...over a quarter of the emails that consumers send to companies are ignored altogether, says the Customer Respect Group, a consulting company that sends out thousands of test messages each year. And while the rate of lost emails is dropping in most industries, there are exceptions. The computer products and services industry, for example, saw its no-reply rate rise to 36% in the fourth quarter of last year, from 32% in the second quarter of 2003, according to the CRG.

We decided to email companies in five different industries to see how quickly they responded to our queries -- and how relevant and helpful the responses were...

INDUSTRY: Telecommunications
OUR AVERAGE WAIT: 68 hours
TOP PERFORMER: Cingular took only 27 minutes to reply
DISAPPOINTMENT: Packet8 never replied at all -- company said our email may have been mistaken as spam.
COMMENT: Those companies that responded offered helpful information.
* * *

INDUSTRY: Technology
OUR AVERAGE WAIT: 14 hours
TOP PERFORMER: Microsoft's email techs were attentive to the point of neediness.
DISAPPOINTMENT: Google forced us to jump through too many hoops before showing our question to a live human.
COMMENT: Despite industry stats on missing emails, tech companies performed best for us.
* * *

INDUSTRY: Airlines
OUR AVERAGE WAIT: 33 hours
TOP PERFORMER: Northwest's speedy reply was in keeping with the airline's sleek site.
DISAPPOINTMENT: JetBlue's 69-hour response time was the worst in our test.
COMMENT: Without JetBlue, the airlines' average was only 7 minutes longer than that of tech companies.
* * *

INDUSTRY: Hotels
OUR AVERAGE WAIT: 70 hours
TOP PERFORMER: Marriott was the third-fastest company in our test.
DISAPPOINTMENT: Best Western replied only after we contacted a spokeswoman and identified ourselves as a reporter.
COMMENT: Service ran the widest gamut -- from a 7-hour wait to a week.
* * *

INDUSTRY: Consumer products
OUR AVERAGE WAIT: 83 hours
TOP PERFORMER: When we asked about the possibility of defective batteries, Energizer volunteered to mail us coupons for free batteries.
DISAPPOINTMENT: Talk about commitment phobia: Colgate's site told us we "should receive a response in the coming weeks."
COMMENT: We're still were waiting to find out whether it's safe to use excessive amounts of whitening toothpaste.

One of the stars in the music video for the South Korean pop song "Anymotion" is bare-bellied teen idol Lee Hyo Lee. The other is a $600 Anycall cellphone sold by Samsung Electronics Co. In the video for the song, Ms. Lee dances with the phone and declares she can "watch anybody, sing any rhythm, show any people, call any number."

Samsung paid all the costs of making the song and the video -- and even hired the music producer and choreographer. "We hope the lyrics will remind people of Anycall when they hear the word 'any' several times," says Jong Hyun Kim, a manager at Samsung's ad agency, Cheil Communications. Samsung's Web site features a computer-generated Ms. Lee teaching teens the hip-jostling Anymotion dance...

In the U.S., fans might look down on the blatant commercialism of Ms. Lee's act. In Korea, "Anymotion" hit the top of the charts in March and April, and the dance has become a club favorite. Since it made its debut, the music video has been downloaded 1.6 million times from Samsung's Web site and fans have paid as much as $2 each to download 3.1 million copies of the song onto their phones. ("Anymotion" isn't sold on CD.)...

But American marketers still draw some lines between art and promotion that Asians don't. That became clear in 2003, when McDonald's Corp. paid American singer Justin Timberlake and Taiwanese-American singer Wang Leehom, who is active in China, to record songs using the restaurant chain's "I'm Lovin' It" slogan and jingle. Mr. Timberlake's U.S. version doesn't mention the Golden Arches and the music video doesn't feature any McDonald's restaurants.

How did that marketer get my number? I pay extra to have an unpublished or unlisted number!

This is how--Reverse ANI. Automatic Number Identification (ANI) is similar to Caller ID (CID). ANI reveals the name, address, and phone number of the telephone subscriber when the line is used to call a toll-free (800, 888), charge (900, 976), or police phone number (911). Unlike CID, a caller cannot block ANI.

So, even if you go to the trouble of paying to have your number unlisted and unpublished, all you have to do is call a single 800 number, and the business you call gets your info and can sell it to whomever they please.

The New York Times Enhanced Database American List Counsel New List

Description: This file contains subscribers to The New York Times. They share many interests from the arts to sports and they rely on it for advice in all aspects of life. Selects: more than 1.1 million universe, 6-month, 3-month, 1-month hotline, expires, age, gender, home/business, income, lifestyle, paid, renewals, state, SCF and ZIP
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Phone: 609/580-2769;
Fax: 609/580-2809
E-mail: reginald.higginbotham@alc.com

Since the late 1960’s Publishers Clearing House and now pch.com has been the definitive consumers choice for big payout sweepstakes, quality surveys and low priced magazine subscriptions. Each day, thousands of potential millionaires fill out detailed online surveys, enter online sweepstakes or purchase from the largest selection of magazines, all for a chance to win up to $10,000,000.

With the pch.com mailing list, marketers will gain access to an unmatched audience of direct mail prospects. Reach Internet savvy consumers who have taken the time to fill out a detailed survey, indicating everything from age and sex to income and hobbies. Or, target promotionally oriented individuals who have responded to an online sweepstakes, giving them the opportunity to win $10,000,000 as well as the ability to purchase magazine subscriptions and merchandise at a discount. And, while both of these groups of consumers have refused the magazine offers, you can still reach a large group that consistently relies on pch.com for all of their magazine subscriptions as well as an array of discounted merchandise.

Providing a variety of demographic and lifestyle selects, such as children, ethnicity, collectibles, computer owners and more, with pch.com, rest assured you are reaching a targeted audience of prospects who truly value purchasing direct. They are certain to respond to offers such as sweepstakes, apparel, general merchandise, finance, pets, travel, insurance, credit cards gifts and more!

Time Men’s Catalog Buyers Master File
Millard Group
New List
Description: This file contains male catalog buyers from Time Inc. who made mail-order purchases from various catalogs. From high-priced electronics to upscale apparel, your men’s catalog offer can be targeted specifically to these responsive mail-order consumers.
Selects: 1.74 million 12-month, 6-month, 3-month men’s catalog buyers, men’s apparel, 6-month, 3-month $50+, 6-month, 3-month $100+ catalog buyers, 6-month $50+ men’s high-priced apparel, men’s electronics/gadgets, men’s home improvement/safety buyers
Contact: your list broker or Millard Group, 10 Vose Farm Road, P.O. Box 890, Peterborough, NH 03458
Phone: 603/924-9262
Fax: 603/924-9420
E-mail: rlyons@millard.com

Alice L. Walton, the Wal-Mart heiress whose family foundation bought a coveted Asher B. Durand landscape from the New York Public Library this week for more than $35 million...

Dow Jones Telemarketing
American List Counsel
New List
Description: This file contains Wall Street Journal and Barron’s current and former subscribers that can be reached through telemarketing.
Selects: 846,057 universe, 12-month, 6-month, 3-month, 1-month, business/industry, sales volume, gender, state, SCF and ZIP
Contact: your list broker or American List Counsel, 4300 Route 1 CN-5219, Princeton, NJ 08543
Phone: 609/580-2944;
Fax: 609/580-2901
E-mail: dennis.mala@alc.com

Federal banking regulators yesterday warned banks and other lenders to be more selective about who can get home equity loans and lines of credit because rising interest rates may make it harder for people to repay their loans...

...At issue is the fast-growing market for home equity lending, which rose to $881 billion at the end of 2004 from $492 billion at the end of 2000, up 79 percent, according to the Federal Reserve. Overall mortgage indebtedness nationwide climbed 57 percent, to $7.54 trillion at the end of 2004 from $4.8 trillion at the end of 2000.

With average wages growing less than inflation, many homeowners have turned to home equity loans or lines of credit to make purchases, renovate their residences, consolidate credit card debt and pay bills they otherwise couldn't afford, such as medical expenses.

...the features that add to the price of a new car, the warranty from Best Buy, the burgers at the ballpark and the surcharge Ticketmaster puts on concert tickets. The price you hear is not the price you end up paying.

This article is not timely. Anyone who has worked in consumer law knows that shrouding, often referred to as "packing," has been a problem for a long time. Take wireless phone service, for instance. When was the last time you paid $49.99 for the service advertised for $49.99? Nevertheless, Leonhardt approaches it as a new issue: "Welcome to the à la carte economy, where consumers seem to face new decisions every few minutes and businesses know precisely when their customers are most vulnerable." (Here, he's actually describing upselling.)

Some of the article deals with poor advertising practices that hide important, secondary costs of owning a product. He gives the example of Hewlett Packard printers. The company makes it extremely difficult to determine the cost per page for printing, which btw, is the most important aspect of a general-use printer.

I'm not blogging this article to criticize Leonhardt (although he does begin the article with the most inconsequential example of "upselling," not shrouding, with an appeal to Zagat-reading fools who run up their bill by ordering Pellegrino at a restaurant), but rather to point out a trend that I think is critically important in consumer protection:

There really are two types of consumers when it comes to shrouding: one who takes advantage of the murkiness and another who gets taken advantage of. To make matters even worse, the less savvy group ends up subsidizing the more sophisticated one...

These are the smart, unprofitable customers. They are also the ones who would be attracted to a competitor that was being more upfront about prices than Hewlett-Packard...

...I hereby determine that the objects to be included in the exhibition, ``The Mysterious Bog People,'' imported from abroad for temporary exhibition within the United States, are of cultural significance. The objects are imported pursuant to loan agreements with the foreign lenders. I also determine that the exhibition or display of the exhibit objects at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from on or about July 9, 2005, to on or about January 22, 2006, the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, California, from on or about March 16, 2006, to on or about September 10, 2006, the Milwaukee Public Museum, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, from on or about October 22, 2006, to on or about January 21, 2007, and at possible additional venues yet to be determined, is in the national interest.

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

[MB Docket No. 05-171; FCC 05-84]

Request for Comments on the Use of Video News Releases by
Broadcast Licensees and Cable Operators

AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: This document, reminds broadcast licensees, cable operators
and others of sponsorship identification requirements applicable to
video news releases and solicits public comment on the use of video
news releases by broadcast licensees and cable operators...

Doctors and patients who rely on articles in prestigious medical journals for information about drugs have a problem: The articles don't always tell the full story.

Some omit key findings of trials about a drug's safety and efficacy or inconvenient details about how a trial's design changed partway through. A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association last year reviewed 122 medical-journal articles and found that 65% of findings on harmful effects weren't completely reported. It also found gaps in half the findings on how well treatments worked.

The problem calls into question whether journals can play the role of gatekeeper in an era when articles are increasingly used as marketing tools. Editors have "found themselves playing a game of research hide-and-seek," says Jeffrey Drazen, editor in chief of the New England Journal of Medicine. They have "had experiences where authors tried to pitch it, where they were telling you the good news and not the bad news."

[...]

The JAMA study last year said articles often cherry-picked strong results to report, even if those results were in a different area than the study was designed to test. Typically scientists set up clinical trials to answer one or two primary questions -- for example, whether a drug reduces the risk of a heart attack and stroke. These are called the primary outcomes. The JAMA study found that 62% of trials had at least one primary outcome that was changed, added or omitted.

[...]

One well-publicized dispute over data interpretation came in 2000 when a JAMA article said Pfizer Inc.'s painkiller Celebrex minimized damage to the stomach compared with older drugs. It later emerged that the authors used only six months of data even though they had some data extending to 12 months. When all the results were included, Celebrex didn't look markedly better than its rivals. (Separately, a study last year suggested Celebrex might increase heart risk.) Today, the 2000 article is part of a shareholder suit alleging that Pfizer misled investors about its drug.

[...]

Disputes are rarely clear-cut. Scientists may legitimately disagree whether an article that leaves out a certain figure is deceptive or merely reflects the fact that no several-page summary of thousands of pages of data can be comprehensive.

As part of a bid for Food and Drug Administration approval to sell the anticholesterol drug Mevacor without a doctor's prescription, Merck and partner Johnson & Johnson set up 14 mock drugstores and solicited customers through advertising. The store shelves were lined with products including over-the-counter Mevacor. A label on the drug instructed potential users that they should take it only if they met several conditions, such as having moderately high cholesterol and at least one risk factor for heart disease. The idea was to simulate the real-life circumstances under which the pills would be sold.

An article summarizing the results of the experiment in the November 2004 issue of the American Journal of Cardiology said about two-thirds of the people who decided to try the drug met the conditions or came close. The authors, who worked for Merck and J&J, said the study's full results made a "compelling case" that Mevacor was suitable to be sold over-the-counter.

In reviewing the case, the FDA highlighted another figure, one that never appeared in the article: Just 10% of the people who took the drug fully met the label's conditions. The others included in the two-thirds figure met many of the conditions but not all. After hearing a presentation by agency officials, an FDA advisory committee in January voted to reject the drug companies' request.

Edwin Hemwall, a vice president at the Merck-J&J joint venture that wants to sell the drug over-the-counter, says the label was conservatively written and the two-thirds figure accurately captured the percentage of users who were right for the drug. It included people who had been advised by their doctor to take Mevacor and some who were a year younger than the minimum ages on the label (45 for men, 55 for women). "We felt that that really represented, from a global perspective, the type of person who fit the label," Dr. Hemwall says. The FDA, he says, "went very, very strictly by the label."

The journal's editor, William Roberts of Baylor University, said he didn't remember details of the article and couldn't comment.

[...]

Alan Goldhammer, an associate vice president at the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, the top drug-industry trade group, says some of the new scrutiny unfairly singles out drug companies -- for example, by forcing them to get academic scientists to check off on their work. "When is enough enough?" asks Mr. Goldhammer. "Why are our submitted articles different from all other submitted articles?"

They're different, journal editors contend, because of their potential use in marketing. In 2003, an article in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society concluded that the Alzheimer's drug Aricept helps elderly people live at home longer. It cited "significant delays" in the date when people who took Aricept entered a nursing home. Pfizer and Eisai Co., the drug's co-marketers, ran ads in medical publications that cited the study and said the drug "helps keep patients in the community for more than five years."

Critics, in letters to the journal, called the study "seriously flawed" and "misleading." They suggested that its design tended to weight the Aricept group with the most compliant patients and those with the most social support -- making it unclear whether their superior results had anything to do with the drug's effects. Those in the non-Aricept group included people who refused the companies' offer for free ongoing treatment with the drug and some who dropped out of an earlier clinical trial of it.

The study acknowledged the possibility of "selection bias" between the groups, but suggested this wasn't a fatal flaw. David Geldmacher, the article's lead author and a professor at the University of Virginia, says the study results were "meaningful" and the two groups were "comparable to a reasonable standard." Thomas Yoshikawa, editor in chief of the journal, says the article was "topical and relevant" and its science "reasonably good." The Pfizer spokeswoman said in an email that the company "stands by our advertising and the results of this study," adding that they are consistent with a different study published this January in the same journal.

A 2001 analysis in JAMA found that side effects were adequately reported in only 39% of nearly 200 articles surveyed. The median space devoted to safety concerns was roughly a third of a page -- about the same as the authors' names and affiliations.

In 2001 the New England Journal of Medicine published an article about the Eli Lilly & Co. drug Xigris for sepsis, a body-wide response to infection that is often fatal. The article described Xigris as effective in a broad spectrum of patients. But four consultants to an FDA advisory committee later published a commentary in the journal, saying the FDA's analysis showed the least-sick patients got no benefit and suffered side effects. The FDA approved the drug only for sicker patients.

William Macias, a Lilly official, and Gordon Bernard, a Vanderbilt University professor who was the lead author of the article, say the authors used a different statistical analysis than the FDA, and their method showed no meaningful differences between the subgroups. Dr. Drazen, the New England Journal's editor in chief, defends the article, saying the main point was to tell readers the overall results.

"One solution to this is to publish the raw data" that emerge from a trial, says Dr. Abbasi of BMJ, the British journal. "The way things are going in terms of openness, you can't rule it out."

NaturalBra Buyers From TELEBrands List Services Corp. New List Description: This file contains women who bought the revolutionary NaturalBra from TELEBrands. NaturalBra enhances their figures in every fashion style. These are promotionally responsive buyers of value-priced merchandise from TELEBrands as marketed through television commercials and space ads. They are ideal prospects for direct mail offers including women’s apparel, health/beauty, jewelry, accessories, credit card and subscriptions. Selects: 218,000 12-month buyers, gender, state, SCF and ZIP Contact: your list broker or List Services Corp., 6 Trowbridge Drive, P.O. Box 516, Bethel, CT 06801 Phone: 203/743-2600 Fax: 203/778-4299

June 12, 2001

What now? Five suggestions to prevent the next Timothy McVeigh

[June 12] WASHINGTON, DC -- Now that Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh has been executed, there are specific actions the government should immediately take to prevent such a horrific act of domestic terrorism from ever happening again, Libertarians say.

“Of course, no one can guarantee that another Timothy McVeigh-style psychopath won’t try to murder scores of innocent people,” said Steve Dasbach, Libertarian Party national director. “However, Libertarians have five concrete suggestions for the government, each of which would reduce the chance of such a crime being repeated.”

On Monday morning, McVeigh was executed by lethal injection at a federal prison in Terre Haute, Indiana, for his role in the 1995 bombing that killed 168 people in a federal building in Oklahoma City.

Now, the government should act quickly to try to change the political climate that helped spawn a Timothy McVeigh, said Dasbach. Such reforms could include:

(1) Prosecute government officials who commit crimes.

“McVeigh said he blew up the building in Oklahoma City to protest the federal government’s actions in Waco -- and he was quickly apprehended, tried, and punished for his crime,” noted Dasbach. “That was proper, even if you might disagree with the morality of the death sentence.

“However, not a single FBI or BATF agent was arrested for their role in the fiery deaths of 86 people at the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas. There should not be one standard of justice for ordinary Americans, and another for government officials. Until that injustice is eliminated, many Americans will continue to view their government with suspicion, fear, and bitterness.”

(2) Embrace an open, vibrant political system.

“People tend to turn to violence only when they feel they have no other way to be heard,” said Dasbach. “It is the government’s responsibility, then, to make sure that political discussion is not restricted, regulated, or suppressed.

“When Americans feel they have a role in the political system, they will work through the political system to make productive changes. When that avenue is blocked -- either by restrictive ballot access laws, legal curbs on political speech, exclusion from debates, or by attempting to discredit unpopular political speech -- the Timothy McVeighs of the world turn to violence.

“That’s why robust political debate -- especially about the abuse of government power -- is a healthy way to change the system. And that’s why stifling such debate is downright dangerous.”

(3) Reject violence on principle.

“Over the past 20 years, the United States government has intervened militarily in Iraq, Yugoslavia, Haiti, Panama, Afghanistan, Bosnia, Kosovo, and other nations,” said Dasbach. “In each case, these military actions resulted in innocent civilians being killed, and were done without the benefit of a formal declaration of war.

“The message of these actions is simple: It’s proper to use violence to achieve political goals. That’s a message the government should not send. Instead, a commitment to nonviolence should start at the top.

“Unless the security of the United States is directly threatened, the U.S. government should not bomb, invade, or drop missiles on people in other nations. Violence breeds violence, and it’s time for our government to lead by example and stop the bloodshed.”

(4) Repeal the Omnibus Anti-Terrorism Act of 1996.

“This legislation, rushed through Congress after the Oklahoma City bombing, grants the president arbitrary power to declare individuals ‘terrorists,’ authorizes the use of secret evidence, and reverses the presumption of innocence for suspects,” said Dasbach. “Repealing this law would expand freedom without hindering the ability to catch real criminals.

“The freedoms recognized under the Bill of Rights are our strongest bulwark against terrorism. Security measures that infringe on those freedoms will inevitably lead to abuse, ultimately making us less secure in our lives and property.”

(5) Reduce the size and power of the federal government.

“No, we’re not saying that the growing power of the federal government justifies what Timothy McVeigh did,” said Dasbach. “But the fact is, millions of Americans view their own government with suspicion and distrust.

“Americans see a government that can recklessly seize our property under asset forfeiture, eminent domain, or environmental laws; that can detain us at roadblocks for not wearing a seatbelt; that forces banks to spy on their own customers; that shoots innocent people dead in the name of the War on Drugs; that can secretly read our e-mail; that allows the IRS to seize our bank accounts; and that can violate our civil liberties in a thousand different ways.

“A government that was limited to its Constitutionally defined role would be smaller, less intrusive, and less threatening. It would be a government that honors fundamental American liberties, instead of undermining them. And it would be a government that gives Americans little reason to view it with apprehension.”

Those five suggestions have something in common, said Dasbach: They would all change the political climate in a positive way -- and make future Timothy McVeighs less likely.

“We can never bring back the men, women, and children who were killed in Oklahoma City,” he said. “But by using this tragedy to honor and reaffirm our nation’s fundamental liberties, we can help make sure that the 168 people who died in Oklahoma City did not die in vain. It would be America’s way of standing up and saying: ‘Never again.’ ”

The Washington Post reports:

Merck & Co.'s longtime leader Raymond V. Gilmartin abruptly resigned yesterday on the same day congressional investigators released a slew of documents detailing how the company continued to aggressively promote its arthritis drug Vioxx after it knew of potentially serious safety concerns.

The documents made public by the House Committee on Government Reform showed that Merck directed its 3,000-person Vioxx sales force to avoid discussions with doctors about the cardiovascular risks identified in a major clinical trial of the drug in 2000. Sales representatives were told instead to rely on a "Cardiovascular Card" that said Vioxx was protecting the heart rather than potentially harming it.

Vioxx was withdrawn from the market last September after another clinical trial found that people who had taken the drug for 18 months were five times more likely to have heart attacks and strokes than those on a placebo. The withdrawal tarnished Merck's reputation and cost the firm billions in sales, stock value and legal fees.

[...]

Merck and other drug companies say their "detailers" act as neutral educators to guide physicians in prescribing drugs, but the more than 20,000 pages of documents released yesterday showed that Merck's representatives were coached to be aggressive salesmen.

They were trained how to smile, speak and position themselves most effectively when talking with doctors, and were exhorted to sell Vioxx and other Merck drugs using the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech.

Rep. Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.) read from a Merck training manual that directed instructors to play a recording of the speech and then say to the sales force: "King was someone with goal-focus -- he kept getting shut down but kept going. . . . Just as with a physician, you must keep repeating the compelling message and at some point, the physician will be 'free at last' when he or she prescribes the Merck drug, if that is most appropriate for the patient."

"Merck says the mission of its sales force is to educate doctors," said Rep. Henry A. Waxman (Calif.), the panel's ranking Democrat. "This sales force is given extraordinary training so that it can capitalize on virtually every interaction with doctors. Yet when it comes to the one thing doctors most need to know about Vioxx -- its health risks -- Merck's answer seems to be disinformation and censorship."

[...]

The hearing also explored previously reported efforts by Merck to "neutralize" doctors who had concerns about Vioxx's safety by paying them to take part in clinical trials and offering grants and consultancies. Merck officials said their efforts were designed to dispel misinformation about their product...

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Source: Multiple

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We Address the World®

Facing growing audience rage at the proliferation of product ads in theaters before the start of feature films and trailers, the company has decided to list the actual starting times of the features, in addition to the official times that, increasingly, bear no relation to reality.

[...]

Listings will note that the features will start ''10 to 15 minutes after the published showtime."

The corporate announcement means that for those annoyed by the product ads, relief is on the way. Patrons will now be able to better calibrate their arrival to the start of the movie, although in doing so they risk marginal seating for a popular film.

Ads before movies, which push everything from cars to soft drinks, infuriate many who say they come to movies to escape these kinds of irritants that dominate television. But where TV viewers are armed with remotes to click away commercials, the captive audiences in theaters enjoy no such option.

The Loews Cineplex CEO, Travis Reid, maintained in the statement that the public understands the practice of running house ads. But he allowed, ''Recently, however, some of our customers have suggested that we also publicize the start time of the movie."

A spokesman for the Regal Entertainment Group, the largest theater chain in the country, said it has no plans to change its listings, which do not include the actual starts of the features.

Presidential Documents

[[Page 23773]]

Proclamation 7892 of April 29, 2005

Loyalty Day, 2005

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

Generations of men and women have sacrificed to defend
the basic principles of liberty upon which our Nation
was founded. This spirit of selfless service helps keep
America strong and free. On Loyalty Day, we join
together to celebrate this bond that makes our country
great.

For more than two centuries, our military has given us
examples of courage and patriotism that make every
American proud. Today, more than a million Americans
are stationed around the world, taking great risks and
making personal sacrifices to secure the blessings of
liberty for our country and to spread peace and
freedom. These brave men and women are unrelenting in
battle and unwavering in loyalty. Their service
exemplifies our Nation's ideals, and they have our
gratitude and support.

Volunteer service is also a proud American value. Our
Nation relies on compassionate souls who look after
their neighbors and surround the lost with love.
Through good works, we can extend the promise of our
country into every home and neighborhood. This year, I
announced a new initiative, Helping America's Youth,
led by First Lady Laura Bush, to help young people
overcome the challenges they may face and emphasize the
importance of loving, caring adults in every child's
life. By educating and preparing today's young people
to be the leaders of tomorrow, we strengthen our
country and pass on the liberties we cherish to rising
generations.

The Congress, by Public Law 85-529, as amended, has
designated May 1 of each year as ``Loyalty Day.'' On
Loyalty Day, we honor our great Nation and the people
who help keep it safe and strong. I ask all Americans
to join me in this day of celebration and in
reaffirming our allegiance to our Nation.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the
United States of America, do hereby proclaim May 1,
2005, as Loyalty Day. I call upon all the people of the
United States to join in support of this national
observance, and to display the flag of the United
States on Loyalty Day.

[[Page 23774]]

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
twenty-ninth day of April, in the year of our Lord two
thousand five, and of the Independence of the United
States of America the two hundred and twenty-ninth.

(Presidential Sig.)B

[FR Doc. 05-9032
Filed 5-3-05; 8:48 am]

Billing code 3195-01-P

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

Internal Revenue Service

Quarterly Publication of Individuals, Who Have Chosen To
Expatriate, as Required by Section 6039G

AGENCY: Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Treasury.

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: This notice is provided in accordance with IRC section 6039G,
as amended, by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act
(HIPPA) of 1996. This listing contains the name of each individual
losing United States citizenship (within the meaning of section 877(a))
with respect to whom the Secretary received information during the
quarter ending March 31, 2005.

San Francisco Gay Married Couples

[...]

4,030

TOTAL FILE

175.00/FLAT

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LICENSES IN SAN FRANCISCO IN FEBRUARY AND
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SOURCE: COMPILED PUBLIC RECORDS.

The Anti Advertising Agency has new offices at SFAI.

Also check out the Delocator. This site helps you find non-Starbucks coffee houses.

Overall, I think the exhibition could use some humor. I would have taken some photographs of the models, and then molested them by assembling them incorrectly, mixing their parts to create broken, useless machines.