Last week, when breaking news of salmonella-tainted tomatoes was barely two days old and the Food and Drug Administration was still searching for the cause of the contaminants, personal-injury lawyers were already at work, so to speak.

They were deploying misleading Web pages "in an effort to cook up future lawsuits," explains American Tort Reform Association director of communications Darren McKinney.

"There was a time not too long ago when legitimate plaintiffs would seek out an attorney on their own if they thought their injuries, caused by someone else's negligence or fraud, warranted compensation," he recalls.

"Now, well before the science and medical facts are known, and thus well before the remotest notion of liability can be reasonably established, trial lawyers are out there proactively trolling for clients with Web sites that are prevalent in Internet searches for information about the tomato scare."

He dubs the opportunistic lawyers "vegetable chasers."

Pingpong's role

In recognition of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing this summer, the National Archives will soon display a special document and photograph of the U.S. table-tennis team at the Great Wall of China in 1971.

Both draw attention to what became known as "Pingpong Diplomacy," an athletic event that became part of diplomatic history.

The display features a 1971 State Department "Intelligence Brief" that repeats the remarks made by Chinese Prime Minister Chou En-lai to the American table-tennis team during their visit to China, in which he described a "new page" in the relationship between the U.S. and China.