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Nuke-powered USS Michigan made public May 2, BUSAN, South Korea -- Seen here are torpedoes installed at the U.S. nuclear-powered submarine USS Michigan, which made a port visit to South Korea's largest port city of Busan on April 30. The USS Michigan, one of the largest submarines in the world, was disclosed to South Korean reporters on May 2. (Yonhap)

On Feb. 11, 2006, in Iraq, I was honored to meet a model Marine by the name of Cpl. David Stidman. He did two tours in Iraq and one in Afghanistan. Commendably, he also left his post to come home and care for his ailing father, Dwayne Stidman, who tragically was hit and critically wounded by a drunken driver last May.Three months later, on Aug. 2, 2010, Cpl. Stidman was killed. Not on the battlefields of the Middle East, but on his home streets of Texas while still caring for his father and family. And not by a drive-by shooter,...

Maine Sen. Susan Collins is upset by yesterday's Senate defeat of the Defense Authoritzation bill containing the "don't ask, don't tell" repeal provision. Collins, who supports repealing the anti-gay policy, says Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid refused to allow Republicans enough time for debate and amendments. Collins indicated that she was surprised when Reid decided yesterday to bring the measure to a vote. "And it seems evident to me that, unfortunately, the majority leader is not pursuing the path that we discussed, or at least that's my interpretation of what he's saying," Collins said. "I think that's so unfortunate. I...

Senator-Elect Pat Toomey has just issued a statement supporting repeal of “Don’t Ask/Don’t Tell.” “As I’ve said previously, my highest priority is to have the policy that best enables our armed services to do their job,” Senator-Elect Toomey said. “Our civilian and professional military leadership have now spoken and said we should repeal Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. I would support a free-standing measure to do so.” If Majority Leader Reid keeps his word, the freestanding repeal measure passed by the House yesterday will be voted on in the Senate in the lame duck, before Sen.-Elect Toomey is seated. Still, the...

U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, says she's willing to support the repeal of the military's ban on openly gay service members. In a prepared statement, Snowe said that she will vote for a new stand-alone bill co-sponsored by U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, that would eliminate the "don't ask, don't tell" policy. The policy, enacted in 1993, keeps gay and lesbian servicemen and servicewomen from serving openly in the military. (snip) U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., who co-sponsored the repeal with Collins, indicated that Snowe's support would give the bill the 60 votes it needs to pass to avoid a...

WASHINGTON, D.C., December 17, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The US Senate will take a vote on Saturday morning to begin repeal the 1993 law that bans homosexuals from serving in the armed forces. The law is commonly referred by the name of an accompanying Pentagon enforcement policy called “Don’t ask, don’t tell” (DADT). The Senate will take up the stand-alone bill passed by the US House of Representatives on Wednesday by a vote of 250 in favor to 175 against. The bill passed by the House is a “privileged motion”, which means the US Senate cannot add amendments and the time...

The Senate has just voted to end debate on a bill that would lift the ban on gays serving openly in the military, essentially clearing the measure for passage and signature by the president. Lawmakers voted 63 to 33 to end debate on the current policy, put in place by former president Bill Clinton, informally known as "don't ask don't tell." The Senate could vote on final passage of the measure as early as today but it will most likely happen on Sunday or Monday. "We are on the verge of ending 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' for good," Senate Majority...

The Senate Saturday repealed the military's ban on gays serving openly in the military, by overturning the policy known as "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." Senators voted 63-33 to advance the bill to the floor, passing a 60-vote procedural hurdle. Final passage Saturday afternoon was 65-31.

Washington (CNN) -- The House of Representatives voted Wednesday to overturn the ban on openly gay and lesbian soldiers serving in the U.S. military, passing legislation repealing the controversial "don't ask, don't tell" policy. The bill -- a so-called "stand alone" measure not tied to any other legislative items -- passed 250 to 175 on mostly partisan lines. It now advances to the Senate.

The little girls' room won't be just for little girls anymore, if the Maine Human Rights Commission has its way. The commission is taking heat over a controversial proposal to ban schools from enforcing gender divisions in sports teams, school organizations, bathrooms and locker rooms. It says forcing a student into a particular room or group because of his or her biological gender amounts to discrimination. The issue came to light last year when the commission ruled that, under the Maine Human Rights Act, a school had discriminated against a 12-year-old transgender boy by denying him access to the girls'...

According to Fox News, Maine is considering banning the little boys, little girls rooms, boys vs girls locker rooms, boys and girls sports teams, etc. Reason: Sexual discrimination. I'm sorry folks, but the people running our government are full blooming idiots! Vote thm ALL out!!

PANAMA CITY BEACH, Fla. – Officials say a Florida Panhandle Fish and Wildlife officer lost a 5-foot alligator after bringing it to his daughter's school for show and tell. Searchers scoured a wooded area surrounding the school Friday afternoon. The alligator jumped out of the man's vehicle Friday morning. The animal's mouth was taped.

DES MOINES, Iowa -- A Des Moines girl was suspended after school officials said she violated their weapons policy. Jazmine Martin, 12, brought an empty shotgun shell to school on Monday, a souvenir from a summer vacation to South Dakota. The shell was empty and had the word "blank" written on the front. "We went to South Dakota and went to the Circle B Ranch," said Chenoa Martin, Jazmine's mother. "There's a show of the old West -- a stampede. Had a gun shoot-out and stuff like that. When they fire their rifles, they do it into the crowd. It...

I'm posting a bit ahead of time for the Friday humor section,but I'm an Old Geezer now and need my sleep ! In any event, The Ladies Hmmm Journal has some sizzling ideas for Show 'n Tell in its "Back to School" issue !

MARTINEZ - Jurors strained their necks and the prosecutor stood up Tuesday to watch as murder defendant Susan Polk lay on the courtroom floor to reenact the fight that led to the death of her husband. "Couldn't he impale himself on the knife and get his injuries on his arm?" Polk asked a pathologist looking down at her from the witness stand. "You're beginning to get into more detail than I can assess," replied Texas-based pathologist John Cooper, who is testifying as a defense witness.Cooper's testimony came after Susan Polk told the judge that she intends to start testifying in...

A 13-year-old boy showing off his father's gun in a crowded school bus Thursday afternoon accidentally fired it, with the bullet passing several students' heads but injuring no one, Prince William County police said yesterday. The Woodbridge teenager, a student at Saunders Middle School in Manassas, faces criminal charges, and his father, a U.S. Park Police officer, is the subject of an internal investigation, authorities said. Sgt. Dennis Mangan, a Prince William police spokesman, said that an investigation of the incident "revealed he didn't bring the gun to school to harm anyone, he just brought it to show off, and...

Arlington Elementary School was evacuated Tuesday afternoon when a fifth-grader studying American history brought a 110-year-old artillery shell to class, Pittsburgh Public Schools police Chief Robert Fadzen said. When the 11-year-old boy showed the shell to his teacher at 1:45 p.m., school officials evacuated the school and called the city police bomb squad, Fadzen said. The shell was taken for disposal.

A six year old boy brought an unusual item to a show and tell session at his school: a small amount of marijuana and a pipe. Sheriffs detectives went to the boys house and arrested his dad Doug Ballard 41, and his live in girlfriend Heather Peterson, 32.They were booked into Morongo Basin Jail for investigation of child endangerment.Bail was set at $100,000.00 apiece.Sherrifs Sargent Fred Gonzalez said that the boy had about a tenth of an ounce of marijuana and apparently knew what people did with it and wanted to show his classmates.