Who voted against veterans again?

Veterans Benefits Act 2010 Signed
Week of October 25, 2010
President Obama recently signed H.R. 3219, the Veterans' Benefits Act of 2010, into law. The new law addresses the needs of veterans by enhancing employment opportunities, preventing and caring for homeless veterans, ensuring the welfare of veterans and their families by increasing insurance limits, protecting servicemembers called to combat, honoring fallen servicemembers and their families, strengthening education benefits, addressing housing needs of disabled veterans, and investing in research for Gulf War veterans.
Visit the Military Advantage Blog to learn more about this new law.
read more here
Veterans Benefits Act 2010 Signed

There were 111 votes against this bill but we may never know who voted against it.

H.R. 3219:
Veterans' Benefits Act of 2010
111th Congress
2009-2010

An act to amend title 38, United States Code, and the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act to make certain improvements in the laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes.

Overview

Sponsor:
Rep. Bob Filner [D-CA51]show cosponsors (29)
Text:
Summary | Full Text
Cost:
less than $2 per American in 2010.
Status:
Introduced Jul 15, 2009
Referred to Committee View Committee Assignments
Reported by Committee Jul 15, 2009
Amendments (2 proposed) View Amendments
Passed House Jul 27, 2009
Passed Senate Sep 28, 2010
Signed by President Oct 13, 2010
This bill has become law. It was signed by Barack Obama. [Last Updated: Oct 16, 2010 6:11AM]
Last Action:
Oct 13, 2010: Became Public Law No: 111-275.
Other Titles:
-- Corey Shea Act
-- Veterans Small Business Verification Act
Related:
See the Related Legislation page for other bills related to this one and a list of subject terms that have been applied to this bill. Sometimes the text of one bill or resolution is incorporated into another, and in those cases the original bill or resolution, as it would appear here, would seem to be abandoned.
Votes:
Jul 27, 2009: This bill passed in the House of Representatives by voice vote. A record of each representative’s position was not kept.
Sep 28, 2010: This bill passed in the Senate with changes by Unanimous Consent. A record of each senator’s position was not kept.
Sep 29, 2010: A vote in the House of Representatives to agree with the other chamber's changes passed by voice vote. A record of each representative’s position was not kept.
read more here
Veterans Benefits Act of 2010

But knowing that the GOP have blocked over 100 bills from even being voted on, it does not shock me.

This is part of a game they love to play. There is a list on this site with more bills they blocked but notice when the bill was written, who it was for and who blocked it. It took since July of last year just to be able to vote on this.  Yet veterans are not part of their plan.  They don't care who pays as long as they defeat Obama even if it means blocking bills to take care of YOU!  Still think they earned your support?

GOP blocked these from being voted on.  Some of them finally passed with Republican support and they should be proud of that but ashamed these bills were part of a political game some of them could hide behind.

Supporting our Nation's Veterans

H.R. 403, Homes for Heroes Act
Provides special assistant to veteran affairs to ensure that housing and homeless assistance programs benefit veterans.

H.R. 466, Wounded Veteran Job Security Act
Protects the rights of wounded veterans to receive medical treatment for service-connected disabilities.

H.R. 1168, Veterans Retraining Act
Provides assistance for veterans who are in an employment training program that teaches a skill in the demand of the employer. (150 Republicans voted yes.)

H.R. 1211, Women Veterans Health Care Improvement Act
Expands and improves health care services available to women veterans, especially those serving in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. (This bill passed 408-0.)

H.R. 1293, Disabled Veterans Home Improvement and Structural Alteration Grant Increase Act
Increases payments to veterans with service connected of disabilities for improvements and structural alterations to their home.

H.R. 1803, Veterans Business Center Act
These centers would provide veterans and their surviving spouses with entrepreneurial training and counseling.

H.R. 2990, Disabled Military Retiree Relief Act
Provides special pays and allowances to certain members of the Armed Forces and disabled military retirees. (165 Republicans voted for this bill.)

H.R. 3219, Veterans' Insurance and Health Care Improvements Act
Would make improvements in the laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs relating to insurance and health care for veterans.

H.R. 3949, Veterans' Small Business Assistance and Service Members Protection Act
Provides a full range of small business ownership counseling, training, financing and procurement programs available to veterans and Reservists. (This vote passed 382-2.)
read more here
Supporting our Nations Veterans

Fort Campbell Soldier to receive Medal for Heroism

Fort Campbell Soldier to receive Medal for Heroism

Fort Campbell, KY – The Soldier’s Medal, the highest award a Soldier can receive for an act of valor in a non-combat situation, will be awarded to a Fort Campbell Soldier, October 29th. Specialist Jose A. Ortiz-Fernandez, 63rd Chemical Company, will receive the medal at Fort Campbell for his heroic actions on June 19th, 2010, when he rescued a woman from a submerged vehicle in the Cumberland River near Clarksville, Tennessee.
According to the award citation, Ortiz-Fernandez was at a park, adjacent to the river, when he witnessed a female drive her vehicle onto a boat ramp and into the water. With complete disregard for his own safety, he dove into the water and battled stiff currents to reach the vehicle.
read more here
Fort Campbell Soldier to receive Medal for Heroism

Will Florida Veterans vote against themselves?

On the issues there is one that stands out for me and that is veterans.  Coming from a family full of veterans and spending my days with their lives in mind, that's my biggest issue.  During conversations with veterans down here in Florida, they usually say they will vote for Rubbio until I fill them in on some facts the media has yet to inform them of.  First on the list is the GOP agenda is to turn the VA over to private hands.  Imagine that!  They used to be ashamed of taking this position but now, now they seem almost proud of their willingness to betray the men and women who served this country with their lives.  They want to turn Social Security over to the stock market and get rid of Medicare.  Most of the lies down here on the TV are about how Pelosi lead the way on cutting Medicare along with Kosmos and Grayson but the truth is, they should have been patted on the back because they cut if from waste, fraud and abuse.  The GOP want people to believe they did it by cutting benefits instead of taking care of the tax payers and insuring that the Medicare system works for all of us.

Marco Rubio
Address: 2030 South Douglas Road, Suite 105, Coral Gables, FL 33134
Website: http://www.marcorubio.com/
Occupation: Lawyer
Education:
Experience:
(Editor\\\'s Note, From Rubio\\\'s website) From 2000-2008, Rubio served in the Florida House of Representatives. During this period, he served as Majority Whip, Majority Leader and Speaker of the House, effectively promoting an agenda of lower taxes, better schools, a leaner and more efficient government and free market empowerment. Rubio also helped spearhead Florida’s congressional and legislative redistricting effort. He chaired the House Select Committee on Property Rights, which crafted national model legislation to protect private property rights following the U.S. Supreme Court’s Kelo v. City of New London decision that opened the door for eminent domain abuse.
Endorsements:
Platform:
The candidate has declined repeated inquiries to fill out biographical information and campaign stances in this race. We are sorry for the inconvenience.

Getting back to the GOP platform, it is no surprise to the aware voter that the GOP politicians have been voting against them every chance they have.  They didn't want the GI Bill.  They blocked the cost of living raise last year for Veterans and seniors.  They voted against the pay raise for the troops.  What is the most deplorable action taken by them was up until 2007 when the Democrats took control of the House and Senate, they were refusing to increase funding for the VA to take care of the wounded flooding into the system from Iraq, Afghanistan and our older veterans.  They were coming back home to suffer instead of being taken care of but the GOP politicians didn't give a damn.  They just kept talking about tax cuts for the rich.  You can look up their actual votes and the bills they blocked so you can weigh their actions agains their claims.

Rubio's claims about what he's done and the history of his family have little to do with what he will end up doing to veterans.  The people working for veterans and putting their lives ahead of political power are not members of the GOP.  I love Republicans as people but their politicians don't feel the same way or they would stop lying to them and then betraying them.

Mitch McConnell said
The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president.

The way they wanted to make sure small businesses didn't get tax cuts to hire workers and buy equipment. The way they wanted to stop the bill that would increase the pay of the troops, the same troops they claim to support. They way they didn't want Obama to take care of the veterans suffering under the GOP leadership all the years they had the chance to prove where their hearts were.

The choice is simple. If you vote for Rubio, you will be voting to turn the VA over to private companies and very well could lose your benefits including Social Security because they want to turn that over to private companies and end Medicare. Is that what you want? If they take control of the Senate and the House, that is exactly what will happen. Frankly I've seen enough of how they closed their eyes and blocked their ears when veterans were crying out in agony for help. I heard the suffering when the Cost of Living raise didn't come but not once did I hear any of the veterans mention the fact the bill was written and the GOP blocked it just as they are going right now. Never once did I hear veterans say the GOP were allowing them to suffer any more than I heard how much the Democrats were fighting for them.

All of this was because no one told them until I did. Considering they know how hard I work for them, care about them, their best interests has been issue number one for me. I adore them and want them to be aware. When they are told what has been happening behind their backs, they are shocked because no one told them before. They wonder why the media hasn't told them the truth and so do I.

Look up the record of Kosmos and Grayson and what you'll find are two great friends of veterans along with almost every other Democratic politician including the President they love to hate. He's done so much for veterans even though the GOP has tried to stop everything he has tried to do because they wanted him to fail no matter who got hurt in the process. They had the chance to prove they loved veterans but they proved they loved the rich and thought the veterans were in a "welfare program" when they went to the VA instead of receiving a debt owed to them. Politicians serve their own best interest but for some that includes our veterans and for others, they want to use veterans for power to take care of the rich. How many rich people do you know willing to put on a uniform and risk their lives for this country they love?

I pray they open their eyes before they vote because if the GOP take over the Senate and the House after all the damage they've already done, things will only get worse for veterans and I'd hate to think they just did it to themselves because they didn't pay attention. Does your political ideas matter more than what is right?  Do you really think they will repay you with anything other than they have done before?  The last time they were in charge, you were betrayed when you thought they were your friends.

Think of this when you think about Rubio

Nevada Republican Wants to Privatize VA
Sharron Angle wants to screw veterans

Of all the confusing statements the Nevada Republican Senate hopeful Sharron Angle has made, one is very clear. Sharron Angle wants to privatize the Veterans Administration. At first glance, privatization of some government agencies might be worth a second look. However, we should look closely at why the ultra-conservative Republican might be looking at this idea.

Former President George Bush who pretty much single handedly engineered the economic mess we are now in, decided to privatize Walter Reed Army hospital in 2007 because of the poor condition the hospital was in. A 200 million dollar contract was awarded to an outfit run by former Halliburton Executives. Former Halliburton Executives? Where have we heard that before? Oh, that's right-Vice President Dick Cheney is a former Halliburton man! Unfortunately, the new company cared more about making money than wounded soldiers.
read more of this here
Nevada Republican Wants to Privatize VA

Rocket launcher recovered in alleged plot to attack Dayton VA

Rocket launcher recovered in alleged plot to attack Dayton VA
By Kristin McAllister and Tom Beyerlein
Staff Writer
Updated 11:41 PM Monday, October 25, 2010
MIAMI TWP., Montgomery County — Two men were being questioned after federal agents and local officers learned the men planned “to show up at the VA Center and basically shoot a bunch of people up,” police said Monday.

Federal agents found a rocket launcher and other weapons at the Miami Bluffs apartment Monday, according to Miami Twp. Deputy Police Chief John DiPietro.

The two men were not immediately identified. A Veterans Affairs spokeswoman refused to comment, citing privacy regulations and the ongoing investigation.

FBI Special Agent Michael Brooks confirmed that the agency is investigating a threat made to the Dayton VA Medical Center either late Sunday night or early Monday morning, but he would not say how the threat was made.

Deputy Police Chief Maj. John DiPietro said the men had received services from the Dayton VA Medical Center.

“I understand them to be American citizens who were also veterans of one of the wars,” he said.

read more here
Rocket launcher recovered in alleged plot

Family of soldier found dead in Iraq wants answers

UPDATE: Family of soldier found dead in Iraq wants answers

Reported by: Julie Tremmel
Email: julietremmel@fox23news.com

The air in the Bennett-Jones house in St. Johnsville is heavy with pain and sadness. On Sunday night, two uniformed military men showed up at their front door with the news that U.S. Army Private David Jones was found dead in his room on base in Baghdad, Iraq.

His mother Theresa Bennett of St. Johnsville said, "They said that they found him in his room at 2 o'clock yesterday (Sunday) afternoon, and there was one gunshot wound to his head. That was it. They didn't say anything about anything else."

The family says Jones had so much to live for, suicide simply isn't possible.
Family of soldier found dead in Iraq wants answers

Veteran of Vietnam and Gulf war shot by police

Delta man killed by police a war vet, says TV station
The Denver Post


Delta man killed by police a war vet

DELTA — The Delta County Coroner's Office identified a man killed in a shootout with police early Saturday as Larry A. Brown, 59, of Delta.

He was shot by two Delta police officers after he allegedly pulled a gun and fired it at them, authorities said.

The officers were not hit and returned fire. Brown died from multiple gunshot wounds, the coroner said.
KKCO-Channel 11 in Grand Junction reported that Brown was a Vietnam and Desert Storm veteran who was a Marine sniper and medic and had received the Bronze Star for bravery.

His family told the TV station he was being treated for post-traumatic stress disorder and sometimes walked the streets in camouflage, but they did not think he fired first at police.


Read more: Delta man killed by police a war vet, says TV station - The Denver Post
Delta man killed by police a war vet

Will you love them enough to learn?

by
Chaplain Kathie

My husband was married before we met. He was married soon after he came back from Vietnam. During their six years together, she didn't want to know about Vietnam, had no tolerance for his nightmares, flashbacks or short term memory loss. She didn't want to hear anything about Vietnam and they separated so many times he lost count. She just couldn't take it and this, this was when his PTSD was mild.

His Dad, a WWII veteran with a Purple Heart and Bronze Star, didn't want to talk to him about war at all other than a few stories about some of his friends. His Mom didn't want to talk to him about anything other than what she wanted him to do for her.

Friends didn't want to listen and he never felt he could talk to any of them even if they were willing to listen. A few of them were also Vietnam veterans but they didn't talk about much either. There was no communication and no support. They had nothing to really connect. No emails with buddies back home in the states. No news reports from around the country. No books on PTSD with personal stories were written. There were only clinical books for me to read when we met and I wanted to find out why this veteran was so much different than everyone else in my family.

My Dad was a disabled Korean Vet and my uncles served in WWII. My husband was totally different.

Today there is the Internet, books, videos, media attention, sites like this one putting together news reports from around the country and more programs than I can remember, yet today there are still high numbers of divorce, suicides and attempted suicides with more and more veterans ending up homeless from Iraq and Afghanistan. Their families and friends are not perfect. Most of them have the same attitude my husband's inner circle did when they could have been trying to be supportive instead of telling him to "get over it" and stop.

Today wives like me are no longer left in the abyss trying to claw their way out alone because they have a lifeline to reach for, but too many never take hold of it. Their families, spouse and kids, suffer just as much as they do but they have the power to end the suffering and begin the healing. They have the power within their reach but they just won't take it.

Do they love their veteran enough to learn? Do they care enough to find out what they can do to help instead of judge and blame?

My husband's ex-wife didn't care enough to find out what she was facing and their marriage ended after six years. We've been married for 26 years and with all the heartache and struggles, I wouldn't have missed a day of it because in the process of learning what I could do for him, I discovered a more marvelous man under all the pain he carried.

All of us can discover the people they really are under all the pain when we care enough to learn and help them heal. In the process, we heal ourselves, forgive what caused us pain because we understand what is behind it and know how to respond to help them see the person they are under all of it.

College Hosts PTSD Seminar

College Hosts PTSD Seminar
One Of Five Soldiers Return With Disorder

By: Fred Halstied

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- A recent study shows that one out of five soldiers returns from Iraq or Afghanistan with post traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD.
On Saturday, the University of Phoenix held a workshop teaching counseling professionals how to diagnose and treat local soldiers who have this condition.
"Military personnel are returning to Colorado Springs with their families, and they're abusing drugs," said Jody Tomberlin, licensed clinical social worker. "When soldiers return from the Middle East, they often have angry outburst, resulting in bar fights, domestic violence, and difficulty holding jobs."
read more here
College Hosts PTSD Seminar

Resilience training won't work tomorrow if yesterday is an example

It doesn't have to be as bad as it has been but as long as they take this kind of approach, it is unlikely to get better any time soon. "Resilience training" has not worked up until now and that is reflected by the ever increasing suicides along with attempted suicides. Drug and alcohol abuse are up, arrests are up so much so many states have rightly set up Veterans Courts, mental health claims are up, divorces are up and the list goes on.

Comprehensive Soldier Fitness

Resilience training and post traumatic stress disorder
Resilience training reflects a strength-based, positive psychology approach to Warrior behavioral health. It is designed for Warriors, Leaders, Spouses, Families and behavioral health providers. Training and information is targeted to all phases of the Warrior deployment cycle, Warrior life cycle and Warrior support system.
Do you believe this training will prepare you to cope with deployment and the effects of deployment, to include post traumatic stress disorder?
For more information on Resilience Training, visit https://www.resilience.army.mil/.

None of what we're seeing has to happen as long as they start to look at what has worked instead of what has failed.

I've been married 26 years but other couples have lasted 30 to 40 years while sharing a home with PTSD. We raised our kids to understand why their Dad acts the way he does and they didn't end up blaming themselves. We got our emotions out of the way and reacted with our intelligence using the view of a wounded combat veteran standing in front of us instead of some kind of jerk out to cause a fight. We helped them see all the good within them because we were able to forgive and we were able to forgive because we understood there was a reason behind what they did.

Above all, we helped them forgive themselves.

PTSD comes after trauma. From an outside force attacking them. It hits the emotional part of their brain. Under 25, this part is not fully developed. In other words, their character is not carved in stone yet. Exposure to traumatic events in combat weighs heavily on them and the number of times they are exposed to it, crushes them. Our job is to take the weight off their souls brick by brick. It was that way for wives of Vietnam Vets and will be that way for today's veterans.

It doesn't matter if the people in their lives are a spouse, sibling or parent or even a friend. We are the ones on the front lines of this. While they fight the battles in combat, we must fight the battles for their lives but we must do so fully armed with understanding, love, forgiveness and patience with them. "Resilience training" should not be geared toward them but should be geared toward us so that we have the ability to help them heal. From what I've seen, this attempt falls flat because the people running this type of program have little understanding what it is like to be in their boots 24-7 or live with them.

None of what we see has to happen but much we have done should happen. It won't as long as the powers that be will not listen to what has worked because they are too busy asking what has failed. If the people in their lives get emotionally hurt, then they turn away from them. Most of this comes from lack of understanding and looking at them as if they were the way they used to be. Homeless veterans, for the most part, can be tracked back to coming back with PTSD and families that were destroyed by it because no one understood why any of the damage done was happening to them. Want to really make a difference, then start what what already has. The track record of aware Vietnam veterans' families proves nothing is impossible.

Free Meals for Veterans

News from Military Connection

Free Meals for Military and Veterans

McCormick & Schmick's. For the 11th year in a row, the 87 locations in 25 states are offering free entrees to veterans on Sunday, Nov. 7th. The chain also requests military ID and highly recommends reservations. The promotion is on Sunday instead of Veterans Day, "because it allows vets to bring their families who might not be available during the week," CEO Bill Freeman says.

Golden Corral is offering free buffet meals - including beverage and dessert - to current military and veterans on Monday, Nov. 16, from 5 to 9 p.m. No military ID is required for its ninth annual Military Appreciation Monday, according to Dolly Mercer, national events manager. The event is held on this date, she says, "so we don't interfere with Veterans Day activities."

Applebee's is offering a free entree on Wednesday to veterans and all active-duty military from 11 a.m. to midnight at all 1,900 locations. Although Applebee's requests some kind of military ID, "We're not going to argue with folks who might forget to bring it," says Sam Rothschild, senior vice president of operations.

Krispy Kreme Doughnut Corporation is offering free doughnuts to all Veterans and active military personnel. Just visit any participating Krispy Kreme to redeem your free doughnuts. No identification required but keep it available anyway.

Outback Steakhouse - Free Blooming Onion and beverage.

GOP Trick or threat?

I don't know what has happened to the people of this country but if I get into one more conversation with a smart person spouting off nonsense, I think I may just stop trying to set them straight and let them go off believing whatever they want so they can look totally stupid to someone without any patience at all.

Support For Veterans Shows Sharp Partisan Divide
Posted in Main Blog (All Posts) on October 23rd, 2010 4:39 am by HL
Support For Veterans Shows Sharp Partisan Divide
According to an analysis by the nonpartisan Iraq & Afghanistan Veterans of America Action Fund, Republicans in Congress have dramatically failed to support our troops after they come home. IAVA’s 2010 Veteran Report Card, based on the key veterans’ legislation that came to a vote during the 111th Congress, exposed a sharp partisan divide on […]

According to an analysis by the nonpartisan Iraq & Afghanistan Veterans of America Action Fund, Republicans in Congress have dramatically failed to support our troops after they come home. IAVA’s 2010 Veteran Report Card, based on the key veterans’ legislation that came to a vote during the 111th Congress, exposed a sharp partisan divide on the level of support for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, as MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow tabulated yesterday. Of the 94 elected officials that earned an A or A+ rating from IAVA, 91 were Democrats. Of the 154 officials who received a D or F, 142 were Republicans:
read the rest here

Support For Veterans Shows Sharp Partisan Divide

It has been my job to know what the truth is and I can tell you that this is true. I listened to them talk for far too long to understand the difference between talk and real action. They say they support the troops and the veterans but on their agenda, their actual plans, they want to hand over the VA to private corporations, along with Social Security and Medicare while getting rid of the Department of Education. This is how they plan to knock down the deficit plus making sure we go back to the days when people ended up without medical care because they didn't have insurance. That is exactly what all the fighting has been about but they twist and snare words from fact so suit themselves on a daily basis.

Take down here in Florida for example. Grayson and Kosmos have been accused of cutting Medicare along with Nancy Pelosi. This accusation was by GOP contributors. The same people always talking about the deficit and how government doesn't work. These three people did in fact cut Medicare but they did it from cutting waste, fraud and abuse, while the commercial wants people to think someone lost benefits. How dumb is that? The very people wanting to cut it are accusing watchdogs of doing it? Where were will these people be when our parents are elderly and need medical care along with a social security check to be able to live after working all their lives? It's bad enough these same people stopped an increase in Social Security and Veterans cost of living raises last year and plan to do the same this year.

I've heard enough and read enough to know that when it comes to really caring about the people this country was built by and sustained by, they couldn't care less.

I heard them say there wasn't enough money to take care of our veterans because, if you can believe their own words, "there are two wars to pay for" at the same time Iraq and Afghanistan were never included in the budgets until Obama, the man they love to hate, decided they were important enough to include in the budget and pay for. They complain about so many things needing to be paid for when it matters to us but when it comes to the rich people in this country, nothing is too good for them.

The simple truth is if you read and check their voting record, notice all the bills they stopped in the Senate including how they voted against the GI Bill, pay raises for the troops and cost of living raises for our disabled veterans, then you will know that if you still think they deserve your vote, you should be prepared to have people laugh because your fly is down or your dress is stuck in your underwear, because you'll not only look that dumb, you'll be to blame for us going back to the days when no one cared about anyone but themselves.

They just didn't care about us when they blocked so many bills because power trumped all else. They figured if Obama fails then we'll be suffering so much we'd want them back but they didn't count on how bright we all are and we figured out that in the end, none of us matter to them but we do matter to the people who have been fighting for us since 2007 when the Democrats took back control of the committees and things began to work for common folk like us. Don't let the GOP trick you into not knowing when you are being threatened with what they want to do to us so you forget who has been trying to do things for us!


Rant for the week concluded.

Senator Doran says "Pentagon dropped the ball on chemical exposure of US Troops in Iraq"

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Friday CONTACT: Barry E. Piatt

October 22, 2010 PHONE: 202-224-0577



Follow up report is delayed:



DORGAN: DOD IG REPORT CONFIRMS PENTAGON DROPPED THE BALL ON CHEMICAL EXPOSURE OF U.S. TROOPS IN IRAQ



(WASHINGTON, D.C.) --- U.S. Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND) said Friday a preliminary report of an investigation by the Department of Defense Inspector General confirms that the Pentagon dropped the ball in responding to the exposure of hundreds of U.S. troops to a deadly chemical in Iraq. Those failures left some exposed soldiers unaware that they had been exposed to the deadly chemical and without follow up health monitoring and treatment. Monitoring tests performed on other soldiers who were informed of their exposure were so inadequate that the agency that performed them now admits they have a “low level of confidence” in those tests.



A second and more detailed Inspector General’s report, originally scheduled to be released this month, has now been moved back to the end of the year, a development Dorgan said he finds “disappointing.”



The Senate Armed Services Committee and Dorgan requested IG investigations after he chaired hearings by the Senate Democratic Policy Committee (DPC), in June 2008 and August 2009. The hearings revealed that troops from Indiana, Oregon, South Carolina, and West Virginia were exposed to sodium dichromate, a known and highly potent carcinogen at the Qarmat Ali water treatment facility in Iraq. The DPC hearings revealed multiple failures by the contractor, KBR, and the Army’s failure to adequately monitor, test, and notify soldiers who may have been exposed of the health risks they may now face.



The IG is releasing two reports on its investigation, The first report was released in September. The second, expected to be a more detailed response to specific DPC concerns, was originally slated for release by late October. But the Department of Defense Inspector General now states a draft of that report won’t be available until the end of the year.



The first report provides no indication -- seven years after the exposure – that the Army ever notified seven soldiers from the Army’s Third Infantry Division who secured the Qarmat Ali facility during hostilities that they had been exposed. It also confirms that the Army’s assessment of the health risks associated with exposure to sodium dichromate for soldiers at Qarmat Ali are not very reliable. In fact, the organization that performed these assessments, the U.S. Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventative Medicine (CHPPM), now says it has a “low level of confidence” in its test results for the overwhelming majority of those exposed.



Equally troubling, Dorgan said, is the report’s finding that the Department of Defense is refusing to provide information to Congress about the incident, because of a lawsuit to which it is not a party.



“I am very concerned about the findings we now have, and I am disappointed in the delayed release of Part II of this report. The IG’s investigation and its findings are very important to the lives of U.S. soldiers and workers who were at the site. Details and definitive findings will help us ensure accountability for this exposure and flawed follow up, but even more importantly, they will help ensure that all exposed soldiers receive appropriate notice and medical attention,” Dorgan said.

As a death notification team "It wasn't supposed to be like this."

It wasn't supposed to be like this

Posted 10/18/2010

Commentary by Lt. Col. Jonathan Tamblyn
54th Air Refueling Squadron commander

10/18/2010 - ALTUS AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. (AFNS) -- After parking the Air Force staff car beside the yard, the chaplain, the nurse and I got out of the car and took a moment to look over each other's service dress. We had been steeling ourselves for this moment most of the afternoon.

As a death notification team, it was our job to inform a newly bereaved father about the tragic death of his Air Force son.

In a very rare Air Force Personnel Center decision, the signed letter I would read to the father stated the suspected cause of death was suicide.

Many of you can't read the word "suicide" without feeling the pangs of a tragic loss you have already experienced in your life due to someone else's decision to prematurely end his or her own life. Although the pain of suicide is staggering, the risk of suicide may be more pervasive than previously thought.

In a 2008 study by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, it was found that "nearly 8.3 million adults (age 18 and older) in the U.S. had serious thoughts of suicide in the past year."

The study also showed that 2.3 million adult Americans made a suicide plan within the past year and that 1.1 million adults actually attempted suicide within the past year."

Hidden within these staggering statistics, you find too many servicemembers who have also been suicidal.

Lately, military suicides have been on the rise.

The Houston Chronicle did an analysis and found suicides of "Texans younger than 35 who served in the military jumped from 47 in 2006 to 66 in 2009 -- an increase of 40 percent."

As sobering as the statistics can be, there are some things we can do to help reduce the risk of losing an Airman, coworker, friend or family member to suicide.
read more here
http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123226803

Kentucky family sues over shooting death at Fort Bliss

Ky. family sues over shooting death at Fort Bliss
By BRETT BARROUQUERE Associated Press Writer © 2010 The Associated Press
Oct. 20, 2010, 4:10PM


LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The family of a teenager killed during a shooting at a post in Texas is suing the U.S. government for $8.75 million, claiming the military was negligent in diagnosing and treating the alleged shooter.

Renee Richardson of Louisville, whose 18-year-old son, Ezra Gerald Smith, died in the April 24, 2009 shootings at Fort Bliss in Texas, claims the U.S. Army missed multiple warning signs that Spc. Gerald Polanco was suffering from numerous psychiatric disorders, including post traumatic stress disorder.

"This could have been prevented and that's what she's mad about," attorney Sheila Hiestand said of her client.

Richardson filed suit Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Louisville.

Polanco was charged with murder, but ruled incompetent to stand trial by a military judge a few months later. Polanco's current condition was not immediately available. His attorney, John Convery of San Antonio, Texas, did not immediately return a call from The Associated Press seeking comment.

Army Maj. Myles Caggins III, a spokesman for Fort Bliss, told The Associated Press that Polanco's court martial proceedings are ongoing and declined to comment.

"Our heart goes out to the family of Gerald Smith," Caggins said. "We are committed to fair and thorough legal proceedings in accordance with the Uniform Code of Military Justice."

In letters to Smith's family, the military denied liability for the shooting, saying Polanco's actions could not have been foreseen.

Smith was at Fort Bliss, where his stepfather was based at the time of the shooting.
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http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/7256084.html

Huron police searching for missing Iraq War veteran

Huron police searching for missing Iraq War veteran
Published: Thursday, October 21, 2010
By JAMILA T. WILLIAMS
jwilliams@MorningJournal.com

HURON — A 21-year-old Iraq War veteran is still missing and divers searched the Huron River yesterday but didn’t find anything, Huron police Chief John Majoy said.

Nathan Dickey was reported missing after he did not return home Sunday evening following a night out with friends, according to the Huron Police Department.
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Huron police searching for missing Iraq War veteran

Friends of missing Iraq war veteran wait, hope, pray
HEATHER CHAPIN-FOWLER
It’s a grueling wait for Nathan Dickey’s family and friends as they look to police to solve the Iraq war veteran’s mysterious disappearance.

Dickey’s friends gathered Wednesday evening outside the Brass Pelican near the Huron River, where earlier this week the missing man’s shoe was found in the river.

“He’s an excellent guy,” said Casey Gonzalez, Dickey’s friend from Columbus. “We’re all a tight bunch and we’re just waiting, hoping for the best.”

Gonzalez recalled the last time he saw Dickey — just weeks ago at Cedar Point — and he’s hoping it’s not the last time he’d see his friend alive.

Dickey’s friends reported him missing Sunday evening after a night of drinking at i5’s Bar and Grill in downtown Huron. Dickey was with the group Saturday night, but at 2 a.m. Sunday he wandered off into the early morning darkness.

He was drunk and upset about problems within the group, a police report said.

It’s the last time anyone saw him alive.
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Friends of missing Iraq war veteran wait

Veteran Guards Christian Flag At City's Memorial

Since this is a memorial, there should be no problem with the "Christian" flag flying at all. There doesn't seem to be any rule about preventing other faiths from flying a flag there too so there should really be no problem.  What's next? Removing the headstones with crosses on them from cemeteries?

Lynn Hey/AP

Ray Martini, an Air Force veteran, stands beside a Christian flag flying in front of the Veterans Memorial at Central Park in King, N.C., on Saturday. Martini launched a round-the-clock vigil to guard the new flag after it was taken down because of complaints.

Veteran Guards Christian Flag At City's Memorial
by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

October 21, 2010
The Christian flag is everywhere in the small city of King, N.C.: flying in front of barbecue joints and hair salons, stuck to the bumpers of trucks, hanging in windows and emblazoned on T-shirts.

The relatively obscure emblem has become omnipresent because of one place it can't appear: flying above a war memorial in a public park.

The city council decided last month to remove the flag from above the monument in Central Park after a resident complained, and after city leaders got letters from the American Civil Liberties Union and Americans United for the Separation of Church and State urging them to remove it.

That decision incensed veterans groups, churches and others in King, a city of about 6,000 people 15 miles north of Winston-Salem. Ray Martini, 63, an Air Force veteran who served in Vietnam, launched a round-the-clock vigil to guard a replica Christian flag hanging on a wooden pole in front of the war memorial.

Since Sept. 22, the vigil has been bolstered by home-cooked food delivered by supporters, sleeping bags and blankets donated by a West Virginia man and offers of support from New York to Louisiana.
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Veteran Guards Christian Flag

Faith healing or foul play on cliff

Faith healing or foul play on cliff?
By Ryan Sabalow
Posted October 21, 2010
Rather than call police when their drinking partner fell — or was pushed — off a nearly 200-foot cliff, two students at a Redding Bible school tried first to reach the severely wounded man and pray him back to life, a lawsuit alleges.

In a lawsuit filed this month in Shasta County Superior Court exactly two years to the day after he was pulled by search-and-rescue crews from the banks of the Sacramento River, Jason Michael Carlsen alleges that when Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry students Sarah Elisabeth Koivumaki and Zachary Gudelunas couldn’t reach him to heal him with their prayers, they spent hours debating whether to call the police.

Bethel’s members purport to have the ability to heal people through prayer and bring the dead back to life.

The two later told police they thought Carlsen was killed in the fall.

Worried that they would be exiled from the church, the two Bethel students also went so far as to try to cover up evidence they’d even been at the top of the cliff, the lawsuit alleges.
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Faith healing or foul play on cliff

Feds: Mentally Ill Targeted in $200M Medicare Fraud in Florida

There is an ad here in Florida attacking Grayson and Kosmos along with Nancy Pelosi. The problem with the ad is that while it is true they were part of the millions cut from Medicare, it was against waste, fraud and abuse, just as this report how bad the problem is. No one lost benefits and tax payers were well served by going after this kind of fraud. Whoever is behind the ad, just doesn't care about the elderly or the tax payers when they use an ad doing good but paint it as bad for attempted political gain.

This kind of thing happens way too often and it needs to be stopped for the sake of everyone.

Feds: Mentally Ill Targeted in $200M Medicare Fraud


Hugh Collins
Contributor

(Oct. 21 ) -- Two Miami health care companies and four owners and senior managers were indicted today in a $200 million fraud scheme that targeted mentally ill patients, federal authorities said.

American Therapeutic Corp. and Medlink Professional Management Group allegedly paid kickbacks to Florida assisted-living facilities to deliver their patients to ATC.

The companies would then bill Medicare therapy sessions that were unnecessary or never performed at all, the indictment said.

Agents with the FBI and Investigations Division of the Office of the Inspector General are seen outside the American Therapeutic Corp. building on Thursday in Miami. Federal agents raided the building during an operation that resulted in the arrest of four in what is being called one of the nation's biggest Medicare fraud cases.

Some of these patients were suffering from Alzheimer's and dementia, and were not aware of what was going on.

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Feds: Mentally Ill Targeted in $200M Medicare Fraud
Feds: Mentally Ill Targeted in $200M Medicare Fraud

60 Minutes shines light on local homeless Marine vet

60 Minutes shines light on local homeless Marine vet
BY JEANETTE STEELE
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2010 AT 8:02 P.M.


What a difference three months made in the life of former enlisted Marine Charles Worley.

In July, Worley was one of a handful of young veterans living on the streets of San Diego . Worley, then 31, had been bouncing among friends’ couches after he lost his job and unemployment ran out.

To get a break from that routine, he showed up at the annual three-day Stand Down for the Homeless event held by Veterans Village of San Diego at San Diego High School.

That’s where the cameras of 60 Minutes discovered him. Worley was prominently profiled in a report aired Sunday night. He was also featured in this story in the San Diego Union-Tribune on July 16.

The 60 Minutes piece leaves off with the viewer wondering about Worley’s destiny.
60 Minutes shines light on local homeless Marine vet

Vet who attempted suicide facing sentencing?

‘I’m scared’
Local Army vet, struggling with PTSD, worried over upcoming sentencing for incident following suicidal episode

By WARREN HOWELER
Times Editor
Published:
Thursday, October 21, 2010 9:10 AM EDT
SAYRE — Rebecca Amey has two significant scars on her body.

One is on her left shoulder, the reminder that she survived an IED explosion while serving in Iraq as a U.S. Army intelligence analyst back in 2005-2006.

The other is on her left wrist — leftover from when her nightmares and flashbacks triggered a suicide attempt this summer.

Amey suffers from post traumatic stress disorder. She is currently on five medications to combat her anxiety, lingering pain from her injury and to help her sleep without the nightmares of that incident flowing back into her mind.



Dealing with the PTSD is a daily struggle for the 24-year-old mother of two. But it was the aftermath of her recent suicide attempt that may have lasting repercussions on her life and her family’s.

It was on July 23 when Amey left her house and attempted to commit suicide following her most recent flashbacks and nightmares. However, in her haste, Amey left her 3-year-old son Tristan and her 10-month-old son Andrew home — alone.

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Local Army vet, struggling with PTSD