6degrees, Irwin Horowitz
6degrees AstroBlog
Suggestion on Immigration ReformAs I sit in the guest room at my parent’s apartment in Palm Beach, recovering from surgery on my right hand for carpal tunnel syndrome, I am afforded time to think about some of the issues currently plaguing our nation. In particular, immigration reform has been a hot-button topic with both sides passionately arguing their respective positions with little hope for a compromise. Also, President Bush’s commutation of the prison sentence for Scooter Libby has dominated the airways as we have been celebrating our nation’s birthday.
Taking a page from the president’s constitutional playbook, I would like to offer a suggestion on how to resolve the immigration dilemma. President Bush can issue a pardon to all undocumented workers who sole “crime” is entering and residing in our country without the proper paperwork.
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6degrees AstroBlog
A Cosmic Pas de Deux
Stars, like people, have lives. They are born. They live for millions or billions of years. They die. Sometimes those death throes end with a bang. More often they are little more than a whimper. Unlike people, star birth often involves multiple offspring but no parents. Astronomers estimate that about half of all the stars in our galaxy are located in multiple star systems. Sometimes these companions are visible in a backyard telescope. Often the two bodies orbit so close to one another and are at such tremendous distance from us that they appear as a single point of light when we observe them.
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