Thursday, September 23, 2010

More contractors killed than military personnel since January

More contractors killed than military personnel since January

By Nick Wakeman
Sep 23, 2010

Since the beginning of 2010, more U.S. contractors have been killed in Iraq and Afghanistan than military personnel, according to a study by a law student and procurement expert.

After analyzing data from the Defense and Labor departments, Steven Schooner, co-director of the Government Procurement Law Program at George Washington University, and Collin Swan, a law student at George Washington, estimated that 232 contractors have been killed in Afghanistan since January, compared to 195 U.S. troops. In Iraq, 204 contractors have been killed since January 2009, compared to 188 troops.

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More contractors killed than military personnel since January

Vietnam Vet inducted into Chapel of the Four Chaplains

St. Louisville man inducted into Chapel of the Four Chaplains
Sep 23, 2010
Written by
L.B. WHYDE
ST. LOUISVILLE -- It was more than 30 years after St. Louisville resident Gary Jones served in the Vietnam War that he started talking about his war experiences.

He attended his first Vietnam Veterans of America meeting in 2000, liked what he saw and became a member of Chapter 55.

Since then, he has made up for lost time discussing his experiences.

Jones has served on a number of local, district, national and even international committees. He has taken five trips back to Vietnam to assist in recovering people who were missing in action on both sides of the war.

In recognition of his efforts, he recently was inducted into the Chapel of the Four Chaplains.
The four chaplains were four U.S. Army chaplains who died during the sinking of the troop ship USAT Dorchester off the coast of Newfoundland in 1942, during World War II.

After being torpedoed and left in the dark, the crew started to panic.

The four chaplains -- Methodist Rev. George Fox, Rabbi Alexander Goode, Roman Catholic Priest John Washington and Reformed Church in America Rev. Clark Poling -- calmed the men and organized an orderly evacuation of the ship.

As the lifejackets were passed out, the supply ran out. The four chaplains removed their own lifejackets and gave them to others. The chaplains last were seen, arms linked, praying and singing for the safety of the men, as they went down with the ship.
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St Louisville man inducted into Chapel of the Four Chaplains

VA defends Agent Orange, heart disease links

VA defends Agent Orange, heart disease links
By BEN EVANS (AP) – 1 hour ago

WASHINGTON — Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki on Thursday defended an expensive proposal to extend disability payments to Vietnam veterans who get heart disease, saying studies show a significant link between the ailment and the toxic defoliant Agent Orange.

Responding to concerns about the costs of a rapidly expanding program, Shinseki told the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee that the law requires his agency to grant automatic benefits for diseases that are scientifically associated with Agent Orange. It leaves him no discretion to weigh costs or other considerations, he said, such as the fact that heart disease occurs commonly in men in their 60s and is strongly linked to smoking, poor diet and other factors.

Shinseki, a Vietnam veteran wounded in combat, said six of nine rigorous studies reviewed by the agency showed strong associations between the herbicide and heart disease. The evidence "more than satisfies" the law's requirements, he said.

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VA defends Agent Orange, heart disease links

President Obama, be not ashamed

President Obama, be not ashamed
by
Chaplain Kathie

There are a lot of people in this country you will never please. Some are just upset a Democrat is in the White House while others are bothered by the color of your skin. There is nothing you can do to satisfy them. For them, all they care about is defeating you no matter what it is you are trying to do. This always happens in life. There will always be someone out there trying to take away what you have or make you feel as if you are nothing at all. Considering how you grew up, what you managed to do with your life because you had loving support from your family, you should be very proud of all you accomplished. The people who hate you say that you are a Muslim but they are also the same people who complained about your attending church with Rev. Wright without ever once noticing the word "church" instead of mosque. They are also the same group of people saying that you were not born in Hawaii ignoring the fact it would have taken a massive conspiracy over 40 years ago when the newspaper announced your birth in order to pull anything like what they are suggesting.

But for right now and tomorrow you need to pray for their souls since everything they are doing goes against what is in the Bible and everything Christ taught. So be not ashamed of them breaking the commandment of "thou shall not bear false witness" because the shame belongs to them.

When others attack you, they say that what you want to do and have done has hurt the country. You need to ask yourself where all these people were when what was being done to hurt this country, getting us into the trouble we're in were back then when they could have prevented most of this. Where were they when the tax cuts for the rich were not funded? Where were they when the attacks of 9-11 happened, all the defenses this nation had all failed at the very time they were needed?

These same people did not want to know what happened, who failed or why nothing worked. These same people were silent when troops were sent into Afghanistan and nothing was ready to take care of the widows and orphans of the fallen troops nor the wounded coming home needing the services of the DOD and the VA to take care of them. These same people did not care about sending troops into Iraq or the fact neither operation was funded in President Bush's budget. Both were paid for with borrowed money and provided from emergency supplemental requests. They just didn't care that two wars important enough to risk the lives of the troops was not important enough to plan for. In the process, thousands of the troops died and tens of thousands were wounded but left to be without services they needed due to their service to this country. Anyone asking for plans was told they were "againt the troops" because they did not support the President allowing President Bush to do what he wanted to as Commander-in-Chief.

Yet while all this was going on, this picture is one of the reasons why you proved how much you do care about our veterans.


You were running for the Presidency when this was taken at the Montana National Guards. You wanted to know about their efforts to stop military suicide. The cable news stations did not report on it, few other media people thought it was important. They didn't think it was important to report on the number of suicides or the fact that we had so many returning from where we sent them with the ghosts of war haunting them. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is tied to suicide as well as self-medicating, and you knew this. You knew this because you cared enough to find out and listen. What I found most remarkable about this was the fact you knew anything about what the Montana National Guard was doing at all. There were so many other programs beginning back then but this is the one you wanted to learn the most about. This happened to be the one I thought was important as well, but then again, I track all of this so while it is no big deal I knew about it, it was impressive that you knew with everything else you had to learn about running this country.

See Mr. President, it is very telling how much you do care about the troops and the veterans in this country because they are such a small percentage of the population. Doing things for them does not make national cable news shows. You showed how much you care because of the budget and all the advances that have happened since you took office. So be not ashamed you fought for the men and women in the military instead of defense contractors. Be not ashamed you fought for our veterans while the people who attack you want to slash funding for the VA and then turn around and put the care of veterans into the hands of profit making corporations. Be not ashamed you want to save their lives and put a roof over the heads of homeless veterans while other presidents ignored them. Be not ashamed you wanted to increase the pay for those who serve and be not ashamed you want to take care of them when they need help to care for themselves. Be not ashamed you wanted them to be able to get a good education when their service was done while people like John McCain said it was "just too generous" and would cause troops to leave the military.

When others fought against health insurance reform, they were actually fighting for the insurance companies and health conglomerations. Be not ashamed you fought for families, fought for people who were not able to receive healthcare and driven into bankruptcy just because someone got sick. Be not ashamed you wanted to help young adults be able to be covered under their parents plans so they had time to get on their own two feet. Be not ashamed that people will not longer have to face having their insurance canceled because they got sick.

When others fought to stop financial reform they were in turn fighting for banks and credit card companies. Be not ashamed you fought for people who have to use credit cards and deal with banks for everything they need to survive. Be not ashamed you saw what was being done to us and wanted to stop it from happening.

When others say they want to cut the deficit while these same people were responsible for it happening in the first place, they are in fact fighting for the rich, corporations who see it as their duty to stockholders to create jobs in other countries while we lost jobs here. They are fighting for them while they are destroying us. They had their years of creating all these problems but now they attack you for trying to do something about it. They created all this hardship in eight years but complain because the few bills they allowed to be voted on in the Senate, were passed and have addressed what people need in this country. They twist and manipulate what good work you have done and make it look evil. We know better and see how much you do care.

Be not ashamed that you want to preserve social security while they want to privatize it.
Be not ashamed that you cut waste in Medicare while they say that the cuts were against the elderly. Not one senior lost anything but they want them to think it happened. The cut was done against waste and fraud but they want to turn it into something evil to put fear into the elderly.

Be not ashamed that you care about the education of our kids while they want to eliminate the Department of Education, cut teachers and twist history around to suit their own personal religious beliefs.

Be not ashamed you want to keep cops on the streets and put firefighters back to work. They say they don't to pay taxes to do it. These same people don't want to fund tax cuts but want to do them at the same time they complain about the deficit.

Be not ashamed you want to put people back to work fixing our roads and bridges for our future needs as much as you want to meet the needs of people who just want to get back to work for their living.

Be not ashamed you wanted to extend unemployment benefits while they didn't even want to allow it to come to a vote.

Be not ashamed you wanted to stop the policy that keeps people from serving, not matter how heroically, not matter how deeply committed they were to our national defense just because they were gay. Our coalition partners serving side by side with our troops in Afghanistan see this as a non-issue yet they want to portray gay servicemen and women as evil, thus insulting our coalition partners and inflicting religious beliefs on our own forces instead of providing for equal rights as honorable humans.

Mr. President I heard the woman say on TV she was tired of defending you. I am here to tell you that I am not tired of defending you at all. I will fight for you for as long as I see who you are trying to help and know we are your thoughts. I am not so lucky to have a job but I don't blame you. I lost it before you took office two and a half years ago. I didn't get unemployment because I worked for a church that didn't pay into the system. Do I blame you for this? No it isn't your fault. I can't find a job but again, had you not done anything, a lot more of my "neighbors" wouldn't have jobs either. I went back to college with student loans and VA education benefits because I am married to a disabled veteran. When I finish, I want to continue to help veterans and make better videos than I do now so that they understand what PTSD is along with helping their families help them heal.

Mr. President, there are many times I see you on TV and how much this is wearing on you but for all you've done, do not allow them to get the best of you while you are trying to give your best to us. Be not ashamed of how much you have done already and do not let them beat you down. You decided to fight for us when you became a Senator. Hang onto your passion and what you know is the right thing to do and stop letting them even suggest they know better than you do. They are the ones who sent us into the abyss in the first place. The sin and shame of what they did to good, honest and hard working people, along with those who serve the rest of us, belongs to them. God will judge them as they have treated us and as we hoped for mercy from them, they will not receive any from God.

(New International Version)
Galatians 6
7 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.
8 The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.


You have fought for us, the people in need and forgotten about for far too long. They shall reap what they sow by fighting for greedy people against the needy.

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

9 troops killed in Afghanistan helo crash

9 troops killed in Afghanistan helo crash

By Deb Riechmann - The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Sep 22, 2010 6:03:30 EDT

KABUL, Afghanistan — A NATO helicopter crashed Tuesday in southern Afghanistan, killing nine international troops in a region where forces are ramping up pressure on Taliban insurgents. It was the deadliest chopper crash for the coalition in four years.

A “large number” of Americans were among those who died, according to a senior military official in Washington, who spoke on condition of anonymity because not all relatives had been notified. He said it remained unclear whether troops of other nationalities were among the fatalities.

The cause was not immediately clear. The Taliban claimed to have shot down the helicopter, but NATO said there were no reports of hostile fire.

It happened in Zabul province — rugged terrain where helicopters are heavily used to transport military troops spread over mountainous areas with few roads.
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9 troops killed in Afghanistan helo crash