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Democrats who already were queasy about the site of their national convention could be excused after Tuesday's election in North Carolina if they asked, "Tell me again just why we're going to Charlotte this year?" In fact, many Democrats privately are asking exactly that after the state's voters overwhelmingly approved a measure outlawing not just same-sex marriage -- which already was illegal in North Carolina -- but also any form of civil unions. Almost immediately after the vote, more than 20,000 people signed a "move the convention" petition being pushed by a New York group called Gay Marriage USA. And...

(CNN) -- The Transportation Security Administration has denied that its agents required a 95-year-old woman to remove her adult diaper last week before allowing her to pass a screening checkpoint at Northwest Florida Regional Airport. "While every person and item must be screened before entering the secure boarding area, TSA works with passengers to resolve security alarms in a respectful and sensitive manner," the agency said Sunday night in a statement. "We have reviewed the circumstances involving this screening and determined that our officers acted professionally, according to proper procedure and did not require this passenger to remove an adult...

William J. Hetherington has been incarcerated in Michigan prisons for more than 20 years for having sex with his wife Linda. In 1986, he became the first man in Genesee County convicted of the new Michigan crime called spousal rape. Linda was not a battered wife; she testified at the trial that he had never beaten her in their 16 years of marriage. Hetherington was honorably discharged from the U.S. Air Force, received a National Defense Service Medal, and had no police record of any sort. The sentencing guideline for this new offense was 12 months to 10 years but,...

MARINE CORPS LOGISTICS BASE BARSTOW, Calif. (Oct. 20, 2005) -- Lance Cpl. Joseph Alvarez, Provost Marshals Office gate sentry, intercepted four illegal immigrants attempting to come aboard MCLB Barstow to work for a civilian contracting company Oct 12. Alvarez was conducting a routine inspection of the vehicle and passengers, and noticed the van did not have Department of Defense decals or markings. While inspecting the passengers' identification cards, Alvarez noticed the cards had a different color, a lower print quality than California issued identification cards and the text sizes were not the same, he said. After noticing these differences, Alvarez...

Small brain did not stop Hobbit having big ideas By Nic Fleming and Roger Highfield in Dublin (Filed: 08/09/2005) A fossil of a diminutive human nicknamed "the Hobbit" does indeed represent a previously unrecognised species of early Man, according to a new technique that suggests it was a cultured little fellow. Sceptics had argued that the Hobbit, discovered in Indonesia and first announced last year, could have been an individual who suffered from microcephalya, a disorder that limits brain growth. The fossils' discoverers had suggested that the Hobbit was either a pygmy form of a known species or a previously...

Margaret Carlson: Do You know Where Your Flag Is? Margaret Carlson Fri Jul 1,11:45 AM ET Do you know where your flag is? It's being waved in the House of Representatives in lieu of doing any work on, say, gas prices, stem cell research, global warming (fossil fuel emissions still voluntary). Health care reform? Why bother with a doctor when you can have Bill First diagnose your illness from the floor of the Senate. Members so fearful of being called unpatriotic get closer and closer to passing the amendment to protect the flag from desecration. It takes guts to protect...

WASHINGTON - Congressional Republicans denied on Sunday that political motivations were behind legislative efforts to reconnect Terri Schiavo's feeding tube. "I hope we're not ... making this human tragedy a political issue," said Sen. John McCain (news, bio, voting record), R-Ariz. "We've got plenty of other issues that are political in nature for us to fight about." Leaders of both parties agreed Saturday on legislation that they said would allow Schiavo's feeding tube, which was disconnected Friday afternoon, to be reinserted while federal courts review her case. The bill, "for the relief of the parents of Theresa Marie Schiavo," gives...

Pelosi: 'Having Admitted Error of His Words, President Must Admit Error of His Ways' Fri Jan 14, 2:19 PM ET To: National Desk Contact: Brendan Daly or Jennifer Crider, 202-226-7616, both of the Office of House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi WASHINGTON, Jan. 14 /U.S. Newswire/ -- House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi released the following statement today on remarks by President Bush in an interview with regional newspapers yesterday in which he said he regretted saying "bring 'em on" in reference to insurgents in Iraq who wanted to attack our troops: "The President has finally acknowledged that his taunting the Iraqi...

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<p>Billboards, posters and drink coasters will deliver a state campaign to try to dissuade older men from having sex with underage girls.</p> <p>The Health Department will bring the campaign to Northern Virginia, Richmond and Roanoke this month and next. The campaign is modeled on a pilot project that ran last July in Hampton Roads, which the department deemed a success.</p>

Most disturbingly, the increase in carry guns is further evidence that efforts to slow America's rush to become an armed society have largely failed. ... Common sense suggests that the more guns on the street, the more wrongful injuries and death." --Tracy Warner (Ft. Wayne, Indiana Journal Gazette; "Up in arms: Ohio joins states allowing concealed handguns"; Sunday, March 14, 2004.) The very next day, in an article called "Licensed to carry", Indiana's competing Ft. Wayne News-Sentinel exposed Warner as someone who has a concealed weapons permit -- proving once against that many anti-gunners in positions of power are actually...

Gaddafi was close to having bomb, UN discloses By Anton La Guardia, Diplomatic Editor (Filed: 21/02/2004) Libya succeeded in making weapons-grade plutonium before announcing it would abandon its efforts to build a nuclear bomb, United Nations inspectors said yesterday. Col Muammar Gaddafi A report issued by the International Atomic Energy Agency discloses the full scale of Tripoli's ambitions to build a bomb before Col Gaddafi's change of heart. Libya's nuclear experiments included the separation of plutonium, albeit "in very small quantities", it said. As part of a deal in December to end its international isolation, Col Gaddafi has allowed American...