History may show the 109th Congress ranking among the lamest of ducks. Lawmakers had dragged themselves out of a post-Thanksgiving stupor and reluctantly waddled back to Washington, D.C., for a session to deal with the oh-so-boring task of governing. Well, sort of. See, Congress controls the nation's purse strings. Appropriations bills set funding levels for everything from education to veterans care to national parks. But this year the Fightin' 109th, focused more on the mid-term ... [full story]

Outgoing United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan walks away from the U.N. building. President George W. Bush calls to him from inside: 'Those wre some harsh parting workds for me. Still, I'll give the same consideration and importance I give all your statements, coffee.' Annan replies: 'It's Kofi.' [full story]

Small, battery-operated wireless cameras are handy for monitoring areas around the house where access to electricity may be limited - such as driveways, attics and near entry doors - but with an average battery life span of just 10 hours, they can run out of power too quickly to be of use.   POWER-SAVING RANGER - With a range of more than 300 feet and a battery life of several months, KwikPeek wireless cameras allow you ... [full story]

The Oregon Liquor Control Commission has a few suggestions for hosts who serve alcoholic beverages during holiday parties at home. When setting out food and drink for the gathering, remember that about one third of your guests probably won’t be drinking any alcohol, and those who do will need food to go with it. Popular non‑alcohol party drinks include eggnog, lemonade, smoothies, soda/seltzer water, bottled root beer, fruit juices, coffee/lattes, flavored iced tea, bottled water, ... [full story]

Dust gathered from a comet and brought to Earth tells a tale of a so­lar sys­tem that par­tial­ly turned itself in­side out, re­search­ers say. Dust trail­ing a dis­tant com­et, and gath­ered by a NASA space­craft, has yielded a sur­pris­ing­ly var­ied mix­ture of ma­te­ri­als, as­tro­no­mers say.Since com­ets are thought to con­tain ma­te­ri­al left over from the ear­ly So­lar Sys­tem, this va­ri­e­ty sug­gests some­thing was mix­ing up the con­tents of the sys­tem in its youth, the re­search­ers ... [full story]

SURELY YOU'RE JOKING An elephant and a mouse were talking. The elephant asked the mouse: "Why am I so big and strong and heavy and you are so tiny, weak and gray?" To which the mouse replied: "I've been ill lately." BRAIN SWEAT There are seven players on a coed volleyball team. After an exhausting match, each girl drinks four cups of water, each boy seven cups and the coach quaffs nine. A total of ... [full story]

THE CHEF On Christmas 2004, Cat Cora was on top of the world. The attractive young chef had risen from humble roots in Jackson, Miss., to the rank of superstar chef. She was, and still is, the only female chef in the history of the "Iron Chef" television show. She had written her first cookbook, "Cat Cora's Kitchen" (Chronicle, $23) and was entertaining the idea of her own cooking show.   CAT CORA - Cat Cora, ... [full story]

More Oregonians are reaching for the top shelf when buying Canadian whiskey, according to the Oregon Liquor Control Commission. During the past year, Seagram’s Crown Royal topped the 750ml category with sales of 283,272 bottles at $25.95 each, followed at a distant second by Black Velvet, with sales of 189,736 bottles at $10.65 each. That’s a difference of 93,536 bottles or about 49 percent for the Seagram’s product which comes in a crown-shaped bottle dressed ... [full story]

Small, battery-operated wireless cameras are handy for monitoring areas around the house where access to electricity may be limited -- such as driveways, attics and near entry doors -- but with an average battery life span of just 10 hours, they can run out of power too quickly to be of use.   POWER-SAVING RANGER - With a range of more than 300 feet and a battery life of several months, KwikPeek wireless cameras allow you to ... [full story]

Q: I was horrified last evening when my husband gave our schnauzer one of his prescription antihistamine tablets in an effort to stop our dog's scratching due to allergies. My husband told me that the drugs humans take are the same as those prescribed for animals and that I was overreacting. Our dog lived through the night; however, he is still scratching and chewing on his feet this morning. Was I overly concerned about the ... [full story]