by Bruce Jackson

Carl Paladino, one of the most powerful businessmen in the Buffalo area, strongly opposed the deal Mayor Byron Brown cut with the Seneca gambling interests for the sale of Fulton Street, but he couldn’t get Mayor Brown to listen to him, nor could he get one of the six members of the Common Council backing it to give the opposition the single vote it needed to block the deal.

by Rob Brezsny

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): “Talent hits a target no one else can hit,” said German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer. “Genius hits a target no one else can see.” That could and should apply to you, Scorpio, at least during the month of November. I believe that you have a heightened ability to access special talents that have been partially dormant up till now. If you summon the gall to be almost crazily confident, you’ll soon be scoring bull’s-eyes on targets that no one else can see, let alone hit.

by Chuck Shepherd

■ The chosen professional interest of biologist David Scholnick of Pacific University (Forest Grove, Ore.) is in how shrimp act when they get an infection, which he gauged by building a tiny treadmill in order to run crustaceans through their paces to measure blood lactate levels. “As far as I know,” Scholnick told LiveScience.com in October, “this is the first time that shrimp have been exercised on a treadmill.” To increase the shrimps’ stress, Scholnick designed tiny backpacks out of duct tape but still found that healthy shrimp could go for about an hour without fatigue.

Not A Democracy

by Michael I. Niman

Let’s not fool ourselves. This is not a functioning democracy. Sure, we get to pull levers, poke at screens or pencil in bubbles once a year. But massaging a voting machine does not a democracy make. So let’s look at the issues.

by Anthony Chase

A Broader Sense of Design

by Albert Chao

Dr. Michael Batty’s return to Buffalo will be a warm welcome back. The former director of the National Center for Geographic Information and Analysis (NCGIA) at the University at Buffalo, Batty returns as the Clarkson Chair through the UB School of Architecture and Planning. As a distinguished figure in the field of urban planning, Batty will engage and discuss his work in a series of public lectures and seminars November 13-16.

The Amputated Toe by Gil Ott

by Erik Sweet

Poet Gil Ott, considered by many an integral part of Philadelphia’s experimental poetry scene, passed away in February 2004. His contributions to the literary community include founding Singing Horse, a press that has put out over 25 books since 1976, editing the literary journal Paper Air and writing more than a dozen books of poetry. Buffalo’s Cuneiform Press this spring released a limited edition run (only 50 copies) of his last book, The Amputated Toe.

Seoul Power

by Jim Corbran

Okay, so Hyundai, the Korean auto manufacturer, doesn’t build its new Elantra in Seoul, but it makes for a much better sounding headline than “Ulsan Power!” (Ulsan being the city the plant is located in.)

The Who: Endless Wire

by Donny Kutzbach