The Council of Planets has met, and declared that the International Astronomical Union is no longer officially a union. The IAU is now to be classified as a club.
“We planets just got tired of looking at the Earth and being so confused about the system of classification of human organizations there,” explained Mars. “I mean, can anyone tell me exactly what the difference between an association and an assembly is? The system as it was before we met today was simply unwieldly.”
“The name International Astronomical Union made no sense,” said Saturn. “Their meetings over the last couple of weeks have demonstrated quite clearly that these people are not unified.”
The vote to reclassify the International Astronomical Union as a club, and not a union, was nearly unanimous, 8 to 1. Pluto voted in favor of an alternative classification for the IAU, as “A Big Pile of Poo.”
Jupiter reacted to Pluto’s vote casually, noting that after today, Pluto is not a member of the Council of Planets. “Pluto is free to follow its own orbit now, and take its little moon Charon with it too.”
I wonder how horoscope-writers are reacting to pluto’s downgrading. Or to Charon’s upgrading. Need i still worry about the negative influence from Pluto in the 7th house?
More telling is good old John Gibsons’ reaction. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,210358,00.html
“But no, you can’t unmake Pluto as a planet. Long ago I learned it was a planet and I see no reason to unlearn it. Why should I?”
The conservative reaction, pur sang.
“Actually I don’t know why Pluto got itself unmade as a planet. I didn’t even read the rest of the story, frankly. The headline was all I needed to see to know I’m rejecting this attempt at revisionist history.”
Poor, poor mister Gibson.