ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, December 24, 1995 TAG: 9512270009
SECTION: HORIZON PAGE: B-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: COX NEWS SERVICE
Q: The Heritage Foundation ranked the United States No. 7 among the 11 countries in the world with the freest economies. What are the other 10 on the list?
A: The conservative think tank's 1996 Index of Economic Freedom Rankings lists 142 countries. The index is created by affixing scores of 1 to 5 (1 being free, 5 being repressed) to several categories: taxation; government consumption of economic output; monetary policy; capital flows and foreign investment; banking; wage and price controls; property rights; regulation; and black market activity. The 11 freest are Hong Kong; Singapore; Bahrain; New Zealand and Switzerland (tie); the Netherlands; United States; and Denmark, Luxembourg, Taiwan and the United Kingdom (tie). Those economies rated the least free: Angola; Azerbaijan, Iran, Libya, Somalia and Vietnam (tie); Iraq; and Cuba, Laos and Vietnam (tie for last place).
Q: I'm confused after reading the obituary for Douglas ``Wrong Way'' Corrigan. He is the person who flew to Ireland from New York in 1938 after having started out for California. I always thought Corrigan played football at Georgia Tech or one of the California universities and ran the wrong way in a game. If it wasn't Corrigan, who was it?
A: You're thinking about Roy Riegels of the University of California, who became an instant legend in the 1929 Rose Bowl when he picked up a Georgia Tech fumble and ran 64 yards the wrong way before being tackled by a teammate at the 1-yard line. On the next play, Tech blocked a Cal punt for a safety and a 2-0 lead. Tech went on to win the game 8-7.
Q: What does semper fidelis mean?
A: It's Latin for ``always faithful.'' It has been the Marine Corps motto since 1868.
Q: Considering how many natural disasters such as hurricanes and earthquakes occur, where is the safest place in the United States to live? I'm not talking about crime.
A: It's easier to consider the higher-risk areas, then choose other places that are less risky. For hurricanes, areas of extreme risk are coastal Texas, Louisiana, Alabama, the Florida Panhandle, South Florida (Atlantic and Gulf coasts), coastal North Carolina, eastern Long Island and coastal areas of Connecticut and Massachusetts. Extreme tornado risk is found in the heart of the nation: Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Kansas, southern Illinois and western Indiana. Earthquake hazard zones dot the map, except for the upper Midwest, most of Texas, all of Florida and the northern Great Lakes area. The high-possibility quake areas include California, Nevada, northern Utah and the point where Wyoming, Idaho and Montana meet.
Q: How-to books advise using a water softener on hard water. What is hard water, and how can I tell?
A: Hard water contains concentrations of 120 parts per million or higher of calcium, magnesium, iron, aluminum and/or manganese. Hard water creates problems by leaving a mineral deposit in plumbing, particularly hot water heaters and pipes carrying hot water in tubs and showers. It also interferes with soap and detergent. Water can be tested at private laboratories or by contacting your county extension office, which, for $10, will provide a small bottle and instructions. The test will determine the water's mineral content and pH level. Costs vary at private labs. Hardware and plumbing supply stores sell ion exchange water softeners.
Q: Rep. Kweisi Mfume, D-Md., the new NAACP president, had five children out of wedlock by four women. Does he provide any child support?
A: Indeed, he has contributed to his children (who are now adults in their 20s), financially and otherwise, a spokesman said. ``He is very proud of his sons, and they have all been supported by him,'' said Dan Willson, Mfume's press secretary. ``He has been very active in their lives.'' Mfume has not denied what happened during what he calls his ``lost years,'' before earning a high school equivalency diploma, attending Morgan State University, becoming a disc jockey and radio station program director, and then serving on the Baltimore City Council and winning election (and re-election) to Congress. An opponent in his first run for Congress in 1986, a black minister, tried to use the children as his main issue - that Mfume was not a moral person. But all the mothers came forward and attested to what a good father he was. Mfume won with 84.7 percent of the vote.
Q: What stops will the Smithsonian traveling show make on its national tour?
A: The $8 million show, ``America's Smithsonian,'' will start in February in Los Angeles. It then moves to Kansas City, Mo.; New York; Providence, R.I.; Houston; Dallas; Portland, Ore.; Birmingham, Ala.; San Jose, Calif.; Chicago; and Columbus, Ohio. Five additional cities will be added later. The show, the largest museum exhibition in U.S. history, commemorates the Smithsonian's 150th anniversary.
Q: If 800,000 federal employees could be furloughed as nonessential, what is the total federal employee work force, excluding military?
A: The most recent figure, reported by the Office of Management and Budget in the fiscal 1995 federal budget, is 2,017,167 full-time nonpostal federal civilian employees.
Q: When is the next Iditarod race in Alaska?
A: The 1996 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog race, covering 1,159 miles from Anchorage to Nome, will start March 2.
LENGTH: Long : 102 linesby CNB