In what seems to be an annual event, another effort has been made in Congress to ban the Defense Department’s ability to sponsor teams or players in professional sporting events.
The $608 billion defense bill that passed the House Appropriations Committee on Thursday includes an amendment to prohibit Pentagon spending on NASCAR, professional fishing and professional wrestling events.
US Rep Betty McCollum (D-Minn) proposed the Read more
A Congressman’s idea to name a Navy ship after homosexual activist Harvey Milk has received opposition from a seemingly unlikely group — homosexuals:
Some of the strongest opposition appears to be from the gay community…Some gay activists, at least one city supervisor and others have said Milk was anti-war and wouldn’t want a ship named after him.
The normally non-controversial process of naming vessels after cities and Presidents takes a scandalous turn every now and then when the Navy suggests, or receives a suggestion to consider, naming a vessel after a controversial figure.
President Obama’s administration has registered its objections to several portions of the 2013 National Defense Authorization Act passed by the US House (which also includes another attempt to ban NASCAR sponsorships).
The Obama administration “strongly objects” to provisions in [the bill] that would prohibit the use of military property for same-sex “marriage or marriage-like” ceremonies, and protect military chaplains Read more
Update: The committee passed the religious freedom legislation as amendments to the NDAA. The legislation has the support of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission.
The House Armed Services Committee is going to debate the Military Religious Freedom Act, which the Air Force Times says US Rep Todd Akin (R-Mo) will let troops and chaplains “openly oppose gays.”
Rep. Todd Akin, R-Mo., is specifically aiming to protect religious freedom by allowing service members and chaplains to openly oppose gay and lesbian lifestyles and the presence of gay Read more
The US Air Force was previously taken to task by Congress when it removed the Latin word for “god” from the Rapid Capabilities Office patch — because an atheist complained. (In fact, Rep Randy Forbes went so far as to say Air Force Chief of Staff General Norton Schwartz “has been as bad as I have seen…in defending religious liberties.”
It seems the Air Force solved the patch problem: Read more
US Congressman Bob Filner (D-CA) has reportedly asked the US Navy to name a ship after Harvey Milk, a homosexual activist who was killed while serving as a San Francisco supervisor in 1978. Milk also served in the Navy in the early 1950s — apparently illegally, Read more
In April 2010, the US Supreme Court overturned a lower court decision that claimed a transfer of National Park Service land in the Mojave National Preserve — upon which stood a cross — was an end-run around the US Constitution.
In January 2011, the VFW sued the government for failing to abide by that decision and allowing the cross to stand. In fact, while the case was ongoing the cross was stolen; when a replacement appeared, the government took it down.
Now it appears the case is done:
A federal judge has approved Read more
The Federal Aviation Administration has begun the process that would ultimately allow unmanned aircraft to fly freely in US airspace, as opposed to the limited and restricted ability they have to currently operate. It is seeking public input in to how to set up ranges for UAV testing that would ultimately lead to free flying UAVs:
The new law gives the FAA three years — two less than it took Congress to pass the act – to “integrate” UAVs into the national air space, or NAS, meaning set policies that will let drones share the air with piloted aircraft.
UAVs have proven reasonably reliable. Just like humans, they only fly off uncontrolled every now and then.