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U.S. troops have begun construction of a pier to be used to bring humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip, the Pentagon confirmed Thursday. “I can confirm that U.S. military vessels, to include the USNS Benavidez, have begun to construct the initial stages of the temporary pier and causeway at sea,” Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said. The news came on the same day Palestinian terrorists fired mortars at United Nations officials as they toured the proposed pier site, as Breitbart News reported.

A group of suspected illegal immigrants reportedly docked a boat at a beach in La Jolla, California, on Thursday, then took off into the community. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said the Joint Harbor Operations Center called the agency about a pair of “suspicious vessels” carrying the individuals who were headed toward the area at approximately 5:30 a.m., the Epoch Times reported Friday. The first boat landed at Ocean Beach, and officials said two hours later the second boat was traveling towards Windansea, the CBP said. Video footage shows what appears to be one of the boats approaching...

Gov. Kathy Hochul has proposed legislation for New York to recreate a new waterfront commission to fight the kind of Mafia corruption made famous in Marlon Brando’s 1954 flick “On The Waterfront.” But the union representing dock workers in the Empire State said Hochul is living in the past and urged lawmakers to sink the measure. Hochul proposed the new waterfront unit for New York’s side of the harbor to replace the prior Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor, a bi-state agency founded in 1953 by a Congressionally authorized compact between New York and New Jersey.

“Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience. They may be more likely to go to Heaven yet at the same time likelier to make a Hell of earth. This very kindness stings with intolerable insult....

While Congress was working out the details on a bill that would provide Americans with stimulus checks, at least one Austin company was looking for ways to save payroll. “The form says they are preemptively deducting funds from our paychecks. That number is based on what they’re anticipating the government relief fund to be,” a worker for the company told KXAN. The worker asked not to be identified in this investigation so as not to impact his company’s ability to continue doing business. The worker said his company emailed a form titled “Employee Acknowledgement of ‘Government Assistance’ Pay Reduction” to...

At least eight people have died after an explosive fire broke out along the Tennessee River in Alabama and it could take authorities four days to recover all victims, authorities have said. At least 35 boats docked along the Tennessee River were destroyed by the blaze at Lake Guntersville, Jackson around 12.30am Monday but authorities said divers need to locate each one and search them individually to be sure. All eight people who were earlier reported missing were confirmed dead, later on Monday morning and a local fire chief said 'that number could go up, because we don't know how...

The National Park Service says tours on the USS Arizona Memorial are suspended after a vessel struck and damaged the memorial's dock. Spokeswoman Abby Wines said Wednesday that boats are taking visitors to a spot near the memorial where they may view it from a distance, but visitors are not being taken on it. Wines says the ramp and handrails connecting the dock to the memorial are mangled. Park service and Navy divers are expected to assess the damage from underwater Wednesday. The incident occurred when the hospital ship USNS Mercy and a civilian tugboat contracted by the Navy were...

China has joined two space vehicles together in orbit for the first time. The unmanned Shenzhou 8 craft, launched earlier this week, made contact with the Tiangong-1 space lab at 1729 GMT. The union occurred over China itself. Being able to dock two space vehicles together is a necessary capability for China if it wants to start building a space station towards the decade's end. Although no astronauts were in the Shenzhou craft this time, future missions will carry people. Tuesday's procedure (Beijing time 0029, Thursday) took place at an altitude of about 340km. It was automated but overseen on...

I bought my laptop computer. Because I have some disability in my hands I am looking for a dock for it. I have found three docks from Targus, ACP 45, 50, or 60. The 60 is for big video issues. Looking around the internet the review are pretty grim. Amazon and CNET. Is there any black box that I can plug into my laptop that will let me plug in my all in one printer, my backup dooohicky (yes, after all those crashes you saved me from I finally have backup doohickies) My computer is a 64bit machine running Vista...

KOROLYOV, Russia - A Russian-built Soyuz capsule docked at the international space station late Monday, two days after blasting off from the Baikonur cosmodrome with U.S. billionaire Charles Simonyi and two Russian cosmonauts aboard. Once the capsule is secured to the station, it will take roughly two hours before the Soyuz crew are able to open the air locks and greet face-to-face the station's current crew — Russian Mikhail Tyurin and American astronauts Miguel Lopez-Alegria and Sunita Williams. Simonyi shelled out $20-25 million to be the world's fifth paying private space traveler. The arrival of a new crew is always...

WASHINGTON (NNS) -- The Navy will christen the newest San Antonio-class Amphibious Transport Docking ship Green Bay at 10 a.m. CDT July 15, during a ceremony at Northrop Grumman Ship Systems – Avondale Operations, Avondale, La. The ship is named Green Bay to honor the nation's Midwest "city by the bay." The city of about 100,000 residents was founded in 1634 by French explorer, Jean Nicolet, and is the oldest community in Wisconsin. Rose Magnus, wife of the assistant commandant of the Marine Corps, Gen. Robert Magnus, is serving as the ship’s sponsor. In a time-honored Navy tradition, she will...

PERSIAN GULF (NNS) -- USS Ogden (LPD 5), the Navy’s oldest active amphibious ship, is currently serving as the Afloat Forward Staging Base (AFSB) for the multinational maritime coalition operating in the North Persian Gulf. As the AFSB for Commander, Task Group (CTG) 158.1, the 41-year-old amphibious transport dock is providing logistical support for the various forces that are protecting Iraq’s territorial waters and oil platforms, as well as serving as a training platform for Iraqi sailors and marines. “The crew is having a wonderful time,” said Cmdr. James Hruska, Ogden’s commanding officer. “Everyone understands the importance of keeping these...

Terrorists are threatening to blow up Alaska oil pipelines. Via Foxnews Alert. Fox said they were going to take guns and shoot them?

NORFOLK, Va. (NNS) -- Family and friends greeted the arrival of the Navy’s newest ship, the amphibious transport dock USS San Antonio (LPD 17), as it arrived to its homeport of Naval Station Norfolk, Jan. 25. San Antonio was commissioned Jan. 14 at Naval Station Ingleside, Texas, and will be permanently homeported in Norfolk. “After a magnificent commissioning in Ingleside (Texas), it will feel good for the Sailors on San Antonio to get home,” said San Antonio’s Commanding Officer, Cmdr. Bradley Lee. The San Antonio-class will functionally replace more than 41 ships (LPD 4, LSD 36, LKA 113, and LST...

The U.S. Navy will commission the USS San Antonio, lead ship of the latest class of amphibious ships, at 11 a.m. CDT, Jan. 14, 2006, at Naval Station Ingleside, Texas. Former President George H. W. Bush will deliver the ceremony’s principal address. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison will serve as the ship’s sponsor and will give the first order to "Man our ship and bring her to life!" Capt. Jonathan M. Padfield of Salt Lake City, Utah, is the ship’s first commanding officer and will lead a crew of 360 officers and enlisted personnel. The ship is capable of embarking a...

ABOARD USS CLEVELAND, Arabian Sea (NNS) -- Members of Expeditionary Strike Group (ESG) 1 are currently leading a group of six coalition ships conducting maritime security operations (MSO) in the North Arabian Sea and Gulf of Oman. The strike group’s flagship, USS Tarawa (LHA 1) and the amphibious transport dock USS Cleveland (LPD 7) are joined by the guided-missile destroyer USS Oscar Austin (DDG 79). The French ships Var (FS 608) and Lafayette (FS 710), and the Pakistani frigate Badr (PNS 181) round out the coalition task group. MSO are part of ESG-1’s regularly scheduled deployment to the U.S. 5th...

Bush puts compensation lawyers in the dock (Filed: 28/03/2005) In a nation so litigious that one attorney found he was suing himself, the White House's attack on frivolous lawsuits is proving popular, reports Alec Russell Michael Cogan paces his office with the predatory panache that has won over many a jury in his brilliant career. From his ninth-floor window he has a premier view of Chicago's skyscraper skyline, a testament to his success as one of America's top medical malpractice lawyers. Michael Cogan is now defending himself against President Bush's anti-litigation policy But now his oratory and flair are facing...

Large pieces of space shuttle Columbia debris sit wrapped on pallets at Nose Dock Six, Monday Feb. 10, 2003, at Barksdale Air Force Base, La.