Soldiers who were paralyzed, suffered brain damage and lost limbs owe the government enlistment bonus money.They must pay the money back because they didn’t fulfill their tour of duty.Bob Truska, who was in the Navy, got an honorable discharge for what the Navy calls a personality disorder.One year later, he got a bill for more than $3,000, part of his $7,000 enlistment bonus.Bob said, “I didn’t know of anything I had to pay back after I got out of the military.”The Navy said his honorable discharge “does not exempt him from recoupement of the unearned enlistment bonus, and his personality disorder is not a disability but could interfere with assignment or performance of duty.”... http://www.wpxi.com censor News |
Editor - 20:26:00 02-13-07 |
Conservatives lose latest Darwin battle in Kansas |
The Kansas Board of Education on Tuesday threw out science standards deemed hostile to evolution, undoing the work of Christian conservatives in the ongoing battle over what to teach U.S. public school students about the origins of life. The board in the central U.S. state voted 6-4 to replace them with teaching standards that mirror the mainstream in science education and eliminate criticisms of evolutionary theory. "I'm glad we've taken this step. If we are going to have a well-educated populace, this is important," said board member Sue Gamble. Similar efforts to weaken the teaching of evolution in public schools have occurred throughout the United States including Pennsylvania, Michigan, Kentucky and Georgia. But Kansas has been in the forefront of the debate since 1999, when the board voted to sharply reduce the emphasis of evolution in science instruction. A public backlash ultimately led to a reversal of that revision.... http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070214/ts_nm/usa_evolution_kansas_dc
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Editor - 19:04:00 02-13-07 |
In the science of sexual attraction, size matters |
Size matters in the science of sexual attraction — especially if you are a fish.Scientists at the Universities of Exeter and Glasgow have found that female green swordtail fish mature more rapidly if they spot a male with a big tail. Likewise young males retard their sexual development for several months if they spot a better-endowed male, waiting for there to be less competition in the mating game. "This is the first evidence that a species adjusts its rate of sexual maturation in response to visual clues," Craig Walling of Exeter University's school of biosciences said. ... http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=2873099
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Editor - 18:51:00 02-13-07 |
NATO: Afghan troop shortfall costing lives Top commander pleads with allies to send reinforcements |
NATO’s top commander renewed an appeal Tuesday for allies to fill gaps in the international military force in Afghanistan, warning that failure to send reinforcements was weakening the mission and jeopardizing the lives of soldiers fighting the Taliban. Taliban guerrillas have proven much tougher than the alliance expected in 2003 when its first contingent of peacekeepers deployed to Afghanistan. Last year, fighting surged and commanders have warned that even fiercer combat can be expected if the insurgents launch a spring offensive against the Kabul government. “We do not have adequate forces,” Gen. John Craddock told reporters at NATO’s military headquarters in southern Belgium. “It makes accomplishing the mission that more difficult,” he added. “It places every NATO soldier there at greater risk.” Politicians in Canada, Britain, the United States and other nations with troops in southern Afghanistan have been irked by the reluctance of some European allies to commit extra troops ... http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17136948/
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Editor - 18:49:00 02-13-07 |
Israel, US sign homeland security pact |
Internal Security Minister Avi Dichter and his US counterpart, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, signed a joint memorandum in Washington DC on Wednesday evening, setting a series of goals and terms for security collaboration between the two nations. The joint understanding included partnership on flight security, including passenger and cargo inspection and information sharing on the topic of emergency planning, response, recovery and damage control. The understanding also encompassed sharing of research and development progress in the field of explosives detection. In addition, Israel and the US will share information about steps taken to neutralize, respond to and reduce terror and criminal activities in specific fields and will also hold joint training and staff exchanges. Dichter had previously described the agreement as "a breakthrough signing of an understandings agreement [with the US] for the war on terror and establishing cooperation between the ... http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1170359807560&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
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Editor - 18:33:00 02-13-07 |
Winter storm blasts Midwest with snow, ice; heads for East Coast |
Sliding cars and jackknifed trucks snarled highway traffic, and flights were grounded Tuesday as a storm blew out of the Midwest with a threat of up to 2 feet of blowing, drifting snow. The National Weather Service posted winter storm watches and warnings from Iowa and Missouri across the Ohio Valley into parts of New England. As the storm plowed east, more than 2 inches of snow fell by midday at Pittsburgh, while parts of Indiana measured more than 11 inches with drifts up to 6 feet, the weather service said. Up to 18 inches of snow was forecast for northern Pennsylvania, with a chance of 2 feet at higher elevations. Twenty-inch accumulations were possible in parts of New York state, where communities on the eastern end of Lake Ontario have endured a week of lake-effect snow that totaled more than 11 feet.... http://www.usatoday.com/weather/stormcenter/2007-02-13-snowstorm_x.htm?csp=34
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Editor - 16:55:00 02-13-07 |
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