• Consumers would be limited to buying only two packages of certain over-the-counter cold medicine under a bill adopted by the Iowa House Public Safety Committee. House File 2259 prohibits a retailer from selling and a person from buying, in a single transaction, more than two packages of cold medicine (in tablet form) containing pseudoephedrine as the product's sole active ingredient. These tablets are being "cooked" in labs to make the illegal drug meth. (Many over-the-counter cold medicines are multiple-ingredient products. Sudafed is a common single-ingredient product.) The bill now goes before the full House for debate. It would need approval by the Senate and the governor before becoming law.
• The 2004 Daley "assault weapons" ban has been assigned a hearing date before the Illinois Senate Judiciary Committee. If passed, Senate Bill 2561 "prohibits the knowing manufacture, delivery, and possession of semiautomatic assault weapons, large-capacity ammunition-feeding devices, and assault-weapon attachments." Violators will have 90 days to surrender their firearms to the police or be subject to forced confiscation procedures. For more information on the status of this bill, look at (http://www.legis.state.il.us).
• In response to the recent discovery of a hazardous substance delivered to the U.S. Senate, Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) has announced that the U.S. Senate mail-delivery system will now be slowed substantially, as all incoming mail will first be opened and tested at an off-site facility. Mail and e-mail sent to Harkin's office during the month prior to the February 2 ricin incident might have been destroyed and should be re-sent. Constituents wishing to contact Harkin electronically can do so by visiting his Web site at: (http://harkin.senate.gov). Once there, they should click on the link marked "contact information." Since the anthrax attacks in 2001, postal mail to and from the Capitol has been significantly slowed, and Senator Harkin's office has seen an increase in the number of e-mail messages received. Today, approximately 90 percent of all correspondence received by the office is via e-mail.
• In the wake of a government report that gives the CAPPS II passenger-screening program a failing grade for protecting passenger privacy, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and a diverse coalition of advocacy groups have asked the House Committee on Transportation & Infrastructure to hold Congressional hearings on the threat posed to privacy and civil liberties by the government's collection and use of passengers' private information. In its CAPPS II report issued late last week, the General Accounting Office (GAO) states that transportation authorities have failed to address Congress's concerns about the system's accuracy, effectiveness, and impact on personal privacy. Further, the GAO shares EFF's concerns that the CAPPS II mission might "creep" beyond its original purpose of keeping terrorists from boarding flights, and that there is no adequate redress for passengers mistakenly tagged as terrorists. For the full media release, visit (http://www.eff.org/Privacy/CAPPSII/20040218_eff_pr.php). For the GAO report on CAPPS II, "Computer-Assisted Passenger Prescreening System Faces Significant Implementation Challenges," go to (http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d04385.pdf).
• Rick's House of Hope, a center for grieving and traumatized children, is seeking volunteers to work with children and adolescents who have experienced the death of a loved one or other losses such as divorce or serious illness. The volunteers will be trained how to provide a safe and supportive environment for children who are dealing with traumatic issues. Hospitality volunteers who plan and serve meals and snacks are also needed. For more information about the volunteer opportunities at Rick's House of Hope, contact Director Robyn Plocher at (563)324-9580 or the Spiritual Care Department at Genesis Medical Center at (563)421-7970. You can learn more about Rick's House of Hope at (http://www.genesishealth.com/services/ricks_info.aspx).
• Michael McCarty of Rock Island made the preliminary ballot of the Bram Stoker Award by the Horror Writers Association. The nomination is in the nonfiction category for his book Giants of the Genre, a collection of interviews with such greats as Dean Koontz, Ray Bradbury, Neil Gaiman, and Dan Simmons.
• Citizens Against Government Waste has announced the final results of its online poll for Porker of the Year for 2003. Senator Arlen Specter (R-Pennsylvania) finished first with 51 percent of the vote, outdistancing his competitors by a two-to-one margin. The other finalists were Senator Ted Stevens (R-Alaska, 25 percent), Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa, 14 percent), Representative Jim Gibbons (R-Nevada, 6 percent), and Representative Terry Everett (R-Alabama, 4 percent). Specter was selected as the October Porker of the Month for including language in the fiscal 2003 Emergency Supplemental portion of the fiscal 2004 Legislative Branch Appropriations Act that provided $1.4 million for three pork-barrel projects in Pennsylvania. Harkin was "honored" in April for securing $98 million for an agriculture research station in Ames, Iowa, in the War Supplemental Appropriations bill. Harkin defended his actions by claiming the funds were crucial in an effort to combat bio-terrorism in the form of animal disease. More information on the finalists can be found in the Porker of the Month Hall of Shame at (http://www.cagw.org).
• The 2004 Daley "assault weapons" ban has been assigned a hearing date before the Illinois Senate Judiciary Committee. If passed, Senate Bill 2561 "prohibits the knowing manufacture, delivery, and possession of semiautomatic assault weapons, large-capacity ammunition-feeding devices, and assault-weapon attachments." Violators will have 90 days to surrender their firearms to the police or be subject to forced confiscation procedures. For more information on the status of this bill, look at (http://www.legis.state.il.us).
• In response to the recent discovery of a hazardous substance delivered to the U.S. Senate, Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) has announced that the U.S. Senate mail-delivery system will now be slowed substantially, as all incoming mail will first be opened and tested at an off-site facility. Mail and e-mail sent to Harkin's office during the month prior to the February 2 ricin incident might have been destroyed and should be re-sent. Constituents wishing to contact Harkin electronically can do so by visiting his Web site at: (http://harkin.senate.gov). Once there, they should click on the link marked "contact information." Since the anthrax attacks in 2001, postal mail to and from the Capitol has been significantly slowed, and Senator Harkin's office has seen an increase in the number of e-mail messages received. Today, approximately 90 percent of all correspondence received by the office is via e-mail.
• In the wake of a government report that gives the CAPPS II passenger-screening program a failing grade for protecting passenger privacy, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and a diverse coalition of advocacy groups have asked the House Committee on Transportation & Infrastructure to hold Congressional hearings on the threat posed to privacy and civil liberties by the government's collection and use of passengers' private information. In its CAPPS II report issued late last week, the General Accounting Office (GAO) states that transportation authorities have failed to address Congress's concerns about the system's accuracy, effectiveness, and impact on personal privacy. Further, the GAO shares EFF's concerns that the CAPPS II mission might "creep" beyond its original purpose of keeping terrorists from boarding flights, and that there is no adequate redress for passengers mistakenly tagged as terrorists. For the full media release, visit (http://www.eff.org/Privacy/CAPPSII/20040218_eff_pr.php). For the GAO report on CAPPS II, "Computer-Assisted Passenger Prescreening System Faces Significant Implementation Challenges," go to (http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d04385.pdf).
• Rick's House of Hope, a center for grieving and traumatized children, is seeking volunteers to work with children and adolescents who have experienced the death of a loved one or other losses such as divorce or serious illness. The volunteers will be trained how to provide a safe and supportive environment for children who are dealing with traumatic issues. Hospitality volunteers who plan and serve meals and snacks are also needed. For more information about the volunteer opportunities at Rick's House of Hope, contact Director Robyn Plocher at (563)324-9580 or the Spiritual Care Department at Genesis Medical Center at (563)421-7970. You can learn more about Rick's House of Hope at (http://www.genesishealth.com/services/ricks_info.aspx).
• Michael McCarty of Rock Island made the preliminary ballot of the Bram Stoker Award by the Horror Writers Association. The nomination is in the nonfiction category for his book Giants of the Genre, a collection of interviews with such greats as Dean Koontz, Ray Bradbury, Neil Gaiman, and Dan Simmons.
• Citizens Against Government Waste has announced the final results of its online poll for Porker of the Year for 2003. Senator Arlen Specter (R-Pennsylvania) finished first with 51 percent of the vote, outdistancing his competitors by a two-to-one margin. The other finalists were Senator Ted Stevens (R-Alaska, 25 percent), Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa, 14 percent), Representative Jim Gibbons (R-Nevada, 6 percent), and Representative Terry Everett (R-Alabama, 4 percent). Specter was selected as the October Porker of the Month for including language in the fiscal 2003 Emergency Supplemental portion of the fiscal 2004 Legislative Branch Appropriations Act that provided $1.4 million for three pork-barrel projects in Pennsylvania. Harkin was "honored" in April for securing $98 million for an agriculture research station in Ames, Iowa, in the War Supplemental Appropriations bill. Harkin defended his actions by claiming the funds were crucial in an effort to combat bio-terrorism in the form of animal disease. More information on the finalists can be found in the Porker of the Month Hall of Shame at (http://www.cagw.org).
