Consumer Reports

I love watching summer thunderstorms — the wind and the rain and the lightening streaking across the sky. It’s fun to watch them when I’m inside feeling safe, it’s not so fun watching summer storms when I’m caught off guard and out in my car trying to drive through the storms. The United States experiences a lot of severe weather during the summer. The southeastern portion of the country enters hurricane season , while the middle of the country is at the end of tornado season and just about anywhere can experience a wicked thunderstorm. To stay safe in severe weather, know what kinds of storms most often impact your community and be prepared for them. Keep emergency supplies somewhere you can easily access them, whether that’s a flashlight in case you lose power, or some bottled water and nonperishable food in case you can’t leave your house for a few days. FEMA provides great tips on how to be prepared for storms. So you aren’t caught off guard, stay up to date on weather warnings for your area from the storm prediction center . Even if you’re on the go you can check the mobile site for updates. You don’t want to get caught in a bad storm because you didn’t know it was coming. What’s your best tip for preparing for summer storms?

**Arlene Hernandez is the manager of Kids.gov , the government’s official source for kids to find all kinds of government information. Today she steps in for Jess to talk about how you can help us improve Kids.gov.** Last week Jess, Colleen and I had the pleasure of working with great people from the Human Computer Interactive Lab , which is part of the University of Maryland

I love summertime. I feel like after months of hibernation and hiding out from the cold and gloom, it’s finally time to be outside taking advantage of all the fun activities that I can only do three months out of the year. My latest kick is wanting to explore the national and state parks near me. There are so many great hiking trails, as well as places to kayak and canoe, I’m not sure I’ll be able to have time to fit it all in this summer. Because Saturday is National Trails Day , I’m planning a trip to discover a new hiking trail. The American Hiking Society hosts the event to encourage people to get out and explore the trails. National and state parks are a great place to start. You can pack a lunch, grab some water bottles and use the maps provided to spend a day in a new place. If hiking’s not your thing, lots of parks will let you ride your bike or stroll along paved paths. With so many different things to do at the parks, it’d be a shame not to explore them sometime this summer. What summertime activity are you looking forward to the most this year?

I’m sure by now you’ve probably heard about the death of Yeardley Love, a player on the women’s lacrosse team at the UVA. It happened a few weeks ago now and since it happened, I’ve read tons of articles and blog posts about why it happened, how it happened, the “evils” of lacrosse culture, and why some men think it’s OK to treat women as objects. I read some truly wonderfully, well-written pieces, but in all the coverage, I felt that one big thing that was missing was the piece on prevention. How do we prevent tragedies like this from happening? We’ve probably all sat through a health class on the subject of domestic abuse and dating violence, but is one, brief class enough to make an impact? According to a CDC survey, at the high school level, one in 10 students reported being hit by a boyfriend or girlfriend on purpose. Take that to the next level and throw in alcohol, drugs, status or plenty of other factors and it’s easy to see how dating violence can escalate. So then what do we need to be doing differently? Is it better in-school education on the topic at a younger age? Is it parents teaching children to respect one another no matter what gender they are, what sports they play, what groups they belong to? Is it instilling confidence in women and giving them the resources they need to walk away? I don’t know what the answer is, but I think it’s something that we as a society need to think more about.

Needles are hands down one of the things I’m scared of most in the world. Anytime I need to get a shot or have blood drawn there’s a 50-50 chance I’ll pass out. I get all lightheaded and start to hyperventilate. It’s really not a pretty picture. So needless to say, the news that scientists figured out a way to give vaccinations without needles made me smile. It’s a little bit early to get my hopes up, but the idea that my doctor could just stick a patch on my arm to make sure I get all the vaccine I need sounds wonderful. The way the patch is supposed to work is that the vaccine will permeate the skin carried through a protein that will deliver the vaccine. That sounds way less painful to me than having a needle jabbed in my arm. With all the vaccines we need to get as little kids, this would have been such a great option. My parents would have had to deal with a lot fewer tears and probably a lot less stress. Would you prefer having a needle-free option to get your shots or can you handle the needles better than me?

After more than two and half years of sharing all sorts of government information with you, I’m sorry to say that this will be GovGab’s last post. We’re all going to be sad to see GovGab go, but we hope you’ll continue to find all the government information you need through our websites , Facebook pages and Twitter feeds . Thank you to all our wonderful readers for sticking with us through these last two and a half years. We have appreciated your support. How did that sound? Good? Believable? Did I trick a few of you? It is after all April Fool’s Day , a time for pranks and jokes, and I just couldn’t help myself. You didn’t really believe we were going to leave you hanging and stop providing you with great government information, did you? Well just to clarify, we’re not going anywhere and this definitely isn’t our last post. Do you play jokes on your friends on April Fool’s Day? Have any good ones planned for this year?

I’m looking forward to 2 a.m. Sunday morning like a little kid looks forward to Christmas. Why you ask? Because that is when we spring the clocks forward and Daylight Saving Time begins! Yes, it means we lose an hour of sleep, which I’m not a fan of, but the longer days totally make up for it. No more leaving work as the sun is setting and getting home when it’s pitch black. Longer days mean the arrival of spring and then summer, the end of the winter blahs , and hopefully warmer temperatures. Overall, longer days make me a happier person because I can spend more time in the sunshine soaking up the Vitaman D when I get off work. Are you looking forward to the time change as much as I am? Or are you a winter person sad to see your favorite season ending?

Hot dogs are an American pastime. They are front and center at summer barbecues. And who hasn’t ordered one at a baseball game? Stuffed in a bun, slathered in ketchup, mustard, or whatever topping your prefer, they scream American summertime. But a group of pediatricians wants to fundamentally change the hot dog because they say its shape poses a choking risk to children. Sadly, hot dogs are the cause of 17 percent of asphyxiations in kids under 10. Now I’m all for protecting children from choking , but try for a minute to picture a less-round hot dog. All I end up picturing is some strange hamburger-like patty. The group also wants the government to mandate that food manufacturers label products such as hot dogs with a warning label that they pose a choking hazard. I think with common sense most people know hot dogs are a choking hazard. It’s certainly not new information. Maybe the solution here isn’t changing the hot dog itself, but instead educating parents and kids about the choking risks a hot dog poses. Maybe parents need to cut their kids’ hot dogs (and all food really) into smaller pieces or just feed them hot dogs less often. Maybe parents should be trained in the Heimlich Maneuver . Before we all start banging the evil-hot-dog drum, I think we need to step back and look at some educational things we can do to prevent choking.

Do you remember hearing about the FDA granting approval to Alli, the weight loss drug? I remember seeing tons and tons of commercials and so many people were excited because there was finally a weight loss drug that had federal approval. But earlier this week the FDA warned people that a counterfeit version of Alli was out there and that it could be really dangerous. There are a couple key differences that you can look for in the products to spot if you may have a fake: If your expiration date has a month, day and year, it’s fake. Real Alli only uses month and year. If your bottle has a plain foil safety seal it’s a fake. Real Alli has the words “SEALED for YOUR PROTECTION” printed on it. The fake bottle is also taller and wider than the authentic one. So far it looks like the fake Alli has only been sold online, not in retail stores, but if you use Alli, you want to make sure to check your bottle closely. Have you ever used weight loss products to help you slim down? Were they ever recalled?

Tracking Santa just got easier. The people at NORAD, the North American Aerospace Defense Command, known for bringing us the ability to track Santa on his Christmas Eve trek around the world, have added tons more ways to stay up to the minute on Santa’s whereabouts. You can follow Santa’s action on Facebook and Twitter . Plus there are pictures of Santa and his elves at NORAD briefings and other activities available on Flickr . And videos of Santa cruising the globe will be on YouTube . All of the new methods of Santa tracking are in addition to the ability to track him on your phone or by calling (1-877-Hi-NORAD) or e-mailing (noradtracksanta-AT-gmail-DOT-com) the official Santa trackers. Santa tracking begins at midnight MST (2 a.m. on the East Coast) on Christmas Eve. You can track Santa all through the day and when you see him getting close to you, it’s time to leave some milk and cookies (and maybe a carrot for Rudolph) and tuck the kids in to bed. From the GovGab team, we wish you and yours a happy and safe holiday season.