Free Republic

<p>An outside auditing firm this week gave a highly questionable retirement deal the kind of tough scrutiny it ought to have received three years ago from the elected Sacramento City Unified School District trustees. If the trustees who approved the deal had been more vigilant at the time the California Administrative Services Authority (CASA) was formed, the glaring problems raised in the audit -- self-dealing and apparent conflict of interest by district administrators; potential fiscal liabilities for a district that can't afford to squander money -- this dubious scheme might never have taken flight at all. The trustees' best move now is to undo this pungent mess before it does greater financial or legal damage to the district.</p>

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2002 August 24 Cas A Supernova Remnant in X-Rays Credit: John Hughes et al. (Rutgers), NASA / CXC / SAO Explanation: The complex shell of a star seen to explode 300 years ago is helping astronomers to understand how that star exploded. This Chandra Observatory image of supernova remnant Cassiopeia A (Cas A) shows unprecedented detail in three x-ray colors. The relationship between brightness, color, and position of...