Target to phase out gender-based signs

ONE LESS STORE TO SHOP AT.

Target announced plans Friday to start phasing out gender-based signs in its department stores.

The retailer said it’s responding to questions customers have raised about signs that offer product suggestions based on gender.

“In some cases, like apparel, where there are fit and sizing differences, it makes sense,” the company said in a news release on its website. “In others, it may not.”

Signs in the kids’ bedding area, for example, will no longer feature suggestions for boys or girls, just kids. In the Toy aisles, Target said it plans to remove the pink, blue, yellow and green paper on the back walls of store shelves that's now used to reference gender.

“You’ll see these changes start to happen over the next few months,” the company said.

The news from Target comes as transgender people appear to be gaining ground in the fight for equality.  

In July, the Defense Department said it’s beginning the process to lift the ban on open service for transgender troops and introduced legislation to add gender identity and sexual orientation to federal statutes, which now only prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin. 

Via: The Hill

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Congress to close down, fly Air Force planes to Florida for funeral of Rep. C.W. Bill Young

Congress will shut down on Thursday, and leaders have told lawmakers the Defense Department will fly them to Florida for the funeral of Rep. C.W. Bill Young, who died late last week.

Mr. Young was the senior Republican in the chamber, and the move to close down business is a mark of respect for him — though it also means that there will be no floor votes and that many committee meetings have been canceled, cutting short what was already a mostly empty week. The House’s hearing examining the health exchange rollout will continue as planned, however.

After passing a deal to raise the debt ceiling and reopen government, the Senate went on an 11-day vacation. The House was slated to be in Tuesday evening through Thursday but will now just be in for a day and a half, with the chief business a vote on a public works legislation.

House officials told lawmakers to be ready to leave Washington from Joint Base Andrews early Thursday to make the funeral in Largo, Fla., and then plan to return late in the evening.

A Pentagon spokesman couldn’t say how much it will cost to fly the members to Florida for the funeral.

“We are currently evaluating options for support. Because no aircraft has been designated at this time, I can’t provide any additional information on cost,” said Cmdr. Bill Urban.

The move comes the week after Congress took heat for including a $174,000 payment to the widow of multimillionaire Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg, who died earlier this year, leaving an estate estimated at more than $50 million.

Via: Washington Times

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Defense Civilian Back Pay To Arrive in End of Month Checks

Stars and Stripes reports that “as the Defense Department began to get back to business as usual Thursday in the wake of a law that provided funding to reopen the government, one of the first orders of business in many offices was making sure timecards were properly filled out.”

“Most DOD civilians furloughed during the federal government shutdown can expect retroactive pay in their Oct. 25 electronic paychecks, or in paper checks issued on the 30th, Pentagon officials said Thursday. The date can vary by component or office, officials said. Some Army civilians, for instance, will receive retroactive pay in electronic funds transfers on Oct. 30.”

Via: Roll Call

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US ‘too slow’ to act as drone’s cam captured Libya horror

The United States had an unmanned Predator drone over its consulate in Benghazi during the attack that slaughtered four Americans — which should have led to a quicker military response, it was revealed yesterday.

“They stood, and they watched, and our people died,” former CIA commander Gary Berntsen told CBS News.

The network reported that the drone and other reconnaissance aircraft observed the final hours of the hours-long siege on Sept. 11 — obtaining information that should have spurred swift action.

But as Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three colleagues were killed by terrorists armed with AK-47s and rocket-propelled grenade launchers, Defense Department officials were too slow to send in the troops, Berntsen said.

EPA

VIEW TO A KILL: As terrorists attacked the consulate in Benghazi, a US Predator drone was reportedly observing from above.

“They made zero adjustments in this. You find a way to make this happen,” he fumed.

“There isn’t a plan for every single engagement. Sometimes you have to be able to make adjustments.”

The Pentagon said it moved a team of special operators from Central Europe to Sigonella, Italy — about an hour flight from Libya — but gave no other details.

Fighter jets and Specter AC-130 gunships — which could have been used to help disperse the bloodthirsty mob — were also stationed at three nearby bases, sources told the network.

When the attack began, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Martin Dempsey and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta “looked at available options, and the ones we exercised had our military forces arrive in less than 24 hours, well ahead of timelines laid out in established policies,” a White House official told the network.

Even as the administration continues to vow that the perpetrators will be brought to justice, the man identified by witnesses as a ringleader in the attack continues to walk the streets of Libya without fear of arrest.

Via: New York Post

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