GOOD DAY FOR: Warren Buffet, after Forbes listed the Omaha investment guru as its wealthiest American, one month after naming Bill Gates to the spot. Forbes recalculated its latest Top 400 list, released Sept. 17, to include the fallout from the financial meltdown. Buffett gained $8 billion from Aug. 29 to Oct. 1, while Gates lost $1.5 billion. Topping the list of losers is gambling executive Sheldon Adelson, whose net worth shed $4 billion in that 33-day period. (Los Angeles Times)
BAD DAY FOR: Disrespecting geeks, after a new report found that widespread ostracism of boys and girls who excel at math is hurting America’s competitiveness. “The situation is becoming urgent,” said professor Janet Mertz, the lead author of the report, in Notices of the American Mathematical Society. “A majority of the top young mathematicians in this country were not born here.” (Reuters)
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