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A 4.8-magnitude earthquake shook the New York City area Friday morning, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS). The epicenter of the earthquake was in Lebanon, N.J., according to USGS. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) said it was felt throughout the state. “My team is assessing impacts and any damage that may have occurred, and we will update the public throughout the day,” her office said on social media. The New York City Fire Department said it had no reports of damage at this time. New York City Mayor Eric Adams’s office also said he was briefed on...

When one door closes and another door opens, you are probably in prison. * * * * * * * * * * * * To me, "drink responsibly" means don't spill it. * * * * * * * * * * * * Age 60 might be the new 40, but 9:00 pm is the new midnight. * * * * * * * * * * * * It's the start of a brand new day, and I'm off like a herd of turtles. * * * * * * * * * * * * The...

In October, some of the first tangible aspects of the Affordable Care Act made their debut, allowing millions of Americans to start signing up for new health insurance options, Times journalists covering the rollout would like to hear how you have been affected by it. If you have shopped for insurance through one of the new state-run insurance exchanges — online markets where people can browse health plans and see if they qualify for federal subsidies — please tell us about your experience by answering the questions below. Your comments and contact information will not be published, but a reporter...

If you're trying to buy happiness, you'd be better off putting your money toward a tropical island get-away than a new computer, a new study suggests. The results show that people's satisfaction with their life-experience purchases — anything from seeing a movie to going on a vacation — tends to start out high and go up over time. On the other hand, although they might be initially happy with that shiny new iPhone or the latest in fashion, their satisfaction with these items wanes with time. The findings, based on eight separate studies, agree with previous research showing that experience-related...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 12, 2009 – Generations of American servicemembers braved and survived the din, destruction and uncertainty of war to return home to enjoy the freedoms they helped to preserve for their fellow citizens. Retired Navy Rear Adm. Robert H. Shumaker is a famous U.S. military veteran who coined the term “Hanoi Hilton” when he was a prisoner of war from 1965 to 1973 in North Vietnam. Any person –- civilian or military –- who thinks they may have emotional problems should seek professional help, he said. DoD photo by Gerry J. Gilmore  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Yet,...

This video is an animation of a deer and rabbit. The rabbit meet the deer in the wild and expresses its thoughts. The voices of this video are, o7jimmy and grandson.

Pop Eye’s fried chicken fast food humor.

2/26/2008 - BOLLING AIR FORCE BASE, D.C. (AFPN) -- The Afghan girls walked across the trash-strewn ground where they lived. Their colorful clothing offered a bright contrast to the debris and the tan terrain surrounding their nomadic tribes' home on a former Soviet army artillery range. This image exists now only in my memory and photograph, but this type of life continues for the Afghan people. Nearly 7,000 miles separate Bolling Air Force Base from Kabul, but distance isn't the only thing separating Afghans from Airmen stationed in our nation's Capitol. It has been a while since I returned from...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 22, 2008 – Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Emily K. Klinefelter may be a woman and a sailor, but she wants people to know that she has seen combat firsthand and gone through a lot of the same experiences as her brethren in the ground forces. Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Emily K. Klinefelter is one of 12 servicemembers touring the country as part of the Defense Department’s “Why We Serve” outreach program, which sends servicemembers who have recently deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan to various community, business and veterans groups to tell their stories. Defense Department...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 29, 2008 – Being married to the military has its benefits, but it also comes with some very rigid truths, as one Virginia native began to understand when she and her Marine husband married 10 years ago. Anne Miren Berry participates in a book signing for “Operation Homecoming,” an anthology of essays, letters, journal entries and poems written by about 100 military family members. The book, a National Endowment for the Arts project, was edited by Andrew Carroll, who also edited “War Letters.” Courtesy photo   (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Those realities are part of...

WASHINGTON, May 16, 2007 – Petty Officer 1st Class Virginia Marie Mayo, a Navy corpsman, has proved she can do what the guys do and go where the Marines go. Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Virginia Marie Mayo. Photo by Gerry J. Gilmore  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. The 29-year-old sailor has served aboard ships during her nine-year career and performed dangerous land-based missions during a yearlong tour of duty in Iraq in 2006. In Iraq, Mayo organized medical triage and movement of casualties and also participated in more than 15 combat-related missions, including convoys and dismounted patrols....

Sleep holds the key to understanding these mystical events, reports Roger HighfieldPeople who have out-of-body experiences near death, such as flying along a tunnel towards a heavenly light, are more likely to suffer a strange effect called sleep paralysis, according to a survey that adds to mounting evidence for a biological explanation for this mystical experience. During sleep paralysis, people experience a kind of breakdown between states of consciousness which takes place on the fringe of slumber, either when falling asleep or awakening. Because the brain turns off the body's ability to move during dreaming, muscles can lose their tone,...

My wife and I are enrolled in a plan that is IMHO, an analog for what we might expect from socialized medicine . 'Tain't pretty !

11/7/2006 - SOUTHWEST ASIA (AFPN) -- The year was 1967. First Lt. Marko Milakovich stood on the side of Budda Mountain, about 10 miles from Quang Nhia in South Vietnam. The 25-year-old was on a site survey and had a weapons carrier and six Army bodyguards for safety. As he stood on the mountainside, leaflets fluttered to the ground around him. Dropped from U.S. helicopters, the leaflets offered the enemy safe surrender passes and rewards for turning in weapons. Four decades later, this image remains etched in the veteran's mind. "After I finished the site survey I returned to the...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 11, 2006 – One result of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, was the establishment of U.S. Northern Command to deal with threats aimed at the United States, the organization’s commander said here today. During an interview at the Pentagon’s Radio Day event, Navy Adm. Timothy Keating spoke his personal experiences during the attack and about his command. Keating, who is also the commander of North American Aerospace Defense Command, was the Navy’s director of operations in the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001. “I was in the operations update when the news hit of the first plane...

MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C., July 26, 2006 — A 12-year-old from the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics exits a commercial flight in Detroit during 1988 and steps foot on U.S. soil for the first time. More than 18 years later, that 12-year-old boy is now walking full stride amongst his brothers-in-arms within the Corps. Lance Cpl. Dennis Greenberg, an administrative clerk with the Group Consolidated Administration Center, 2nd Marine Logistics Group, has led many walks of life that ultimately led him to being an enlisted Marine at Camp Lejeune. “Life is full of challenging journeys and changes,”...

WASHINGTON, July 24, 2006 – Three reserve-component members related their insights and experiences from service in the war on terror to a congressionally chartered committee in San Antonio on July 19. Army National Guard Sgt. Christopher B. McWilliams, Coast Guard Reserve Chief Petty Officer Douglas Gilmer, and Air National Guard Master Sgt. Alphonso W. Allen provided testimony about their military service to the Commission on the National Guard and Reserves. McWilliams, a member of the New Hampshire National Guard since May 2001, said he's been deployed to the Horn of Africa, Kuwait and Iraq. McWilliams said he was severely wounded...

MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. (Mar. 2, 2006) -- In late February 2005, a 26-year-old Harrisburg, Penn. native deployed to the western part of the Al Anbar province, Iraq with Regimental Combat Team-2, 2nd Marine Division. One year later, he returned to the U.S. forever changed. Lance Cpl. Shane S. Keller, a combat photographer with RCT-2, recently came home after a year deployed to Iraq, where he had been supporting Marines and Iraqi Forces during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Keller’s job in Iraq consisted of documenting the security and stabilization operations the RCT conducted for historical, training and intelligence purposes....

AL ASAD, Iraq -- The people of Iraq voted in a general election to decide on a permanent 275-member Iraqi National Assembly, Dec. 15. Throughout the country, Marines, Soldiers and Iraqi Security Forces provided protection so Iraqis could vote in secure locations. One of the important roles in providing security for the elections was that of the female U.S. service members who searched female Iraqis at voting stations. Marines from the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing at Al Asad eagerly volunteered to play a part in history and help the women of Iraq secure rights for themselves in a free society....

U.S. Army Chief Warrant Officer 3 Tammy Kostoff Spc. Lauren Kostoff Mother, Son Share Experiences in Iraq By Master Sgt. Corine Lombardo 42nd Infantry Division FORWARD OPERATING BASE DANGER, Tikrit, Iraq, Oct. 25, 2005 — It is not uncommon for parents and children to serve together in the National Guard. It is however, unusual for a mother and son to be serving together in a combat theater. For Chief Warrant Officer 3 Tammy Kostoff and her 22-year-old son Lauren, it was just the natural progression in service to their country. Both are members and full-time employees of the Montana...