D.A.D.T. to be repealed after 17 years

For anyone who somehow missed the news on the historic week in the push for equality . . . the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy (which has been in effect for some seventeen years) has been overturned in both houses of Congress.   Once the repeal has been enacted into law, Gay and Lesbian service members will no longer be subject to discharge based on their sexual orientation.

The repeal is a major step forward for the LGBT community, for the military (who lost thousands of soldiers to the policy -- including nearly one hundred Arabic linguists) and the American people who have proven once again that progress will not be bound by the small-minded bigotry of a few.   I'm looking DIRECTLY at you, John McCain.

From the WSJ:

"Once the change becomes law with President Barack Obama's signature, the military will need to revise policies and regulations that govern everything from leadership training to standards of conduct. And before the policy officially ends, the president, the secretary of defense and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff must sign a letter certifying that the changes wouldn't affect military readiness.  Full repeal would take effect 60 days after that certification letter is transmitted to the congressional armed-services committees.
Mr. Gates has appointed Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness Clifford Stanley, a retired Marine Corps general, to lead the Pentagon's planning effort."

Jeff Sheng's striking images of closeted soldiers humanize the debate over DADT

books of Jeff's work along with more images are available @ jeffsheng.com

  more . . .

Bloated military budget misses the target

A brilliant short article.

READ IT HERE

"The reality is that many more Americans die of poverty than terrorism. According to the U.S. State Department, 56 American civilians died due to terrorism worldwide in 2005. That same year, 472 lives were cut short due to homelessness (pdf) in Los Angeles County alone."

Hey O, can we fix this?

Dirty Little War - Hard to think about

If you had ANY doubt about how dirty our current little war is, take a minute to plod through this. Two Reuters employees, two children, two Apache Helicopters.. Guess who won? Heartbreaking.

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