Californians are worried about the instability of universal constants!

I came across this California HR assembly house resolution (it's real!) condeming the IAU for demoting Pluto from planetary status.

I've highlighted the good bits. Serisously, don't they have something better to do?


BILL NUMBER: HR 36 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY Assembly Members Richman and Canciamilla
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Aghazarian, Bass, Benoit, Berg,
Bermudez, Blakeslee, Bogh, Calderon, Chan, Chavez, Cogdill, Cohn,
Coto, Daucher, DeVore, Emmerson, Frommer, Garcia, Goldberg, Haynes,
Jerome Horton, Shirley Horton, Houston, Huff, Karnette, Keene,
Koretz, La Malfa, Laird, Leno, Lieber, Liu, Matthews, Maze, Mountjoy,
Mullin, Nakanishi, Nation, Negrete McLeod, Niello, Parra, Plescia,
Ridley-Thomas, Sharon Runner, Ruskin, Salinas, Strickland, Tran,
Walters, Wolk, Wyland, and Yee)

AUGUST 24, 2006

Relative to Pluto's planetary status.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
HOUSE OR SENATE RESOLUTIONS DO NOT CONTAIN A DIGEST




WHEREAS, Recent astronomical discoveries, including Pluto's oblong
orbit and the sighting of a slightly larger Kuiper Belt object, have
led astronomers to question the planetary status of Pluto; and
WHEREAS, The mean-spirited International Astronomical Union
decided on August 24, 2006, to disrespect Pluto by stripping Pluto of
its planetary status and reclassifying it as a lowly dwarf planet;
and
WHEREAS, Pluto was discovered in 1930 by an American, Clyde
Tombaugh, at the Lowell Observatory in Arizona, and this discovery
resulted in millions of Californians being taught that Pluto was the
ninth planet in the solar system; and
WHEREAS, Pluto, named after the Roman God of the underworld and
affectionately sharing the name of California's most famous animated
dog, has a special connection to California history and culture; and
WHEREAS, Downgrading Pluto's status will cause psychological harm
to some Californians who question their place in the universe and
worry about the instability of universal constants; and
WHEREAS, The deletion of Pluto as a planet renders millions of
text books, museum displays, and children's refrigerator art projects
obsolete, and represents a substantial unfunded mandate that must be
paid by dwindling Proposition 98 education funds, thereby harming
California's children and widening its budget deficits; and
WHEREAS, The deletion of Pluto as a planet is a hasty,
ill-considered scientific heresy similar to questioning the
Copernican theory, drawing maps of a round world, and proving the
existence of the time and space continuum; and
WHEREAS, The downgrading of Pluto reduces the number of planets
available for legislative leaders to hide redistricting legislation
and other inconvenient political reform measures; and
WHEREAS, The California Legislature, in the closing days of the
2005-06 session, has been considering few matters important to the
future of California, and the status of Pluto takes precedence and is
worthy of this body's immediate attention; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, That the
Assembly hereby condemns the International Astronomical Union's
decision to strip Pluto of its planetary status for its tremendous
impact on the people of California and the state's long term fiscal
health; and be it further
Resolved, That the Assembly Clerk shall send a copy of the
resolution to the International Astronomical Union and to any
Californian who, believing that his or her legislator is addressing
the problems that threaten the future of the Golden State, requests a
copy of the resolution.