The military is not the only hurdle in the path of families poisoned at Camp Lejuene. ATSDR faces its own accusations of mishandling and misrepresenting information. When Townsend filed a 2003 Freedom of Information Act request to view some of the supporting documents referenced in ATSDR’s 1997 report, he was told by a Health and Human Services Department official that the files “are no longer in CDC’s possession.

When someone applies to the VHA for health coverage benefits, they are evaluated by either an Administration doctor or, if one is not readily available, a non-government private practice physician on a contract basis. The customary practice, according to Jim Vance, the director of the VHA office in Boise, Idaho, is for a petitioner to specify the condition for which they need medical attention when they first apply.

For the United States Marine Corps, boot camp means thirteen weeks of forced marches ― often in hot, humid, chigger-infested pine forests ― alongside bad food, tough discipline and screaming drill instructors. It is designed to weed out individuals not suitable for the military. According to recruiting materials, it accustoms recruits to dangerous, highly stressful scenarios and teaches them how to behave as soldiers rather than civilians in the face of adversity. It teaches them to conquer their fear, push the limits of their endurance and ultimately to become a better version of themselves.

It is said that if you know your enemies and know yourself, you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles; if you do not know your enemies but do know yourself, you will win one and lose one; if you do not know your enemies nor yourself, you will be imperiled in every single battle.—Sun Tzu

CALL MAJOR MAINSTREAM environmental groups and ask them for comment on Roger Bate. The reply is always: Who? Like most policy wonks at conservative think tanks, few have ever heard of him. That is why he wins. Anyone who wants to understand the policy battles that lie ahead in this country – not to mention those already past – should study his career carefully. This is true for Republicans looking for an antidote to President Obama, environmental advocates he has consistently outwitted, and health care reformers he is about to confront.

A Natural Resources News Service idea about environmental problems caused by the disastrous real estate market appeared as a story by Jim Carlton in today’s Wall Street Journal. Carlton, based in San Francisco, is a reporter who has done a number of NRNS stories. NRNS reporters Jay Gourley and Mike Magner provided the original story memo to Carlton that resulted in today’s piece.

Stories That Matter has posted one of the most useful lists circulating around Washington, a who's who of President-elect Obama's transition teams.  The list shows where in the federal government Obama's staffers are embedded before his takeover of the presidency.  Considering that some political appointees of the Bush administration are "burrowing" into permanent civilian positions across the federal government, the information below may be helpful in finding out what Obama's people are doing to counter that.

On December 9, 2007, the Washington Post ran a story about levels of the herbicide atrazine that are harming river ecosystems according to biologists who studied the data. The story was based on information originally provided to the Post by the Natural Resources News Service. Click here to read to the Washington Post story.

To see an interview with atrazine expert Dr. Tyrone Hayes, one of the scientists interviewed in the Washington Post article, click here.  The interview was conducted by Jay Gourley of the Natural Resources News Service.