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Entry bubble We Want your Independence Day Pictures!

By: Colleen | June 24, 2009 | Category: Fun

Every kid who grew up in the Philadelphia area from 1967-1994 has the Sunday morning jingle, "send your pictures to dear ol' 4th julyCaptain Noah" permanently etched in their brains. Dear ol' Captain Noah gathered quite a collection of paintings and drawings over the years, which he shared with the whole Delaware Valley during his much anticipated weekly segment.

It is in that same spirit that GovGab is anxious to announce our own form of picture-share, but with a more modern twist.

With the Independence Day holiday approaching, USA.gov and GobiernoUSA.gov want to know, "How do you celebrate the Fourth of July?" Submit photos from your backyard BBQ, fireworks displays, baseball games, picnics, parades...whatever it is you do to celebrate Independence Day, we encourage you to share it.

 Anyone 18 years or older, of any nationality, living in any country is welcome to submit pictures of their holiday experiences to our specially created Flickr group.

At the conclusion of the holiday weekend, selected photos will be posted on GovGab, along with special editor posts covering various 4th of July events.

Photos will be reviewed to be sure their content is appropriate, and you're submitting with the understanding that they might be shared on GovGab, USA.gov, or GobiernoUSA.gov.

Just think- it is only in the past few years that we've been able to have such an instantaneous sharing of information...let's use it to have some fun and celebrate together.

Shoot, even Captain Noah required postage...

Again, to submit your photos: here is the link to our Fourth of July Flickr Group.

| View Comments [4] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: colleen   flickr   fourth_of_july   gobiernousa.gov   independence_day   pictures   usa.gov  

 

By: Joanne | June 23, 2009 | Category: Home and Family

a chef chopping onions in the kitchenWhat’s your secret recipe? There’s that one dish that you make better than anyone else. Is it your chili, or your barbecue, or your amazing pie?

I really enjoy cooking, but I’m not very creative in the kitchen – I’m just good at picking out good recipes and following them. Sometimes I like to make healthy dishes with fresh vegetables, I also like regional dishes and sometimes just a yummy dessert like Mamie Eisenhower’s chocolate fudge. I don’t mind that I don’t create the recipe; I just like to serve and eat tasty food.

If you’re a creative chef, you can protect your recipes and share your masterpieces with the rest of us. Did you know that you can copyright a recipe? It’s true. Better yet, maybe you’ve got enough recipes to fill a whole cookbook. Let me know when it’s published, I’m always looking for a great, new recipe.

| View Comments [4] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: cook   copyright   food   joanne   recipe  

 

Entry bubble Facing Foreclosure? Find Help Now!

By: Editor | June 22, 2009 | Category: Money

Wendy Wagner is the staff editor and speechwriter for the Federal Housing Finance Agency. She has more than 20 years’ experience as a professional writer and editor. 

A few days ago, a neighbor mentioned that another neighbor was trying to avoid losing his home. His wife had been laid off from her job in March, and the couple was afraid they would end up in foreclosure.

I was glad to be able to tell my neighbor how to access programs to help them avoid foreclosure. And it occurred to me that lots of people are probably in the same boat. If you are facing foreclosure or worry that soon you might be, take these steps immediately to try to prevent losing your home:

First, call the company that services your loan—the place where you send your monthly mortgage payment. Check your mortgage payment book or monthly statement to verify which bank or mortgage company it is. Call and talk to someone about your situation and find out what options you have. Believe it or not, the servicers usually want to help rather than have someone lose their home. Sometimes they can offer immediate solutions or give you a referral to find help. The sooner you begin working with the servicer, the more likely you are to avoid foreclosure in the long run.

Next, find out if you are eligible for the new Making Home Affordable programs—you have to live in the mortgaged home, and the mortgage must be owned or guaranteed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, although several major loan servicing companies have signed up to participate in the program for nonFannie/Freddie loans. To find out if you are eligible, visit www.makinghomeaffordable.gov. The site is simple and set up to help you quickly find answers to your questions.

Another source of information and assistance is the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). HUD offers foreclosure avoidance counseling and has a complete list of approved counseling centers across the country. HUD also has a comprehensive information page with numerous resources and suggestions.

If you have even a slight worry that you could lose your home, there are programs out there that can help you head off the trouble early. Don’t wait to seek them out and get started.

| View Comments [7] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: editor   foreclosure   house   hud   mortgage  

 

Entry bubble Celebrate Juneteenth Today!

By: Stephanie | June 19, 2009 | Category: General

I must admit that I had never heard of Juneteenth until I started working at USA.gov. In researching dates for the federal web portal, I noticed that the commemoration of Juneteenth popped up in a number of Library of Congress and Smithsonian webpages. I became intrigued to learn more, which I did. So I was especially excited to substitute for GovGab today, on the anniversary of Juneteenth.

Juneteenth image from the Anacostia MuseumJuneteenth—which is a combination of the words "June" and "nineteenth"—is a celebration to commemorate June 19, 1865, when Union soldiers finally arrived in Galveston, Texas, to spread the word that President Lincoln had issued the Emancipation Proclamation more than two years before. The Library of Congress says the reason for the delay was the fact that news traveled so slowly in those days.

As the news spread, former slaves celebrated with festive foods, music, dancing, singing, games, and stories. Juneteenth has been celebrated each year since 1865. In 1979, Texas became the first state to proclaim Emancipation Day (Juneteenth) an official state holiday. Today, more than half of the states in the U.S. officially observe Juneteenth each year. People celebrate with parades, festivals, and cookouts.

Would you like to find out where Juneteenth events are in your state? Visit your state on this map for a list of local events.

I'd love to hear from any of you who celebrate Juneteenth! Tell me how you commemorate this special day.

| Post a Comment | View Comments [1] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: celebration   commemoration   emancipation   freedom   history   juneteenth   lincoln   observance   slavery   stephanie   texas  

 

Entry bubble Reporting online scams

By: Jess | June 18, 2009 | Category: Money

Caution picture

Last week I got a rather panicky call from a friend of mine.

"I think I just got scammed on Craigslist," she said. "How can I report it?"

I asked her to give me some more details so I could tell her the best place to report.

Here's the gist of the story.

My friend and her roommate are moving at the end of next month so they have been searching Craigslist for apartment listings. They'd responded to several ads and found one apartment that sounded extremely promising -- good location, reasonable price, utilities included. When they contacted the poster, he sent them back an application form to fill out.

One part of the form required them to supply their credit score. That sounded a little odd. When I moved, my landlord ran the credit check himself, but I figured maybe this guy wanted a ballpark figure and then he would run it himself too. My friend went to Annualcreditreport.com to find her report.

Both girls filled out their forms and were getting ready to turn them in when they noticed something in the email said it was mandatory that they use a Web site he provided to find their credit score because supposedly the guy had been scammed too many times by other sites. They both thought that was very strange.

Turns out the whole thing was a giant phishing scam. The link for his "safe" site looks like the apartment complex's real site, but instead it steals personal information, like names and social security numbers. Thank goodness my friend and her roommate hadn't noticed that link until later or that guy would have gotten all of their personal information.

I directed my friend to scam resources on the Federal Citizen Information Center Web site and told her to check out the links for the Internet Crime Complaint Center and the Federal Trade Commission. USA.gov also provides information on Internet fraud.

Do you know of any other resources for reporting online scams?

| View Comments [2] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: consumer_protection   fraud   internt   jess   phishing   scams  

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