The poor French. There they were, with their low-rent bistros slinging brie-filled crepes, soupe a l’oignon and coq au vin when all the populace really wanted was rectangular food-like objects that taste vaguely of chicken, and a side of corn syrup dipping sauce.

But then the good ol’ U S of A came to the rescue! The American government graciously provided a struggling business called McDonald’s with $465,000 to promote Chicken McNuggets abroad.

That’s right, your tax dollars brought the culinary masterpiece that is Chicken McNuggets to Europe through the Market Access …

Tags: chicken McNuggets , europe , France , government , Government's End: Why Washington Stopped Working , Jonathan Rauch , Market Access Program , McDonalds , special interests

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Is space worth it?

Another year, another whirl of astronautical triumphs and failures, all at the taxpayer’s expense. With environmental problems already testing us to our limits, do we really need to go in search of the mysteries of the universe?

Not Worth It

Space eats money. The technical challenges of space exploration, particularly the manned variety, are such that any extraterrestrial venture is fabulously expensive. NASA’s 2007 budget? $16 billion. Accompanying this massive outlay is the failure rate. Space is the most hostile environment we know of – yet we’re launching super-expensive machinery …

Tags: environment , government , NASA , science , solar energy , space , technology

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Removing shoes, getting scanned and patted down doesn’t cut it anymore amid tightened airport security following the attempted terrorist attack on Christmas Day. Now, we’re being told to “hold it” during the last hour of flight, and the flying public is understandably pissed off.

While there are plenty of green remedies for bladder infections, there is little to placate the anger and stress resulting from the ridiculously long lines and humiliating security steps all resulting from the human factor: the government and airport employees did not do their job to …

Tags: airports , bladder , bomb threat , explosives , government , Nigeria , Nothwest Airlines , PETN , public restrooms , screenings , security , security measures , terrorism , transportation , TSA , U.S. Intelligence

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Protect Insurance Companies PSA from Will Ferrell
It has all the straight-faced sincerity of a legitimate PSA – the weepy, corny variety we usually see before a feature film.

But this mock Public Service Announcement – called Protect Insurance Companies – hits home with the kind of …

Tags: America , flags , GOP , government , health insurance debate , health reform , insurance costs , mock ads , Obama , premiums , profits , PSA's , Washington D.C. , Will Ferrell

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In the worldwide struggle to get clean water to those in need, it’s people who are the biggest problem.

That’s the conclusion of the World Water Forum, which met this month in Istanbul to examine global water supply problems and offer suggestions to world governments. At the Forum, the United Nations published their summary of the state of world water supplies. In a word – mismanaged. The summary pointed toward the lack of international cooperation, the often unbalanced allocation between commercial, food-producing and domestic supplies and, in particular, the absence of …

Tags: economy , government , local government , politics , united nations , water , water management , water reclaiming

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It just became official: global warming is bad for our health.

You think? This headline may look like something lifted from The Onion – but in fact we’re talking legally and in the Here and Now. For the first time, the Environmental Protection Agency appears to have designated greenhouse gases (the most infamous being carbon dioxide) as a danger to human health, opening the way to regulating these gases under the Clean Air Act.

In other words: the government is legally required to directly …

Tags: emissions , government , greenhouse emissions , legislation , politics

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A nearly $800 billion stimulus package passed by our lawmakers contains incentives for we the people not just to follow our hearts, but also good common sense in preparing for the future that awaits us.

The thinking is reducing energy waste and investing in alternative fuels go hand-in-hand with reviving our anemic economy.

The package goes a long way to target energy waste in federal buildings and homes across the country. $5 billion is set aside to help low-income families weatherize their living spaces with energy saving windows and improved insulation.

Another …

Tags: energy , environmentalism , government , lifestyle , reduce , stimulus package , sustainability , transportation

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Our national innocence regarding the safety of our food supply is fast eroding. From salmonella in tomatoes and peanut butter, to E. coli in spinach, how can we trust that the food we eat is safe and the government we pay taxes to is paying attention?

Two recent examples: Last fall, Mother Jones broke the story that canned tuna contains dangerous levels of mercury and that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) knew this when it left canned tuna off the seafood advisories it released in …

Tags: contamination , corn syrup , FDA , government , HFCS , lobby , mercury , poisoning , toxicity , tuna

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