Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta is lifting the ban on women serving in combat roles, following the recommendation of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and overturning the 1994 regulation that prevented women from serving in combat units. Our endless war machine is almost officially gender-neutral!

Miley Cyrus is smoking more than just salvia. Prince William saves two lives. Brad and Jennifer narrowly miss an awkward run-in. Sunday gossip is going to go hang out in the cemetery.

Who says the Senate confirmation process is broken? Today the chamber confirmed Leon Panetta as the next secretary of defense by a vote of 100-0. He'll take over when Sec. Robert Gates leaves at the end of June.

Former vice president Dick Cheney took a break from feasting on his Mother's Day breakfast of Crisco porridge and deep-fried chrysanthemums to appear on television and call for the reinstatement of waterboarding, one of America's most popular intelligence-gathering techniques.

Now that Barack Obama has released his long-form birth certificate, let's play What Other Evil News Is He Trying to Distract Us From? Maybe it's this: The AP reports that CIA Director and former Bill Clinton chief of staff Leon Panetta will take over for Defense Secretary Robert Gates this summer, while Afghanistan commander Gen. David Petraeus will replace Panetta at the CIA. Does the Obama administration want us talking about this?

Oyez! Oyez! Oyez! All persons having interest in Top Chef Season 7 DC, are admonished to draw near and give their attention, for the season is now screening. God save the long awaited exile!

You sorta feel sorry for Leon Panetta. He has no intelligence experience, he's taking control of a dispirited and publicly shamed CIA, and Justice and Obama apparently blindsided him with this investigation business. But on the other hand...

Attorney General Eric Holder will appoint a prosecutor to determine whether there is enough evidence to prosecute CIA interrogators who tortured and murdered detainees. This will not please Leon Panetta!

That dang Seymour Hersh. The New Yorker scribe is always running saying crazy things to scare the bejesus out of us and, unfortunately, he's always right. Just like when he mentioned that Dick Cheney was running a CIA "death squad."

Leon Panetta, Obama's CIA Director, told House Intelligence Committee members that the agency had lied to and "concealed significant actions" from lawmakers since the beginning of the George W. Bush presidency and continuing until recently. [Congressional Quarterly]

This week's New Yorker features a 7600 word profile of Leon Panetta, Obama's choice to lead the CIA. Most notable among those 7600 words: Panetta's been wondering the same thing many have about the depths of Dick Cheney's dark soul.

Nothing prior about this restraint: A man escorting Leon Panetta, Barack Obama's nominee for CIA director, grabbed CongressDaily reporter Chris Strohm at a hearing and pulled him away for daring to ask Panetta a question.

Oh no! Another Clintonite will ruin Barack Obama's change forever! Clinton Chief-of-Staff Leon Panetta will be your new CIA director.