Uncle Sam got you stressed out?

If so, give the government's new "stressless" chair a try.

Bureaucrats at the Department of Health and Human Services have been invited by memo to attend a "Stress Reduction Lab (SRL) orientation," to be held Sept. 4 after everybody returns from the beach.

"The SRL is a quiet room with an ergonomic 'stressless' chair and audio and video equipment," explains HHS.

Stressed-out bureaucrats will be able to select from written materials, CDs, audiotapes or videotapes to learn about stress and to practice strategies for relaxation. Also available is a small library with print resources for handling stress.

FLIPPING THE CHANNEL

The Federal Communications Commission recently lifted caps on television station ownership and allowed newspaper cross-ownership. Already groups are lining up on both sides of this issue in anticipation of a vote in the Senate following the August recess.

Organizations like the National Organization for Women, People for the American Way and Common Cause have advocated rolling back the decision and possibly bringing back the Fairness Doctrine, which some see as an effort to silence a "growing demand" for conservative news and views.

Those in favor of less regulation and who are defending conservative media include the American Conservative Union and Americans for Tax Reform, which recently began a new Web site supporting the FCC's decision: www.stopmediaregulation.org.

LIVING MONUMENT

They've rediscovered the Booker T. Washington Tree.

Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) begins our intriguing tale by recalling the life of Charles Young, born in Kentucky during the Civil War to parents who were slaves. In 1889, he became only the third black American to graduate from the U.S. Military Academy.

In 1903, Capt. Young was in charge of the 9th U.S. Cavalry and was assigned the duty of "acting superintendent" of the Sequoia and Gen. Grant National Parks in California. That early summer, he led his "buffalo soldiers" out of the cold and fog-shrouded Presidio in San Francisco en route to the high Sierra.

"Capt. Young and his troopers arrived 16 days later amongst some of the largest and oldest living things on earth and they began their historic summer working in the second national park ever created in the United States," the congressman educates.

It was while superintendent that Capt. Young discovered and named a majestic giant Sequoia after the person who inspired and influenced his life - Booker T. Washington. Now, some 100 years later, the tree has been located and, this past weekend, rededicated as a monument to both Capt. Young and Washington.

KEN'S CEMETERY

There's good reason Ken Brown of Nevada is being honored as "Mr. Veteran" on Capitol Hill.

As Rep. Jon C. Porter (R-Nev.) observes in a tribute to the World War II Navy veteran, Brown was the driving force behind the creation of a veteran's cemetery in Boulder City, Nev. Continued...