Does Obama’s Corporate Tax Plan Make the Grade?

President Obama's plan to slash corporate tax rates from 35% to 28% and overhaul the business tax system is meeting its fair share of criticism after being unveiled yesterday. While the headline number seems to appease both sides of the aisle, the rest of the Administration's plan is raising questions about which "loopholes" will be closed to pay for the tax rate decrease, and will they open the door to even more workarounds.

"The president says he wants to increase overall revenue from corporations, so while he lowers the headline rate a little bit, he broadens the base in sometimes damaging ways," says Chris Edwards, director of tax policy at the Cato Institute.

For Edwards those "damaging ways" include new tax loopholes for things like green cars and buildings, incentives to increase wages and tax credits for manufacturing.

The plan also proposes to bring back money earned by American companies overseas by imposing a new tax on profit made overseas.

"This administration wants to penalize the foreign operations of U.S. companies," says Edwards. "Those foreign earnings were earned in the foreign country, they pay tax on those profits in the foreign countries. There's no real reason why the U.S. Government ought to have a claim on that foreign money."

Still for all its faults, Edwards grades the plan a "C."

"It does show that both democrats and republicans support the idea of overhauling our tax code," he says. "There is general concern that we are scaring away investment because of the current tax code."

Despite the President's plan, Edwards doesn't see much movement being made on the issue amid a contentious election season and a Congress that's slow to move on everything these days. He believes we won't see any real progress until 2013 and the next Congress and perhaps the next President.

The Looming Threat to Gas Prices: Strait of Hormuz Explained

Global oil prices jumped to a nine-month high Tuesday to $106 a barrel after Iran announced it was stopping oil shipments to France and Britain. Iran is responding to heavy pressure from America, Europe and other allies, who want to stop the country's nuclear power program before the radical regime can build nuclear weapons.

This most recent move by Iran to ban oil exports to the two European countries comes as a direct preemptive response to the European Union's planned Iran oil embargo set for this summer. The EU has already frozen assets of Iran's central bank.

In recent weeks, you've also probably heard news stories about Iran threatening to shut down the Strait of Hormuz. It hasn't happened yet, but Iran has indicated it could close the Strait or take other measures should the country feel threatened enough by the Western allies.

But right now you might be wondering: What is the Strait of Hormuz and why does it matter TO YOU?

If Iran tries to block the Strait it could have a huge impact on world oil prices, which would directly impact how much you pay for groceries, gas and electronics — all of which use oil in some way, whether it's part of the manufacturing or shipping process.

The Strait of Hormuz is a waterway that connects the Persian Gulf to the Arabian Sea. It is the only passage to the open ocean for some of the biggest oil producers in the Middle East

About 20% of the world's oil passes through the Strait of Hormuz, including crude oil produced in Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Kuwait. It's a water way that's "absolutely critical to the world economy," according Dr. Daniel Yergin, energy expert and Pulitzer Prize winning author of The Prize and The Quest.

Yergin calls the Strait of Hormuz "the most important chokepoint in the world."

Because so much of the world's oil travels through Strait, any disruption to the shipping channel would have a major impact on global crude oil prices, which ultimately determine the price we pay for gas at the pump.

Some analysts estimate the price of oil could go up by 50% within days if there's a disruption of supply, which would mean much higher prices for us filling our tanks at the gas station — and anything else that requires the use of oil. Crude oil and gas prices have risen sharply since September in large part because of the threat of a disruption in the Strait of Hormuz.

"We've seen oil prices just on threats go up $5, $10 a barrel" in a day, Yergin says. "This is Iran's trump card."

The average price for regular unleaded gas today is $3.58 up nearly 9% since the beginning of this year, according to AAA.com. That is still slightly lower than the highest record average price of $4.11 set in July 2008. But many analysts are predicting that with the threat from Iran coupled with the warmer weather ahead, the U.S. maybe be headed for $4 or even $5 gas prices.

Whether Iran really can shut down the Strait is a big question. Jan Stuart of Credit Suisse says it would be "suicidal" for the Iranians to even try.

"Closing the Strait of Hormuz -- that thing is...30 miles wide," Stuart says. "You need a gazillion boats to literally close it off. It can't happen." (See: $100 Oil Is Here to Stay, but Iran Closing the Strait of Hormuz "Can't Happen": Stuart)

Still, Iran's Navy has recently been conducting military exercises in the area. Some experts say the Iranians are preparing to attack oil tankers in the Strait with missiles and torpedoes from submarines. They might not shut the critical passage down but such attacks would certainly disrupt crude shipments and cause a spike in oil prices.

Whether the Iranians just bluster or actually go on the attack, we're likely to hear more news about this critical waterway in the days and weeks ahead, and that news will have a direct impact on the global economy and how much you're paying for products here in the U.S.

Holding the Handle - The Three Primary Grips

Light Grip Pressure

The hands must work together as a single unit when striking a ball with power. There are three common and fundamentally sound grips from which to choose, which are pictured on the following pages.

In addition to the type of grip you choose, another characteristic of a sound grip is light grip pressure. Gripping the club too tight can cause thin, weak shots that slice. A lighter grip enhances wrist hinge - a vital power source in the swing. This light pressure also increases the amount of clubface rotation, thus improving your chance of squaring the club at impact.

On a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 is light and 10 is tight, I recommend a pressure of 4 or 5. This allows the club to be swung with power and control. At address, feel relaxed and tension-free in your hands and forearms.

Sam Snead said, "Hold the club as if you had a little baby bird in your hand." This pressure, combined with the proper placement of the hands on the handle, will give you your greatest chance to produce longer, straighter shots.

Vardon Overlap Grip (a k a Overlapping Grip)

The Vardon Overlap, sometimes called the Overlapping Grip, is the most common grip among great players. Harry Vardon popularized this grip around the turn of the 20th Century. This grip places the club in the fingers and is the grip most likely to be taught by golf instructors. To place your hands on the handle using the Vardon Overlap, take the little finger on the trailing hand and place it between the index and middle finger on the lead hand (for right-handed golfers, the lead hand is the left). The lead hand thumb should fit in the lifeline of the trailing hand.

Interlocking Grip

The next most common grip is called the Interlock, or Interlocking. This grip is very popular on the LPGA Tour and has been used by many top male players including Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods. This grip literally locks the hands together, but the golfer also runs the risk of having the handle stray into the palms of the hands. People with small hands, weak forearms and wrists, and beginners in many cases prefer this style of grip. To use the Interlock grip, take the little finger on the trailing hand (the trailing hand for right-handed golfers is the right hand) and intertwine it with the index finger on the lead hand. The lead hand thumb should fit in the lifeline of the trailing hand.

Ten Finger Grip (a k a Baseball Grip)

The Ten Finger grip (sometimes called the Baseball Grip) is the least preferred grip among teachers. It does, however, have its advantages. Hall of Fame Member Beth Daniel, PGA Tour members Bob Estes and Dave Barr and Masters Champion Art Wall Jr. have all used the Ten Finger grip. Teachers often suggest this grip to beginners as it simplifies early instruction. People who experience joint pain, have arthritis or small, weak hands often benefit by using the Ten Finger grip.

To position your hands properly using a Ten Finger grip, start with a perfect lead hand grip, then place the little finger of the trailing hand close against the index finger of the lead hand. Cover the lead hand thumb with the lifeline of the trailing hand.

How Earth's Next Supercontinent Will Form

The Earth has been covered by giant combinations of continents, called supercontinents, many times in its past, and it will be again one day in the distant future. The next predicted supercontinent, dubbed Amasia, may form when the Americas and Asia both drift northward to merge, closing off the Arctic Ocean, researchers suggest.

Supercontinents are giant landmasses made up of more than one continental core. The best-known supercontinent, Pangaea, was once the world's only continent — it was on it that the dinosaurs arose — and was the progenitor of today's continents.

Conventional models of how supercontinents evolve suggest they form on top of the previous supercontinent, known as introversion, or on the opposite side of the world from that supercontinent, known as extroversion. Under these models Amasia would therefore either form where Pangaea once was, with the Americas meeting with Asia to close off the Atlantic Ocean, or form on the other side of the planet from where Pangaea was, with the Americas merging with Asia to close off the Pacific Ocean.

Now, geologists suggest that Amasia might emerge sideways from where Pangaea once existed, in what is now the Arctic, a process known as orthoversion. Moreover, this new model seems consistent with models of how past supercontinents formed, said researcher Ross Mitchell, a geologist at Yale University.

Which way did it form?

The introversion model, on the one hand, assumes that the oceanic plate between continents that formed when a supercontinent pulled apart has stopped spreading. As such, there is nothing to keep the continents from drifting back together and forming another supercontinent. The extroversion model, on the other hand, proposes that the oceanic plate that formed when a supercontinent pulled apart would keep spreading. The continents then drift away from it, meeting up on the other side of the planet to merge.

The new orthoversion model from Mitchell and his colleagues bases its motion of continents on where the edges of past supercontinents were. For instance, when Pangaea broke up, its rim dove or subducted downward into the earth. This subduction zone, which encircles the Pacific Ocean, is known as the Ring of Fire, and is where many of the largest earthquakes and volcanic eruptions now take place.

The orthoversion model proposes that the subduction zone surrounding a one-time supercontinent drives where its former components end up going. This suggests that modern continents will slide either north or south around the Ring of Fire. Since the Caribbean Sea between North and South America and the Arctic Ocean between the Americas and Asia appear transient in nature, the researchers suggest the Americas and Asia will go north instead of south, meeting at the Arctic to form Amasia.

To see which model of the supercontinent cycle might be right, the researchers tried to see which best matched data on how past supercontinents formed. These included Pangaea, as well as Rodinia, which existed between 750 million and 1.1 billion years ago, and Nuna, which existed between 1.5 billion to 1.8 billion years ago.

Rock records

To see how the components of supercontinents moved, scientists analyzed the impact that Earth's magnetic field has on ancient rocks. Magnetic minerals in molten rock can act like compasses, aligning with the planet's magnetic field lines, an orientation that gets frozen in place once the rock solidifies. Since these lines generally run north-south, looking at the way these minerals point can shed light on how the landmasses they are a part of might have drifted in space over time.

The researchers found that Pangaea apparently formed at nearly a 90-degree angle from the direction along which Rodinia fragmented — that is, Pangaea formed neither where Rodinia once was nor on the opposite side of the planet, but somewhere nearly exactly between those spots. Rodinia seemingly emerged in a similar manner from Nuna. Both findings support orthoversion as the explanation for how supercontinents form and fragment.

"Now that we have a clear picture of what the supercontinent cycle actually looks like, we can begin to answer the questions of why the supercontinent cycle operates as it does," Mitchell told OurAmazingPlanet. "Why a supercontinent breaks apart remains an unanswered question."

When to expect Amasia

These findings could also help scientists better understand the history of life on this planet, by figuring out where landmasses were and how organisms might have dispersed.

"Continents with similar fossil records likely share an evolutionary ancestry, but actually establishing a land bridge by juxtaposing those continents is finding the smoking gun," Mitchell said.

As to when Amasia might form, that is "difficult to answer, because the supercontinent cycle is not as regular as the seasonal cycle, for example," Mitchell said. "But we can get a clue from Earth's history — the cycle is speeding up, such that the recurrence interval between successive supercontinents has become less and less. Knowing that Pangea formed 300 million years ago, we can predict a range of Amasia ages from 50 to 200 million years from now."

Jurassic chirp: scientists recreate ancient cricket song

The call of a Jurassic-era cricket was simple, pure and capable of traveling long distances in the night, said scientists who reconstructed the creature's love song from a 165 million year old fossil.

British scientists based their work out Monday on an extremely well preserved fossil of a katydid, or bush cricket, from China named Archaboilus musicus. The cricket lived in an era when dinosaurs roamed the earth.

The detailed wings, measuring about 72 centimeters (three-quarters of an inch) long, allowed scientists to recreate for the first time the features that would have produced sound when rubbed together.

The result is "possibly the most ancient known musical song documented to date," said the study which appears in the US journal the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The ancient katydid's call should be imagined against a busy backdrop of waterfalls, wind, the sound of water coursing through streams and other amphibians and insects serenading would-be mates, the study authors said.

"This Jurassic bush cricket... helps us learn a little more about the ambiance of a world long gone," said co-author Fernando Montealegre-Zapata of the University of Bristol.

A simple call may have been the creature's best shot at attracting a mate in the nighttime forest, said co-author Daniel Robert, an expert in the biomechanics of singing and hearing in insects at the University of Bristol.

"Singing loud and clear advertises the presence, location and quality of the singer, a message that females choose to respond to -- or not," he said.

"Using a single tone, the male's call carries further and better, and therefore is likely to serenade more females."

However, the long-extinct katydid may have been alerting predators to his location, too. Some 100 million years later, insects began developing the ability to make sounds at frequencies their enemies, like bats, could not hear.