SCOTUS: Veterans can't get retroactive benefits if they miss window

This article is only part of the story. The thing is, it has always been this way. Ask any veteran before reporters started to zero in on Afghanistan and Iraq veterans, and most had no clue what the hell came back with them from war.

I've been involved in this for 40 years and can tell you most of them had no clue what it was, what name it was called, or understood that waiting to "get over it" was the wrong idea. All they knew was how they changed from the person they were before they went into whatever war they fought. (Hell, most of us had no clue just living as survivors of what civilian life can do to us.)

I don't have a problem with the decision the Supreme Court made regarding a veteran trying to get compensation for #PTSD going back to the Gulf War. While that may shock some of you, the thing is, it has always been this way. I have more of a problem that our country forces the veteran to figure out what their service did to them within a year, instead of being proactive for the sake of the veteran.

The veteran had all the obligations to file claims and appeals on time but the VA doesn't seem to have the same obligation. If you are a veteran, do not fight them on your own. Their rules are rules for all veterans. The thing is, you don't have to fight them on your own. Turn to the DAV, VFW, or any of the other groups out there claiming they help with claims. Turn to your member of the House or Senate because they are supposed to have staff able to help veterans. 

Keep in mind,  you didn't fight the war alone and should have to fight this one alone now! Call in reinforcements!

Supreme Court is unusually late with first opinion of term

The Hill
BY ZACH SCHONFELD
01/23/23

The nine justices sided with the government’s position that veterans can’t receive retroactive disability benefits if they miss a one-year application window.

The Supreme Court handed down its first opinion of the term on Monday, ruling that a veteran who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is not eligible for retroactive disability benefits after he missed a statutory window.

The ruling in some ways marked a return to normal, with the justices resuming the pre-pandemic tradition of announcing opinions live from the bench.

The case involved Adolfo Arellano, a U.S. Navy veteran who suffers from PTSD linked to trauma from his deployment to the Persian Gulf during the Iranian hostage crisis.

Although he missed the window to receive disability benefits retroactive to his discharge date, Arellano argued that the law is subject to equitable tolling, a doctrine that allows for extensions in extraordinary circumstances. Arellano’s attorneys argued he couldn’t meet the deadline because of his mental condition.

The justices ruled that Congress specifically provided that courts should not grant those types of extensions for the provision.
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Free gift to readers of Wounded Times

Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
January 25, 2023

When I was writing The Ministers Of The Mystery series, I was thinking of all of you. All the people I've met over the years struggling to heal #PTSD and then turning around to help other people heal too. I am in awe of each and every one of you. I wanted to find a way to let you know that.

The Scribe Of Salem is the first book in the series. I've been auditioning narrators for audiobooks. I found several that delivered the emotions of this rollercoaster ride, as well as had a voice that fit. I had a woman do one chapter from each book and liked it. However, I've decided to go back to my original thought of having a male read it. The main character is male, but there are at least 30 characters in the three books and heavy dialogue going on. It seemed more important for the voice to carry the overall flow. 

Anyway, when I was uploading this video of Chapter 3, The Trials, I decided it was time to thank all of you and anyone else interested in reading these books.

All of us know the way our story happened. It started out with shock, confusion, and feeling lost in our own bodies. For most of us, someone came along to help us find our way back to seeing ourselves when we look in the mirror again. That is the way the first book starts. It is also for all of us, no matter what caused PTSD in us. Remember, the only way to get hit by PTSD is to survive the trauma that caused it, and the only way out of it is to be shown the way to heal. The fabulous thing about us is, we aren't selfish and love to pay it forward, helping someone else the same way others helped us. 

By this chapter, Chris's old friends came back into his life when he needed them the most. He also met Alex and Mary Michaels. They are book publishers he agreed to show around Salem. They are walking around when this story begins to get really strange.

Read The Scribe Of Salem for free until January 31!

Please leave a review of what you think wherever you read it from. It will help me as I write the 4th book. Right now I am still researching it and a good time to discover what hits people the most.

Travel to Salem in This Deliciously Macabre Tale of the Occult

BookTrib
Monique Snyman
January 18, 2023

The Scribe of Salem by Kathie Costos

In The Scribe of Salem: Ministers of the Mystery, the first book in the Ministers of the Mystery series, Kathie Costos takes readers on a wild fictional journey that has one foot in reality. Filled with suspense, historical intrigue, magic and scripture, get ready for an edge-of-your-seat novel that’ll leave you wanting more.

A Darkness Looms Over Salem 

Most people who have the slightest interest in the occult, hard-to-believe historical occurrences, or early settlers of North America will be familiar with the Salem Witch Trials. While specifics may not be easy to recall, it’s difficult to forget how so many people were brutally tortured and executed due to hearsay and gossip.

In The Scribe of Salem, we are introduced to Chris Papadopoulos, who has seen his fair share of life’s horrors. Having traveled across the world as a newspaper reporter, he covered quite a bit, including the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Then, his life fell apart …

We first find Chris in the bar of The Bishop Hotel in Salem, which has become somewhat of a place of comfort since moving back to Salem. There, he hears the name Mandy, an enigmatic woman who had supposedly saved the life of his friend, a veteran soldier, Bill, and some others in the bar from teetering into darkness.

It is here, as he is invited to the Puritan Lawn Cemetery, where Chris’s life will take another terrible turn … You’ll have to read to find out!

A Supernatural Thriller With a Cultish Feel

From early in the novel, readers will realize that Kathie Costos’s writing has an atmospheric quality to it. The sinister feeling that forms in the pit of your stomach as soon as Bill calls his companions “Brothers” or quotes scriptures to make a point is intensified as the story continues. The feeling soon turns to dread as this whirlwind, dark tale mixes witchcraft, history and Christianity together and offers it up to readers on a silver platter.

There’s almost a cultish quality to the book, especially in the way that Biblical scriptures are sprinkled throughout the dialogue. I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of looking up the various verses and finding the deeper meaning in what was being said by the characters. Having verse juxtaposed with talk of witchcraft gave the novel a slightly unsettling edge.
read more here

I hope you read the rest but what I find intriguing is that everyone in the series has #PTSD from different causes and they joined forces to help Chris. This fabulous review never mention PTSD because she didn't have to. It isn't a typical PTSD book. As a matter of fact, it isn't a typical "any" kind of book. This is the kind of review that means this author, did what I set out to do!

The Scribe Of Salem is also on Amazon

Will GOP crash debt ceiling on our heads?

Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
January 17, 2023

So, once again the folks that were elected, don't seem to remember the people that voted for them. If they did, if they really cared, they wouldn't be focusing on everything we don't want and threatening what we need.

They are ready to crash the country because they are acting as if they have no obligation to us at all! Do you know what happens if they play games and refuse to pay the bills they already committed to? Well, if you don't, I remember it and it was torture. Veterans were not being able to get into the VA for appointments and worried about their disability checks not coming, along with medicine. Seniors were worried about everything!

This happened before.

The government also shut down for four days in January 2018, and the US experienced the longest-ever shutdown of 35 days between December 22nd, 2018 to January 25th, 2019. This came as a result of an impasse over President Donald Trump’s proposed spending package for the US-Mexico border wall. Forbes

I don't know who you voted for or why. What I do know is that the GOP members of the House don't seem to remember all the things they promised you they would focus on. You know, the things you need as they reminded you of how terrible your life was. I don't recall them warning you they were willing to make it a lot worse. If they cannot come up with a bill to raise the debt ceiling to cover the money they already spent, your life and mine are going to suck big time!

It isn't bad enough they've already said they plan on cutting social security and medicare. They forgot that we paid for the benefits we are getting but they want to play games, not just with the money they owe us, but with our lives.

Read this from CBS News

What is the debt limit?

The debt limit, which is set by Congress, represents the maximum amount the federal government is allowed to borrow to pay its debts.

If the amount of government debt reaches that threshold and doesn't lift the ceiling, the U.S. would be unable to pay what it owes and could default.

It's important to note that when Congress raises or suspends the debt ceiling, it isn't greenlighting new spending. Instead, it is giving the go-ahead for the Treasury to pay for spending that has already been approved.

Has the debt limit been raised before?

Yes. Since 1960, Congress has acted 78 times to raise, temporarily extend, or revise the definition of the debt limit, according to Treasury.

Of those, the debt limit was tweaked 49 times under Republican presidents and 29 times under Democratic administrations, Treasury said.

The last time the debt ceiling was lifted was in December 2021, when Democrats controlled both the House and Senate.

Are you willing to let them keep playing games with us? Are you willing to let them get away with treating all of us as if we don't matter now they have the power their voters gave them? Are you willing to suffer for their sake? This is what their plans are.

What can you do about it? Let them know exactly what you think. Call your GOP member and let them know that you are holding them accountable for what they refuse to do. If you are in a swing district and you have a level-headed congressman, tell them you'd support them becoming an Independent until the rest of their party comes to their senses. That way, McCarthy and his henchmen won't be able to get away with what they are trying to pull off. They won't have the majority anymore because they proved they don't deserve to have it. They owe us, not the other way around.

When is a PTSD book not?

Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
January 16, 2023

When is a #PTSD not a PTSD book? When it isn't what you expect or have been led to believe.

"In The Scribe of Salem: Ministers of the Mystery, the first book in the Ministers of the Mystery series, Kathie Costos takes readers on a wild fictional journey that has one foot in reality. Filled with suspense, historical intrigue, magic and scripture, get ready for an edge-of-your-seat novel that’ll leave you wanting more."

The Scribe Of Salem

For 4 decades, I've been saying the same thing but the suffering that didn't need to happen kept happening. What I was saying was not, and is not, wrong. The problem is, this site didn't get through to enough people. The videos didn't get through to enough people. The non-fiction books I wrote didn't get through enough and the fiction ones didn't work. 

I had to find a new way of telling what needs to be known and leave it up to the reader to take away what they need from this work.

The Ministers Of The Mystery Series is about everyone struggling to heal after surviving. There are veterans in it from different decades. A retired police officer struggling to heal after PULSE. Survivors of domestic violence and child abuse. A retired pastor struggling to heal from what taking care of his congregation did to him. And the one they all joined forces to save, a newspaper reporter.

There is a review coming out on Wednesday, January 18th. I couldn't believe how much the reviewer got out of it. Yet, not once did she mention the term PTSD.

I figured, who knows horror more than people that survived the cause of their PTSD?

"Readers will also appreciate the tragic characters that Kathie Costos crafted. Each character has a backstory, a darkness that surrounds them. They try to get rid of that lingering shadow, yes, but it’s always there. This, paired with the author’s atmospheric writing, turns The Scribe of Salem into an almost modern-gothic novel that is in the same vein as Edgar Allan Poe’s works."

I can't wait until you can read the rest but for now, I hope you see that just because a lot of people are doing a lot of things to help others with PTSD, it is because we all matter!