Why I don't do sports

UK firm slammed over World Cup 'stab vests' for fans

Gay service members who "tell" during Congress testimony would be immune from forced discharge

By GottaLaff

Every time I read about the incremental steps to ensure gay rights, I shake my head in disbelief, realizing anew how many scared, ignorant people still don't get it.

It's good to see Hastings out there fighting the good fight, but it shouldn't even be necessary in this day and age:

Gay service members who reveal their sexual orientations during congressional testimony would be immune from forced discharges under a bill introduced Wednesday, as lawmakers prepare to consider repealing the ban on gays serving openly in the U.S. military.

The legislation's author, U.S. Rep. Alcee Hastings, D-Fla., said the bill is needed to ensure that Congress has reliable and relevant witnesses at its disposal if the House holds hearings next year on the "don't ask, don't tell" policy.

The bill also would protect from retaliatory personnel actions any members of the military who testify for or against lifting the 16-year ban.

There are arguments for and against the bill included in the article, but IMHO, it is, sadly, an essential protection.

Heavy sigh.

Final Language of Stimulus Confirms Whistleblower Protections for Private Contractors

By GottaLaff

Recently, I angrily posted about Susan Collins killing whistleblower protection in the recovery bill. Fortunately, things have changed somewhat:

Turns out the final language included in the agreed-upon stimulus bill does indeed include protections for employees of government contractors — like KBR, Halliburton, etc. — who report fraud, waste and abuse of taxpayer money, even if they report within their own company rather than to an outside government agency. [...]

An amendment by Senator Claire McCaskill fixed that problem. The final language is here.

Still, federal employees, despite almost a decade of internal congressional wrangling about the problem, remain wholly unprotected. Although Reps. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and Todd Platts (R-Pa.) had proposed a bi-partisan provision on this that the House had adopted, the Senate conferees rejected it, apparently over concerns that providing protections for intelligence employees could somehow end up revealing classified information if they brought retaliation claims. [...]

“It is not too late for accountability,” [Tom Devine, legal director for the non-profit Government Accountability Project] said in a statement released today. “After nearly ten years of hearings and votes, there is no excuse to spend nearly a trillion dollars without safe passage for federal employees who risk their careers to keep it honest.”

Congress could still lock in federal whistleblowers protections before the money starts getting spent in 120 days, he said, adding: “The politicians owe it to the taxpayers.”

Let's hope so.

White supremacists watched in lead up to Obama administration

By GottaLaff

I wasn't going to post this (it's such a downer, and it's time to be upbeat about the Big Upcoming Obamaramapalooza), but I'll tell you why I did after this:

Hate crimes experts and law enforcement officials are closely watching white supremacists across the country as Barack Obama prepares next week to be sworn in as the first black president of the United States.

So far, there is no known organized effort to express opposition to Obama's rise to the presidency other than a call by the National Knights of the Ku Klux Klan for its members to wear black armbands as well as fly the U.S. flag upside down on Inauguration Day and Obama's first full day in office.

As Tuesday approaches, when Obama stands outside the Capitol to take the oath of office, experts expect anger about the new president to spike. But they don't expect it to go away.

"The level of vitriol, I expect, will go up a bit more around inauguration time," said Brian Levin, director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University-San Bernardino.

There "is concern" about white supremacist groups during the inauguration, said Joe Persichini, the assistant FBI director who is helping to oversee security during the inauguration. [...]

And interest in racist ideology was so high right after the election that computer servers for two White supremacist Web sites crashed, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate groups.

But the violence and interest soon subsided. Leaders within the white supremacist movement are now seeking to capitalize on Obama's presidency by using his election to help grow their organizations. [...]

Levin noted that it is common knowledge the U.S. Secret Service is taking great measures to protect Obama (who began receiving coverage in May 2007, the earliest point ever for a candidate in a presidential campaign), and emphasized it is a great challenge.

"President-elect Obama is so used to a public presence, and being among people poses some real difficulties for his protection," Levin said.

I realize I've posted similar pieces before, but it's important to stay aware of this horrid trend. I've personally become more aware of it in the last six days, since I posted the video of P.E. Obama visiting Ben's Chili Bowl on my YouTube page.

There have been, to date, 155,000 views and over 850 comments. I have never been kept so busy monitoring comments. At first, it was all positive, joyous, celebratory, even giddy feedback. But as the days have gone on, I've had to delete and block commenter after commenter who were so utterly and sickeningly racist that I was actually taken aback.

One spammer spent two days posting 25 comments at a time, varying his screen name by one letter/number so that blocking was impossible (I'd have to block each one separately). He finally stopped, because I made it a priority to stop that kind of hate speech in its tracks, even interrupting my writing here at TPC while I popped over to block and delete. I tried contacting YouTube, but their frustrating system makes that impossible.

I'm still monitoring diligently today. It's disheartening, and scary as hell, to read the very ignorant, extremely stupid, infantile, racist, hate-filled rants of these cretins. It makes it real and way too in my face.

All we can do is keep trying to communicate (which, by the way, I attempted to do once or twice, which you can see if you go wade through the comments), support P.E. Obama's efforts to reach out, and wish with everything we've got that he stays safe and protected.

How sad that such a feel-good 3 minutes and 37 seconds could evoke such noxious, hostile bigotry.