My horoscope for today had this ominous warning: Sun is in Libra, Moon is in Taurus. Familiar routines are best for a while, as often as you can manage. Minimize the items you have to think about; do as much as you can by rote. I guess it's a good thing I didn't have to report for jury duty on this holiday. I may have had to think outside my "familiar routines."

Bush just finished blustering through a condemnation of North Korea's testing of nuclear weapons. Thank God, he urged the UN Security Council to take action, rather than Rumsfeld. I don't see that much difference in the George Bush policy of unilateralism and that of Kim Jong Il. It's just more evidence that Bush's claim of promoting peace and security in the world is not working. His "axis of evil" is even more evil, not less. Let's see, that was Iraq, Iran, and North Korea, wasn't it?

And who was that American hypocrite condemning North Korea's disregard for the welfare and security of its nation's poor? Not until we're spending as much on the welfare and security of our own poor as we do on our military should we be critical of anyone else's handling of this issue. I'm not defending North Korea, but the way I see it, America has lost its position of influence in world affairs.

So much for normal routines.