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Will downsizing ever end? Seems as if every company and other organizational entity on the planet, has, in the past twenty years, been merged, "outsourced", down-sized, or "right-sized" (the current spin vernacular for cutting jobs). IBM, General Motors, Delta Airlines...probably even your company...or former company...

I guess even the Solar System is not immune.... As the link below shows, the International Astronomical Union, the body of scientists, the governs such things, has come up with a new definition of what a "planet" is. While the previous definition of "planetary status" was uwieldy and the new one has been a "long time" coming, Pluto is offiically no longer considered to be a planet.

From a scientific viewpoint, Pluto probably never should have been included in the list of planets in the Solar System (given its distance from the nearest planet and the fact that its probably a member of the Kuiper Belt of ice bodies)..but as a baby-boomer, I grew up being taught that our Solar System had nine planets including Pluto. Now we have eight planets. Just another downsizing, I guess. Jeez, even the Solar System is not immune from down-sizing. When will it ever end???

http://my.earthlink.net/article/top?...08241066003069

Depends on which article you read and which group of astronomers you believe.

This article (click here) says

The International Astronomical Union is THE final word in naming astronomical bodies, stars, comets, ect., and setting the criteria under which those bodies are classified. So I guess what they have decided will have to be accepted by all of academia....and the rest of us puny earthlings.

Pluto doesn't have a chance. It's small and defenseless. They wouldn't dream of re-classifying Jupiter or Saturn simply because of their size. Besides, anything with a ring around it should be called a finger. and that's what they are saying to Pluto.

We need a "National Pluto Day". Make it another National Holiday. Where are the demonstrations, where is the outrage, where is Hilary when you need her? This could be a huge campaign notch.

Jesse Jackson should go to Pluto and resolve this issue. We really need to know if it's the 9th planet as many of us were taught or are they trying to re-write the books again.

You know according to those new definitions Neptune isn't a planet either cause just like pluto it hasn't cleared out its nieghborhood yet.

Has anyone asked Pluto what it thinks of this? Let alone Sedna and Xena.