USDA Releases Updated Food Nutrient Database
Thursday July 31, 2003
This year’s version of the USDA’s popular National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, SR16, for short, includes 447 new entries. The database is the major authoritative source of food composition ... Read More
President Bush Answers Up
Thursday July 31, 2003
In this July 30 press conference, President Bush answers questions like: “How close are we to catching Saddam Hussein?” “How can Americans feel safe?” “What's your view on homosexuality?” “Why ... Read More
ACLU, Islamic Groups File Suit Against Patriot Act
Thursday July 31, 2003
The Washington Post reports that the American Civil Liberties Union has joined a law suit filed by several Islamic and Arab American groups aimed at blocking key provisions of the ... Read More
Equifax to Pay $250,000 to Settle FTC Charges
Thursday July 31, 2003
Equifax Credit Information Services Inc. promised the government they would provide a toll-free telephone number and access to credit bureau personnel for customers who requested copies of their credit reports. ... Read More
Replacement Congress?
Wednesday July 30, 2003
What if, on Sept. 11, 2001, United flight 93 had crashed into its probable target, the U.S. Capitol Building, killing or disabling hundreds of Senators and Representatives? How quickly could ... Read More
Bush Comes Out Against Gay Marriage
Wednesday July 30, 2003
Stating he believes marriage to be saying he believes marriage "is between a man and a woman,” President Bush spoke out Wednesday against extending marriage rights to homosexuals. As you ... Read More
NASA Confirms Ozone Layer Recovering
Wednesday July 30, 2003
NASA reports that satellite observations have provided the first evidence that the rate of ozone depletion in the Earth's upper atmosphere is decreasing. This could, say NASA scientists indicate the ... Read More
Foreign Health Care Workers Must Re-certify
Wednesday July 30, 2003
The Department of Homeland Security has announced that foreign health care workers will be required to comply with new certification requirements for temporary admission to the United States. The requirement ... Read More
Telemarketers Sue Government to Stop Do Not Call List
Tuesday July 29, 2003
You just knew the telemarketers wouldn’t simply hang up an go away when the federal government initiated the National Do Not Call List registry and, sure enough, you were right. ... Read More
Warnings of More Suicide Airliner Terror Attacks
Tuesday July 29, 2003
The Department of Homeland Security has warned that Islamic extremists could be planning new September 11-style suicide airliner hijackings to be carried out before the end of the summer. Possible ... Read More
Presidential Proclamation on the Death of Bob Hope
Tuesday July 29, 2003
On July 28, President Bush issued the following Proclamation on the death of entertainer Bob Hope, at age 100: “Today, America mourns the loss of one of its great treasures. ... Read More
39 Large Wildfires Continue to Burn
Tuesday July 29, 2003
Federal firefighters extinguished 300 small fires over the weekend, but 39 large fires continued to burn an estimated 313,505 acres in 11 western states, reports the National Interagency Fire Center. ... Read More
Inadequate 2004 Funding Could Derail Amtrak
Monday July 28, 2003
Amtrak President David Gunn is smoking over the House Appropriations Committee's approval of $900 million for the national railroad's 2004 operations. Amtrak needs at least $1.812 billion and if they ... Read More
'Phishing' for Your Identity -- Watch Out!
Sunday July 27, 2003
Personal terror is suddenly realizing that someone else has "become" you and is using your personal information, like credit card and social security numbers to quickly ruin your life. Cases ... Read More
Joint Inquiry into the Sept. 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks
Sunday July 27, 2003
Here is the 832 page – including many pages of blank (redacted) lines – report on the activities of the U.S. Intelligence Community in connection with the terrorist attacks perpetrated ... Read More
Politically Correct: ‘Mentally Ill’ Now ‘Intellectually Disabled’
Sunday July 27, 2003
By officially changing the name of the President's Committee on Mental Retardation to the President's Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities, President Bush marked the 13th anniversary of the Americans ... Read More
Funds for Veterans to Top $90 Billion in '04
Sunday July 27, 2003
Highlighted by $27.2 billion for upgrades to the Veterans Health Administration, the proposed FY 2004 VA-HUD spending bill provides over $90 billion for veteran's benefits, an increase of over $3 ... Read More
House Bucks Bush on Drug Reimport Bill
Saturday July 26, 2003
In what the Washington Post called “a rare and resounding defeat for President Bush, Republican leaders and the powerful drug industry,” the House has passed legislation to allow Americans to ... Read More
U.S. Postal Service: Government Agency or Private Business?
Saturday July 26, 2003
July 26 is the U.S. Postal Service’s birthday. For 288 years, neither rain, nor snow, nor… you know. Everyday except Sundays, some 750,000-career mail carriers deliver mail to 134 million ... Read More
'Bad Eggs' Take Big Fall
Saturday July 26, 2003
When you claim your egg powder pills are "magic bullets" that can cure, treat or prevent AIDS, Alzheimer's disease, attention deficit disorder, autism, cancer, candidiasis, chlamydia, chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, ... Read More
Now Liberated, Afghan Women Have Better Lives
Friday July 25, 2003
According to a new report from the U.S. State Department, more Afghan women are attending school this year than at any point in Afghanistan’s history. Estimates are that last year ... Read More
VA To Fill Prescriptions by Non-VA Physicians
Friday July 25, 2003
Beginning Sept. 22, the VA will fill prescriptions written by private physicians for veterans who have been waiting at least 30 days for their first appointment with a VA physician. ... Read More
PayPal Antes Up Big Fine to Uncle Sam
Friday July 25, 2003
The U.S. Department of Justice reports that online purchase processing 2000-lb gorilla PayPal, a subsidiary of eBay, has agreed to ante up a whopping $10 million in fines to settle ... Read More
U.S. Taxpayers Helping Public TV Go Digital
Thursday July 24, 2003
After requiring public television stations to convert to digital broadcasting, the federal government must now use taxpayer dollars to help them comply. On July 21, 2003, the USDA announced ... Read More
Preventing Cancer? Vitamins Won’t Do It
Wednesday July 23, 2003
In fact, a study of 29,133 male smokers in Finland showed that the beta-carotene vitamin supplement may actually increase the likelihood of lung cancer and death. Researchers found an 18-precent ... Read More
Americans Continue to Support the Arts
Wednesday July 23, 2003
Despite the human trauma and travel restrictions resulting from the 9-11 attacks and subsequent War on Terror, Americans continued regular attendance at arts events during 2002, reports the National Endowment ... Read More
Prison Rape Reduction Bill Passes Senate
Tuesday July 22, 2003
On July 21, 2003, the U.S. Senate passed a bill sponsored by Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) that is designed to reduce the rape of inmates in America’s prisons. The bill, ... Read More
Bald Eagle Counts Continue to Climb Slowly
Tuesday July 22, 2003
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) reports that winter counts of bald eagles increased nearly 2 percent annually from 1986-2000 in the contiguous United States. The analysis was based on 101,777 ... Read More
Find a Job in US Government
Tuesday July 22, 2003
No matter what your experience level or skills, the largest employer on Earth – the US Government – has a job for you. Plus, the U.S. government’s benefits and retirement ... Read More
100 Companies Agree to Help Veterans Afford Franchises
Monday July 21, 2003
The VA reports that ExxonMobil recently became the 100th company to join the Veterans Transition Franchise Initiative, commonly known as “VetFran,” which makes obtaining a franchise more affordable for veterans. ... Read More
Texas Leads Nation in New Housing Starts
Monday July 21, 2003
Texas, with 149,000 new housing units, led all states and accounted for
about 10 percent of the increase in the nation's housing inventory between
July 2001 and July 2002, the Commerce Department's ... Read More
U.S. Highway Death Toll Hits 10-Year High
Monday July 21, 2003
Our life expectancy may have hit an all-time high, but deaths on America's highways in 2002 reached the highest level since 1990. Crash-related injuries, however, hit an all-time low. Alcohol ... Read More
Small Businesses Grants? The States Have Them
Sunday July 20, 2003
I probably have to tell at least a dozen readers a month that the federal government does not offer grants for starting or expanding a small business. The SBA offers ... Read More
How to File an Employment Discrimination Complaint With EEOC
Saturday July 19, 2003
If you were discriminated against by an employer, labor union or employment agency when applying for a job or while on the job because of your race, color, sex, religion, ... Read More
The Ever-seeking Census Probes On
Saturday July 19, 2003
We just got over the 2000 count and now the curious folks from the Census Bureau are ready to probe us again. Well, not all of us this time, only ... Read More
Amtrak Announces Half Price Fares for Students
Saturday July 19, 2003
Amtrak has announced it will offer 50-percent discount fares to high school juniors and seniors traveling to prospective college campuses this fall. Read More Also See: Student Loan and Grant ... Read More
2.7 Million Crock Pots Recalled Due to Burn Risk
Friday July 18, 2003
Hamilton Beach/Proctor-Silex has announced the recall of 2.7 million slow-cook "crock pots" that were sold nationwide through discount department stores from January 1999 through last December. The recall was ordered ... Read More
How Much Do U.S. Congressmen Make?
Friday July 18, 2003
Do members of the U.S. Congress – Senators and Representatives - make about a gazillion bucks a year? Is it true that they don’t pay Social Security taxes? Do they ... Read More
How Much Does the Average American Worker Make?
Thursday July 17, 2003
The Labor Department says quarterly average wages were up by 1.7 percent over the last quarter, but how much per week does the average American worker make now?
According to the ... Read More
Airport Screeners Find Loaded Gun in Teddy Bear
Thursday July 17, 2003
Screeners at Orlando International Airport found a .22-caliber Derringer “artfully hidden” inside a teddy bear carried by a 10-year old boy. In this CNN story, TSA spokesman Robert Johnson is ... Read More
Sometimes, You’re Hot. Sometimes, You’re Not
Thursday July 17, 2003
While the U.S. enjoyed its sixth coolest and seventh wettest June since national records began in 1895, the global average temperature was third warmest on record, according to this report ... Read More
New Statistical Guide to Women’s Health
Thursday July 17, 2003
A new statistical guide to women’s health from Health and Human Services (HHS) includes data sets published for the first time, including women residing along the U.S-Mexico border, in rural ... Read More
Postal Service Pushes the Envelope
Wednesday July 16, 2003
What's this in your mailbox? A pizza you say? How about a donut, or a motorcycle? Anytime after August 10, it might just happen, as the U.S. Postal Service launches ... Read More
UAVs to Fill American Skies on Anti-terror Missions
Tuesday July 15, 2003
Like the now-famed Predator that prowled enemy skies over Afghanistan and Iraq, a new breed of unmanned aerial vehicles - UAVs – will take to the air over America’s borders ... Read More
Bush Promises to Cut U.S. Deficit in Half by 2006
Tuesday July 15, 2003
The White House acknowledged today that the federal budget deficit would reach a record $455 billion this fiscal year due mainly to the heavy costs from the war in Iraq, ... Read More
Greenspan Will Warn Congress of Deficit
Tuesday July 15, 2003
In this CNN Money story, U.S. Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass), will warn Congress that the widening federal deficit American businesses from raising the private capital need for growth. Frank quoted ... Read More
Heart Disease Among Women: More Research Needed
Tuesday July 15, 2003
While more than 250,000 women die of coronary heart disease (CHD) every year, the Department of Health and Human Services reports that most of the CHD research done over the ... Read More
Congressional Protection from Celestial Armageddon?
Monday July 14, 2003
They're out there and they're coming our way. Asteroids and comets, that is, many of which are large enough to wipe out humanity should they slam into the Earth. Now ... Read More
Shopping the Malls of Government
Monday July 14, 2003
Shop the Government! Why shop online government sales and auctions? From Treasury bills, to jeeps, jewelry and houses, you name it and a government Web site probably sells it. Best ... Read More
Why America Needs Third Political Parties
Sunday July 13, 2003
Okay, maybe a candidate of the Green Party or the Constitution Party, or any other “third” party will never win the presidency. But guess what, they do win local and ... Read More
School Prayer Debated in the Free Speech Forum
Sunday July 13, 2003
On the Supreme Court’s long history of banning organized prayer in public schools, reader VERNONM1 writes, "Another sad day in a long history of Christians taking it in the teeth. ... Read More
And the Survey Says… Nearly 1 Gun for Every American
Sunday July 13, 2003
According to the independently compiled Small Arms Survey 2003, the U.S. possesses the largest number of firearms in the world, approaching one gun for each American. The survey also notes ... Read More
Hubble Scopes Oldest Known Planet
Saturday July 12, 2003
Hubble Space Telescope astronomers say they have observed the oldest planet in the universe. The Jupiter-sized planet, at some 13 billion years old is over twice the age of the ... Read More
CDC Lifts SARS Warning for Hong Kong and Toronto
Saturday July 12, 2003
In a press release of July 10, 2003, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced the removal of its travel alert for Hong Kong and Toronto, Canada to ... Read More
Battle of Education Winners and Whiners
Saturday July 12, 2003
U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige has angrily accused the National Education Association (NEA) of creating a "coalition of the whining" in response to the Association's recent proposal to block ... Read More
Iraqi Archers Headed for United States
Friday July 11, 2003
Trying its best to avoid comparisons of bows and arrows to weapons of mass destruction, the State Department has announced it is helping to bring the Iraqi national archery team ... Read More
Rice Says CIA Approved Bush's State of Union Info
Friday July 11, 2003
USA Today reports that the White House contends the CIA approved in advance statements made by President Bush in his State of the Union Address that Iraq had tried to ... Read More
Cable TV Costs Jumped 8.2 Percent Last Year
Thursday July 10, 2003
Still can't find anything good on TV? Well, the worse news is that the national average cost of cable TV service jumped by 8.2 percent, from $37.06 to $40.11, over ... Read More
New Breed of Gas Water Heaters Cause Fewer Fires
Thursday July 10, 2003
According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), flammable vapors from gas water heaters are responsible for 800 residential fires, causing five deaths and 130 injuries in a typical year. ... Read More
First Human Case of West Nile Virus Confirmed by CDC
Wednesday July 9, 2003
The nation’s first human case of West Nile Virus (WNV) in 2003 has been confirmed in South Carolina by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), according to this ... Read More
Extraterrestrials Infiltrating U.S. Military?
Wednesday July 9, 2003
Open your minds wide, as you learn that a US Foreign Policy book author and University Researcher has released a study on the extent to which clandestine organizations embedded in ... Read More
'Mexican ID' Card Could Cloak Terrorists
Wednesday July 9, 2003
The Mexican government calls it the "Matricula Consular" identification card and they distribute it widely. Too widely, warns U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo (D-Colorado, 6th), who says the card could be ... Read More
‘American Taliban,’ Lindh Attacked by Fellow Prisoner
Tuesday July 8, 2003
The Justice Department reports that a prisoner at the Federal Correctional Institute at Victorville, California has been charged with assaulting fellow prisoner John Walker Lindh – also known as the ... Read More
Bush Slams Slavery on Africa Trip
Tuesday July 8, 2003
Calling the practice “one of the greatest crimes of history,” President Bush harshly denounced slavery on the first day of his five-nation trip through Africa. In this CNN story, the ... Read More
Education Awards Grants to Fight College Binge Drinking
Tuesday July 8, 2003
The Department Education has announced the award of 13 grants totaling nearly $2 million to help colleges and universities prevent high-risk (binge) drinking and violent behavior among college students. "In ... Read More
NexGen Web Malls a Scam, Charges FTC
Tuesday July 8, 2003
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has charged the operators of an Internet-based business opportunity that promised substantial income to participants in an Internet shopping mall network with operating an illegal ... Read More
‘Most Likely’ Saddam’s Voice, CIA Says
Monday July 7, 2003
If it walks like a dictator and talks like a dictator… it probably is the voice of Saddam Hussein on that audio tape aired last week by Al Jazeera, say ... Read More
Romney to the Rescue!
Monday July 7, 2003
When Massachusetts Governor Mitch Romney and his two sons heard screams coming from the waters of New Hampshire’s Lake Winnipesaukee, they jet skied to the rescue. By time the crisis ... Read More
China Backsliding on Human Rights
Monday July 7, 2003
Just as the Chinese government seemed to at last be paying attention to the human rights of its citizens, it seems to have stopped stone cold dead, according to the ... Read More
Eagle Feeders Often Serve Last Meals
Sunday July 6, 2003
People who feed eagles may be serving the majestic birds their final meal, warns the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Leaving food for eagles draws them into urbanized areas, where ... Read More
Do Medicare Reform Bills Measure Up?
Sunday July 6, 2003
The Medicare reform bills now before Congress fall short of providing America’s seniors with the level of medical coverage provided to 8.5 million federal workers, reports the Washington Post. The ... Read More
Is a FairTax in America’s Future?
Sunday July 6, 2003
The latest "let's dump the Tax Code" idea from Washington's wishful well of best intentions we call Congress, the FairTax bill would abolish all federal income taxes, death taxes, capital ... Read More
L.A. Woman Charged With Slavery
Saturday July 5, 2003
A 35-year old West Los Angeles woman has been indicted on federal civil rights and immigration charges for holding two Indonesian women against their will and forcing them to work ... Read More
A Lot Less Toxic, Thank You
Saturday July 5, 2003
According to the EPA’s most recent Toxic Release Inventory (TRI), toxic chemical releases continue to significantly decline across the United States. Total releases of chemicals nationwide decreased by 15.5 percent, ... Read More
Hepatitis C Virus Thrives on Alcohol, NIH Finds
Saturday July 5, 2003
Alcohol increases the spread of hepatitis C virus (HCV) in human cells and, by so doing, may contribute to the rapid course of HCV infection, according to research just announced ... Read More
Cold War Weapons Tests May Have Harmed US Veterans
Friday July 4, 2003
From 1962 through 1973, the Department of Defense’s Deseret Test Center conducted Project 112, a program to test new chemical and biological weapons. The tests conducted in Utah, Hawaii and ... Read More
Nation Still at War, Says Bush
Friday July 4, 2003
"The United States will not stand by and wait for another attack or trust in the restraint and good intentions of evil men," President Bush is quoted as saying in ... Read More
"Saddam" Urges Iraqis to Fight On
Friday July 4, 2003
"Therefore, I encourage you to cover ... the mujahedeen and our heroes and not to give the invaders and conspirators any information on the mujahedeen and their activities." So says ... Read More
Brief History of the Declaration of Independence
Thursday July 3, 2003
In August of 1775, King George of England had declared his American subjects to be "engaged in open and avowed rebellion" against the Crown and ordered the cargo of all ... Read More
Federal Agents Seize Snakes… and Guns
Thursday July 3, 2003
While U.S. Fish and Wildlife agents were searching the home of a Colorado man for illegally possessed, highly venomous snakes, they also happened across three firearms, one of them an ... Read More
CDC Updates Health Info for Globetrotters
Thursday July 3, 2003
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has just released a new edition of it popular "Yellow Book" of health tips targeted at international travelers. A "health information tool for international ... Read More
The “ABCs” Government Got You Down?
Wednesday July 2, 2003
APHIS is your garden's DOD. The BCIS has just replaced the INS, and the FSIS keeps you from needing the WHO or CDC. Use this handy guide to decipher the ... Read More
9500 New Americans to be sworn in on July 4
Wednesday July 2, 2003
The Department of Homeland Security will celebrate July 4 by welcoming 9,500 new Americans at 50 swearing-in ceremonies nationwide. The theme of the ceremonies will be "Celebrating a Nation of ... Read More
Political Parties to Get $14.6 Million Each for Conventions
Wednesday July 2, 2003
The Republican and Democratic political parties will receive $14,592,000 each from the U.S. Treasury for planning and conducting their respective 2004 presidential nominating conventions, according to Federal Election Commission. Back ... Read More
Anybody Seen Our Guns?
Tuesday July 1, 2003
In its annual accounting of “guns the government should have, but doesn’t,” the General Accounting Office reports that 18 federal agencies whose officers and agents are authorized to carry guns ... Read More