ShareThisWASHINGTON -- Nowhere is the Bush-to-Obama administration transition under more scrutiny than at the Department of Homeland Security, which has never undergone a change in presidents before.Add to that the concern that evildoers will find this an opportune time to strike, and the needle on the "nervous" meter enters the red zone.But, by all accounts, the department -- not only the youngest but also one of the most sprawling -- is so far getting good marks for its preparation. Five-inch-thick briefing books, 18 months of planning meetings, accelerated security clearances and other evidence of attention to the mechanics of transferring knowledge and power of the utmost importance attest to the care being taken.Even so, security analysts hope the Obama team will accelerate its organization and make sure the department's chief is picked fast to send the message that the transfer of power will be quick and smooth.X...X...XThe military's Meals Ready to Eat might be going green -- and not because the packaged field rations have sat on shelves for too long.With a Pentagon grant, researchers at the University of North Texas are developing a more environmentally friendly package that will take less than a month to decompose. The petroleum-based brown plastic bags that currently hold the main courses, desserts, snacks and other goodies take four centuries to decay.This is no small problem, given the estimated 14,000 tons of MRE packaging waste generated each year.X...X...XThink credit's bad? So's another type of plastic -- surgery. A survey of members of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons finds 62 percent saying they're doing fewer breast enhancements, 64 percent are doing less lipo and 44 percent fewer nose jobs. A related survey of women finds 59 percent saying the economy has had an impact on their plans for cosmetic surgery. Many are buying down with Botox and fillers in a bid to hold things together until better times.X...X...XRemember back in the summer when all the fretting was over Midwest floods, fuel prices and fears that corn shortages from ruined cropland would add to gas woes? Well, we know oil and gas prices have fallen by half with lower demand, and now the USDA reports that farmers are on track to bring in the second-largest corn crop ever. And corn, which hit $6 a bushel in July, is now trading around $4.40.X...X...XSay aloha to the wildly popular U.S. Mint program of commemorating each of the 50 states with its very own quarter. Hawaii's coin -- featuring a likeness of early ruler King Kamehameha I -- debuted this week, about a decade after the program began. Since then, 34 billion state quarters have been produced, bringing in more than $3.5 billion in profits. The Mint says about 147 million Americans collected the coins.P.S. After years of pleading by officials of the District of Columbia and the five U.S. territories, Congress has authorized a new, decidedly more obscure series of commemorative quarters honoring them.X...X...XLegislation we'd love to see, courtesy of the incoming 111th Congress:The Akin-Baca-Payne Workers Compensation Act, sponsored by Reps. Todd Akin, R-Mo.; Joe Baca, D-Calif.; and Donald Payne, D-N.J.(E-mail Lisa Hoffman at hoffmanl(at)shns.com and Lee Bowman at bowmanl(at)shns.com.)(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, http://www.scrippsnews.com)
Smooth transition at Homeland Security...Cuts in surgery...Quarters
Submitted by SHNS on Fri, 11/14/2008 - 18:11
Paying taxes unites us. It also divides us. People can pay five and even six times more in state and local taxes than other folks in similar circumstances making similar incomes.
Who's got your number?
In one of the fastest-growing forms of identity theft, crooks are stealing tax refunds by swiping personal information and using it to trick the Internal Revenue Service.
