Vice President Al Gore had made fund-raising calls for the 1996 election on phones installed in government buildings for that purpose.


2004 - A series of coordinated blasts in Iraq killed 181 people at shrines in Karbala and Baghdad as thousands of Shiite Muslim pilgrims gathered for a religious festival.


2006 - President George W. Bush and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announced a landmark civilian nuclear cooperation deal in New Delhi.


2008 - Dmitry Medvedev, Vladimir Putin's hand-picked successor, scored a crushing victory in Russia's presidential election