An asteroid the size of a city bus had a close call with earth on June 27th. The flyby was so close that it came nearer to us than some satellites are. LiveScience.com, Tariq Malik reports that the arriving space rock came closest to earth just after 1 pm Eastern Time, when it came within 7,500 miles of hitting us. Astronomers saw it coming on June 22, but didn’t feel the need to warn us because they were certain it wouldn’t impact.
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Cold cuts are generally safe, but hot dogs can be dangerous (at least our food isn’t as bad as what they’re eating in China!) The big problem with hot dogs is the chemical nitrite that’s used to preserve them. It turns out that paying more for "natural" or "organic" dogs–or eating dogs made from turkey or chicken–doesn’t solve the problem–they can have as much of the cancer-linked preservative as the ones you buy in the grocery store.
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When we say we support our troops, we should include WOMEN in that too. Women are the fastest growing segment in the US military, already accounting for approximately 14% of deployed forces. According to statistics from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), 20% of new recruits and 17% of Reserve and National Guard Forces are women.
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When we realized that the US is the only country in which the right to be at least TRY to be happy is actually part of the constitution ("the pursuit of happiness"), we decided that, in order to celebrate the 4th of July, we would put up a diary that Anne Strieber posted 4 years ago about someone who decided–against great odds–to become an American citizen.read more