The Wall Street Journal - 22.02.2020 - 23.02.2020

The U.S. wantsto prevent

Iran from developing nuclear

weapons although it acknowl-

edges that Iran, which says its

nuclear program is peaceful,

has yet to cross critical

thresholds to acquire the ca-

pability. A Page One article

Friday about sanctions target-

ing Iran incorrectly referred to

the country’s nuclear program

as a weapons program.

CORRECTIONS

AMPLIFICATIONS

Readerscan alert The Wall Street

Journal to any errors in news articles

by [email protected]

by calling 888-410-2667.

U.S. WATCH

TRADE

Trump May Issue

More Farm Aid

President Trump said the U.S.

would consider a third round of

aid payments for American farm-

ers who have borne the brunt of

retaliation for U.S. tariffs for

much of the past two years.

Although the U.S. has said

farmers would benefit from its

signing of a phase-one trade

deal with China and its ratifica-

tion of the new U.S.-Mexico-Can-

ada Agreement, Mr. Trump

raised the possibility that new

aid payments may be necessary

until those deals bear fruit. The

USMCA was signed in late Janu-

ary and the China deal didn’t

take effect until Feb. 14.

If farmers “need additional

aid until such time as the trade

deals with China, Mexico, Can-

ada and others fully kick in, that

aid will be provided by the fed-

eral government,” the president

said on Twitter on Friday.

Under the trade deal signed

last month, China has agreed to

import a little over $40 billion in

U.S. agricultural goods in 2020.

—Josh Zumbrun

IMMIGRATION

Greyhound Limits

Border Patrol Checks

Greyhound LinesInc. said Fri-

day that it would stop allow-

ing U.S. Border Patrol to conduct

searches on its buses without a

warrant.

The bus carrier has in recent

years faced criticism from advo-

cates and the American Civil Lib-

erties Union for allowing Border

Patrol to board its buses. It ar-

gued that federal law required it

to do so.

Friday’s policy change came

after U.S. Customs and Border

Protection, the Border Patrol’s

parent agency, issued a memo

saying agents couldn’t board

buses to question passengers

without a warrant or consent

from the company, according to

an Associated Press report.

Greyhound said it would place

stickers on its buses, alerting its

customers of the new policy.

—Alejandro Lazo

LABOR UNIONS

Hoffa Won’t Seek

New Teamsters Term

Teamsters union President

James P. Hoffa said he won’t

stand for re-election when his

current term ends in March 2022,

after more than two decades

atop the powerful labor group.

Mr. Hoffa, a Detroit labor law-

yer and son of former Teamsters

boss Jimmy Hoffa, has faced chal-

lenges to his continued leadership,

including a contested election last

year. He has been elected general

president five times.

Mr. Hoffa’s exit would open

up the race to lead the Interna-

tional Brotherhood of Teamsters

labor union, which represents 1.

million people. The Teamsters

for a Democratic Union, a group

that has opposed Mr. Hoffa’s

leadership, is running a slate

headed by Boston Teamsters

leader Sean O’Brien.

—Paul Ziobro

NFL

Teams Can Make

Sportsbook Deals

TheNational Football League

took another step toward fully

embracing legalized sports gam-

bling by allowing teams to ac-

cept sponsorships from sports-

books.

Deals with places that allow

sports betting could provide a

new revenue stream for teams.

More than half of NFL teams

will by next year be located in or

near jurisdictions that have le-

galized betting.

For decades, the NFL pushed

back against the expansion of

sports betting out of fears that it

could challenge the game’s integ-

rity. In recent years, the NFL has

done an about-face as it ceased

to see the expansion of sports

betting as a threat and increas-

ingly saw it as an opportunity to

engage younger audiences and

connect with people who follow

sports on their phones.

That change of heart came

as the U.S. Supreme Court is-

sued a ruling in 2018 that al-

lowed states beyond Nevada to

legalize sports betting.

—Andrew Beaton

THEWALL STREET JOURNAL

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“Ifyou wanted to find

something in the sky, you

would use its coordinates,”

said Chris Laws, an astrono-

mer at the University of

Washington in Seattle. “But

those coordinates are just a

map put on the sky. The

Earth is the basis of the

map, and it is precessing.

If a roman-

tic evening

spent with an

astrological

match feels

more like a

misalignment of the stars

than a perfect date, you

could blame it on the Earth’s

wobble.

As the planet spins on its

axis, it teeters back and

forth like a child’s top, and

after millennia of staggering

along its path around the

sun, it no longer aligns with

the constellations of the zo-

diac on the dates that were

established in ancient times.

Because of that, Leo ain’t

what he used to be—and nei-

ther are Aries, Taurus, Gem-

ini nor any of the rest.

In astronomical terms, the

wobble is known as preces-

sion, and it’s caused by grav-

ity tugging on the Earth’s

distended midriff.

“The Earth bulges at the

equator, and the gravita-

tional pull of the sun and

moon together act on that

bulge,” said James B. Kaler,

professor emeritus of astron-

omy at the University of Illi-

nois at Urbana-Champaign.

Over a period of roughly

26,000 years, the planet’s

wobble traces a full circle,

gradually making the stars

appear to shift to the east

by about 1 degree over the

span of a human life.

“It sounds slow,” Dr. Kaler

said, “but it changes the

polestar.”

The polestar appears di-

rectly above the North Pole

and marks due north.

T

oday, Polaris, which is

sometimes called the

North Star, is located

at the tip of the Little Dip-

per’s handle and is the

Earth’s polestar. A few thou-

sand years from now, Vega,

the brightest star in the con-

stellation Lyra, will occupy

that position.

The creeping discrepancy

in the alignment of the

Earth, sun and constellations

was first noticed by the

Greek astronomer Hip-

parchus, who lived from 190

B.C. to 120 B.C., and is con-

sidered the founder of trigo-

nometry.

As Hipparchus was re-

cording the positions of the

stars, he compared his work

to that of earlier astrono-

mers and discovered that his

calculations differed from his

predecessors’.

“It was a pretty good

stunt,” Dr. Kaler said. “He

compared two star charts

that were 150 years apart.”

For astronomers, this is

mainly something to keep in

mind when aiming a tele-

scope.

That means our map be-

comes steadily wrong over

time.”

To account for the shift,

the International Astronomi-

cal Union corrects the coor-

dinates, typically every 50

years. Astronomers currently

use coordinates set to the

year 2000, which are up-

dated to the present with

computer software. Previ-

ously, they used coordinates

set to 1950.

But for the most part,

those who indulge in the un-

scientific pastime of astrol-

ogy are left with the discrep-

ancy.

According to the horo-

scope, the sun passes

through Aries, the first sign

of the zodiac, March 21

through April 19. Next is

Taurus, from April 20

through May 20. Then Gem-

ini from May 21 through

June 20. And so on.

“About 2,000 years ago,

the dates were correct,” Dr.

Kaler said. “In another

24,000 years, they will be

correct again.”

But today, the sun appears

to pass through the constel-

lations around one month

later than what is recorded

in horoscopes.

Now, the dates for Aries

are April 19 through May 14;

Taurus is May 15 through

June 20; and Gemini is June

21 through July 20.

So, while an astrologer

might tell me that I am a te-

nacious, loyal, persuasive

Cancer, the position of the

Earth at the time of my birth

suggests that I am actually a

gentle, affectionate, curious

Gemini.

D

r. Kaler, who has writ-

ten nearly two dozen

books on astronomy,

doesn’t believe in astrology

and will only grudgingly re-

veal that his star sign is Cap-

ricorn.

“I don’t like to admit it,”

he said. “It’s common knowl-

edge Capricorns aren’t too

bright.”

But, as good fortune

would have it, when he was

born, the sun was actually

passing through Sagittar-

ius—the astrological sign

that some say identifies the

most intellectually stimulat-

ing partner.

His wife, Maxine Kaler,

might agree. The couple

have been married for nearly

60 years. But Dr. Kaler, who

is 81 years old, doesn’t attri-

bute his success in life or

love to his sun sign.

His secret, which he’s had

to give up of late, was decid-

edly earthbound.

“It used to be Manhat-

tans,” he said. “But I can’t

drink ’em anymore.”

NO

V.

DEC.

JAN.

FE

B.

M

A

RC

H

AP

R

LI

ES

TP

.

O

CT

.

JUN

J E

ULY

AU

G. MA

Y

Capricorn

Aqu

ariu

s

Li

br

a

Sc

or

pi

o

Sa

gitt

ariu

s

Pi

sc

es

A

ri

es

Gem

ini

Cancer

Leo

V

irg

o

Ta

ur

us

24th 17th

31s

t

16th

22nd

22nd

22nd

21s

t

21s

t

20th

10th 20th

20th

22nd

20th

20th

19th

14th

18th

11th

18th

19th

16th

19th

Note: Calendar dates for end of cycle.

Source: James B. Kaler, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Alberto Cervantes and Taylor Umlauf /THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

StarCrossed

Becauseof the Earth’s precession—a slow wobble on its axis—

the planet no longer aligns with the constellations of the zodiac

on the dates that were established in ancient times.

HOROSCOPE

DATES

KEY

DATESOF

ALIGNMENT

Sagittarius

Gemini

V

gir

o

Pi

sc

es

Jurors in the sexual-assault trial of Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein’s have deliberated in New York City over four days.

cross examination, she said

Mr. Weinstein spoke to her in

a “friendly way to cajole me

into the bedroom” before the

alleged rape. She couldn’t ex-

plain why she didn’t ask why

her doorman let him up unan-

nounced or file a complaint

with her condo.

Jurors’ focus on the “Sopra-

nos” actress suggests that at

least one juror either doubts

her account or believes that a

27-year-old rape allegation

might have happened too long

ago to prove a crime, beyond a

reasonable doubt, that could

result in life imprisonment,

according to Barbara Barron, a

professor at Hofstra Univer-

sity School of Law. “There may

be allegations that are too old

for redress,” she said.

Mr. Weinstein denied any

nonconsensual sexual encoun-

ters. His defense team has ar-

gued that the accusers’ testi-

mony was unreliable.

Criminal-justice experts

said the jury appeared to be

wrestling with conflicting por-

trayals of the case by prosecu-

tors and defense attorneys.

“The legal issues are com-

plicated, as are the many fac-

tual issues in dispute,” said

Prof. Deborah Tuerkheimer of

Northwestern University’s

Pritzker School of Law. Prof.

Tuerkheimer, a former Man-

hattan prosecutor, said the

jury’s questions suggest they

are grappling with what to

make of several accusers’ tes-

timony.

The jury has asked pointed

questions, requested readings

of testimony transcripts and

pored over documents as

they decide Mr. Weinstein’s

fate. Still, the panel appears

to be focused on the allega-

tions of Ms. Sciorra, the pros-

ecution’s best-known witness.

Prosecutors didn’t bring rape

charges against Mr. Weinstein

for the alleged incident be-

cause the statute of limita-

tions had lapsed, but the

judge allowed jurors to con-

sider Ms. Sciorra’s allegations

under New York’s law. On Fri-

day, the panel listened to a

reading of a transcript of Ms.

Sciorra answering questions

from Mr. Weinstein’s attor-

neys, without asking to hear

her answering prosecutors’

direct initial questioning. On

jury finds that he committed

at least one of those crimes

and that he forcibly raped or

performed oral sex on “Sopra-

nos” star Annabella Sciorra in

the early 1990s, as she has tes-

tified. Ms. Sciorra’s allegations

are too old to be prosecuted

under rape laws but can be

tried under the predatory sex-

ual-assault statute.

“We request to understand

if we can be hung on counts

one AND/OR three, and unani-

mous on the others,” the jury

said. Predatory sexual assault

is count one and three against

Mr. Weinstein.

Typically, jurors render a

verdict first on the most se-

vere counts and then move on

to lesser charges. But if jurors

send another deadlock note

next week, Justice Burke could

entertain accepting a partial

verdict on rape and criminal

sexual act without a decision

on predatory sexual assault.

The jurors—who were visi-

bly frustrated in court—didn’t

say whether they had deliber-

ated yet on other charges or

reached a unanimous guilty

verdict or an acquittal on the

other counts.

The jury in Harvey Wein-

stein’s trial suggested Friday

that it had deadlocked on two

charges of predatory sexual

assault but asked if they could

reach a unanimous verdict on

the other counts of rape and

the commission of a criminal

sexual act.

New York State Supreme

Court Justice James Burke

asked the jury to keep deliber-

ating, telling them it was com-

mon for juries to believe they

couldn’t agree. He soon ad-

journed for the day, sending

them home for the weekend,

to reconvene on Monday.

The jury’s note on Friday

offered the first glimpse inside

the disagreements among ju-

rors as they have deliberated

over four days in the closely

watched trial of the famed

Hollywood producer. Preda-

tory sexual assault requires ju-

rors to agree that Mr. Wein-

stein carried out more than

one sex crime. It carries a sen-

tence of up to life in prison,

the stiffest potential penalty

he faces.

Mr. Weinstein is charged

with one count of criminal sex

act for allegedly forcibly per-

forming oral sex on former

film-production assistant Mir-

iam Haley in 2006 and charges

of first- and third-degree rape

for allegedly forcing sex on

Jessica Mann in 2013, when

she was an aspiring actress.

He could be convicted of

predatory sexual assault if the

BYDEANNAPAUL

Weinstein Jury Appears Deadlocked

On Two Predatory Assault Charges

‘The legal issues are

complicated, as are

the many factual

issues in dispute.’

A2|Saturday/Sunday,February 22 - 2 3, 2020 *** THEWALLSTREETJOURNAL.

U.S. NEWS

THENUMBERS|ByJoCravenMcGinty

Your Zodiac Sign Isn’t Aligned With Stars