Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, September 24, 1995 TAG: 9509260098
SECTION: HORIZON PAGE: D4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: COX NEWS SERVICE
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
A: Statistics are kept by the National Center for Health Statistics and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The latest periods for which statistics are available are 1993 (entire year) and 1994 (first quarter). In 1993, an estimated 2,334,000 marriages were performed; the number of divorces granted was 1,187,000. For the first quarter of 1994, the total number of marriages was 410,000. During that period, 287,000 couples divorced.
Q: Why hasn't anyone developed corn bread that can be sold in grocery stores like loaf bread? In all my years, I've never seen it for sale.
A: Corn bread is available commercially, but in muffin form. Extension agents say no health issues are involved that would make corn bread different from other breads, but if it were sold in loaf form, it probably would require the same preservatives as other types of bread. True corn bread fanciers wouldn't want to buy it anyway, because that would defeat the enjoyment of baking it and serving it hot and fresh from the oven. Many mixes are available, and by adding eggs and water (sometimes eggs and milk) and baking, you'll have something easy and fast - and better tasting than store- bought.
Q: What does it mean when a product such as coffee claims to be ``freeze dried''? What is the process, and what are the benefits, if any?
A: It's a method of preserving food by freezing it in a vacuum and removing the water by sublimation. Sublimation occurs when water is frozen and goes from a solid to a gas - meaning that ice turns to water vapor. The advantages of freeze drying are that food maintains its size, shape and cellular structure so that it can be rehydrated quickly, said Connie Crawley, food nutrition specialist with the University of Georgia Cooperative Extension Service.
Q: Where did the term ``feminazi'' come from?
A: The origin is uncertain, but, according to Safire's New Political Dictionary, the word was popularized in the early '90s by Rush Limbaugh.
Q: What are the most widely spoken languages in the world?
A: ``The Top 10 of Everything'' lists these languages and the approximate number of speakers: Chinese (Mandarin), 901 million; English, 451 million; Hindustani, 377 million; Spanish, 360 million; Russian, 291 million; Arabic, 207 million; Bengali, 190 million; Portuguese, 178 million; Malay-Indonesian, 148 million; and Japanese, 126 million.
Q: When did the Medicare program begin? What was the dollar amount of benefits paid in that first year?
A: Medicare began July 1, 1966. Total expenditures for that year - half-year, actually - were $1.2 billion, according to the Department of Health and Human Services.
Q: How many people in the United States draw Medicare now, and what is the amount?
A: The Department of Health and Human Services estimates that 37 million people will be served by Medicare in 1995, at a cost of $177.4 billion.
Q: Do you have an address for Colin Powell? I would like to write him about his possible candidacy for president.
A: Many people are asking for it, so we'll repeat the information: Office of Gen. Colin L. Powell, 909 N. Washington St., Suite 767, Alexandria, Va. 22314.
Q: The media says Bob Packwood is the first senator since the Civil War forced to resign. What about Harrison ``Pete'' Williams of New Jersey?
A: What the media said before Packwood resigned was that he would have been the first senator to be expelled since the Civil War. Packwood resigned before he could be expelled. Williams, a Democrat caught up in the Abscam scandal, resigned from the Senate on March 11, 1982, averting certain expulsion by his colleagues. The FBI accused Williams and six House members of accepting money and promising favors to undercover agents disguised as businessmen and Arab sheiks. Williams was convicted in 1981 on nine counts including bribery, conspiracy, receipt of an unlawful gratuity, accepting outside compensation for the performance of official duties and interstate travel in aid of a racketeering enterprise. He was sentenced in 1982 to three years in prison and fined $50,000. The House members involved - John Jenrette, D-S.C.; Richard Kelly, R-Fla.; Raymond Lederer and Michael ``Ozzie'' Myers, both Democrats of Pennsylvania; John Murphy, (D-N.Y.; and Frank Thompson Jr., D-N.J., - also were forced from Congress by expulsion, resignation or electoral defeat.
Q: Many of us would like to thank Miss America Heather Whitestone, who just gave up her title as Miss America. Do you have an address?
A: Write: Heather Whitestone, c/o Miss America Organization, P.O. Box 119, Atlantic City, N.J. 08404.
Q: What's the latest on Christopher Reeve?
A: The actor, paralyzed after a horse-riding accident May 27, was treated initially at the University of Virginia Medical Center in Charlottesville. A month later, he was moved to an hospital in New Jersey for further treatment and rehabilitation. Reeve's brother, Benjamin, has said the actor can speak a few words at a time now. Reeve reportedly will make a public appearance in October at a benefit in New York for Creative Coalition, a group of actors who support various liberal causes. An interview with Barbara Walters also is reportedly in the works.
Q: When was F. Lee Bailey in the Marine Corps? What was his rank?
A: Lt. Bailey served from 1952 to 1956.
Q: What is the address of the NRA?
A: National Rifle Association, 11250 Waples Mill Road, Fairfax, Va. 22030. The phone number is 703-267-1000. Annual membership is $35.
Q: Is it against the law to drive a car bare-foot?
A: It is permitted in most states.
Q: What happens if a person wins a state lottery and then dies? Does the money go back to the lottery, or does it continue to be paid to the person's estate or beneficiaries?
A: The money does not revert to the lottery. Whatever winnings are still owed to the winner go to the winner's estate or immediate family, or whatever other legal provision has been made for the winnings.
Q: Who coined the term NIMBY?
A: Walton Rodger of the American Nuclear Society is believed to have originated the expression when he used it in 1980 as a derisive term for protesters who campaigned against nuclear facilities near their homes. Safire's New Political Dictionary traces the first printed appearance of the acronym to this item in the Christian Science Monitor in 1980: ``A secure landfill anywhere near them is anathema to most Americans today. It's an attitude referred to in the trade as NIMBY - `not in my backyard.' '' By 1986, the expression of intolerance had crossed the Atlantic and changed to mostly lower case letters, as evidenced by a reference in the Times of London to a politician who became ``a convert to the Nimby . . . principle.''
by CNB