Horoscopes

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2021

Thoughts for the Last Day of a Moon Cycle

Reality is a one-shot. What happens cannot change, but relationships will change because of what happens. The love exchanged in relationships is an entity. Love can overshine and outlast just about all else. Once given, love is yours, will not expire and cannot be stolen from you. You can keep the love long after the relationship is no more.

ARIES (March 21-April 19). Because your pet peeves include things like lateness, last-minute cancelations, the untimely return of calls and texts ... you make special efforts not to commit such offenses yourself. It will be harder to stick with today.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20). You’ll be wise to let people know what you can really make happen, because you don’t want anyone to have unrealistic expectations that involve you. It’s bad Karma.

GEMINI (May 21-June 21). One of the best ways to build your relationship with yourself is to take on exciting challenges. You’ll be attracted to one today, and it is guaranteed to increase more than just your selfesteem.

CANCER (June 22-July 22). You have a big attitude today, pulsing with promise and potential. The best part is it’s all respectfully contained. You don’t need to posture or be louder than anyone else. You’re a quiet but powerful magnet for all you desire.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22). Try not to hold yourself to impossibly high standards. It’s a rejection of where you’re at right now, which is as good a place as any. Change usually executes many small steps before it leaps.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22). It’s appropriate to channel the energy of other

people before you find that groove that’s all you. It takes more than time to find your voice; it also takes action, mistakes and lots of “Not that... How about this?”

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23). You’ve been shaped by wonderful, terrible, trying, fortunate and unusual happenings. You’ll be inspired to think about your story differently and learn to tell it to yourself and others in more empowering terms.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21). You’re starting to understand the role that could fit you better. You see it in your mind’s eye. One small action leads to the next, and soon you’ll be leaning and living in such a way that makes your vision an inevitability.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21). React a little slower than you think you should. It will give you a chance to really get what you’re reacting to, which is the underlying meaning, not the misdirection that’s going on at the surface level.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19). Your choices are getting better aligned with the picture you hold for your future. A deadline of some sort will help you follow through with the trend.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18). Sometimes the action just gets stuck. It’s no one’s fault; it just happens. There’s no point in wondering what happened. Just get out of the mud. Let go of something; add more throttle; or throw in a new topic for traction.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20). You’ll expand an idea in a hyperreal direction -- so beyond what’s normal that it’s almost a caricature. This eliminates some of the complexity and makes it easy for people to understand and connect.

TODAY’S BIRTHDAY (Feb. 10). You know what you want, who you love and who you’re willing to make sacrifices for. With these three cornerstones as the guiding principles of your schedule, your year goes off like sparklers. You’ll be

saying no a lot. Through honesty, focus and selfpossession, a positive and effortless transformation is underway. Leo and Libra adore you. Your lucky numbers are: 40, 2, 14, 18 and 39.

COSMIC QUESTION: “How can you close a karmic circle? Can I end a cycle of karma for my entire family, especially future generations? I’m a Pisces, and I would think that if anyone could do it, it would be me, since I’m at the end of the zodiac and the most spiritual person in my family. I’m talking about abuse and trauma.”

When the abuse and trauma is no longer a focus, the karmic circle closes. You can end the Karma for yourself, and that impacts others, too. But you cannot control the experience of those who may not be ready or willing to change their Karma.

Also, consider that processing trauma keeps you somewhere in the karmic circle you’re trying to leave. While it may be necessary, there is a point of diminishing returns --and then a point where processing does more harm than good, keeping a person stuck as a victim and a patient, forever healing, never healed.

Know when to step out of the circle and focus on what you’re building instead of where you’ve been. You’re right. As a Pisces, your intuition will lead you there with grace.

CELEBRITY PROFILES: Elizabeth Banks has so many blockbuster hits to her name that her schedule has often been filled with sequels to film franchises. See: “The Hunger Games,” “The Lego Movie” and “Pitch Perfect.” Six air signs dominate Banks’ natal chart, indicating a lofty IQ teamed with the attractive modesty of Venus in Capricorn. Look for the Aquarius star in the recent historic miniseries “Mrs. America.”

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The pilot who crashed the helicopter carrying Kobe Bryant, killing all nine aboard, made a series of poor decisions that led him to fly blindly into a wall of clouds where he became so disoriented he thought he was climbing when the craft was plunging toward a Southern California hillside, federal safety officials said Tuesday.

The National Transportation Safety Board primarily blamed pilot Ara Zobayan in the Jan. 26, 2020 crash that killed him along with Bryant, the basketball star’s daughter and six other passengers heading to a girls basketball tournament.

Zobayan, an experienced pilot, ignored his training, violated flight rules by flying into conditions where he couldn’t see and failed to take alternate measures, such as slowing down and landing or switching to auto-pilot, that would have averted the tragedy.

The NTSB said it was likely Zobayan felt pressure to deliver his star client to his daughter’s game at Bryant’s Mamba Sports Academy. Officials believe Zobayan may have also felt “continuation bias,” an unconscious tendency among pilots to stick with the original plan despite changing conditions.

“The closer you get to the destination the more you think just maybe you can pull this off,” NTSB Vice Chairman

Bruce Landsberg said Tuesday.

The agency announced the longawaited findings during a four-hour hearing pinpointing probable causes of what went awry in the 40-minute flight. The crash led to widespread public mourning for the retired basketball star and several lawsuits, and prompted state and federal legislation.

The agency also faulted Island Express Helicopters Inc., which operated the aircraft, for inadequate review and oversight of safety matters.

When Zobayan decided to climb above the clouds, he entered a trap that has doomed many flights. Once a pilot loses visual cues by flying into fog or darkness, the inner ear can send erroneous signals to the brain that causes spatial disorientation. It’s sometimes known as “the leans,” causing pilots to believe they are flying aircraft straight and level when they are banking.

Zobayan radioed air traffic controllers that he was climbing when, in fact, he was banking and descending rapidly toward the steep hills near Calabasas, NTSB investigators concluded.

Flying under visual flight rules, Zobayan was required to be able to see where he was going. Flying into the cloud was a violation of that standard and probably led to his disorientation, NTSB said.

There were 184 aircraft crashes between 2010-2019 involving spatial disorientation, including 20 fatal helicopter crashes, the NTSB said.

Landsberg said. NTSB member Michael Graham said Zobayan ignored his training and added that that as long as helicopter pilots continue flying into clouds without relying on instruments, which requires a high level of training, “a certain percentage aren’t going to come out alive.”

Zobayan had been certified to fly using only instruments, but was no longer proficient, NTSB Chairman Robert Sumwalt said.

The Sikorsky S-76B helicopter was flying at about 184 mph (296 kph) and descending at a rate of more than 4,000 feet (1,219 meters) per minute when it slammed into the hillside and ignited, scattering debris over an area the size of a football field. The victims died immediately.

Bryant, his 13-yearold daughter Gianna and six others who left Orange County that morning were headed to his Mamba Sports Academy in Ventura County.

The group had flown to the same destination the previous day and Zobayan had flown Bryant along that route at least 10 times in 2019.

The aircraft itself had been flown on largely direct routes between the airports in Orange and Ventura counties about two dozen times since late 2018, data shows, but the pilot took the chopper further north because of low visibility that day.

There was no sign of mechanical failure and the pilot was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol, investigators said.

The helicopter did not have so-called “black box” recording devices, which were not required, that would have given investigators a better understanding of what happened.

The NTSB report reiterated a previous recommendation to require flight data and cockpit voice recorders on choppers, but the agency only investigates transportationrelated crashes. It has no enforcement powers and must submit suggestions to agencies like the Federal Aviation Administration or the Coast Guard, which have repeatedly rejected some board safety recommendations after other transportation disasters.

Over the past year, experts speculated that the crash could lead to a recommendation for requiring helicopters to have Terrain Awareness and Warning System devices, which signal when aircraft are in danger of crashing.

But NTSB investigator-in-charge Bill English said the system, which was not on the helicopter, would probably not have prevented the crash.

The hilly terrain, combined with the disorientation, would have made the warning system “a confusing factor,” English said.

Federal lawmakers have sponsored the Kobe Bryant and Gianna Bryant Helicopter Safety Act to mandate the warning systems on all helicopters carrying six or more passengers.

The NTSB report is likely to factor into litigation in the case, whether it’s admissible in court or not, said Dallas lawyer Michael Lyons.

The crash generated lawsuits and countersuits, with Bryant’s widow suing Island Express and the pilot for wrongful death on the day a massive public memorial was held almost a year ago at Staples Center, where the Lakers all-star played most his career.

Vanessa Bryant said Island Express Helicopters Inc., which operated the aircraft, and its owner, Island Express Holding Corp., did not properly train or supervise Zobayan. She said the pilot was careless and negligent to fly in fog and should have aborted the flight.

Zobayan’s brother, Berge Zobayan, has said Kobe Bryant knew the risks of flying in a helicopter and that his survivors aren’t entitled to damages from the pilot’s estate. Island Express Helicopters Inc. denied responsibility and said the crash was “an act of God” that it could not control.

Lawyers for Berge Zobayan and Island Express said they had no comment on the NTSB findings.

Families of other victims sued the helicopter companies but not the pilot.

The others killed in the crash were Orange Coast College baseball coach John Altobelli, his wife, Keri, and their daughter Alyssa; Christina Mauser, who helped Bryant coach his daughter’s basketball team; and Sarah Chester and her daughter Payton. Alyssa and Payton were Gianna’s teammates.

The companies have countersued two FAA air traffic controllers, saying the crash was caused by their “series of erroneous acts and/or omissions.”

While air traffic controllers failed to report the loss of radar contact and radar communication with the flight, which was inconsistent with their procedures, it did not contribute to the crash, the NTSB said.

“What part of cloud, when you’re on a visual flight rules program, do pilots not understand?”

“The pilot doesn’t know which way is up,” English said.

DURHAM, N.C. (AP) — Cormac

Ryan scored a careerhigh 28 points and

Prentiss Hubb hit a critical 3-pointer with 38.2 seconds left to help Notre Dame beat

Duke 93-89 on Tuesday.

Hubb’s long 3 with the shot clock winding down pushed the Fighting Irish to a 90-85 lead, their largest of the game. The Blue Devils twice got within three but no closer, with Wendell Moore Jr. missing a 3-pointer on Duke’s final possession.

Notre Dame (8-10, 5-7 Atlantic Coast Conference) had lost seven straight games to Duke and 9 of 10 in Cameron Indoor Stadium. But the Fighting Irish shot 55%, made 11 of 25 3-pointers and 18 of 20 free throws – a strong all-around shooting performance that allowed them to overcome a 15-point first-half deficit.

Hubb finished with 15 points, one of five starters to score in double figures for Notre Dame, which won for the fifth time in seven games.

Moore finished with 24 points and matched his career high with 10 rebounds for the Blue Devils (7-8, 5-6), who have suffered their second threegame skid since the start of 2021. Duke hadn’t lost three in a row before this season since January 2016.

The Blue Devils were coming off Saturday’s home loss to rival North Carolina and had lost five of seven overall. As with the UNC loss, Duke shot the ball well in this one at 52% while making 10 3-pointers, but the Blue Devils just couldn’t contain the Fighting Irish’s hot shooting behind Ryan.

Going back to the Blue Devils’ loss at Miami, Duke’s last three opponents have shot 53.6% from the field and 52.8% (28 of 53) from behind the arc.