Nation briefly

WASHINGTON – The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said Monday he considers homosexuality to be immoral and the military should not condone it by allowing gay personnel to serve openly, the Chicago Tribune reported.

“I believe homosexual acts between two individuals are immoral and that we should not condone immoral acts,” Marine Gen. Peter Pace said.

Pace said he supports the Pentagon’s “don’t ask, don’t tell policy” in which gay men and women are allowed in the military as long as they keep their sexual orientation private. The policy, signed into law by President Clinton in 1994, prohibits commanders from asking about a person’s sexual orientation.

Rep. Martin Meehan, D-Mass., has introduced legislation to reverse the military’s ban on openly serving homosexuals.

Former President George H.W. Bush, 82, was treated at a California hospital for dehydration and released Monday after collapsing during a golf outing in Palm Springs. Jean Becker, Bush’s chief of staff, said Bush fainted while playing golf with friends Sunday in 94-degree heat. “He’s fine, he really is fine,” Becker said. “He became dehydrated, and he had a fainting spell. He came to right away, but as a precaution, they took him to the hospital and then – much to his dismay – as a precaution, they held him overnight. The doctors released him first thing this morning.”

Carrots, rich in beta carotene, long have been thought to sharpen eyesight, but a new study being published in Chicago suggests that beta carotene pills are powerless against a common type of vision loss among older people, age-related macular degeneration. An earlier large study had shown that beta carotene – when taken with certain vitamins and zinc – could slow or prevent vision loss in people with age-related macular degeneration. But the new study found no benefit for beta carotene supplements alone against the disease.

Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel on Monday put off a decision about a possible presidential bid until later this year, saying he wanted to focus on the Iraq war and other pressing national issues. Hagel said Friday that he planned to make an announcement about his political future on Monday, leading to speculation that he would launch a White House bid.

Wisconsin’s worst sex offenders would have to drive around with bright green license plates under a bill a Republican lawmaker introduced Monday. Serious child molesters and sexually violent offenders would be required to bolt the plates onto their cars and trucks when they’re released from prison, Rep. Joel Kleefisch said.

Merck &Co.’s painkiller Vioxx contributed to a Boise, Idaho, postal worker’s heart attack, a jury in Atlantic City ruled Monday, reversing the verdict in Frederick “Mike” Humeston’s first trial and hitting Merck with a total of $47.5 million in compensatory and punitive damages. Humeston was granted a second trial in light of new evidence. Merck has now won nine cases and lost five in the mushrooming litigation over its former blockbuster arthritis pill.

From Herald news services