The United States has actually functioned under two constitutions. Before the present Constitution was ratified in 1788, we had these Articles of Confederation.

Unlike the federal government, the states do offer almost 200 direct grant programs for starting or growing a small business. Here you will find links to the business development resources ... Read More

When they wrote the Constitution, that is. Find out by reading a few or all of the Federalist Papers.

Safe Holiday Meals: The only thing Thanksgiving cooks want coming up after the big meal is compliments. Sadly, sloppy holidays cooking can lead to foodborne illness. Here are meal planning ... Read More

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 of all the ... Read More

With a hearty helping of blessings for dressings, President Bush issued his Thanksgiving Day Proclamation for 2003. "This Thanksgiving, we again give thanks for all of our blessings and for ... Read More

After three days of heated debate, the Senate has passed 54-44 a bill providing for the most sweeping changes to Medicare since its creation in 1965. The bill offers a ... Read More

With traditional Rose Garden fanfare, President Bush granted the annual pardons to the national Thanksgiving Turkey, ‘Stars’ and Vice Thanksgiving Turkey, ‘Stripes.’ Names for the lucky birds were selected by ... Read More

Since 1995, some 27 million pages of formerly sensitive CIA documents have been declassified and made available to the public. The documents chronicle major CIA programs such as the U-2 ... Read More

Despite a sense of continued progress toward gender equality in the workplace, the federal government confirms that the workplace earnings gap between men and women still persists today and tries ... Read More

The FBI has been gathering information on the tactics, training and organization of antiwar demonstrators. According to this San Francisco Chronicle story, the FBI plans to report any suspicious activity ... Read More

Stressing savings to seniors in costs of prescription drugs, President Bush praised the House of Representatives for passing his Medicare reform bill in his weekly radio address to the nation. ... Read More

Former President Gerald Ford, the last surviving member of the Warren Commission, stands by the Commission’s conclusion that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in assassinating President John F. Kennedy on ... Read More

The Justice Department reports the arrest or conviction of more than 125 individuals as a result of ‘Operation Cyber Sweep,’ a sting operation targeting perpetrators of a variety of online ... Read More

The National Transportation Safety Board has determined that the probable cause of the crash late last year of a Raytheon (Beechcraft) King Air 100 airplane, carrying Senator Paul Wellstone and ... Read More

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved for sale the first chewable oral contraceptive for women. Ovcon 35, is a spearmint flavored tablet that can be chewed and swallowed ... Read More

In a 4-3 ruling, the Massachusetts Supreme Court ruled that the Massachusetts Legislature must rewrite the state’s marriage laws to recognize marriages between gay and lesbian couples. As reported here ... Read More

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is looking for several good ideas and is offering grants to help small businesses develop them. The agency's science and technology division has just ... Read More

A study just released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), contends that SUVs, pickups and vans caused fatal injuries to child pedestrians at a higher rate than passenger ... Read More

Despite the elimination of provisions allowing oil drilling in the Alaskan wilderness and requiring higher gas mileage for SUVs, President Bush's latest attempt at a national energy policy bill is ... Read More

President Bush has awarded ten distinguished Americans with National Humanities Medals for the year 2003. Among the recipients were actor Hal Holbrook, and novelist John Updike. Click on the “Read ... Read More

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

Thirteen states carried out 71 executions in 2002, five more than in 2001, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS). Texas led all other states with 33 executions in ... Read More

To all the folks who write me asking about “free” government grants to start up or expand a small business, please see these articles for the hard truth: Money for a ... Read More

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has announced it will release a technical review of the emergency response to the 1999 Texas A&M University bonfire collapse, which killed 12 university ... Read More

In observance of Veterans Day - A day to thank all 48 million Americans who have served since 1776. Interesting facts and links related to Veterans Day.

U.S. teens suffer more common aches and pains, and have a harder time sleeping than their European counterparts, according to a new report from the Health Resources and Services Administration ... Read More

In his latest weekly radio address, President Bush credited his administration’s tax relief and rebate programs as being the driving force behind a recent upturn in the U.S. economy. “The ... Read More

A US federal panel investigating the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks has ordered the Department of Defense to provide information about US air defenses on the day of the suicide ... Read More

In a recently released "draft risk assessment" report, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) found that food products derived from cloned animals and their offspring are likely to be as ... Read More

After reading reports that the Bush Administration has decided to drop a host of clean-air enforcement actions against utilities and other industrial polluters, Senate Democrats are demanding that the EPA’s ... Read More

The U.S. Mint has unveiled its designs for two five-cent coins to be introduced into circulation in 2004. While the new coins will still feature the familiar profile of Thomas ... Read More

U.S. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham called on the international community Wednesday to strengthen nuclear nonproliferation efforts to ensure that countries such as North Korea and Iran cannot pursue nuclear weapons ... Read More

Research by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) indicates that women often experience new or different physical symptoms as long as a month or more before experiencing heart attacks. The ... Read More

Of course, every day is a good day to exercise our freedom, but why do we always vote on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November? Find out here.

Contrary to the long-held notion that people who can afford to do so, flee America’s inner-cities for the suburbs, the Census Bureau reports that young, single college-educated people are now ... Read More

On a voice vote, the U.S. Senate today passed and sent to President Bush an $87.5 billion appropriations bill for continuation of the military and reconstruction campaigns in Iraq and ... Read More

American workers who are members of unions earn significantly more per hour than their nonunion counterparts, according to a report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Data from the ... Read More

At least 15 American soldiers were killed and more than 20 injured on Sunday when their Chinook helicopter was shot down near Fallujah, west of Baghdad, Iraq. The incident, as ... Read More

In his Nov. 1, 2003 radio address to the nation, President Bush stated that pulling U.S. troops out of Iraq now, "would only embolden the terrorists and increase the danger ... Read More

Noting that more U.S. troops have now been killed during the occupation of Iraq than died during the initial invasion, U.S. Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich (D-Ohio), called on the White ... Read More

When actor Dustin Hoffman learned he been left of the National Rifle Association’s “blacklist” of companies, celebrities, and news organizations seen as lending support to anti-gun policies, he wrote the ... Read More