Astronomers call the most promising of these places "Goldilocks planets, " because they orbit in a temperate zone not too hot and not too cold to support liquid water essential for carbon-based life as we know it.

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The EU is trying to cook up a "Goldilocks budget" - not too hot for the countries like Britain, the Netherlands and Sweden who want to see spending frozen and not too cold for the countries of the South (Spain, Portugal, Greece) and East (led by the biggest net beneficiary Poland) who want to see spending on them maintained.

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Although I was on the road with the family, I was able to check in with the markets on a regular basis and was a little disturbed to hear the talking heads jawing about things suddenly looking not-too-hot and not-too-cold.

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At this stage of the game, I believe that the stock market and Mr. Bernanke would prefer to do away with the not-too-cold part of the formula and get this economy moving forward as fast as humanly possible.

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Their bodies are unable to self-regulate their core body temperature and we must be vigilant they are not too cold or too hot.

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The bus she takes is often cold and crowded, she says, and it broke down entirely not too long ago.

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