The Library of Congress was created on this day in 1800, when President John Adams approved spending $5,000 for “such books as may be necessary for the use of congress.”
Source: Library of Congress
Year: 2009
Congress and Progress
Americans United For Change, a liberal labor-funded group, has released a new ad accusing congressional Republicans of opposing "progress."
The ad accuses Republicans of voting against children’s health insurance, equal pay for women, economic recovery, middle-class tax cuts and a budget that would lead to "long-term prosperity." We’ve called this group out before for unfounded claims about the Republican agenda, but this ad sticks closer to the truth. Democrats did push through bills on expanding the Children’s Health Insurance Program and guaranteeing equal pay for women,
April 23, 2009
A worker honey bee’s brain is only a cubic millimeter in size, but it has the densest neuropile tissue of any animal.
Source: Department of Agriculture
An Unlawful Congress?
Q: Have 84 members of Congress been arrested for drunk driving in the last year? Have seven been arrested for fraud?
A: We judge these statistics to be not credible. They originated nearly a decade ago with a Web site that still refuses to provide any proof or documentation, or even to name those accused.
April 22, 2009
Today is Earth Day. The first Earth Day was celebrated in 1970, the same year the Environmental Protection Agency was created by President Nixon.
Source: EPA
April 21, 2009
The largest recorded lobster, caught off the coast of Nova Scotia in 1934, weighed 44.4 pounds and was at least 100 years old, according to scientists.
Source: National Geographic
Here There Be Pirates
We’ve been getting lots — you might even say a vast number — of queries about a new chain e-mail making the rounds. It’s about everyone’s new favorite topic: pirates. And the e-mail simultaneously praises the Navy SEALs who dramatically rescued Capt. Richard Phillips from three Somali pirates April 12 while blaming President Obama for failing to act more quickly. You may have seen the e-mail, even if you’re not one of the 46 people (so far) who have forwarded it to us in the past five days.
Hot Air on “This Week”
House Republican Minority Leader John Boehner was a guest on ABC’s "This Week with George Stephanopoulos" on Sunday, and he made a remark that could use some clarification and correction.
A conversation about climate change included the following exchange:
Stephanopoulos: What is the Republican plan to deal with carbon emissions, which every major scientific organization has said is contributing to climate change?
Boehner: George, the idea that carbon dioxide is a carcinogen that is harmful to our environment is almost comical.
April 20, 2009
The two largest religious affiliations in the U.S. are Evangelical Protestant (26.3 percent of adults say they belong to churches in that group) and Catholic (23.9 percent).
Source: Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life
Social Security for Immigrants and Refugees
Q: Do immigrants and refugees get more in benefits than a retired U.S. citizen gets in Social Security?
A: This is nonsense. The claims propagated by a viral e-mail are not even close to the truth.