Reporters forgot 161 GOP amendments to Affordable Healthcare Act

Reporters need a revival
Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
November 25, 2013

Reporters forgot 161 GOP amendments to Affordable Healthcare Act and a whole lot of other stuff

One of the worst jobs I had was an eyeopener. I hated it because, among many other reasons, it was a management job and I really sucked at it. I hated hiring and firing, the office politics, irrational bosses and demanding coworkers. I really hated getting a phone call in the middle of the night, dragging my butt out of bed to drive in the snow to the office at 3:00 am because one of my staff screwed up on a report that had to be done. I worked as circulation manager for a newspaper. The report was so that the paper would be printed for all the subscribers and deliveries. Without it, no one would know who was supposed to get what and where to go.


I took the job because I thought I'd get my foot in the door as a writer and maybe make the right connections but there was never enough time in the over 50 hours a week I had to work to talk about anything other than the paper getting out.

Newspapers don't make their money off the price of a paper. They make it off the advertising and subscribers matter a lot more than than how many papers are printed. They want to keep their subscribers more than anything else. What they usually put at the above of the fold were the bad news stories. The slogan "if it bleeds, it leads" was taken very seriously. At least back then they were real stories about crimes, scandals and suffering. The good stuff was pretty much buried unless it was about a sports team winning something. As long as they had something good in the paper and it was delivered on time, then it was all good. As for the papers in the stores, people would see it folded and the headlines to grab their attention and buy it.

Buying it is what I've taken issue with lately. Why is everyone just buying what the press has been selling? Newspapers are dying off because of the internet, or so they want us to think but the truth is, if they were doing their jobs, then they would just adapt to have a news site as well as a printed paper. They are dying off because people are finding what they want to read all over the net and it isn't coming from the big presses. The reason is because they have lost touch with reality. The reality we all live with.

I don't post on much that does not have to do with veterans, well, hardly ever. Sometimes there is just a fantastic story I come across and want to share so it usually goes up on the Facebook page but sometimes I just can't help it and you'll read it here with a disclaimer "off topic" and I hope readers will forgive it but most of the time, the hits on it are pretty good so I am glad I shared it.

People know what they will find here but they also notice that most of the news reports come from small presses because frankly they are doing the best reporting on our veterans and what is really going on. The major presses don't do much at all.

Huffington Post did exceptional work during Suicide Awareness Month and usually have several articles a week I put links up to but the New York Times and Washington Post used to be putting out great work regularly. Lately, not much has come out of them or any of the other major presses. They are all working on destructive journalism and jumping all over the same stories but what gets me is what they are reporting is not what we're talking about.

This crap with the Affordable Care Act and congress grandstanding after pointing fingers is just ridiculous because no reporter has actually asked them why they didn't try to fix what was wrong instead of just trying to kill it if they gave a crap about what we were dealing with everyday over something as basic as our health.

The facts are simple. Republicans have gotten away with the fact none of them voted for AHA but they have also gotten away with no one asking then about the fact they had plenty of chances to change the bill and actually did before they voted against it.

Slate still has up some of the reporting they had done at the time and this is from July 16, 2009
This Is What "Bipartisanship" Looks Like

"Of the 788 amendments filed, 67 came from Democrats and 721 from Republicans. (That disparity drew jeers that Republicans were trying to slow things down. Another explanation may be that they offered so many so they could later claim—as they are now, in fact, claiming—that most of their suggestions went unheeded.) Only 197 amendments were passed in the end—36 from Democrats and 161 from Republicans. And of those 161 GOP amendments, Senate Republicans classify 29 as substantive and 132 as technical."

Any reporter could have found that and stopped them from being able to claim they had nothing to do with the mess we ended up with. They didn't fix anything in the three years they had tried to kill it instead.

Did reporters ever once actually think about what this bill meant? That finally some people were actually trying to do something good for the majority of the American people on a basic necessity like being able to afford to see a doctor?

All the crap they've been feeding us on what has gone wrong never seems to get around to what got fixed or at least made more fair.

This actually ties into the purpose of Wounded Times because this bill actually helps the 19 million veterans not getting VA healthcare. Most of them are seniors now but some of them are still working with disabilities they will not file claims for like PTSD. This bill helps the mental healthcare they need as well as other physical connected to their service but for whatever reason they will not file claims for or are still tied up.

You can actually look up the things this does for us or you can keep trying to figure out why reporters don't want you reminded of what this is all about, who did what and when because they are just too busy on feeding the divide and destroying instead of doing something worthwhile for a change.

Iraq war veteran fights for medals

Munson: Iraq war veteran fights for medals
Des Moines Register
Written by
Kyle Munson
November 23, 2013

Sgt. 1st Class Mark Huss burst into the third-floor apartment, rounded a wall and froze with the barrel of his M4 assault rifle pointed an inch from the forehead of an 11-year-old Iraqi girl in tears.

Once the Army reservist and his fellow soldiers calmed the girl and her family, he sank onto the sofa, on the verge of hyperventilation. His combat boots sloshed with the nervous sweat that had pooled throughout that morning’s deadly car bomb attack, followed by a street firefight and a methodical search through apartment buildings to root out the insurgents who had been trying to kill them.

He has a daughter back in Iowa who’s the same age, Huss thought to himself.

What the hell was going on?

That was just one absurd scene for Huss in a violent, often surreal, deployment.

Huss, 45, still was wrangling with that deployment when I met him this month. The 6-foot, 222-pound Iowan topped by a clean-shaven head had hit a dead end in a frustrating quest to secure two belated Army medals.

He has faced a gantlet of bureaucratic hurdles, including a single, crucial box on a form that was accidentally left blank.
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The War Within: Treating PTSD

Repeating the events are more like torture to too many veterans. Seeing what happened over and over again does not work unless it is done to resolve it and make peace with it.

When veterans talk about what happened, they need to see all of it once, not over and over again. They need to see what else was happening from start to finish. In combat there is always someone to blame and in that sense, there is always someone to forgive. Usually the veteran needs to be able to forgive themselves as well as their enemies.

How would this do that? How do you help them heal by just replaying the movie that is already stuck in their heads?

By the way, using a program designed for rape victims is not the same as combat survivors. Rape, as hideous as it is, usually happens once. While they fear it can happen again, it usually doesn't unless the rapist is an abuser they know. That makes it worse because it comes over and over again. PTSD comes at a rate of one out of three per event. So think of the level of trauma suffered when it does not end after the first time.

In combat events happens over and over again and if it isn't happening to them, it is happening to another soldier they know. There is no safe time to relax without fearing it coming again.

While there is no one size fits all effort that works on all, they need to be treated by mind, body and spirit. This form of therapy is not new and hardly seems improved. It is good to watch if you are trying to understand what these veterans are going through.

The War Within: Treating PTSD
60 Minutes
Scott Pelley
November 25, 2013

60 Minutes gets a rare look inside new therapy sessions that are changing the lives of vets who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder

The following is a script of "The War Within" which aired on Nov. 24, 2013. Scott Pelley is the correspondent. Ashley Velie, producer.

We've seen a lot of stories about veterans and post-traumatic stress disorder but tonight, for the first time, we're able to show you new therapies that are changing the lives of vets and their families. Two million Americans have served in Afghanistan and Iraq. The Veterans Administration tells us that one out of five suffers from PTSD. One reason we're seeing so much of it is because many of our troops have been ordered on combat tours three, four or even five times. The VA overwhelmed by the need, decided to try new treatments that were originally designed for rape victims. Over two months we were allowed to sit in and listen as our troubled veterans fought the war within.

[Gene Dowdy: How can you live a life when everyone is afraid of you? You go to town and people say "that’s the crazy vet, don’t mess with him."

Rob Spraggs: My wife told me, "Something’s gotta change or we gotta leave."

Anthony Apellido: When you try to talk to somebody who hasn’t been there, hasn’t experienced it, they don’t understand. And so you just kind of get laughed at.]

The 16 men around this table arrived via Afghanistan, Iraq, or both. Some are here from Vietnam.

[Terrence Stewart: I see that I do have the opportunity to pick myself up at 63 years old and start all over again.]

They’ve "started over again" many times but their path has led back to isolation, drugs, booze, and suicide attempts. Now they’re in the VA hospital in Little Rock, Ark. They will live here eight weeks to break through emotions that have derailed their lives.
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Howard Stern sick joke about Vietnam veterans in the jungle

Howard Stern left New York for Boston, not Vietnam.

"Howard dominated his high school years by staying close with a few buddies, playing poker and ping-pong. In the fall of 1972, Stern left New York and enrolled at Boston University where the first hints of his future "shock jock" career would make a showing."

Howard Stern Feels Like a ‘Vietnam Vet’ in Letterman’s Late Night War with Leno
by Matt Wilstein
November 23rd, 2013


Howard Stern is not happy that David Letterman is on speaking terms with Jay Leno. When the radio host appeared on the Late Show Friday night, he was shocked to find out that the two late night rivals have spoken on the phone, when Stern himself is still fighting the late night wars on Letterman’s behalf.

“I know I bring up Jay Leno every time I come on here,” Stern told Letterman. “But this is blowing my mind.” When Letterman confirmed that he has spoken to Leno on the phone, Stern threw up his hands and said, “Well, I’m out of here! I give up!” Using an analogy that is likely to rub some people the wrong way, Stern said he feels like a “Vietnam veteran” who’s still fighting Letterman’s war.
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But it didn't stop there. He then said it feels like he's still in the jungle. Right now I wish he was even though he was never there in the first place.

Social Security billed Vietnam Vet for a mistake made 41 years ago

Social Security bills disabled Hayward war vet over 41-year-old checks
The Daily Review
By Chris De Benedetti
POSTED: 11/23/2013

HAYWARD -- For Vietnam War veteran Thomas Testerman, a letter he recently received from the Defense Department was a reminder of the mistreatment his generation of soldiers faced.

Landing in his mailbox two days before Veterans Day, the letter informed him that he owes nearly $500 because of checks the Social Security Administration mistakenly sent him in 1972. If Testerman does not pay or dispute the bill, the letter stated, deductions from his monthly military retirement checks will begin just days before Christmas.

"The disabled vets from my era have been putting up with this crap for decades now," he said. "It's not right what they're doing to these guys."

Testerman, 61, of Hayward, says he nearly died from a lengthy list of wartime wounds, including severe injuries to his bladder, pelvis and scalp, and fractures to a hip, knee, femur bone and two vertebrae. Testerman, the son of a war veteran, says he lives in constant pain and, though he stands on his own, sometimes he must use a cane to walk.

"On a pain scale of 1 to 10, I walk around every day with a 7 or 8," he said.

While he was recovering 41 years ago, the government began mailing the monthly disability checks that he still receives today. Social Security then sent him a couple of checks, which perplexed him. Though he cashed a couple of them, Testerman consulted his attorney, who said he was not eligible for the Social Security payments. On his lawyer's advice, Testerman stopped cashing the checks, mailing them back for several months until the agency stopped sending them.

"Since then, I have just received my military disability retirement pay, which is about $600 a month," he said.
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Patriots to honor veterans and active duty military at Broncos game

Patriots to honor veterans and active duty military at Broncos game
New England Patriots
Posted Nov 23, 2013

Veterans and active military members will be honored in pregame flag ceremony, with several in game tributes from soldiers, and members of the New England Patriots organization.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – The New England Patriots will thank and honor veterans and active duty military members with several initiatives at Gillette Stadium in their night game against the Denver Broncos on Sunday, Nov. 24. The activities are in recognition of Veteran’s Day and a part of the Patriots Charitable Foundation's month-long Salute to Service and "Veteran and Military Volunteerism" in conjunction with the team’s ongoing Celebrate Volunteerism initiative.

"I consider our veterans and active duty soldiers as the true unsung heroes of our country," said Patriots Chairman and CEO Robert Kraft. "We look forward to honoring our military Sunday night with a Salute to Service that will include representatives from each branch of military. It’s always great to give Patriots fans an opportunity to show their appreciation to these real Patriots."

In a pregame ceremony, the Pats will unfurl a 100-yard flag that covers the entire field. Members of the Patriots organization along with150 veterans and active military members, including Raytheon guests from Wounded Warriors and Student Veterans of America, will hold the flag during the ceremony. Three Army National Guard servicemen will lead the team from the tunnel carrying American flags.

The National Anthem will be sung by Army National Guard Major Jerome “Scott" Loring. Major Loring is a New Hampshire Army National Guardsman with more than 29 years of service. He is currently serving on active duty with the Army National Guard's Operation team at the Army's Cadet Command Headquarters in Fort Knox, KY.

Patriots tackle Nate Solder’s father, Ed, will serve as an honorary captain and participate in the pregame coin toss. Ed is a Naval Academy graduate and served in the Navy for 13 years, including a tour of duty in Vietnam as a helicopter and jet pilot.

During the game, all service men and women will be asked to stand and be recognized. Messages from military members serving overseas will be played on the video boards. Throughout the game there will be live look-ins of a group of military watching and cheering on the Patriots from Afghanistan, as well as several messages recorded by Patriots players thanking the service men and women for their service.

In a special ceremony, the Patriots will honor United States Army Staff Sergeant Travis Mills of the 82nd Airborne, who was injured during his tour of duty in Afghanistan. He is one of only five quadruple amputees from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to survive his injuries. At the end of the first quarter, there will be a video trailer of his documentary entitled, Travis Mills, A Soldier’s Story.

Mills we be introduced and walk onto the field with his family once the trailer concludes. Sunday’s game is the culmination of the Patriots Charitable Foundation’s month-long focus on veteran and military volunteerism. The Foundation works in cooperation with organizations that support community outreach for veterans and members of the armed services.
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Marine critically injured in Afghanistan gets holiday surprise

Marine critically injured in Afghanistan gets holiday surprise
KOMO News
By Kara Kostanich
Published: Nov 24, 2013

SEA-TAC AIRPORT, Wash. -- A local marine critically injured in Afghanistan got an unexpected holiday surprise. Doctors at Walter Reed Army Medical Center allowed Lance Corporal Evin Bodle to temporarily return home for the first time since his massive injury.

Bodle, a Marine, assigned to the 2nd Tank Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C. was injured in Helmand Province, Afghanistan on Aug. 6, 2012 while conducting combat operations. The 27-year-old has been under constant medical care at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. since.

A group of friends and family including Bodle's wife and two small children met the recovering Marine at Sea-Tac Airport Saturday with a hero's welcome.

"To see him out of the hospital is big for them," said Meara Sollman Bodle as her two children Peyton, 2 years-old; and Quinn, 5 years-old welcomed their Daddy home for the first time since he was critically injured.

His Mom, Cindy Shute-Bodle, said just to see her son walk off the plane to be with his family and children was amazing and a true miracle.

The Bodle family knows the pain and sacrifice of war. It delivered a life sentence of injuries for the Marine from Lake Stevens. Bodle lost 20 percent of his brain tissue, causing a very serious traumatic brain injury.
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Military training changed over sequestration budget cuts

Military alters training to deal with budget woes
Associated Press
By BRETT BARROUQUERE and SUSANNE M. SCHAFER
Posted: Nov 24, 2013

FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. (AP) - The skies above Shaw Air Force Base in central South Carolina and the fields across Fort Campbell on the Tennessee-Kentucky line have been a bit quieter in recent months.

Budget cuts to the military have forced installations around the country to alter training exercises and daily routines to save money. For airmen and pilots, that means fewer flights. For soldiers and Marines, it means fewer drills or delaying them until a deployment nears.

The automatic budget cuts, known as sequestration, come as the military is in the midst of a drawdown in Afghanistan and shrinking its overall size.

The Army has retooled training regimens to focus on soldiers deploying to Afghanistan and Korea - those who will be in hostile areas soonest, said George Wright, a civilian Army spokesman in Washington. The Army curtailed training to smaller units of eight to 14 soldiers each -the squad level - for 80 percent of the fighting force in fiscal year 2013 and canceled seven Brigade Combat Team training center rotations.

In cases where only part of a brigade is deploying from Fort Campbell, some soldiers are being pushed into field training while others are held back until their departure date draws nearer, spokesman Bob Jenkins said.
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Advocate for blind veterans Sandi Niccum passed away

Navy veteran Sandi Niccum dies at age 78 in Las Vegas
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
By KEITH ROGERS
November 22, 2013

Navy veteran Sandi Niccum became blind after her service career, but that never stopped her from being an advocate for veterans and others like her.

The upbeat, retired medic died Nov. 15. She was 78.

Her ashes will be buried at the Southern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Boulder City with full military honors at 10 a.m. Dec. 12.

“Sandi was an extraordinary woman and as tough as nails, but she was also an inspiration to everyone that knew her and worked with her,” said Joe Tasby, president of the Blinded Veterans Association and commander of American Legion Post 14.

In a 2011 interview with the Review-Journal before the 66th annual Blinded Veterans Association convention in Las Vegas, she talked about how she adjusted to her blindness by learning to bowl and drive golf balls at the range by developing a feel for the location of pins or a ball on the ground.

“You have to use your imagination to figure things out,” she said.

Sandra Arlene House was born April 28, 1935, in Seattle.

She joined the Navy after graduating from high school in Washington state’s San Juan Islands.

Niccum’s blindness stemmed from diabetes she developed during her fifth year on active duty with the Navy Medical Corps as a medic for the Marine Corps at Beaufort Memorial Hospital, Paris Island, S.C.

Because she had no history of diabetes in her family, her disability was deemed to be service-connected at the time of her honorable discharge in 1958.

She became a volunteer at the Department of Veterans Affairs in 1998 and was awarded the Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award for her service to veterans.
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Judge rules FBI must train amputee Army Ranger soon

Wisconsin veteran who lost hand must get FBI training soon, judge rules
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
By Bruce Vielmetti
Published: November 23, 2013

MILWAUKEE — The war veteran who won his case to become the first FBI agent with a prosthetic hand must be returned to individual training by April, a federal judge ruled Friday — unless the FBI knows by March that it will have a new class of trainees starting by June.

Oak Creek native Justin Slaby, 30, was dismissed from agent training in 2011 just six weeks into the 21-week program after officials decided he couldn't safely fire his weapon with his artificial hand. He sued, and a federal jury in Virginia found the FBI had discriminated against Slaby and ordered him back to training.

After the verdict, the FBI argued it would be too difficult, and not effective, to train Slaby as a "class of one," but it couldn't control or know when the next training class would begin, due to federal budget cuts. That would have effectively left Slaby in limbo and could have delayed his training indefinitely if the government remained subject to sequester cuts.

U.S. District Judge Anthony Trenga ruled that, given Slaby's prior and uncompleted FBI training, his experience as an Army Ranger, and his continued role as non-agent member of FBI hostage rescue teams, the FBI could effectively train him to agent standards outside the usual group setting.
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