Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe KNOCK THREE TIMES Some U.S. Supreme Court employees are being tested for exposure to anthrax because they've visited surrounding congressional offices on Capitol Hill. Advertisement On Monday, the high court got its very own anthrax alert. Workers in the clerk's office found white power scattered over desktops when they came to work. However, testing -- and a little detective work -- determined the powder was just some dust shaken down from the ceiling by workmen hammering on the floor above. Pulse rates were elevated for quite a while, though. (From UPI Capital Comment) WELL, WHY NOT? If Marion Barry can be re-elected mayor after being convicted on cocaine possession charges, then a professional football player has as good a chance as any to be elected to head the District of Colombia. "I might run for mayor," said Washington Redskins cornerback Darrell Green when questioned about his longer-term ambitions Tuesday. "I mean I could. But I might not." Advertisement Green is certainly setting foot in the right direction for a political career. The popular Washington player has already launched a foundation under his own name --- the Darrell Green Youth Life Foundation -- to help under-privileged children in the city as well as the inner cities of Virginia, Tennessee, and North Carolina. The 41-year old athlete announced last month that this would be his last season as a player. A LONG TIME AGO IN A GALAXY FAR, FAR AWAY... "Star Wars: Episode I -- The Phantom Menace" has outdone "The Mummy Returns," selling an estimated 2.2 million DVD units in its first week in release. "The Mummy Returns" sold about 2 million copies when it hit the marketplace earlier this month. Fox and Lucasfilm executives did not report specific sales figures, but they said people have bought about two-thirds of the 3.3 million "Phantom Menace" DVDs shipped to retailers. While the retail sector overall continues to suffer during the current economic downturn, DVD sales are heading in the other direction. Hollywood can expect more positive results in the coming weeks as DVD and videocassette versions of "Shrek" and "Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas" arrive in stores. Advertisement (Thanks to UPI Hollywood Reporter Pat Nason) THE MARTIN CHRONICLES There was hand-shaking, hugging and high-fiving going on at the Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena, Calif., Tuesday night after scientists successfully shepherded a robotic probe into orbit around Mars. After two failed missions to the red Planet, the arrival of the Mars Odyssey probe was especially sweet to the JPL flight control team, which oversees the missions for NASA. "That was a bit of a nail-biter," said lead navigator Robert Mase after radio signals from the spacecraft confirmed it was in orbit around Mars shortly before 11 p.m. ET. "The hard part is getting to Mars and it looks like we absolutely hit the bull's-eye, so we're very happy about that." The navigation team still has three months more work ahead of it to properly position the Odyssey spacecraft to begin its two-year scrutiny of the planet's chemical elements and minerals. REASONS TO CELEBRATE TODAY: WEDNESDAY: This is United Nations Day, by presidential proclamation, celebrating the anniversary of the founding in 1945 of the world body. Today through Oct. 30 is United Nations Disarmament Week. And it's World Development Information Day, as observed by the U.N. Advertisement (Thanks to Chase's 2001 Calendar of Events) BY THE WAY... She was the first woman admitted to practice law before the U.S. Supreme Court and the first woman formally nominated for the U.S. presidency. Who was she? Belva A. Bennett Lockwood, born on this date in 1830.
