Here's a suggestion: send a grand mission to Pluto to drill a huge hole in it and stuff it with nukes. Then leave and detonate. Doing so would a) help the economy, b) give us a patriotic endeavvor to complete, c) advance the space program, d) settle the argument about whether there are eight or nine planets once and for all, and e) give us footage of an enormous nuclear explosion without anyone having to die. Why not start right now?
Of course it wouldn't help people having to deal with having only eight planets, but one can't do everything.
Or would also further the cause of nuclear disarmament. There's something for everyone to love in my plan!
Even cooler, Publius, it would give us footage of an enormous nuclear explosion without anyone having to die . . . IN SPACE!
Any time something's in space its cool factor is automatically increased. Exponentially. That's why I say we send someone like Madonna there! It would help the earth immensely & do wonders for her cool factor. Think of all the folks who could benefit by being put into orbit!
So many solutions, so little time.
Publius:
Cool idea, but I think you are overlooking the great hazard of all the Kryptonite this would create.
Did anyone see that movie with the long name? The Englishman who went up a hill but came down a mountain.
The people built the "hill" up taller so that it could be considered a mountain? We just need to start sending all our garbage to pluto. It's a win-win. We get rid of our garbage and pluto gets extra mass sufficient to be labelled a planet.
Tip: Start by sending up every copy of The DaVinci Code and McBrien's "Catholicism".
Okay. I wasn't thinking for a minute. Pluto's inplanetary status had more to do with its orbit than its overall size.
But can we still send up all the copies of DVC and "Catholicism" anyway?
Looking on the bright side, it is kinda nice to know that with Pluto's demotion, Gustav Holst is up to date once again. 
Wait a minute...I thought Science settled this planet question long ago and infallibly stated there were 9 planets orbiting the sun. Now they're changing their minds? Not me. Not this guy. No sir, no cafeteria scientist me.
Wouldn't it be Plutonite?
I thought Science settled this planet question long ago and infallibly stated there were 9 planets orbiting the sun. Now they're changing their minds?
As long as there are scientist, there will be people changing there minds.
I'm looking forward to the day when we hear about how atmospheric CO2 somehow contributes to Earth's gravitation pull on the Moon. No doubt the automobile will one day be responisble for the Moon a) colliding with the Earth or b) slipping off into outer space.
Dude! Where's my Planet!
I want my planet back!!!!!!!
OTOH the Ming-go are really gonna be cheezed off at us downgrading their planet!
Hey now.
I'm still reeling from the whole "Apatosaurus" thing.
Now this?
Next they'll be saying "BCE" instead of BC....
LOL, henry o! Absolutely brilliant!
(And I'm going to steal it!) 
Anyone ever see that syruppy film "The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill and Came Down a Mountain"? (I love maple syrup, btw)
So what we gotta do is establish a slingshot system around Jupiter to filter bits of the asteroid belt for, say 150 yrs,
1) accreting sufficient AB mass onto Pluto and
2) via this AB channel, transfering Jupiter momentum onto Pluto sufficient to nudge it into a circular orbit of comparable period, possibly also adjusting its orbital plane closer to the Ecliptic; such that
3) Pluto can then be re-classified as a planet proper. It shouldn't cost more than 5.4 peta$(US)! (in 1970s currency)
Dang... someone else already said that... fuzz.
And furze! I hate falling into gorse bushes.
This promises to have all the impact of that time when "they" decided the U.S. should go metric.
Glad to see I wasn't the only one smacking my head about the Apatosaurus/Brontasaurus thing. Why do they have to mess with stuff?
Short version: Apatosaurus was discovered and named by Othniel Charles Marsh in 1877. In 1879 Marsh found a new Apatosaurus skeleton but misidentified it as belonging to a different genus, which he named Brontosaurus. The 1879 "Brontosaurus" find was the largest dinosaur ever found at the time and was prominently displayed at Yale, so it became quite famous. It was known as early as 1903 that a mistake had been made and Apatosaurus and Brontosaurs were the same, but not until 1975 did paleonotologists crack down and begin insisting that all scientific literature use the term Apatosaurus. Apatosaurus was regarded as the correct term because it was older.
Oh man. Brontosaurus sounds so much cooler.
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