Gotten your flu shot yet? Whether you have or not, one leading congressman's warning might frighten you more than the needle.

If your doctor hasn't told you, Rep. Dan Burton (R-Ind.) feels it's his duty to inform Americans about the "contents" of their influenza vaccines.

"As we approach the flu season, many of you will visit the doctor's office and receive an annual influenza vaccine. This might prevent the flu, but what else will it do?" Burton said. "You should be aware that the vaccine you are about to receive contains thimerosal - a mercury-laden preservative."

Burton says scientific evidence "continues to accumulate" regarding a biologically plausible connection between the preservative and certain neurological disorders. Some scientists have attributed the growth in Alzheimer's disease and autism to mercury found in certain vaccines.

During his chairmanship of the Government Reform Committee, Burton held numerous hearings on possible adverse effects of thimerosal.

As for a second opinion, we call upon Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee - a doctor in real life - who actually reminded friends in his Christmas cards last year: "Don't forget your shots: flu shot annually."

HANDSHAKES AND HUGS

President Bush says major networks and newspapers in this country have purposely ignored positive developments in Iraq.

Now, two congressmen - a Democrat and a Republican - have returned from the war-torn country to voice a similar complaint.

"To be sure, there are pockets of violence, but we also saw so many pockets of hope and joy that all too often don't make the evening news," says a joint statement issued by Reps. Fred Upton (R-Mich.) and Jim Davis (D-Fla.), who "embarked on this trip as congressmen with diverse backgrounds, from different states and from opposite parties."

Saying "we returned to America united," the congressmen cite universities and hospitals that have reopened, newspapers that are being published, and extensive police training - six months ago there were no police on duty in Iraq; today there are more than 40,000.

"The Iraqi school that we visited was filled with eager young children thirsting for knowledge," the lawmakers said. "As classes let out and we waded past Iraqi parents waiting to pick up their children, the handshakes, hugs and cheers were incredible."

READ ALL ABOUT IT

One reporter who has visibly stood out from the pack in Iraq is Dr. Bob Arnot, MSNBC's special foreign correspondent who previously reported for NBC and CBS News.

Leaving his Baghdad hotel, bombed only last month, and returning to Washington in recent days (he departed Tuesday for Asia), Arnot delivered an hour's worth of riveting commentary on the Iraqi situation to students and faculty of Episcopal High School in Alexandria, Va., alma mater of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), a former prisoner of war.

Given his language and medical skills, Dr. Arnot, former medical director at National Emergency Services, said he periodically found himself acting as a translator between Marines and prisoners, and as the closest doctor to a casualty he frequently abandoned his microphone and stepped in to help.

"The students could almost feel the bullets whizzing by," G. Craig Stewart III, EHS's associate director of development, said Tuesday.

Dr. Arnot said contrary to reports, U.S. military morale remains very high in Iraq, adding that the majority of Iraqi citizens he interviewed are happy to be rid of Saddam Hussein. His views reflect a recent Gallup poll finding that nearly two-thirds (62 percent) of Baghdad's 6.3 million citizens think ousting Saddam "was worth any hardships they have personally endured since the invasion."

Findings that you might now be reading for the first time.

LIMITLESS CREDIT

While Americans have been tightening their belts, bureaucrats have been on a spending spree. And they are buying more than $200 hammers and $60 screws.

Alcohol, prostitution and gambling are three items federal employees have paid for with government credit cards, although Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) hope to curtail the abuse when they introduce the Credit Card Reform Act of 2003 today.

The legislation would call on every federal agency to develop strict penalties for abuse, require background credit checks on all persons issued a card, and require regular audits.

During the Clinton presidency alone, when government was supposedly "reinvented," some 700,000 additional government credit cards were issued to federal workers. Thousands of these recipients were subsequently found to be abusing the cards to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars.

Abuse was so rampant it caught the attention of the Savannah (Ga.) Morning News, which reported Uncle Sam's workers were buying up Ozzy Osbourne tickets, lingerie, tattoos - even paying for tuition to bartender school.

CLIMBING AND SLIPPING Continued...