An Iraq war veteran and West Point graduate who had been discharged for homosexuality is now stepping up to enlist—and military recruiters have been told to go ahead and let him sign up.
Former Lt. Dan Choi, 29, was discharged in July for declaring that he is gay, despite his West Point degree and his heroic service overseas. On Tuesday, he said it was “a great day for celebration” before walking into an Army recruiting center in Times Square to start filling out the paperwork. He won’t be a lieutenant, though—he’s starting over at the bottom—but when asked about how he felt about enlisting, Choi said, “Rank doesn't matter. It's about serving and contributing to the greater good. Service is about sacrifices.”
Recruiters across the nation are now gearing up to enlist open gays and lesbians, despite the DADT legal appeal-tango still going on between the government and the federal courts. Douglas Smith, a spokesman for U.S. Army Recruiting Command based at Fort Knox, Ky., said that while enlistees won’t be asked about their sexual orientation, if they voluntarily tell about it, they can still sign up like everyone else.
“If they were to self-admit that they are gay and want to enlist, we will process them for enlistment, but will tell them that the legal situation could change,” Smith said. Let’s hope it doesn’t.
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It’s safe to say that authorities would like you to admit if you were doing something illegal—so people in Australia are a little confused right now about new customs regulations that say everyone must declare their illegal porn.
It’s an attempt at watering down old rules that say visitors to Australia must declare all pornography brought into the country, but Australian Justice Minister Brendan O'Connor said that everyone vacationing down under should still reveal all their porn, just in case it might be illegal.
“Even though there have been import bans on illegal pornography for a long time, some travelers still don't realize that,” O'Connor said in a statement.
Many are decrying the new customs policy. Australian Sex Party leader Fiona Patten said the policy is an invasion of privacy and “totally confusing.”
“What is illegal to import to our country is not necessarily illegal to possess,” Pattern added.
Still, we’re wondering why anyone would need to bring porn into a country that sports topless hairdressing salons and an entire national Sex Party.
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Ah, the French language. It is hailed by poets and lovers as among the most sensual of tongues. But it’s also apparently one of the most innuendo-laden languages that government officials can speak.
Just weeks after the French politico Rachida Dati accidentally said “fellatio” instead of “inflation” on live radio, another verbal faux pas has French citizens snickering. Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux substituted “genital prints” for “fingerprints,” during an interview about how French police investigate crime suspects. It was an easy mistake, as empreintes digitales sounds a lot like empreintes genitales, right? At this rate, we’re thinking we’re just going to have to learn French, because it seems to be so much fun.
Empreintes genitals? Non!