Nation's Larges Naval Shipbuilder Scores High on LGBTQ Polices

As the crow flies, I live perhaps 5 or 6 miles from Newport News Shipbuilding, Virginia's largest employer and the builder of America's nuclear powered aircraft carrier fleet and many of the U.S. Navy's nuclear submarines.   For the last several years the company has been a champion of LGBT rights locally and a presenting sponsor for the HR Pride event each summer.  The Christofascists, of course, must be having conniption fits.  Unlike Virginia Republicans, Newport News Shipbuilding when your policies are welcoming to all and discrimination is banned, you can hire the best and the brightest employees.  Who they love really should play no role whatsoever in employment decisions.  Moreover, such policies make a region and/or state attractive to other progressive, forward looking businesses.  A piece in U.S. News & World Reports looks at the company's LGBT friendly polices.  Here are highlights:

One of the nation's leading gay rights groups is praising the LGBTQ-friendly policies of the nation's largest military shipbuilder.

The Daily Press in Newport News reported Friday that Huntington Ingalls Industries received a 100 rating on a corporate survey from the Human Rights Campaign Foundation.

The survey evaluated policies that include domestic partner benefits and transgender-inclusive medical benefits. The company builds aircraft carriers and submarines. It was one of 609 major businesses that earned a top rating.

The shipbuilder first participated in HRC's survey last year and scored an 85. The company's score was higher this year for a few reasons.

One was the addition of medical benefits for gender transition. The benefits include surgery, mental health services or other measures.

A piece in the Daily Press provides more on the views of the company's leadership and that of its parent company, including opposition to GOP backed license to discriminate laws masquerading as "religious freedom" laws:  

The nation’s largest military shipbuilder began ramping up efforts on diversity and inclusion several years ago at the behest of CEO and President Mike Petters.

He has vowed to change the culture of a corporate giant built on a foundation of shipyards, a traditional, male-dominated workplace. At Newport News, senior shipbuilders started walking the waterfront decades ago — back when attitudes on race, gender and sexual orientation were far different — so things won’t change overnight.

Changing the culture also means speaking out when necessary.

When the state of Mississippi advanced what supporters termed a religious freedom law, LGBTQ advocates rallied to oppose it.

Major business interests in the state opposed the bill, including MGM Resorts International, which operates casinos in the state, and Nissan North America. HII joined the opposition on behalf of its Ingalls Shipbuilding division in Pascagoula, Miss. 

Navy Sets Sortie Condition Charlie due to Hurricane Joaquin

While there is still much uncertainty as to what the actual track of Hurricane will be, the Hampton Roads area is beginning to brace for a possible close shave - or a direct hit - from Hurricane Joaquin which is now a category 3 storm and which may increase to a category 4 storm.  Many computer models continue to show Joaquin either brushing the Virginia coast or, in some cases, traveling up Chesapeake Bay.  The image above shows the storm track decidedly to the west of early projections.

As WAVY-TV 10 reports, the U. S. Navy has place all Hampton Roads home ported ships on standby to sail within 48 hours in order to get to sea before Joaquin approaches the area so that the ships can better ride out or elude the storm.  If the ships do indeed sortie, it is NOT a good omen.  Here are story highlights:

All Navy ships in Hampton Roads have been ordered to Sortie Condition Charlie due to Hurricane Joaquin.

The order was issued Wednesday as precaution due to the hurricane’s possible approach to the area this weekend. Sortie Condition Charlie means all ships must be prepared to get underway within 48 hours if deemed necessary.

Navy officials also ordered all installations in the area to set Tropical Cyclone Condition Four, meaning the trend indicates possible destructive winds within 72 hours. The hurricane is expected to bring high winds and rain to the Mid-Atlantic coast.

 For the husband and I, these types of forecasts make us think back to Hurricane Isabel in 2003 and the Nor'Ida storm in 2009 when our home looked as in this image:

As noted in prior posts, since the 2009 storm, we have waterproofed the first floor up to 3 feet from floor level, installed a whole house generator, and installed 3 industrial sum pumps that can pump 21,000 gallons of water per hour.   We take these storms very seriously and I hope others do as well.  Thankfully, Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe has declared a state of emergency to encourage citizens and localities to make necessary precautionary preparations.

Anti-Gay Military Chaplain Faces Dismissal

Faux Christian Martyr Modder

The far right are preparing to make a martyr out of Lt. Cmdr. Wesley Modder, a Pentecostal chaplain once assigned to elite Navy SEAL units, who is facing dismissal because of his behavior towards gays and unmarried woman within the command to which he was assigned.   Modder was given a "detachment for cause" letter on Feb. 17 after his commanders concluded that he is "intolerant" and "unable to function in the diverse and pluralistic environment" of his current assignment.  The usual suspects and liberty counsel are claiming that Modder is being persecuted for being a Christian when the truth is that he refused to recognize the freedom of religion rights of military members at his assignment and sought to force his religious beliefs on them.  As is always the case with Christofascists, they construe "religious freedom" as their unfettered right to inflict their beliefs on others with zero regard for the rights of others.  Ultimately, it is form of extreme selfishness and contempt for others.  The Navy Times has details.  Here are highlights:

Navy Capt. Jon Fahs, NNPTC commander, cited several specific incidents in which Modder offered inappropriate counseling to sailors in the command, according to the detachment for cause letter. The letter states that Modder:

• Told a female that she was "shaming herself in the eyes of god" for having premarital sex.
• Told another student that homosexuality was wrong and that "the penis was meant for the vagina and not for the anus."
• Suggested to a student that he, Modder, had the ability to "save" gay people.
• "Berated" a student for becoming pregnant while not married.

Commanders felt that allowing vulnerable sailors to be counseled by Modder is "a recipe for tragedy," according to the letter.

The issue arose after multiple sailors filed equal opportunity complaints about Modder with the command, alleging discrimination.

Modder's Liberty Institute attorney, Michael Berry, said the effort to fire him reflects a broader cultural change in the military.

"I think what we are seeing is a hostility to religious expression in the military now," Berry said. "What we're seeing is this new modern, pluralistic, Navy where service members are encouraged to be hypersensitive, especially about issues of faith, marriage and family."

Commanding officers feel that "if we don't silence this immediately, then somebody is going to complain that my commanding officer didn't do anything about it," Berry said.

When confronted with the complaints, Modder told his command that "he will not follow Navy policy if it conflicts with his faith," according to the letter.

Kudos to the Navy.  I hope Modder is kicked out.  It is far past time that the Christofascist realize that they are not above the law and rules and regulations.  If they cannot abide by the military's rules, then get out.  Nothing is preventing Modder from embracing his ignorance and fear based beliefs - he simply doesn't have the right to force them on others.

Virginia Republicans Again Kill Measures to Address Rising Sea Levels

An increasingly common scene in Norfolk

Science denying Republicans in the Virginia General Assembly have again killed proposed legislation that would have aimed at addressing rising sea levels threatening Hampton Roads and other coastal areas of Virginia.  The head in the sand refusal to accept reality goes hand in hand with the continued control of the Virginia GOP by the ignorance embracing theocrats and hate merchants at The Family Foundation and it's "Christian" allies.  These people are literally fiddling while Rome is burning and one has to wonder how desperate things need to become before they will get the head out of their ass.  The Virginian Pilot laments to continued idiocy.  Here are highlights from today's main editorial:

There is little dispute that rising seas and sinking land have combined to threaten Hampton Roads.

Federal and state scientists who've conducted research and simulations estimate seas could rise by anywhere from 1.5 to 4 feet (or more) by 2100. At the high end, it's an increase with devastating implications for life here and for the economy of Virginia.

For years, state lawmakers have dragged their feet rather than addressing the threat, sacrificing the long-term security of critical assets and communities to partisan crusades and gamesmanship. This week, they doubled down, dismissing pragmatic proposals that would build off the bevy of commissions and panels convened to contemplate solutions.

Under Villanueva's bill, the proceeds from Virginia's participation in RGGI would have gone toward helping plan and prepare for sea-level rise in Hampton Roads, as well as strengthening renewable resource programs and boosting economic development in southwestern Virginia, where fossil fuel mining and production traditionally have been strong sources of jobs.

The regional initiative is designed specifically to promote competition and incentives to cut carbon dioxide, a gas that helps trap heat in the atmosphere and increases global temperature.

But the program also highlights the value of economic and energy diversity, amplifying efforts to make greener energy sources more affordable and more available. Research suggests its design to promote competition actually drives down consumers' electricity rates.

Villanueva's bill failed in a House subcommittee on Tuesday; the previous week, Sen. Donald McEachin, a Democrat from Henrico County, witnessed the demise of his version of the plan in the Republican-controlled Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee.

Those defeats reflect the disconnect between those who live far from the places subject to the immediate effects of a changing coastline. And the fight many Virginia politicians continue to wage against the science that clearly shows mankind's role in warming the planet.

Over the past century, the sea has risen by 18 inches at Sewells Point in Norfolk. Flooding that once occurred only during severe storms now occurs several times a year.

The Navy has spent millions of dollars lifting piers at Norfolk Naval Station as part of its effort to adapt to the reality of rising water, and to prepare for the future. Norfolk, too, has begun making changes, including requiring that new homes be built three feet above sea level.

But much more must be done. Building floodgates, raising buildings and implementing other countermeasures carry an estimated cost of $1 billion just in Norfolk; other cities, including Virginia Beach, Portsmouth, Poquoson and Hampton, have monumental needs, too.

Those cities and their residents cannot be left to fend for themselves against a rising tide.

Virginia's economic success is tied to Hampton Roads' security. The commonwealth could've taken real, substantive action toward protecting its residents, communities and economy by participating in the regional cap-and-trade program.  Unfortunately, [Republican] lawmakers refused.

Budget Deadlock Creates Anger at Crucial Navy Shipyard

Today Barack Obama will visit Newport News Shipbuilding in nearby Newport News, Virginia.  This shipyard is crucial to the Navy since it is the only yard that can build atomic powered carriers.  It is crucial to Virginia because it is the state's largest single employer.  And it is about to get severely slammed by the sequestration that begins at week end.  The irony is that GOP Congressman Scott Rigell - one of the GOP extremists pushing the nation towards sequestration - will accompany Obama (as will Bobby Scott).  Both the boyfriend and I have family members who work at Newport News Shipbuilding and who may financial harm as a result of the sequestration cuts.  The other irony is that back in the lead up to the November 2012 elections, many of the less expensive homes in the area of Newport News near the shipyard had Romney and Rigell signs (the expensive homes had Obama signs).  Would that these cretins who supported Romney and Rigell could be the first workers laid off and furloughed.  A piece in the Washington Post looks at the growing distress and anger at the shipyard.  Here are highlights which underscore that the GOP doesn't give a tinker's damn about everyday Americans:

As President Obama returned from a Florida golfing trip and Congress was on a Presidents’ Day break last week, Tommy Bassett, a nuclear machinist, was applying for a backup job at Lowe’s.

The carrier USS Abraham Lincoln was supposed to arrive at the massive shipyard here on Valentine’s Day for a multibillion-dollar overhaul that would take years and provide Bassett and some of the other 21,000 shipyard employees with steady work. But the budget deadlock in Washington prompted the Navy to delay the project. For how long, no one seems to know. Whether layoffs are coming — no one seems to know that, either.

Bassett is too anxious to wait to find out. His wife is having their first child in April, and she had to stop working for medical reasons. “If the budget doesn’t come in, they don’t have money for us,” Bassett said. “I haven’t told her yet . . . I didn’t want her to worry.”

Residents are bitter and resentful. It’s difficult to have a conversation without getting an earful of expletives. And there is little patience here for serving as political props in Washington’s latest budget drama.

Newport News sits at the heart of Hampton Roads, a region whose economy and identity are based largely on the tens of thousands of military personnel, contractors and veterans who live and work here. SEAL Team 6 is based in the region. Jets from Naval Air Station Oceana regularly buzz along the Virginia Beach coast.

Newport News is where the Navy makes aircraft carriers and submarines, and this city of 180,000 feels like a company town, where generations of families have found good-paying jobs making something lasting.  Many fear that prideful past and the community it helped build will fall victim to Washington-style pettiness and irresponsibility.

Executives from defense behemoth Huntington Ingalls Industries, which runs Newport News Shipbuilding, say they are disappointed by the delays in the massive, carefully staged Lincoln overhaul project, which will end up costing taxpayers even more later. Other contractors in Hampton Roads have already warned of major potential layoffs.

“The way you keep costs down is to have predictability and continuity — the exact opposite of what we have right now,” said Newport News City Manager Neil Morgan, who keeps close tabs on operations at the shipyard, the city’s “powerhouse employer.”

Johnson wants Obama to come to Hampton Roads and take it straight to his colleagues at the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue.  “I put it on Congress, I don’t put it on him,” Johnson said. “They’re messing with the military, and I don’t appreciate it. They’re messing with me. He needs to let people know that when he gets down here.”

Yes, many need to get the message that they were played as fools by Republicans in the last election and the now so prevalent racism and religious extremism of the GOP was used  to convince people to foolishly vote against their own best interests.  Many may well be about to pay the price for their foolishness and bigotries and prejudices.

 

GOP Obstructionism is an Economic Time Bomb For Hampton Roads

As the Congressional Republicans, especially those in the House of Representatives, continue to play games with the nation's economic future and refuse any meaningful budget compromises, many in Hampton Roads who work in the defense industry or who work as civilian employees for the region's many military bases face an uncertain future.  If sequestration cuts kick in, defense contracts may dry up and up to 39,000 civilian employees could face furloughs.  All be cause the Congressional Republicans place kissing the asses of extremists and lunatics in the party base ahead of the nation's well being.  It is a sad state of affairs when the biggest threat to the nation is now from the equivalent of domestic terrorists who wear the the GOP mantle.  A piece in the Virginian Pilot looks at possible local impacts thanks to folks like Scott Rigell, Randy Forbes and Rob Wittman.  Here are excerpts:

Tom Epley's schedule for maintaining and repairing Navy ships on Norfolk's waterfront was supposed to be steady through all of 2013.  But as of this week, he doesn't have any Navy work beyond April.  The budget stalemate in Washington is forcing the Navy to delay approving new work for businesses like Epley's company, MHI Ship Repair & Services, which employs 450 people and uses 750 subcontracted workers.

If the budget issues are left unresolved, spending cuts will reverberate throughout the local economy, which gets almost half its income from defense-related work.

With little time left to prepare, the Department of Defense is imposing a civilian hiring freeze, getting rid of temporary workers and holding off on contracts for future ship maintenance - like the work done by Epley's firm. It's also delaying ship decommissionings, cutting back base remodeling and maintenance, and canceling demolition projects.

Pay and benefits for military personnel wouldn't be affected, but the military's civilian workforce - including many of the Defense Department's 39,000 civilian employees in Hampton Roads - could be ordered to stay home for up to a month. The furloughs wouldn't apply to jobs critical to national security that can't be done by military personnel.

The automatic cuts, known as sequestration, were set in motion by legislators in 2011 as a doomsday threat to provoke them to find a more acceptable way to reduce deficit spending. The government borrows about $1 trillion every year. If no deal is struck, the cuts are to begin on March 1.

Separately, lawmakers have been unable to agree on a budget for federal fiscal year 2013, which runs from Oct. 1, 2012, to Sept. 30. Instead, they approved a continuing resolution that pays for government operations until March 27 - but at the same level as 2012. The military had been anticipating billions of dollars more in 2013 to cover planned projects and operations.

If Congress doesn't approve a new budget - or another continuing resolution - by March 27, the government will run out of money and be forced to shut down all but essential operations. If lawmakers approve a short-term resolution that keeps funding the government at last year's level, cuts will be necessary, defense officials say.

As the article notes, not all are complete doomsayers:

But while Navy leaders are sounding alarms, some observers say that after a decade of continuous rise in defense spending, the cuts are long overdue.  Putting the war budget aside and accounting for inflation, defense spending is at its highest rate since World War II said Lawrence Korb, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress. He said Pentagon officials have gotten used to an open spigot.

The automatic, across-the-board cuts, he said, would be disastrous for the armed forces. But intelligent budget cuts make sense, said Korb, who served as director of national security studies at the Council on Foreign Relations and was an assistant secretary of defense under Ronald Reagan, managing much of the Pentagon's budget.  "They don't have a money problem, they have a management problem," Korb said. "And any of these claims about a hollow force and all that are completely exaggerated across the board."

Obviously, one quick interim fix is to have America get the hell out of Afghanistan NOW.  But nonetheless, regardless of what happens in Congress, Hampton Roads will likely feel financial pain because for far too long it has relied on military spending to support the economy.  And the blame extends across the leadership of almost all of the region's cities which have failed to adopt more progressive policies and make demands that the GOP controlled General Assembly cease pushing a religious extremist social agenda that makes Virginia as a whole toxic to progressive and innovative businesses that don't want to move to a state where social policies and employment non-discrimination laws are set by the Christian Taliban. Aggravating the situation locally is the fact that Hampton Roads has a brain drain of young college educated individuals who leave the area for more progressive parts of the country.  Meanwhile, the Virginia GOP and its puppet masters at The Family Foundation seem hell bent on making matters even worse.

Romney's Wrong on the Strength of the U. S. Navy

Another major screw up on Mitt "I'm a Liar" Romney during the foreign policy debate was his attempt to depict U.S. Naval strength as greatly diminished and used the number of Navy vessels in 1916 as an apparent bench mark.   While the absolute number of ships is smaller now than in 1916, the power and capabilities of the ships the Navy has now are far superior to those of 1916.  Worse yet for Romney, the ranking of the U.S. Navy relative to other nations has increased enormously since 1916 when it ranked 3rd in the world with 11% of the world's naval power to now when it ranks 1st in the world with 50% of worldwide naval power.  Here are highlights from an analysis of 1916 versus now:

In the last debate, Governor Romney made the claim that the US Navy is the smallest it’s been since 1916 implying that the US Navy is regressing in terms of overall strength. How accurate is this claim? We recently compiled a new data set on naval capabilities and created a measure of state naval strength for all countries from 1865 to 2011. As such, we are in a position to address the claims of the Romney campaign.

In 1916, the US controlled roughly 11% of the world’s naval power. This is an impressive number that ranks the US third in naval strength behind the UK (34%) and Germany (19%), and just ahead of France (10%). What about the US navy in 2011? In 2011, the US controlled roughly 50% of the world’s naval power putting it in a comfortable lead in naval power ahead of Russia (11%).

The US Navy has decreased in absolute size as Governor Romney argues (although this decline has been ongoing since the end of Cold War). U.S. warships are more powerful now than in the past, as President Obama implied. However, neither the number of warships nor the power of our ships is what is most important for understanding military and political influence. It is relative military power that matters most. In this respect, the U.S. navy is far stronger now than in 1916.

Pentagon Threatens Lawsuit Over Navy Seal Book about Bin Laden

Knowing a number of past and present Navy Seals, it has been disheartening to see some of that group rush to make money or - like local Scott Taylor, a failed GOP candidate who lost the nomination to hate group endorsed Scott Rigell - or shore up their bona fides with far right elements of the Republican Party.  Worse yet is the fact that the truth seems to lose out to whatever best fits the author's or spokesman's personal agenda be it cash or political advantage.  Thankfully, the Pentagon appears to have perhaps had enough of the partisanship and greed and is threatening legal action against at least one of these, in my opinion, less than honorable individuals. Politico has coverage on the development.  Here are excerpts:

The Defense Department is threatening to go after an ex-SEAL author and his publisher over a new book that challenges the administration’s official account of last year’s raid that killed Osama bin Laden.

The Pentagon late Thursday released a letter from its top lawyer, Jeh Johnson, to publishing giant Penguin and “Mark Owen,” the pseudonym of an ex-SEAL special operator who has been identified as Matt Bissonnette. In the letter, Johnson said Bissonnette had breached non-disclosure agreements he signed while on active duty in 2007.

According to official Navy records obtained Thursday by POLITICO, Bissonnette served in the Navy from 1998 until April of this year. Johnson wrote that the NDA he’d signed remained in effect “even after you left the active duty Navy.”

“In the judgment of the Department of Defense, you are in material breach and violation of the non-disclosure agreements you signed,” Johnson wrote to “Owen,” in keeping with DOD’s policy not to identify some special operators. “Further public dissemination of your book will aggravate your breach and violation of your agreements.”

Johnson closed by informing “Owen” and Penguin that the Defense Department “is considering pursuing against you, and all those acting in concert with you, all remedies legally available to us in light of this situation.”

The Pentagon could ask the Justice Department to try to prosecute Bissonnette or seize the royalties raised by the book, which is officially due out Monday but has already gone on sale in some places.

These opportunists truly need to be shut down and I'm glad the Pentagon seems to be prepared to take action

Norfolk Navy Base Invites Public on Ships for 1st Time Since 9/11

When my children were young one weekend activity they enjoyed - as did I - was going aboard the "open houses" on Navy ships on the weekend. Each weekend several ships would have open houses with limited tours of the vessels. It was a learning experience and was a way for those not in military families to better understand both the various types of vessels and to connect with military personnel in their work settings. 9/11 ended all such visits until now. As the Virginian Pilot reports, open houses have returned even if not on the basis of the past. One complaint over the last decade of wars instigated by Chimperator Bush and Emperor Palpatine Cheney is that most civilians are totally untouched in any direct way by the ongoing cost in treasure and human capital. Hopefully, these visits will help to open some eyes and help people to realize that we need to stop the carnage and waste of the nations in the rat hole that is Afghanistan:

It was the first time since before 9/11 that the public was invited to board a ship at the base. Prior to the terrorist attacks 10 years ago, civilians were routinely invited to tour warships.

"It was a different world back then," said Capt. Mary M. Jackson, commanding officer of the naval station. "We think differently now."

Jackson said Fleet Fest is an effort to "open the fence" and give the community an idea of what happens on the installation. The festival, part of Fleet Week Hampton Roads, included live music, a classic car show and tours of the amphibious transport dock San Antonio. The aircraft carrier [Dwight D. Eisenhower]was the day's top draw.

Visitors crossed a security checkpoint and waited in line for upward of an hour to board the nuclear flattop in groups of 100. Sailors led them on a tour of the ship's hangar bay and flight deck.

And yes, some of those sailors one sees are rather cute! :)

Defense Spending Cuts Could Savage Virginia's Economy

Sometimes you need to be careful what you ask for. Virginians - foolishly, in my view - too often vote for Republicans both at the state and national level when it's not ultimately in their best interest. Too often the Kool-Aid drinker set in Virginia deceptively whips the general voting public into a frenzy over social issues and rallies support for Christianist and Tea Party GOP candidates - local Congressmen Scott Rigell pictured at left and Randy Forbes are perfects example - with no thought to where some of the anti-government extremism might lead. As the Virginian Pilot is reporting, if the Congressional super committee does not reach a budget cutting agreement, the GOP demanded automatic cuts will go into effect and Virginia will get bitten in the ass big time financially. Not surprisingly, Hampton Roads would feel great pain as would Northern Virginia. Did the AFA endorsed Rigell or Forbes not to mention Pat Robertson's BFF Bob "Taliban Bob" McDonnell think these consequences through, or are they merely stupid demagogues? Here are some story highlights:

If Congress were to cut $1 trillion from the defense budget over the next 10 years, the consequences for Virginia, particularly Hampton Roads, could be bleak, according to a report by Republican staffers on the House Armed Services Committee.

The Navy could see major cutbacks in shipbuilding, thousands fewer sailors, two dozen fewer ships and the loss of two carrier strike groups, the report predicts. Virginia and two other defense-heavy states, California and Texas, could lose 1 of every 4 civilian defense jobs, thousands of defense contracts could dry up and there could be another round of the Base Realignment and Closure Commission, or BRAC.

Nonpartisan defense experts stress the report is a worst-case scenario that may not come to pass. But it does demonstrate the possible effects of deep cuts, they said, particularly because the GOP staff members specifically avoided making cuts to a large part of the budget - military pay, benefits and retirement programs.

A special House-Senate "supercommittee" has until Nov. 23 to trim the budget deficit either by spending cuts, revenue increases or some combination, under the terms of a budget law passed this summer. If the 12-member panel fails, the law triggers automatic spending cuts of $1.2 trillion.

Adm. Mike Mullen, the retiring chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has said if the automatic cuts - called sequestration - are made, the Pentagon could lose about $1.1 trillion over 10 years, according to Congressional Quarterly.

U.S. Rep. Randy Forbes, who heads the House defense panel's Readiness Subcommittee, said Wednesday the GOP staff analysis is a first pass at identifying cuts that could be in play. More detailed reports will follow, he said.

There has not been enough focus on how cutting billions in defense might affect national security and the United States' military presence worldwide, the Chesapeake Republican said. "The only question that is being asked is, 'How much do we cut?' " he said. "That is an incredibly dangerous way to do national defense."

Should Hampton Roads and Virginia as a whole take a financial body blow, I hope the Democrats will find the spine to remind the voters who brought the calamity upon them. I'm not against trimming defense spending, but someone needs to use some serious thought on how to do it - and about the need to end the tax breaks for the very wealthy.

Anticipation of DADT Repeal Eve

In this region with its huge military presence there is a palpable sense of anticipation and excitement in the LGBT community on the eve of Don't Ask, Don't Tells repeal effective at 12:01AM tomorrow. There continues to be conjecture as to how many gays and lesbians now serving in the nation's military will come out tomorrow or in the near future. As reported by the New York Times, a survey by OutServe suggests that nearly 40 percent of the respondents plan on coming out to some people in the military after tomorrow - 13 percent said they expect to come out to "everyone" tomorrow. The Times also reports that soon after the Sept. 20 expiration of the ban - some sources in the LGBT blogging community say at 12:01 AM tomorrow - OutServe plans to release “Our Time: Breaking the Silence of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,’” a collection of first-person essays about gay life in the military with all the contributors will use their real names. Here are some other interesting highlights from the Times coverage on the OutServe survey:

The survey seemed to confirm something advocates for ending the ban have long asserted: that most gay or lesbian troops — more than three-quarters, according to the survey — have been “out” to at least some of their fellow service members.

Eighty-two percent of the respondents were men; about 18 percent were women. About a third were junior enlisted; another third were non-commissioned officers; and just under 30 percent were officers.

Nearly one in five said they would be married if gay marriage were allowed in their state — raising a significant point of consideration for the Pentagon, which will have to grapple with what kinds of benefits it can give to same-sex spouses of service members after the law ends.

Only three percent said they would bring complaints to their chaplain. Similarly, two-thirds said they considered their chaplain “neither helpful nor harmful” in meeting their spiritual needs, while only about one in five considered their chaplain either extremely or moderately helpful.

As I have noted before, over time, I believe that DADT repeal will have a huge impact on this region both in terms of the LGBT community itself and in terms of opening eyes and minds in the straight community notwithstanding the efforts that Christianists will likely make to claim the world is ending (I suspect their bigoted forebears acted exactly the same way when blacks were integrated into the military). As to how the military expects things to play out after tomorrow, a Stars and Stripes article suggests that it will be "business as usual" with no issues as DADT goes onto the garbage heap. Here are some excerpts:

The military’s controversial “don’t ask, don’t tell” law ends Tuesday, allowing openly gay troops to serve for the first time and marking one of the most dramatic personnel changes in U.S. military history.

But despite the significance, defense officials have spent weeks downplaying the actual impact of the change, insisting that for gay and straight troops the repeal will still mean business as usual.

Pentagon leaders and the White House on Tuesday will acknowledge the end of the 18-year-old law — the basis for the dismissal of roughly 14,000 gay servicemembers — and last year’s contentious debate repealing it.

But, other than a few news conferences, no formal military events or instructions are planned. Pentagon officials said Monday that 2.25 million troops have completed training briefings on the rule changes since last spring, and no new sessions or advisories are expected after repeal.

Last week, AFRICOM Commander Gen. Carter Ham, who co-chaired a military study on implementing a “don’t ask, don’t tell” repeal, said he saw the actual end date of the law as a non-issue. “My hope, my expectation, my belief is that it will be pretty inconsequential.”

For my many friends and clients in the U.S. military, tomorrow will allow them to indulge in a huge sigh of relief and take a cloud of constant dread off of their shoulders. Happily, they and their partners will be able to lead much more normal lives. I am so very, very happy for them and for the USA as it throws aside at least this one element of religious based bigotry.

Celebrate the Repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" at Waterside

As I have noted before, I welcome the dearth of Don't Ask, Don't Tell - a failed policy based on nothing more than improper religious based bigotry that was should never have been written in the the nation's laws. On September 20, 2011, DADT will be where it belongs: on the trash heap of history. Over time I suspect the impact of DADT repeal will be significant in the Hampton Roads area, home of the world's largest naval base and many other military installations. As more and more service members come out over time, our openly LGBT population will increase markedly and do much to dispel the false image of LGBT individuals perpetrated by Christianists and similar bigots. Moreover, imagine the impact when out service members are recognized for their heroism in the line of duty. Tiny Perkins, Victoria Cobb, Elaine Donnelly, etc. will be shown to be the hate filled bigots that they are in fact.

To commemorate this historic occasion, there will be a celebration event at Elements of Waterside on the waterfront in Norfolk from 6:00 to 8:00PM. On this night, many from the Hampton Roads area - including the boyfriend and myself - will celebrate that for the first time, gay and lesbian members of the U.S. Military will be able to serve openly. I believe that this will be a wonderful opportunity for our community and LGBT friendly allies to celebrate another big step in the movement towards full equality under this nation's laws!

The honorary hosts for the event include the following, seven of whom are friends an/or clients:

Jamie Barnett, Rear Admiral, USNR (Retired)
Gregory Smith, Veteran USN (1977-'87)
Don King, Veteran, USN
Tracy Thorne-Begland, Veteran, USNR
Joan Darrah, CAPT, USN (Retired)
William Harmon, Veteran, USMC
Thomas Field, COL, USAR (Retried)
Christy Berghoff, Veteran, USAF (1999-’03)
Robert Roman, Veteran, USN
James Hermansen-Parker, Veteran, USN
Beth Whyle, Veteran, USN
Roxie Hoven, Veteran, USN
Thomas Formisano, Veteran, USN (1985-'93)
Deborah Maurio, Veteran, USN
Dana Miller, Veteran, USN (1999-'10)
Sherrise Powers, CSM, US Army (Retired)
Nicole Carry, Veteran, USN (1991-'97)
Adrian Bond, Veteran, US Army ('86-'99)

Navy Clears Gay WWII Vet's Record

I guess the saying better late than never still has meaning. However, it is disturbing that it took the Navy 70 years to correct a wrong that should never have been allowed to occur in a nation that claims to offer equality and freedom of religion to its citizens. The case in point involves now 89 year old Melvin Dwork (at left) who was expelled from the Navy for being gay during World War II. The Navy belatedly is changing his discharge from "undesirable" to "honorable." The kicker is that Dwork has discovered that it was his former boyfriend who outed him back in the 1940's. For years Dwork was denied military benefits because of the "undesirable" discharge. Sadly, there are many, many others who have suffered the same wrongful denial of benefits because of illegal religious based discrimination. Time magazine looks at the story and here are excerpts:

(SAN DIEGO) — Nearly 70 years after expelling Melvin Dwork for being gay, the Navy is changing his discharge from "undesirable" to "honorable" — marking what is believed to be the first time the Pentagon has taken such a step on behalf of a World War II veteran since the repeal of "don't ask, don't tell."

The Navy notified the 89-year-old former corpsman last month that he will now be eligible for the benefits he had long been denied, including medical care and a military burial.

Dwork spent decades fighting to remove the blot on his record. "I resented that word 'undesirable,'" said Dwork, who was expelled in 1944, at the height of the war, and is now a successful interior designer in New York. "That word really stuck in my craw. To me it was a terrible insult. It had to be righted. It's really worse than 'dishonorable.' I think it was the worst word they could have used."

For Dwork, victory came with a heartbreaking truth: Last year, when the Navy finally released his records, he learned that his name had been given up by his own boyfriend at the time.

The decision to amend his discharge papers was made by the Board for Corrections of Naval Records in Washington In its Aug. 17 proceedings, obtained by The Associated Press, the board noted that the Navy has undergone a "radical departure" from the outright ban on gays that was in place in 1944. The board pointed out Dwork's "exemplary period of active duty" and said that changing the terms of his discharge was done "in the interest of justice."

So many lives damaged because of the special rights wrongfully given to Christianity in denigration of the Constitutional guarantee of freedom of religion for all. Thankfully, Dwork went on to be a successful designer in New York City despite his mistreatment by his own country and government.

Navy Ships Begin Returning to Hampton Roads

Driving home last night along the harbor front in Hampton I saw the impressive sight of the U.S. Navy ships that had fled Hampton Roads returning to port. One of the carriers had already pulled up to the Norfolk Naval Base piers and a column of ships could be seen passing over the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel. It has been strange looking across at the base and not seeing any of the ships that become part of the standard scenery. I'm sure that the activity at the local gay bars will be picking back up with the fleet returning back in port. :) Here are a few remarks from the Virginian Pilot:

The dozens of Navy ships that left Hampton Roads to avoid Hurricane Irene began returning to their piers Tuesday. In all, 55 ships and submarines were moved because of the storm.

The first returning ships were set to arrive Tuesday, the Navy said in a news release. The rest will come back on a staggered, coordinated schedule throughout the rest of the week.

Adm. John C. Harvey Jr., the head of Fleet Forces Command, said in a written statement that all of the ships got under way in roughly 2-1/2 hours. He called their quick action a testament to their readiness, professionalism and dedication.

Hurricane Irene - Hampton Roads is Directly in Irene's Path

Many of us in Hampton Roads feel an overshadowing sense of dread of what the next three days will bring. The forecasts increasing look like we are going to be almost directly in the path of Irene's eyes (see the image above) and the storm surge predictions which so far equal the levels of Hurricane Isabel in 2003 mean that thousands of homes and businesses will likely flood. Isabel brought 18 inches of water into the house. But that was without flood doors and sand bagging. The boyfriend and I will be putting heretofore untested flood doors in place tomorrow and hoping that they can either keep the water out of our home completely or at least minimize it. As an added safe guard, all the first floor furniture will be moved to the second floor (which will look like a furniture warehouse when we're done). In addition, we took photos on a room by room basis to document the pre-storm condition of the house. Below are scenes of the house and backyard looking very tranquil this morning, as well as a photo of the Navy vessels making their sortie that I took while stopped on the HRBT (click on the image to see one of the nuclear carriers is in the background to the left of the no stopping sign - the other one having left port earlier in the morning). NOTE: I will post storm aftermath photos.

At my office, we will likewise prepare for the worse in case of roof or window damage and bag the computers and copy machines, etc. in large lawn and leaf bags and close all of the interior doors to minimize damage should a plate glass window blow out. My daughter is preparing the house in Norfolk with her boyfriends help. Thankfully, the Norfolk house is located in one of the highest places in the west side of Norfolk, so flooding should be a non-issue. A neighbor's enormous tree is another matter.

Here some highlights from one of the most recent Virginian Pilot pieces on the coming storm:

Virginia Beach ordered a mandatory evacuation of Sandbridge because it may be cut off from the mainland by storm surge, large waves and hurricane-force winds. The city asked that evacuations be completed by noon Saturday and that people stay away until the storm has passed. Roads going into Sandbridge will be closed at 8 a.m. Saturday. The city will open four shelters.

Norfolk issued a voluntary evacuation order to all residents in low-lying areas.The city will open six shelters Friday at 6 p.m. Shelters will be at Granby High School, Norview High School, Lake Taylor Middle School, Maury High School, Campostella Elementary School and the East Ocean View Senior Center. All residents should bring bedding materials, toiletries, medicine, food and other items necessary to ride out the storm. Pets are not allowed.

Tunnel closings possible. McDonnell said the people of Hampton Roads need to be prepared for the closures of the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel, the Monitor-Merrimac Memorial Bridge Tunnel, the Midtown Tunnel and other water crossings in the region, likely on Saturday morning. . . . . The Midtown Tunnel could be closed as soon as 6 a.m. Saturday, said Dennis Heuer, Hampton Roads district administrator.

Isabel-level flooding possible. Based on current forecasts, Irene could cause serious flooding in Hampton Roads, approaching that caused by the area’s last major hurricane, Isabel in 2003. As of 1:22 p.m., the National Weather Service was predicting a storm surge of 7 feet at Sewells Point on Norfolk Naval Station at the storm’s peak Saturday night. That compares to a 7.9-foot surge during Isabel.

Navy Ships Sortie Ahead of Hurricane Irene

As noted earlier, Hurricane Irene is dominating the local news - and newscasts up and down the eastern seaboard. Coming across the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel ("HRBT") to work this morning from Hampton to Norfolk, I saw an unusual sight: a column of Navy vessels steaming toward the tunnel on the harbor side of the HRBT and a column headed towards the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay and the open Atlantic on the other. The photo above from WAVY-TV 10 gives a sense of the view (a video which is hazy because of the smoke from the still burning fire in the Great Dismal Swamp can be seen here). WAVY also reports as follows:

The U.S. Navy has ordered the Second Fleet in Virginia to leave Norfolk Naval Station to keep the ships safe Hurricane Irene, which is approaching the East Coast.

Thursday's order applies to 64 ships in southeastern Virginia. Twenty-seven ships are moving out to sea, beginning at 8 a.m. Another 28 are being moved to other places such as repair shipyards that are safer than the piers at Norfolk.

Nine ships are already at sea. The Navy says ships that are under way can better weather such storms. It also will help protect piers from being damage.

It increasingly looks like we will not escape a major impact from the storm. Earlier, I bought the last flashlights at the Rite Aid across the street from the office.

Hurricane Irene Update - Navy Ships To Sortie Tomorrow?

I haven't seen anything in the news media as yet, but a Navy wife who works in the building says her husband's ship is set to sortie tomorrow in order to reach a point out of harm's way as Hurricane Irene moves up the Atlantic coast. She also noted that some ships may sail before that.

Obviously, it's never a good sign when the fleet heads to see for a safer locale while the rest of us (including the Navy families) remain to ride out whatever the weather may throw at us. I'll post more as I learn more details. The boyfriend isn't freaking out yet, but if this storm keeps moving towards us, we'll like start getting in full hurricane preparation mode tomorrow evening or Friday morning. Our big worry is the storm surge issue. Here's highlights from the latest from the Weather Channel:

Hurricane Irene strengthened Tuesday night into Wednesday morning and has now reached Category 3 status, making Irene the first major hurricane of the 2011 season.

For North Carolina, odds are increasing that the main impact will be confined to the Outer Banks and elsewhere in extreme eastern NC

Since Hampton Roads' southern boundary is the North Carolina line, that means Hampton Roads may be in the main impact area.

Military to Certify End of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" Today

The Washington Post is reporting that the Pentagon will certify the end of Don't Ask, Don't Tell today thus setting the stage of the final end to this discriminatory policy that raised Christianist anti-gay bigotry to a national policy level. Expect more shrieking and screaming form the professional Christian hate groups as they lose one of their most special privileges and tools to depict LGBT citizens as inferior. With DADT headed for the trash heap of history some of the Christofascists - e.g., Elaine Donnelly - will be faced with the prospect of needing to find a real job as donations likely start to dwindle. In this region with its huge military presence I expect over time the number of "out" members of the LGBT community will rise as service members cease to be afraid to reveal their true selves. As that happens, I believe the trend towards openness will spread into the business world, including the many defense contractors located in Hampton Roads. Here are some highlights from the Post story:
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Top Pentagon leaders will say Friday that the military is ready to permit gay men and lesbians to serve openly in the military, allowing President Obama to formally end the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, according to a U.S. official and others familiar with the plans.
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In accordance with a law passed in December that set in motion the process of ending the ban, Obama first must receive notice from Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta and top uniformed brass that the military is prepared to end the policy before the government stops enforcing it. The policy will end 60 days after Obama formally certifies the repeal in writing to Congress.
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If Obama signs the certification in the coming days, the ban would end in late September.
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Obama met Wednesday at the White House with Panetta, who will be formally sworn in to his new job by Vice President Biden on Friday at the Pentagon. The White House isn't planning to formally mark the end of “don't ask, don’t tell” with any type of public event until the end of the 60-day period, sources said.
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Once the almost 18-year ban ends, gays and lesbians serving in military uniform will be able to publicly reveal their sexual identity without fear of dismissal or official rebuke, openly gay men and women will be able to enlist in the military, and gay couples may be allowed to wed at military chapels or live together on military bases in states that recognize same-sex marriages.
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As the Post goes on to report, the end of DADT will not end all legalized discrimination for LGBT service members because DOMA will continue to bar military spousal benefits for gay couples, including potential housing options and survivor benefits. Thus, Christianist bigotry will not be totally removed from the nations laws and the need to repeal DOMA will become more evident than ever. Nonetheless, the end of DADT is huge - especially for areas like Hampton Roads and other parts of Virginia where the military has a huge presence.

Navy Prosecutes More Sailors Who Married to Hide Sexuality

The Virginian Pilot is reporting that the Navy is continuing its witch hunt for LGBT service members who married to hide their sexual orientation and local individuals have been arrested. The Navy's premise is that they unlawfully received benefits that married couples receive when a spouse is a member of the military. Sadly, the same effort to weed out sham straight marriages doesn't seem to be materializing. I don't necessarily condone the actions of these sailors, but had they not been faced with potential persecution and expulsion from the Navy because of religious based discrimination, they likely would never entered into these marriages. And compared to the huge amounts of money ripped off by military contractors - who mostly go completely unpunished - and the monies squandered daily by the military (e.g., the senior brass constantly redecorate their offices and discard the old furnishings), we are talking pennies on the dollar. Here are highlights from the Pilot story:

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Two men pleaded guilty Monday to arranging three phony marriages, including one with a Navy doctor, so they and their wives could get more pay and health care benefits and so they could conceal their sexual orientations from the Navy. The men, long-time live-in boyfriends, received tens of thousands of dollars in benefits they weren't entitled to.
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Jeffrey H. Marshburn, 50, and retired Navy Chief Petty Officer Kristopher Graham-Marshburn, 45, both of Hampton, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to conspiracy to make false claims against the United States. Graham-Marshburn had his name legally changed, court records say.
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The conspiracy began nearly 20 years ago while Marshburn and Graham-Marshburn, then a petty officer third class and a corpsman, were living in Beaufort, S.C. Marshburn arranged a phony marriage with an unidentified woman so the woman could obtain health care benefits and Marshburn could get an additional housing allowance.
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In 1995, Graham-Marshburn arranged his own phony marriage for the extra housing pay. His then-wife, who was not identified, received health benefits for her and her son. In 2000, he listed Marshburn as his brother and named him a beneficiary of his death benefits.
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Graham-Marshburn admitted that he remains married but has never lived with or had sex with his wife and that his primary motivation to marry was to conceal his sexual orientation from the Navy."

More Bullshit Against Suspected Gays by the U. S. Navy

With all the problems facing the nation and the U.S. military, one would think that commanding officers would have better things to do than fabricate offenses in order to harass those that might be suspected of being gay. But not so at the Naval Nuclear Power Training Command, near Charleston, South Carolina. There what sounds like a purely innocent event has been used as a tool to force a young sailor out of the Navy. It has all the earmarks of the type of deceit and games used against two of my clients a few years back who were anonymously accused of being gay (they had the last laugh since they now work as civilian contractors making many times what they were paid in the Navy). I would venture that if anyone needs to be forced from the Navy it's the jackass officer, Capt. Thomas W. Bailey (pictured at left), that has pushed this matter to create an issue where there was none. It's the homophobes and Christianists who subvert the U.S. Constitution to their personal religious based bigotry, not the gays, who need to be discharged. Here are highlights on this batshitery from the Washington Post:
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To hear Navy Petty Officer Stephen C. Jones tell it, what happened in his bedroom one night last month was purely innocuous: Another male sailor came by to watch "The Vampire Diaries," and they both dozed off in the same bed. "That is the honest, entire story," Jones said.
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Navy officials, however, have a different view of his bedroom behavior at the Naval Nuclear Power Training Command, near Charleston, S.C. Even though there is no evidence the 21-year-old sailor took part in any hanky-panky or that his friend was not permitted to visit, Jones has been charged with dereliction of duty. The Navy is seeking to discharge him, a move that he is contesting.
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"The subterfuge is, they believe this kid is a homosexual, but they have no proof of it," said Gary Myers, Jones's civilian attorney. "So what they've done here is to trump this thing up as a crime. This is not a crime."
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Some gay rights advocates have questioned whether commanders opposed to the new law [DADT repeal] might try to subvert it by pressing other disciplinary charges against people they suspect of being gay.
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"It's been the case for years that commanders had at their disposal the means to chapter someone out of the military for something other than homosexual conduct," said Alexander Nicholson, executive director of Servicemembers United
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The investigative summary and charging documents do not specify how Jones's actions constituted unprofessional conduct. Jones said his friend often stopped by his room to watch videos, and he noted that visiting hours lasted until 2 a.m. that Saturday night. He and his attorney said they have repeatedly asked the Navy for clarification.
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Dougan, the Navy spokesman, acknowledged that no regulation specifically prohibits sailors from falling asleep in the same bed. He said rules do require them to "behave professionally in the barracks" and that Capt. Thomas W. Bailey, the commanding officer, concluded that Jones and McGee had not done so,. "The determination was that two sailors sharing the same rack was unprofessional."
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McGee was also charged in the case. Unlike Jones, he agreed to accept disciplinary proceedings that resulted in docked pay but allowed him to stay in the Navy. Neither man was officially charged with being gay. But Jones said McGee told him that Bailey "asked him if being a homosexual was going to be an issue" if he stayed in the Navy.