November 14, 1996 was proclaimed David Boon Day in Tasmania, but was later overturned by the federal government as it was a ridiculous idea.

I'm glad to see the government take some action to stop firms from illegally receiving Federal small business contracts, however, I think the fine is too small. This firm received millions of dollars in awards for several years by falsely claiming to be a small business. A one- million-dollar fine is a drop in the bucket for a Fortune 1000 firm. They should be permanently debarred from doing business with the government.

I think that minority business owners should be up in arms over this. The government has never hit the 5% minority business contracting goal and now they're recommending eliminating the minimal opportunities that minorities have in doing business with the Federal government. It's unconscionable.

If the government ends small business contracting programs, then the $119 billion in awards currently reported as going to small firms will go to large companies which make up only 2% of U.S. employers. Small business owners need to get on the phone or on the Internet and let their Congressional delegates know that they don't want the government to eliminate Federal programs for small business. Once these programs are gone, we will never get them back.

We pay thousands of dollars in claims every day, but [consumers] have to follow the rules.

On a super, super hot day, you can hear some of these cones popping open. And the people who were here during the fire heard a lot of it. Imagine popcorn -- pop, pop, pop, pop, pop.